Wonton Terror

by Vivien Chien

  Setting my purse down on the table, I said, “Looks pretty convincing to me.”

  “Hurry up and get ready so we can head out. I have to be at work around eight,” she said, shooing me off to my bedroom.

  I took a quick shower and slipped on the suit I’d planned to wear on my last attempt at getting out of the restaurant business. But fate had stepped in, and I never had the chance to make the interview because my parents took an unexpected trip to Taiwan for my grandmother. I ended up running the restaurant while they were away and my mother was so impressed with how well I handled the last-minute pressure, she’d decided it was time for me to take over permanently.

  The pinstripe knee-length skirt was a little snug as I put it on and I cursed the doughnuts that had made their way into my daily diet. After I threw on the cherry-red blouse that I bought to go with the jacket and skirt, I slipped on a pair of three-inch stilettos and gave myself a once-over in the mirror. Not too shabby, I thought.

  We said good-bye to Kikko on our way out, and headed over to the east side where Sandra lived. They were still in the same house they’d lived in all those years ago, and since there had been no changes of address, it was easy to find them online.

  I parked in the street, and we sat in the car assessing the two houses on either side of Sandra’s home.

  “Well.” Megan turned to me. “Which one should we go to first? Or should we each take one?”

  “Um no, I don’t want to walk up to a stranger’s house by myself,” I told her. “This is already weird enough.”

  “Okay, let’s try the left one,” she suggested. “Who knows, maybe no one will be home.”

  We got out of the car and walked along the sidewalk to the house Megan indicated. The lawn was well kept and a few rosebushes lined the walkway up to the door. I stood off to the side while Megan rang the doorbell.

  A tiny older woman opened the door a sliver and peeked out. All she exposed were eyes covered with thick-framed glasses and her nose. Her curly white hair was permed but not done, and appeared flat on one side as if she’d been lying down. “I’m not interested in whatever you’re selling,” she said, starting to shut the door.

  Megan held up a hand. “No, ma’am, we’re not here to sell anything. We just need to ask you a few questions.”

  “Are you here from the gas company? Because I told those yahoos on the phone yesterday that I already paid my bill. I can’t help it that you folks take forever to process a damn check.”

  “We’re not from the gas company,” I said, inching a little closer to Megan. “We’re insurance agents and we’re here to investigate the situation next door.”

  “The situation next door?” The woman opened the door more, exposing the rest of her body. She was dressed in a pale pink housedress and had fuzzy slippers on her feet. It was apparent that she hadn’t left the house all day. “I don’t know anything about what’s going on next door. I try to mind my business the best I can. We have enough busybodies in this neighborhood if you ask me.”

  Megan gave her a pleasant smile. “Any information could help us. We’re looking into an insurance claim for the Chow family … and we were wondering if you could help us with some background on the family?”

  “You mean that nice Asian lady that lives next door? I heard about her husband gettin’ blown up, that’s just a damn shame.” The woman shook her head with disappointment. “I lost my Earl about three years ago. Cancer, though. Rare not to go from cancer these days.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied.

  “Eh, thanks for the condolences, but I’ve come to terms with it now. Earl would have wanted me to live my life. I’m going on a cruise this summer. One of them all-inclusive numbers where they take you around the Caribbean.”

  “That sounds real nice,” Megan said. “I hope you enjoy yourself. I’ve never been on a cruise.”

  “Yeah, they have all kinds of activities, too, but I’m really lookin’ forward to the buffets. I heard they have some great food on them cruises.” The woman slapped herself on the forehead. “Silly me, here I am yammerin’ on about my circumstances when you came here to ask some official-like questions. Sometimes in my old age I drift from topic to topic without a care in the world.”

  “We don’t mind,” I said politely.

  “Well, here’s the scoop on that there Asian couple. The woman is pretty nice but she’s kind of timid and keeps to herself. I’ve brought them holiday cookies and such, but we don’t talk too often. One time that husband of hers shoveled my driveway for me. But then he realized that I wasn’t drivin’ anymore. I got an eye condition and I can’t drive all that good.”

  “Were you aware of them having any problems?” I asked.

  “Problems? What kind of problems?”

  “Marital problems.”

  “Oh, them kinda problems. Well, dearie, who’s married that doesn’t have problems?” She chuckled to herself before continuing. “No, no kind of problems that I knew about. One time the police came by, but I wouldn’t know anything about that. My hearin’ ain’t too good, either.” She pointed to her ear, which was equipped with a hearing aid. “Most of the time, I can’t hear anything going on, but I saw the lights goin’ out there. Wondered what happened. That guy who lives on the other side … Chuck somethin’ or other. He may know more. I think he’s the street’s top busybody. I always see him walkin’ up and down the sidewalk talkin’ to people. I don’t care for him much, so I always turn my hearing aid down real low so I can’t hear what he’s sayin’. He gets tired of yellin’ and scoots on to the next house.”

  Megan and I both laughed at that and the woman smiled in return. “Can’t be too old for a sense of humor.”

  “Well, we appreciate your time,” I said. “We’ll let you get back to your evening.”

  “No problem, girls,” she said good-naturedly. “Good luck with your investigation. And don’t forget about Chuck. If anyone can tell you anything, it would be him.” She waved to us before shutting the door.

  Megan and I walked back down the drive and headed for the sidewalk leading to what would be Chuck’s house.

  Megan sighed. “She was a nice lady, but it’s a shame she didn’t know anything else.”

  “I know. I’m hoping this guy has something more for us. I think he must be the one from the police report.”

  Since Megan had done the honors at the previous house, I decided to step up for this one. I rang the bell and stood front and center, waiting for someone to answer. After a few minutes, the door slowly opened and a middle-aged man with a half-unbuttoned dress shirt and unbuttoned pants opened the door. He looked surprised to see us. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, fumbling with the buttons of his khakis. “I thought you were someone else.”

  I blushed out of awkwardness. “Um, sorry to disturb you, we were hoping to take a moment of your time if that’s all right.”

  “Are you from the IRS?” he asked, buttoning his shirt back up.

  “No, we’re from an insurance company,” I said as confidently as possible. “We’re here to ask about the Chow family.”

  He nodded in understanding. “Would you like to come in?”

  Megan and I looked at each other, unsure of how to respond.

  His attention turned toward the street, and he scanned the surrounding houses. “This is something we should probably talk about inside. You know how neighbors can be.”

  “Um … okay…” I felt uneasy about it, as I’m sure Megan did as well, but he had a point. You never knew who could be watching.

  We stepped into the house, and stood uncomfortably by the door. He didn’t make any attempt to shut the door behind us, and he didn’t invite us to come farther in.

  “I’m Charlie, by the way.” He sat down on the arm of his easy chair and folded his arms across his chest. “People call me Chuck … Chucky sometimes. I hate that though.”

  Megan cleared her throat. “We won’t keep you too long. What can you tell us about the C
how family?”

  He leaned back, his arms remaining folded. “Well, I was sorry to hear about Ron, but man, that guy was a rotten SOB. Forgive my language.”

  “So, you weren’t a fan?” Megan asked.

  “Not in the least. I respect women, and that guy certainly did not. He knocked his wife around pretty hard. Don’t know why, don’t care. So, I got involved. I heard her yellin’ from my backyard. I called the cops and warned them I was gonna go over there. I did.”

  I assessed Charlie from where I stood near the door. He was slightly muscular and maybe the same height as my dad, so he was tall. And definitely bigger than Ronnie. “Did this happen often?”

  “Uh, I only knew about the one time,” he said. “If I’d have known about more, I would have given that guy two black eyes.”

  “I see,” Megan replied. “Are you aware of what’s circulating in the news?”

  “Sure am,” he said with a nod. “Everybody on the block is talking about it.”

  “And what is your take on it?” Megan asked.

  “If you ask me, I think someone killed that guy for sure … but it wasn’t about no insurance money. That woman’s got a brother … at least I think it’s her brother from what I gather. I heard the two men exchanging words outside a couple times. And it wasn’t pretty. I wouldn’t put it past her brother to do something wacko.”

  “You really think so?” I asked. The pieces of my imagined scenario were clicking into place.

  “I’ll tell you ladies this,” he said, leaning forward as if he were worried about being overheard. “If some jerk bag was takin’ punches at my sister, he wouldn’t live to tell the tale.” He straightened up. “But don’t put that part in your little report.”

  * * *

  After we returned from our visit with Sandra’s neighbors, Megan hurried to get ready for work and was back out the door within twenty minutes. I happily changed out of my suit and slipped into a tank top and capris. Pulling out my notebook, I headed into the living room and sat with Kikko on the couch. I needed to plot out my next moves.

  Visiting with Sandra would have to be put on hold for a couple days. My next course of action should be to figure out whether or not Winston was someone I could absolutely add to the list or cross off. All I had to go on was what Ruby had told me. I thought it might help to give Calvin a call and see what his feelings were about the rival food truck owner. When we’d talked the first time, he said he didn’t know of anything specific. But now that I had someone specific to focus on, maybe pieces would fit together for him.

  I dialed his number. This time, I wanted to see him in person though. There’s nothing better than questioning someone face-to-face. People take liberties on the phone. Eye contact is not an issue, facial expressions are not questioned, and at any minute the call could “drop.”

  “Hey Lana.”

  “Hi, Calvin, how are things?”

  “The same. What’s up?” He sounded slightly suspicious as he asked.

  “Well, I wanted to see if you had any plans tonight. I thought maybe we could get together for some drinks and catch up like you wanted to. You know, to take your mind off everything going on.”

  He didn’t respond right away and I thought maybe he suspected that I was snooping. When he finally answered, he said, “Sure, did you have a specific place in mind?”

  “My best friend works at a bar called the Zodiac. Ever heard of it?”

  “Yeah, that’s over near your neck of the woods, right? I’ve never been.”

  “How about we meet there?” I asked. “She’s a great bartender, and they have awesome food.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll meet you around nine-thirty?”

  We hung up after finalizing our plans, and I gave myself a quick makeup refresher before heading out. Once I was finished, I had a little time left to kill before leaving, so I took Kikko out for another quick tinkle and then hopped online to do another, more thorough search on Winston. His Web site told me he’d be at Edgewater Live, a weekly event held at a local beach, on Thursday. I could try and get a hold of him then.

  I made a couple notes to myself in my notebook before heading out to meet Calvin.

  CHAPTER

  15

  I arrived at the bar ten minutes early so I could get there before him and fill Megan in on my plan. She was stocking the beer cooler when I walked in.

  “Hey woman,” Megan said when I neared her. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

  I settled onto a stool and told her about meeting with Calvin and what I planned to do about Winston.

  She nodded in approval. “I can come with you on Thursday. I’ll switch shifts with Robin. She’s looking to make some extra cash anyway, and my shift is better than hers.”

  While I waited for Calvin to show, Megan brought me a drink and I placed an order for some fries.

  Calvin arrived five minutes late, and stood at the entrance scanning the room. He was dressed in a plain, fitted white T-shirt and olive shorts. He propped his sunglasses on what appeared to be a fresh haircut as he made eye contact with me. He acknowledged me with a head nod and made his way over.

  “Hey sorry, traffic was a nightmare on 271.”

  I snorted. “When isn’t it?”

  He pulled out the stool next to mine and sat down, focusing on the drink options behind the bar. Megan came by, introduced herself, and took his drink order, which was a gin and tonic.

  Calvin drummed the bar nonchalantly as he assessed the room.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask, how is your mother? I was thinking about stopping by to see her when she finally gets out of the hospital.”

  “With any luck, she can come home tomorrow. She’d like a visit from you, I’m sure. Aside from your mom, Ruby, and Uncle Gene, my mother hasn’t had very many visitors. A lot of people are being weird with us since … well … you know.”

  I knew what it was like to be viewed a certain way. Not that long ago, Peter and myself, along with Ho-Lee Noodle House, were being given the stink eye. It wasn’t a nice feeling and I tried to keep in mind that the Chows may not be guilty of anything at all. We certainly weren’t. “You know, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought,” I said, attempting to sound casual. “I know you said that your parents didn’t fill you in on much, but did you happen to notice anything strange?”

  Megan returned with Calvin’s drink and rushed off to help another customer.

  He removed the cocktail straw from the glass and took a sip. “Like what kind of strange?”

  I shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe some type of problems with another food truck owner. I know you said nothing specific stood out to you, but maybe there’s something that didn’t seem too important at the time. You know how people can be competitive for space. Even something small like that could turn into a larger argument over time.”

  He shook his head, “Nah, I don’t think so.”

  “Do you know if your parents ever did anything at Edgewater Live?”

  “Um, yeah, I think they did. Why would that matter though?”

  “No reason, just curious. I hate to see you guys be put under the microscope by the police if there’s someone else they should be looking at. Maybe they had a problem with someone at a different location and the feud followed over to the night market.”

  “Whoa,” Calvin said plainly.

  “Whoa what?”

  “Do you really think that someone was targeting my parents on purpose?”

  The sound of shock in his voice was almost enough to convince me that I was wrong about him having any involvement whatsoever. Yet there was something about his facial expression that left a tiny reason for doubt. His reaction was a little too surprised. Could the thought really have never crossed his mind that this wasn’t a random act? Or was I really that conspiratorial in my thinking that I couldn’t fathom the thought of it being a random act of terror? Then again, the local authorities had set their sights close to the Chow family as we
ll.

  “Well, yeah,” I said. “But the police think—”

  “Just because they think it was some conspiracy doesn’t mean it actually was,” he replied. “Whoever did this could just as easily have decided to blow up one of the other trucks instead. Like BBQ 2 Go or something like that. I mean, maybe it was just a coincidence that it was my parents’ truck, you know?”

  “True, but—”

  “The cops are just trumping this up. Everybody wants to read into what happened like it’s some big mystery to be solved. All I want is for them to catch the person who did this. Whoever it is.” He sipped his drink, emptying the glass. He tapped the rim when Megan glanced our way.

  I thought about his comment while we waited for Megan to return. Like BBQ 2 Go. Now why would he specifically bring up Winston’s truck in this conversation? Was I jumping to conclusions where there were none?

  Armed with another drink, he took control of the conversation. “Enough about this doom-and-gloom stuff. Let’s talk about regular life. Tell me what’s going on with you. How did you get suckered into running the family business? If memory serves me right, you didn’t want to have anything to do with it.”

  Disappointed that I hadn’t gotten more information from Calvin, I gave in and told him a condensed version of what led me down my current path. When I was finished, I tilted my glass at him. “How about you?”

  “Well, the Navy didn’t cut it for me. I thought maybe it would give me some discipline, but I just don’t fit that bill, you know?” He laughed to himself. “Trying to fit a square peg into a round hole or whatever that old saying is. Then I kind of fumbled around for a while until my uncle came into town. I’ve been working for him at his mechanic shop for a little while now. It’s whatever.” He shrugged. “Other than that, nothing to tell really. No woman in the picture, no grand plans … just livin’ life day by day.”