Fortune Cookie (Culinary Mystery) (35 page)

Thinking that made her head spin all over again. Had Lin Yang really done that or was Sadie grasping at straws? What possible reason could motivate anyone to do something so horrendous? If she accused Lin Yang of setting the fire and she was wrong, her chances of a relationship with Ji were over. If she were right, though, would her chances be any better? Beyond that, was a relationship with her nephew the ultimate prize or was truth the goal she should be reaching for?

She leaned back in the metal chair and put her phone on the table. She closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her temples, trying to ward off the headache that was knocking at the base of her skull. What should she do now? Where was another fortune cookie when she needed it?

“Are you finished?”

Sadie opened her eyes to see a young woman poised to pick up Leann’s cup, which was likely still half full. “Yes, thank you.”

She stood up as the girl took both cups. She adjusted her purse over her shoulder and thought of the silver bag in Leann’s shop. Whatever enthusiasm she’d had for it half an hour ago was gone. There was no room in her brain for something so frivolous now.

She was almost out the door, still unsure of whether she would go to Choy’s or to her hotel, when her phone alerted her to a text message. She’d never moved faster to get her phone out of her purse to see who the text was from: Ji or Pete?

Ji:
I’m here now. What do you need to talk to me about?

Was this a sign that she should keep her focus on Ji and Lin Yang for the time being? She got another text.

Ji:
There’s something I need to talk with you about too. When can you be here? If you could beat the lunch rush, I’d appreciate it. We get hit hard after 12.

Just like that, the decision was made. A block later, Sadie stepped away from the sidewalk so as not to disrupt the flow of foot traffic. If she wasn’t going to be pursuing the possible connection between Stephen Pilings and Rodger Penrose right now, she needed to share the information she had with Pete so that he could. It was silly to let her emotions get in the way of sharing information about the case. It would also be a relief to know that while she was busy with one unsavory task, progress would be made on another one.

I think Rodger P and landlord know each other. Can you follow up? Rodger P’s wife, Leann, hired PI that followed me because she suspects infidelity. On my way to talk to Ji. Also Choy’s has synthetic kerosene & Lin Yang was at apt days before fire.

She read it through again and then sent the text, wondering if Pete would call her in response, as he had at other times during this trip. Just in case, she debated in her mind how she should act if he did call. Professional or aloof? If he brought up the issues between them, should she discuss them or insist they focus on the case for now? She started walking and was waiting at a crosswalk when the response arrived.

Ask Ji about life insurance—PD just got a call about a claim. I will look into Rodger/landlord angle. Lin Yang + kerosene? Yikes. Be safe. Love you.

Sadie cleared her throat and blinked quickly to overcome the emotion the last two words of his text brought up. He did love her. Which made this all the more confusing for both of them. She thought about how Leann’s jealousy of Wendy had made her an impossible topic between Rodger and Leann. Granted, there were likely other things going on in their relationship, and Wendy wasn’t well, but Sadie still saw it as an example of what she didn’t want between her and Pete.

But she couldn’t focus on that right now. She had a very awkward conversation coming up and needed to be ready for it. As she walked toward Chinatown, and planned how she would respond to a variety of imagined scenarios once she arrived, she thought of the other information from Pete’s text message. Sadie didn’t remember seeing anything about a life insurance policy in the boxes of files.

But Ji had been sorting the messy box when he’d left yesterday. And a claim had been called in—had it just been this morning? Didn’t Min say Ji was at a meeting this morning?

She picked up her pace and hoped she could keep all the questions straight in her mind. Now was not the time to get lost in confusion.

Chapter 32

Sadie reached Choy’s around 11:15 and, with her hand on the door, she took a deep breath and prayed for . . . whatever she might need during this discussion. She walked in and blinked at the bright interior, just as she had the first time. The bright lights made her think of the oil lamps that had been removed from the tables for no good reason, lamps that used the same type of fuel that had been used on Wendy. The thought made her shudder.

There were some men seated around one table, although the rest of the restaurant was empty. Sadie scanned the room for Lin Yang, relieved that she wasn’t there at the moment. She headed toward the red double doors of the kitchen and was just raising her hand to push them open when they pushed back at her instead. She quickly moved out of the way; she’d been hit by a door before and had no desire to repeat the experience.

Lin Yang stepped through the doors with a teapot in one hand, her fingers clutching the handle a bit tighter when she saw Sadie. They faced off for a moment before Sadie found her voice.

“I’m here to talk to Ji.”

Lin Yang didn’t move and her expression remained hard, which detracted significantly from her natural beauty. “Ji is busy. Only employees are allowed in the kitchen.”

“He asked me to come.”

“Come back another time.”

Sadie stared the woman down. “He asked me to come
right now.
”

A bell jingled, and Sadie and Lin Yang both looked toward the door, where a young family stood blinking in the bright lights.

“Wait for me,” Lin Yang said, then stepped past Sadie. “Four?” she asked the new arrivals.

Sadie remained where she was, directly in front of the kitchen doors, and looked at the bamboo design in the plaster of the wall. She so wanted to head through those doors and find Ji, but she didn’t want to make a scene at his place of business. Or did she?

She watched Lin Yang hand out menus and fill the old men’s teacups before putting the pot on the table. This morning Lin Yang had been aggressive with her, but they had been alone—relatively; now Ji was in the next room, and Sadie knew even more than she’d known when she’d talked to Lin Yang earlier. In the time it took Lin Yang to return to her, Sadie had changed her goals for this meeting. She would talk to Ji, but she would also take advantage of the chance to talk to Lin Yang, too.

“As I said,” Lin Yang said, “now is not a good time. The lunch rush is starting. I will have Ji call you and decide another time that the two of you can talk, if that’s what you wish.”

“You went to see Wendy a few days before the fire.”

Lin Yang didn’t react at all; instead she crossed her arms and fixed Sadie with her signature cold look. “You know nothing,” she said simply.

“I also know about the lamps you took off the tables at about the same time that Wendy’s body went up in smoke. The same type of fuel in those lamps was used to—”

Lin Yang suddenly kicked at Sadie’s knees, throwing her off balance.

She put out her hands to catch herself, but Lin Yang grabbed one arm and twisted it behind Sadie’s back so that by the time Sadie fell hard to her knees, one arm was pinned behind her and the pain radiating from her shoulder left her speechless.

The exclamations of the customers in both English and Chinese didn’t drown out the hissing sound of Lin Yang’s voice in her ear. “You know nothing. Get out of my restaurant and don’t come back.”

Sadie was ready to agree to whatever Lin Yang asked; she could barely think straight for the pain shooting up her arm, through her shoulder, and down her back. But reason took over. Lin Yang was obviously desperate to chase Sadie away, and that in and of itself communicated how much she had to hide. But Lin Yang had reacted impulsively—they weren’t alone here.

“Ji!” Sadie screamed as loudly as she could, which, unfortunately, didn’t come out as strong as she’d have liked.

Lin Yang pulled her arm up higher, and Sadie just screamed that time, but it was louder than her first attempt.

One of the men at the table said something, and Lin Yang turned and yelled at him in Chinese without letting go of Sadie’s arm.

Sadie could barely breathe for the pain when she heard the spring-action hinge of the kitchen door and Ji’s voice at the same time. “What is going on out here?”

Lin Yang answered in Chinese. Ji responded in the same language.

Sadie waited for Lin Yang to let go of her arm, but she didn’t until Ji pulled her away. Sadie crumpled onto the linoleum, her torso trembling as she tried to put her arm back into a normal position. Her chest heaved for breath, and then people were helping her to her feet.

“Thank you,” she said once she’d been assisted to a chair by two Chinese men.

Ji and Lin Yang were still yelling at each other, and although Sadie couldn’t understand anything they said, their tone of voice and the expressions on the old men’s faces let her know that the discussion was serious. One man whispered to the other, who nodded before casting a sidelong look at the fighting couple, as though not wanting them to know he was watching.

“Are you all right?”

Sadie looked into the face of the father of the family who’d been seated a minute earlier. She looked past him to the mother and two children who stood by the door, looking scared. “I’m fine now,” she said. “Thank you.”

The man looked between Ji and Lin Yang. “We’re outta here. You should come with us.”

“He’s my nephew,” Sadie said, waving toward Ji, who was now screaming at Lin Yang, who was screaming back. Sadie forced a smile. “He won’t let anything happen to me.”

The man didn’t seem convinced, but a moment later he nodded and then ushered his family out of the restaurant. The Chinese men were right behind them, still whispering to each other and trying not to look at Ji and Lin Yang, who were nearly nose-to-nose. The veins in Ji’s neck were bulging. Although he was more than a foot taller than his tiny wife, her ferocity balanced them out.

Sadie stayed in her seat. She wasn’t sure her legs would hold her up if she tried to stand. She took a breath in anticipation of entering the foray from where she sat and then yelled, “I think Lin Yang lit Wendy on fire!”

Ji and Lin Yang snapped their heads toward Sadie. Silence. Sadie watched their reflexive expressions. Ji was shocked and confused. Lin Yang, on the other hand, was angry. She glanced at Ji and said something in a normal tone of voice, but Ji didn’t even look at her. He continued to stare at Sadie.

“What?” he said after a few more moments had passed.

Sadie quickly organized the details in her mind so she could present a solid hypothesis. “I think Lin Yang went to Wendy’s apartment and doused her body with the kerosene you used to use in the lamps on the tables, and then she lit Wendy’s body on fire.”

Ji blinked, then turned to Lin Yang and spoke to her in English. Sadie could only assume it was for her benefit. “What is she talking about?”

“She’s as crazy as Wendy,” Lin Yang said, sending Sadie a hateful look. “I don’t know what she’s talking about. I had nothing to do with Wendy.”

Someone opened the front door, and they all turned to look at a young couple who stopped short just over the threshold.

“We are closed,” Ji said, walking toward them.

The young man pointed toward the sign lit up in the window. “But the sign says—”

Ji marched to the sign and turned it off. “We are closed.” He said it harshly enough that the potential customers backed away from him and exited without argument. Ji pulled the door closed behind them, turned the lock, and then faced Sadie, who was still sitting, rubbing her throbbing arm. Sadie had had surgery on this shoulder a couple of years ago; she hoped Lin Yang hadn’t damaged it too severely.

“Lin Yang
didn’t
have anything to do with Wendy,” Ji said. “She only met her a few times, and I had never even been to Wendy’s apartment until this week. Why would you make this kind of accusation?”

Sadie told him about Lin Yang being seen at the apartment, the lamps being removed from the tables around the same time, and the forensic tests that determined the accelerant used on Wendy’s decaying corpse was synthetic kerosene.

Lin Yang cut her off in Chinese and took a step toward her husband.

He glared at her, causing her to stop. “English,” Ji commanded her.

“I will not talk of this with her here.” She scowled at Sadie, who held her eyes without showing the intimidation she felt.

“Oh, yes, you will,” Ji said. “Or I will call the police and do nothing to help you when they arrive.”

He believes me,
Sadie thought, shocked at how easily he’d sided with her.

Lin Yang took a breath, and her eyes narrowed when she spoke. “I did it for you.”

Ji visibly startled. “Me?”

Sadie held her breath.

“To protect you,” Lin Yang said flatly.

Ji startled a second time. “Protect me from what?”

“From the police. She was an evil woman, and I would not let her ruin our family.”