Read Online Fortune Cookie (Culinary Mystery) by Josi S. Kilpack - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Josi S. Kilpack
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they’ve already painted with an odor-blocking primer, I’ll bet.”
Sadie stared at him, both impressed and disgusted that he knew so much about this, but then again he’d spent his career dealing with this kind of thing. Sadie’s experience with death and murder was relatively recent, and she’d never been involved in the cleanup process. Pete met her eye and smiled sheepishly. “Hopefully that’s not too much information.” He reached out and touched her arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, reaching for the light switch. She’d been prepared for chaos and disarray—Wendy’s entire existence exemplified disorder to Sadie—but the light came on and showed her that the apartment was . . . normal. Clean and stylish even. The main space they’d entered served as a kitchen, dining room, and living room. Sadie could call it a great room, but it didn’t seem big enough to call great unless you were trying to be funny, and Sadie wasn’t in the mood for humor.
On the kitchen counter were two document storage boxes. Were they the returned files the police had gone through? There was also a plastic bag that, once she walked over to it, she realized was the jewelry box the police had mentioned having found in a dresser drawer. It felt strange undoing the staples that held the bag closed, but she was eager to see if the pieces that had once belonged to her mother were still there.
She pulled out the box, opened it, and sifted through the items until she found a gold ring with a large aquamarine stone in the center. She felt a wave of relief. She slid the ring on her finger and noted that, just as had always been the case, it was a little too big.
“Your mother’s?” Pete said, startling her. She’d felt as though she’d been alone for a moment, but as soon as she realized he was behind her, she felt immediate comfort in his presence.
“Yes—and her mother’s before that,” Sadie said, admiring the ring. She kept it on her finger and went back to the box. Within a few seconds she found the flowered brooch her mother had worn to church on Sundays, a strand of pearls, and one of the two diamond earrings her father had given their mother on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.
“She lost one of the earrings,” Sadie said after taking every other item out of the box to make sure the missing earring wasn’t hiding in a corner. The rest of the jewelry was gaudy and bright—costume jewelry like Detective Lopez had said. “But considering that I thought I would never see them again, I’m thrilled that she still has these things.”
Sadie put her mother’s jewelry into the zippered pocket of her purse, then closed the jewelry box, realizing as she did so that it was very similar to the one she’d just bought from Choy’s, though this box was painted red, not black. She ran her hand across the painting on the top: a crane flying over a pond of bulrushes. There was Chinese writing along the top, and Sadie wondered what it said.
Had Ji given Wendy this box? The idea created a tender spot in her heart to think that although Ji said he and Wendy weren’t close, there was a connection between them. She put her purse on one of the bar stools and had a sudden pang of conscience. All of Wendy’s things now rightly belonged to Ji. The idea of parting with her mother’s jewelry again filled her with regret. But Ji was Wendy’s child and had the legal claim to all of Wendy’s belongings. Sadie reminded herself that they were just things; she’d given herself the same argument when she’d first realized Wendy had taken the jewelry fifteen years earlier.
“This is a really nice place,” Pete said as he walked toward the large bay window at the front of the long room. He twisted the wand for the wooden blinds of the middle window and the natural light poured in. Pete commented on the view, but Sadie was still processing the apartment.
The furnishings were angular and compact but fit well
Sadie stared at him, both impressed and disgusted that he knew so much about this, but then again he’d spent his career dealing with this kind of thing. Sadie’s experience with death and murder was relatively recent, and she’d never been involved in the cleanup process. Pete met her eye and smiled sheepishly. “Hopefully that’s not too much information.” He reached out and touched her arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, reaching for the light switch. She’d been prepared for chaos and disarray—Wendy’s entire existence exemplified disorder to Sadie—but the light came on and showed her that the apartment was . . . normal. Clean and stylish even. The main space they’d entered served as a kitchen, dining room, and living room. Sadie could call it a great room, but it didn’t seem big enough to call great unless you were trying to be funny, and Sadie wasn’t in the mood for humor.
On the kitchen counter were two document storage boxes. Were they the returned files the police had gone through? There was also a plastic bag that, once she walked over to it, she realized was the jewelry box the police had mentioned having found in a dresser drawer. It felt strange undoing the staples that held the bag closed, but she was eager to see if the pieces that had once belonged to her mother were still there.
She pulled out the box, opened it, and sifted through the items until she found a gold ring with a large aquamarine stone in the center. She felt a wave of relief. She slid the ring on her finger and noted that, just as had always been the case, it was a little too big.
“Your mother’s?” Pete said, startling her. She’d felt as though she’d been alone for a moment, but as soon as she realized he was behind her, she felt immediate comfort in his presence.
“Yes—and her mother’s before that,” Sadie said, admiring the ring. She kept it on her finger and went back to the box. Within a few seconds she found the flowered brooch her mother had worn to church on Sundays, a strand of pearls, and one of the two diamond earrings her father had given their mother on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.
“She lost one of the earrings,” Sadie said after taking every other item out of the box to make sure the missing earring wasn’t hiding in a corner. The rest of the jewelry was gaudy and bright—costume jewelry like Detective Lopez had said. “But considering that I thought I would never see them again, I’m thrilled that she still has these things.”
Sadie put her mother’s jewelry into the zippered pocket of her purse, then closed the jewelry box, realizing as she did so that it was very similar to the one she’d just bought from Choy’s, though this box was painted red, not black. She ran her hand across the painting on the top: a crane flying over a pond of bulrushes. There was Chinese writing along the top, and Sadie wondered what it said.
Had Ji given Wendy this box? The idea created a tender spot in her heart to think that although Ji said he and Wendy weren’t close, there was a connection between them. She put her purse on one of the bar stools and had a sudden pang of conscience. All of Wendy’s things now rightly belonged to Ji. The idea of parting with her mother’s jewelry again filled her with regret. But Ji was Wendy’s child and had the legal claim to all of Wendy’s belongings. Sadie reminded herself that they were just things; she’d given herself the same argument when she’d first realized Wendy had taken the jewelry fifteen years earlier.
“This is a really nice place,” Pete said as he walked toward the large bay window at the front of the long room. He twisted the wand for the wooden blinds of the middle window and the natural light poured in. Pete commented on the view, but Sadie was still processing the apartment.
The furnishings were angular and compact but fit well
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