Balmy Darlings and Deaths: A Chinese Cozy Mystery (A Raina Sun Mystery Book 4) (9 page)

R
aina called
her grandma to let her know she got fired, and Po Po replied with an invitation for lunch. As Raina trudged across the lobby toward Louie Po’s condo unit, she scanned the area, hoping she wouldn’t run into Janice Tally. If she saw the poor woman, she might end up in a cry fest over Walt’s death.

Po Po answered the knock and welcomed her in. The two grandmothers put together a small party for her. Plates full of steamed pork buns, spring rolls with peanut sauce, and almond cookies. The teapot was dressed in a cheerful green knitted cozy with matching green cloth napkins.

Raina’s vision blurred with tears. She blinked rapidly, but they slid down her face anyway. Her throat tightened, and she batted at her face, smearing the tears across her cheeks. She didn’t understand what brought on the tears.

Po Po patted her on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

Louie Po ushered them toward the table. “Tell us what’s going on while we eat. Food always makes things better.”

When Raina walked past Louie Po, she caught a whiff of milk and cookies. Her throat clogged again. Her second grandma was feeling well enough to spend time in her kitchen. She would be all right.

While the grandmas piled her plate with food, Raina told them what happened at the day spa. From the firing to her run-in with Taylor in the staff break room.

“Are you upset you got fired?” Louie Po asked.

“I don’t think so,” Raina said. She stuffed a pork bun into her mouth so they wouldn’t ask her any more questions. After her conversation with Frank, she didn’t want to invite further discussions on her past.

“Eden’s boyfriend sounds like a catch,” Louie Po said, raising an eyebrow behind her thick glasses.

“And a murderer to boot,” Po Po said.

“Suspicious behavior doesn’t a murderer make,” Raina said.

“If you say so, Yoda.”

“All of us have secrets we don’t want people to know. This doesn’t make us walking time bombs.”

Po Po ticked the points off her fingers. “Taylor used Walt to get his sister’s mailing list. LaShawna is threatening to take his son away from him. Sounds like great motives for murder.”

“But what about Myra Jo? She could have killed LaShawna for siphoning off her clients. And don’t forget, she might also kill to keep the boy close. We only have her word she doesn’t want the child,” Louie Po added.

“I don’t know what to do with Eden,” Raina said. “She wouldn’t listen to me. We’re supposed to investigate this murder to clear her name, but she seems to keep digging herself deeper with the police and the public.”

“You should be flattered she thinks you can solve the case and clear her good name,” Louie Po said.

Po Po snorted. “My girl can solve the case, all right, but it will not save Eden. She’s one of those who needs to slam against the wall a few times to learn her lesson.”

Louie Po shook her head. “The hard road is a lonely one.” She dropped another pork bun on Raina’s plate.

“Have the police been able to verify if the suicide note is legit?” Raina asked.

“It’s his handwriting,” Po Po said. “Janice Tally identified it.”

Raina grimaced. “How she’s doing?”

“She seemed to lose her fire,” Louie Po said. “She didn’t even react when your grandma spilled an entire bottle of onion juice in the Rec Room and let loose a pack of mice yesterday.”

Po Po cut her eyes on Raina. “Maggie! You’re not supposed to say anything.”

Her grandma’s BFF smirked, enjoying the theatrics she rarely participated in. “It’s like the sheriff is out of town. This morning your grandma triple dog dared Skip Barnard to reenact an episode of the
Monty Python Show
during the City Council’s meeting.”

Raina chuckled and shook her head. Trust her grandma to turn the senior citizens in this town upside down. “Will this be the June or July meeting? I need to put it on my calendar. I want to attend.”

“It’s the June meeting,” Po Po said. “Where the consultant will say it’s not cost effective for us to maintain our own police force, and that we should contract with the Sheriff’s department. We can’t let this happen. When I get into a car accident, I don’t want to wait forty minutes for someone to come up from Woodland to take a report. Geez, I can’t believe these bean counters got voted into office.”

“You should run for mayor next time,” Louie Po said, her eyes twinkling behind her glasses.

Po Po appeared to give the idea some serious thought.

Raina gave her grandma a sideways glance. Her head throbbed at the thought of her grandma running this town. It would be a full-time job doing damage control. “Could we get back to the subject of the murder investigations? Are there any rumors flying around?”

“Someone mentioned that Walt was the local marijuana dealer for the wealthy women in town,” Po Po said, setting down her half-eaten spring roll.

“And he dealt from the day spa. I wonder if Myra Jo knows this,” Maggie said.

“If she did, she would ask for a cut. Like the fee for a salon chair,” Po Po said.

The three of them snickered.

Raina dipped a spring roll into the peanut sauce. “Do you think either of the Landon siblings are Walt’s client?”

“That’s easy to find out. I could offer them some as bait,” Po Po asked.

“Do you really have a supply, or are you talking a big game?” Raina asked casually.

Po Po squirmed in her seat. “I just have to make an offer and see if they jump on it.”

In other words, her grandma upped her exaggeration by a factor of ten. She’d probably had a joint in her youth, and now she was a big time dealer. Raina glanced down at her hands to hide her grin. Life was so much livelier with her grandma around.

She glanced up to find Louie Po smirking and her grandma pulling apart a pork bun with great intensity.
Oh, great…
Fragile egos didn’t like getting called out. She would have to invite her grandma along to Taylor’s. Men and grandmas—both of them liked to feel useful.

“Was Walt peddling his pot at the senior center? He mentioned how the elderly use it for pain management,” Raina asked. “Why wouldn’t they get a prescription?”

The grandmas shared a long look.

“He’s not the supplier,” Louie Po said. “And you can’t get a prescription for recreational use.”

Raina waited for further details, but the grandmas went back to eating. This made her wonder if the dealer was someone the grandmas knew. She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Look at the time. I need to stop by the cellphone store before heading out to question Taylor’s roommate. Do you want to come, Po Po?”

Her grandma beat her to the door.

* * *

R
aina and Po Po
swung by the cellphone store and got into a heated discussion with the manager. This was her fourth replacement in less than a year. He issued her a new phone and canceled the insurance. With only two other mobile phone stores in town, Raina panicked at the thought of being blacklisted. It wasn’t her fault she was so hard on phones. At least she wasn’t blowing cars up. Now that would put a dent on her wallet.

With her data synced with the cloud, Raina pulled up Taylor's address from her Contacts. He lived in a neighborhood twenty minutes away from the downtown area in one of the newer developments where all the houses were, once again, a shade of beige or tan with a square patch of lawn. It looked just like the subdivision by Walt’s apartment complex. The only difference were the small trees with the pink flowers. There was no way she could find the place without GPS.

This was one of those subdivisions where tiny trees were still trying to establish their roots, and the inhabitants were at work all day. Occasionally a car would pull into a driveway, but the garage door would roll up and down without anyone popping onto the street. People didn’t hang outside on their porch or front lawns for a chat.

Raina rolled past the two-story house and parked around the corner. Technically, his housemates lived in the house since Taylor slept in the attached two-car garage.

“We’ll need disguises,” Po Po said, digging in her straw beach bag.

“I got this,” Raina said. She popped the trunk and came up with a baseball cap and a clipboard. Most people assumed you were doing something official if there was a clipboard in your hands. She tucked her pepper spray, cell phone, and keys in her back pockets and tossed her purse into the trunk.

Po Po came around the car and held up a pink polka dot bikini. She’d changed into a red power suit with large Jackie-O sunglasses pushed up onto her silver white hair.

Raina did a double take. How did her grandma change so quickly? And in the car? “Po Po, you’re not running for the mayor’s office yet. And I’m not putting that eye patch on.”

“Oh, come on, Rainy. You’re only young once. You’ll regret all this modesty when you’re my age and nobody wants to look at you anymore.”

Raina knew she would regret asking. “And what is my cover story for ringing the doorbell in a bikini?”

“Your car broke down while you were heading to the beach.”

“And your suit?”

Po Po slipped the sunglasses on and gave Raina a somber chin nod. “I’m your bodyguard—the woman in red.”

Raina burst out laughing. She appreciate her grandma’s effort in trying to cheer her up. When she regained control, she replied, “Let’s try it my way first. I thought we could pretend we’re from the power company.” She outlined their plan.

Po Po saluted. “Aye, aye, Sherlock.”

Raina didn’t see Taylor's battered pickup when they rolled past the house, but a green Impala was parked on the driveway. “Before we go, could you call Taylor? Ask if he can come by the condo to fix something, but try to find out where he is right now. We don’t want to run into him while we’re questioning his housemate.”

She punched in Taylor’s cell phone number for her grandma.

“Hello, is this Taylor Landon, the handyman? This is Rocky Lee. I live in the same condo complex as your granny.” Po Po winked at Raina. “My granddaughter blew up my toilet. Can you come by to fix it right now?”

Raina smacked a palm onto her forehead. At least Taylor would never know Rocky Lee’s granddaughter.

“I heard about that car accident. Are you sure you can’t come by the next hour or so?” Po Po waited for a response. “I can try the plunger myself, but if I slip…”

Raina snorted, pressing a hand to her mouth to muffle the noise.

“Maybe next time.” Po Po hung up and addressed Raina. “He’ll be at the day spa for the next hour because he’s waiting for the canopy company to come by.”

They strolled up to the meter on the side of the house, and Raina pretended to make notes on her clipboard while Po Po watched the street. The roll-up garage door was partially opened, an inch above the ground, to let out some of the hot air inside. The side window of the garage was wide open, holding a whirling box fan in place and blocking their view into Taylor’s lair.

They strolled up the walkway toward the front door. There was a large dent on its gutter like someone had backed a moving truck onto it. Raina rang the doorbell.

A guy with shaggy hair and a goatee came by the opened door. He looked to be in his early twenties and had to shade his eyes with a hand. It was close to one, but it looked as if he rolled out of bed. “Yes?” he said, yawning.

“I’m with the power company,” Raina lied. “We noticed a spike in your usage last Wednesday between eleven and one o'clock. We’re trying to figure out if someone is trying to steal your power. Could you answer some questions for me?”

He glanced at Po Po. “Who’s she? And what’s up with the suit?”

“I’m her bod—”

“She’s my manager. I’m actually a trainee,” Raina cut in. She leaned in, lowering her voice. “I’m still on probation, and this is my final test.” She gave him the big eye puppy look.

He straightened, giving her an encouraging smile. “How can I help you?”

Raina glanced at the clipboard. “Who was home last Wednesday afternoon?”

“Just me and the old guy who lives in the garage. He had his son with him at the time. Everybody else was in class. Finals week.”

Raina perked at the mention of Taylor. “Were you home the entire time? Between eleven and one?”

“Not the entire time. I was leaving for campus when the old guy was coming back.”

“What time was this?”

The housemate yawned again. “Sorry. I had a late night. Graduation party. You know how it is.”

“Oh, yeah,” Raina paused, giving him a pretend dreamy look. She glanced back at the clipboard as if recalling herself. “Do you—”

“Were your parents or grandparents at the party?” Po Po asked. “We had such a nice dinner at your graduation…”

Raina gave her grandma a sharp look. They didn’t need a walk down memory lane.

“Sorry,” Po Po said, backing away from the porch. “I’m just going to check on the meter box.”

They watched her grandma retreat from them. Raina wanted to slap a hand on her forehead.
Please don’t let Po Po break into the garage…