It was almost evening when Liwu and Weijun made it back ho. Both of them were exhausted. In Liwu’s case, all she wanted to do was sleep for a full week. Weijun walked beside her, personally pulling the suitcase with the souvenirs Mo Xia had acquired for his wife.
When he was showing them off to her, he naturally planned to leave out Mo Xia’s na. The credit card which paid was his after all. There were many questions he wanted to ask her, and a big secret he wanted to reveal.
"Liwu, Weiju....feng." Mada Xu sprung from the entrance to the villa. Her eyes were wide as she had almost called Weijun by his real na. If she had not noticed him and his n shaking their hands, she would have revealed the secret.
Liwu did not react, so everyone assud she had not heard or even if she did, the dots had not been joined. They did not notice the silent roll in Liwu’s eyes.
She knew.
As a detective, she had long noticed the clues and co to the conclusion that Weifeng was actually Weijun during the investigation into Fan Tai-Hua. The pieces had just co together suddenly. But rather than reveal what she knew, she was waiting patiently to see how long her husband planned to play this ga.
"How could you both go out in the night without giving us a heads up?" Mada Xu asked them. "Where did you go?"
"Tie Ta, to solve a murder of a famous basketball player on the national n’s team." Weijun replied proudly. He had contributed the final piece that brought everything together after all. He was one of them now.
Liwu almost laughed in Weijun’s face. She bowed respectfully to her mother-in-law, offering a basket ball shaped whistle as a gift. "I picked this for you at the cri scene. When you are in trouble and can’t use your voice to call the police, just blow into it. The police will receive your location imdiately and co to your aid. It is a silent whistle, a system product that is supposed to be launched next year. It works like an ergency beacon."
Mada Xu almost dropped the whistle because of its dubious origins. But, it was the first gift from her daughter-in-law and the thought behind it was acceptable. Her fingers brushed the rubbery texture. She studied Liwu’s face--tired, resolute, eyes that had seen too much.
She never knew how many long or uncertain hours detective worked until her son married one. Though unease stirred in her heart, related to Liwu’s bad luck, she chose kindness. "You must be tired. Co inside. No paper work today. I have put away those dreadful murder tapes and files in the living room. Get sothing to eat, watch a silly romance movie and sleep. Today, you are just Liwu. Not detective Liwu, not my son’s wife. Just Liwu."
Liwu was surprised. Wasn’t her mother-in-law afraid of her?
Inside, the villa was filled with warmth. Servants bustled, preparing tea and sweet jujube cakes. Mada Xu guided Liwu to a cushioned massage chair, pressing a porcelain cup into her hands. "Drink."
Mr. Shen cautiously waited by Butler Chen’s side for the liquid danger to pass. Where his wife had found bravery to go close to tea and Liwu in the sa place, he had no clue.
Liwu hesitated to take the tea anwhile, contemplating on the possibility of her mother-in-law poisoning her. She was truly not used to such gentleness from the woman.
But Mada Xu pressed on, wrapping Liwu’s hands around the cup. So, Liwu obeyed, sipping the fragrant tea. Mada Xu ordered Butler Chen to play the movie she had prepared and asked the servants to bring warm towels, scented oils and a tray of fruits.
"No star fruits,’" she emphasized.
Liwu smiled. She felt slightly guilty for traumatizing her mother-in-law with that star fruit comnt back then.
Mada Xu continued to fuss over Liwu, adjusting her shawl, smoothing her hair, as though Liwu were her own daughter. Her son stood alone, wondering if he was not his mother’s child anymore. Where was his welco package and pampering?
Yet beneath this sweet care, suspicion lingered. Mada Xu’s eyes flicked to the chandelier, cup, fruits, forks, and the brass coin Liwu had placed on the table. "Should I throw the coin away?"
Liwu shook her head. "Oh no, that is a clue left at the scene of a murder. Eleven years ago, a man dropped dead infront of his office building. He was bleeding from the stomach but there was no mark on his body, no weapon left behind, no footprints, no eye witness and nothing on surveillance. Only this coin was left lying beside his body. At first, everyone assud it was left by a random person but we tracked it to a rare collection from old Ro. It is an ancient coin, worth a lot of money. Only few such coins remain in the world."
Mada Xu’s fingers tightened around the whistle. "Did you catch the killer? Was he or she related to the coin?"
Liwu shook her head. "No. But more that, months later, another tragedy unfolded. A car overturned on a bridge out of the blue, killing a family. An eyewitness swore they saw a coin like this rolling away from the car and dropping in the lake. He gave a description. The sa crest, the sa size and shape. It was the brass coin again."
Mada Xu looked at the coin with the sa caution she had around Liwu. "So a killer who leaves coins or a coin that kills."
Liwu laughed. "Who knows?" Her eyes darkened. "We flew all the way to Ro and found an old professor that told us about the coin. He called it cursed, said wherever the coin appeared, misfortune appeared."
Mada Xu shivered. "And now it rests here!"
Butler Chen dove in like a seal, and he grabbed the coin with his gloved hands. He took off running, ignoring Liwu’s urgent voice as she called him back.
"Put it on a plane and send it back to Ro." Mada Xu scread. She shoved Liwu down into the chair. "You have enough bad luck in your life, you don’t need to carry around coins that attract misfortunes." She raised her voice at Weijun. "What are you waiting for, bring the salt? Find a priest with a system and get a peace talisman."
Weijun scampered away.
anwhile, Yuening calmly ignored the chaos, sorting through the souvenirs from Tie Ta with Officer Bun, Majesty and Reaper. Each of them was claiming what was pleasing to their eyes.
User Comments
0 comments from readers