Bless the Bride

she looked down at her hands as if embarrassed at what she had just said. I noticed that she had thin, wrinkled hands topped with long, claw-like nails, so the effect was hen’s feet with rings on them. Then she looked up again, defiantly this time, and spat out more words with venom. “He has brought in other women before, but none of them can give him a son. I tell him he is being foolish to bring in these girls. Spend our money for nothing. He is an old man now. Too old to have a son anymore.”
    “If it really was this girl he brought in from China, how do you think she found a way into the house to kill your husband with nobody seeing her?” the captain asked.
    “How did she find a way out when she vanished? The doors were locked. Our men were down below in the street, but she managed to run away.” She looked up at him. “Maybe she is a demon—a being with supernatural powers. I wouldn’t be surprised at this. I did not trust her from the moment I saw her face. It was an evil face. When I looked at how her eyes were formed, I knew that she was evil.”
    As she spoke, I realized one thing was very clear. Bo Kei was absolutely right when she had said that wife number one had not welcomed her into the house. And I found myself wondering if she was angry with her husband for bringing in a succession of young women, reminding her that she was old and barren, and spending their money needlessly, as she had pointed out. Had she finally decided that she’d had enough of living like this? After all, who had a better opportunity to push Lee Sing Tai off the roof than the woman who presumably shared his bed?
    “Supposing it wasn’t this young woman,” Captain Kear insisted. “Can you think of anyone else who might want your husband dead?”
    “Hip Sing,” the interpreter translated for her with vehemence. “They have already made several attempts on his life. They will stop at nothing until they have killed him and destroyed On Leong. This is their sworn duty.”
    “Anyone else?” the captain insisted. “Has anyone been to visit your husband at the apartment recently? Anyone you didn’t know?”
    The interpreter looked at her expectantly. She shook her head. “I am not invited to be present when my husband does business. I know my place and stay away.”
    But you listen behind the drapes, I wanted to say.
    Without warning she stood up. A great flood of Chinese preceded the translation. “Why do we sit here, discussing who might have killed my husband? Maybe it was an accident. Maybe nobody killed him. What does it matter? He is dead, isn’t he? Nothing will bring him back. And I am left alone. What is to become of me, huh? Who will look after me? He promised he would make money in America and then take me back home to our village. Now I am stuck here and alone.”
    “You have young Bobby here,” the captain said. “He’s already volunteered to take care of you.”
    The interpreter dutifully translated.
    “Him?” She looked at him, her lip curled like a dog’s. “He is good for nothing. He bleeds us dry. It would not surprise me if he hadn’t pushed my husband off the roof.”
    “How can you say that!” Bobby Lee demanded. “I treat him with the same respect I give to my real father. I obey him. I make his businesses prosper for him. I even do his dirty work for him. And I tell you that you do not need to worry. I will prove to you that I will take care of you as if you were my mother.”
    “Pipe down, everyone,” Captain Kear said. “All this noise is giving me a headache. I’m not concerned with what’s going to happen now. I want to know what happened on that rooftop, and believe me, I’ll get to the bottom of it.”
    “You will see that Frederick Lee came back here for revenge,” Bobby said. “Perhaps he and the girl have planned this together. Perhaps this woman here is also part of the plot.” And he pointed at me.
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” I said. “I am a well-respected private investigator. Mr. Lee hired me to find this runaway girl. It’s as simple as that.”
    “Then why you not find her yet?” Bobby Lee demanded.
    “I had only just begun to look,” I said. “Why did your father not find her for five days before he hired me? I’m sure he had plenty of men at his disposal.”
    I shifted uneasily on the hard seat of the sofa. I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable about being here, not just physically but mentally too. I longed to be back in the security