Page 14 of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Vera quickly yanks the flash drive out of her computer. “Aiya, of course I don’t connect to my computer, do you think I’m so stupid?”

“Okay... but you shouldn’t even have the flash drive in the first place, Ma.” Tilly sighs again. “Look, you need to hand that over to the police, you understand?”

“They don’t even take case seriously. They say it looks like just innocent death!”

“Maybe because you took evidence from the—oh my god, I can’t do this. I can’t be talking to you about this while I’m at work. Look, Ma, don’t do anything. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay, drink more water and—”

Tilly hangs up before Vera can remind him to look for a girlfriend at his office. She stares at the phone for a bit, then sends him a text.

Don’t forget to look for girlfriend at office.

Text sent, Vera turns her attention back to the flash drive.Who would think that big secrets might be hidden in such a small item?she muses, poking the flash drive. Technology, what a wonderful and terrible thing. Getting up, Vera fetches her fanny pack and tucks the flash drive into the inside pocket before zipping it shut. There, that’s a good hiding place. She tromps back downstairs in case there is a line of customers clamoring to have some world-famous tea, but the shop is empty, as usual.

With a guilty start, Vera recalls how Alex had stopped by earlier that morning, but she’d quickly shooed him away because she’d been waiting for the killer to come and she couldn’t risk them getting scared away by Alex’s presence. Well, she’d better make up for her rudeness now.

She decides to bring over some of her specially made tea and maybe buy a couple of Singo pears on the way to his apartment.On the way home, she will buy some more groceries to cook for him and she’ll drop those off later in the afternoon. Yes, that is a good plan.

Less than ten minutes later, Vera locks up her shop, jams her visor firmly on her head, and heads up Washington with a basket slung over one arm. Inside are: one (1) packet of luo han guo and chrysanthemum tea, one (1) packet of goji berries, dried orange peel, and dried winter melon peel tea, and one (1) packet of butterfly pea flowers and lavender tea. At Mrs.Gao’s grocery store, Vera stops to buy two Singo pears, two dragon fruits, and one large bitter melon. Satisfied with the amount of nutrients and vitamins in her basket, she continues the hilly walk to Alex’s apartment building.

At the front door of Alex’s building, Vera is about to press the buzzer when someone comes out, so she lets herself in and climbs the staircase to the third floor. None of the apartment units have a bell or a knocker. Vera raps on the door to Alex’s apartment.

“Who is it?” Alex’s voice calls out in Mandarin.

“Alex-ah, it’s me, Vera. From the teahouse,” she adds.

“Oh!” Footsteps hurry toward the door, a chain is unlocked, and the door opens to reveal Vera’s favorite customer.

“Oh dear,” Vera blurts out. “Alex-ah, you look terrible.” She’s not one for false courtesy. Honesty is the best policy and so on, after all. “It must be because you haven’t had my teas for a while now. I’m so sorry about this morning. I know you must be dying to have some good tea, but oh, you won’t believe what happened!”

Alex nods. “Yes, Winifred told me that there was a death in your shop. I am so sorry, Vera,” he says with so much feeling that Vera can’t help but be touched. Here is a true gentleman, she thinks. “It must be horrifying. I came by earlier to check on you, but you seemed quite eager for me to be on my way—”

“Oh, that’s my fault! I was so rude to hurry you along like that. You see, I’m convinced that the dead man I found in my shop was, in fact, murdered, and I have a plan to flush out the killer, so I didn’t want you hanging around my teahouse as it is simply too dangerous,” Vera says dramatically.

Alex stares at her, seemingly taken aback by this proclamation. “What makes you think it was murder?”

“Never you mind, dear Alex, you have so much on your plate already. I won’t bother you, I know you must be tired looking after Lily. Right, I can’t stay long because there is a murder to be solved. You better stay away for the next few days until I catch the culprit. No use putting yourself in danger. But don’t you worry, I’ll stop by every once in a while to drop off more tea.”

She hands Alex the basket of fruit and tea and tells him to take good care of himself before taking her leave.

“Thank you, Vera.”

She could’ve sworn he teared up a bit then. She’s going to have to tell Tilly about it, that a customer was so grateful to get her tea that he actually teared up. Not that Tilly would believe it. Her heart feels twice as big as before when she walks out of Alex’s dank apartment building. It feels good to do good deeds. Imagine just how amazing she’ll feel once she solves the murder case.

There is a bounce in Vera’s step as she makes her way back to the teahouse. She’s so busy admiring the sights around her that it takes a moment for her to notice the man standing outside her shop, and when she finally does, Vera’s heart stops beating for a moment. It really does skip a beat, her blood freezing in her veins, her feet stopping short, her limbs turning into granite. It is fair to say that this is the most shock that Vera has ever experienced, even worse than when she found the dead body in her teahouse. Deadbodies rarely, in Vera’s vast life experience, appear in teahouses, but it’s not physically impossible for one to pop up occasionally. But what she is now seeing is utterly impossible. Because the man standing outside of Vera Wang’s World-Famous Teahouse is the very same man who turned up dead inside just one day ago.

EIGHT

OLIVER

The first thought that zips through Oliver’s mind is:Oh no. My brother just died very recently and now I’m about to kill this poor woman.

Indeed, the old woman standing a few paces away from him looks like she’s this close to having a heart attack, or a brain aneurysm, or whatever it is that happens when someone old gets a good shock. Or a bad one, depending on how you look at it.

Oliver quickly raises his hands in what he hopes is a nonthreatening manner. “Don’t worry, I’m not him! I’m his brother! His twin brother.”

Understanding melts across the old woman’s face. Her gaping mouth closes before opening again and going, “Oh...” She steps forward and scrutinizes his face unabashedly. “Wah, you look exactly like him.”

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