Page 32 of Lion & Lamb

“No judgments here. I live on my phone.”

“The police asked us lots of questions already,” Archie Jr. said. As he lowered his phone Veena stole a glance at the screen. Based on the graphics and framing, the boy was watching some sort of true-crime show.

“Yeah? What kinds of things did they ask you?”

Maya rubbed Archie Jr.’s shoulders. “You should probably wash up before dinner.”

“Lions gorowrr,” Maddie said, then giggled again.

“That’s right, they do.”

“Do all private eyes have animal names?” Archie Jr. asked.

Responding to Veena’s puzzled expression, Maya said, “A colleague of yours was by earlier today.”

“Ah, Mr. Cooper Lamb,” Veena said, nodding.

“Lambs gobaaaaaand lions gorowrr,” Maddie announced. “Do you know his dog, Loopy? He’s so cute!”

“I know Lupe, and he is indeed adorable,” Veena said. “But watch out for Mr. Lamb. Sometimes big bad wolves like to hide in sheep’s clothing.”

This caught Maya’s attention, just as Veena had intended it to.

Chapter27

HIGHLY CONFIDENTAL

EYES OF THE POLICE COMMISSIONER ONLY

Dear Madam Commissioner:

A quick update on the Roy Nguyen situation.

I know speculation has run wild in the media. It’s understandable—first, someone murders Archie Hughes, then, barely two days later, his former personal chef is badly beaten and shot. (I’m keeping in constant touch with the hospital, by the way, and will let you know the moment his condition improves…or worsens.)

This is why I immediately drove to Ardmore to learn what I could from the Lower Merion PD. Cutting to the chase, this appears to have nothing whatsoever to do with the Archie Hughes murder.

From what I hear, Nguyen is big into sports gambling. And while it’s true that he had a lot of money riding on the Birds this year, I understand he owes quite a bit all over town. It’s messy, but it could explain why a well-known chef would have taken a high-paying gig in the Hughes home.

I spoke to the Lower Merion detectives and forensics team. They’re still working on their report, but it’s clear that the attack was about intimidation,and things rapidly escalated. There were signs of a pretty brutal struggle inside Nguyen’s apartment (broken furniture, doors) that spilled over into the hallway, where the chef was shot in the chest twice, at close range.

If this were a professional hit, Nguyen wouldn’t have heard him/them coming, much less had the opportunity to fight him/them off. (It’s possible there were multiple attackers, but all signs point to a single perp.)

My unofficial take:A leg-breakershowed up to scare some money out of Nguyen. The chef fought back, which caught the leg-breaker by surprise. Things spiraled out of control. The leg-breaker pulled a gun, at which point Nguyen probably tried to take it away. Two shots to the chef’s chest later, the leg-breaker hightailed it out of there. (Again, had this leg-breaker been a pro, he would have made sure Nguyen was dead.)

I want to assure you that I will follow every detail of this case as it develops to see if there are any solid connections with the Hughes murder. But at this point, my gut is telling me no.

And like my dad used to say: “When your gut is talking, listen to it. Then go eat something.”

Yours,

Det.Michael Bernstein

Chapter28

Transcript of conversation between Detective Michael Bernstein and Glenn Sable, co-owner of the Philadelphia Eagles

GLENN SABLE: Mickey, my man. What’s up?

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