Homicide and Halo-Halo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #2)(59)

“She could still be Rob’s killer though. I mean, obviously I hope not, but you never know.” Bernadette pulled out her phone to look over the newspaper article. “I wonder who leaked the info?”

I pulled out my own phone to reread the article, maybe get an idea of who could’ve given the Shady Palms News the story. “Who else knew about this? Amir would never do anything like this and neither would Adeena and Elena.”

“Wait, you knew?” Bernadette looked up at me, eyes wide.

“Amir told me and the girls the night before that dinner at Tita Rosie’s Kitchen. He thought it might have bearing on the case, but he didn’t want word to spread since, you know, sensitive nature and all.”

Bernadette looked hurt I hadn’t told her, but just asked, “Well, do you think anyone else knew about it?”

“Rob did. We think he was blackmailing Sana, which Amir considered a motive.”

“So then—”

“Oh my gulay, do you think it was Beth who leaked the story? If Rob knew about Sana’s past, it’s possible that Beth did, too.”

“True . . . but I’m pretty sure you’re just saying that because you’re jealous about her and Jae.”

“Shut up! Not every choice I make has to be about my love life!” And whether or not I was jealous, which I wasn’t, it all made a sick kind of sense if this was her way of lashing out about everything that had been going on. Jae already said Beth saw Sana as competition. Couple that with the fact she wasn’t getting any money from Rob’s estate, the antagonism between her and Valerie aggravating the situation, and, you know, her husband’s murder, and she was bound to implode. “Anyway, it makes more sense that Beth did it than—”

Detective Park suddenly opened the door, causing me to shriek and Bernadette to stumble over since she was still peering through the crack. He sighed.

“I’m going to let it go this one time, but I don’t want to catch you trying to eavesdrop on another one of my conversations. Are we clear?”

We both nodded, and the look on Bernadette’s face told me she was thinking the same thing as me: We were in the clear as long as he didn’t actually catch us in the act.

“Moving on, the reason I asked you to stay is because of these.” He pulled on a pair of gloves before showing us a clear evidence bag holding two envelopes. He handed them to us and said, “I came here to talk to Sana and saw these two envelopes on your car windshields out in front. Considering what’s been going on, I wanted you two to open them in front of me.”

Bernadette and I looked at each other, then opened the envelopes at the same time, pulling out the paper to compare. Same envelope, same handwriting, same message.

    Mind your business. Curiosity killed the cat, remember?



Mr. Weinman must’ve found out we’d tipped off the police about him. But why include Bernadette in this? I looked over at her and asked as much. She gave me one of her Are you for real? looks, the one that let me know I had just asked something completely thoughtless.

“Did you honestly think you were the only one investigating? The only one asking questions? Just because I asked for your help didn’t mean I was sitting at home watching K-dramas while waiting for you to get results. Someone must’ve let it slip I was asking about him.”

Detective Park glared at us. “I thought I told you to stay out of this. Do you not remember how dangerous it was last time?” He held out his gloved hand for the notes and we handed them back. “These were definitely sent by the same person as the other notes. I’m just waiting on results from the fingerprints. One of the other officers is handling that and is supposed to let me know once they’re in. I can’t bring in Oskar Weinman until we have that final bit of evidence, unfortunately, but with this new evidence against him, I can push to expedite the process.”

“So that’s it? We just sit around and wait and hope he doesn’t come after us until those results come in?” I asked.

“I have officers watching both your houses, as well as the cafe and restaurant during working hours. As long as you both stay vigilant and stick together, I’m sure we’ll get our man.” At our skeptical looks he added, “I’m sorry, but until all the proper paperwork is in order, we can’t make a move. We can’t afford to make any mistakes on such a high-profile case. But I promise you, I’m doing all I can to keep you two safe. Now are you ready to head out? I’ll escort you home.”

As Bernadette and I grabbed our bags, Detective Park said, “By the way, Lila, Dr. Kang says you still haven’t called her. I think talking to her will help you with this waiting period, so you don’t fret too much. I—where are you going?”

“I just remembered I needed to talk to Sana about something. You two go on. I can have her drop me at home.”

Before he could stop me, I hurried out of the studio and up the stairs to Sana’s apartment. I pounded on the door, glancing behind me to make sure he wasn’t following me, and slipped inside once she opened the door.

“Lila? Can I help you?” Sana stood at the open door and glanced down to see the detective staring up at us and Bernadette on the landing. “Oh, hi, Detective. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they get home OK,” she called down the stairs before moving aside to let Bernadette in and shutting the door.