Homicide and Halo-Halo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #2)(62)
“Thanks, you two. You’ve given me a lot to think about. And I’m sorry for being suspicious of you, Sana.”
Sana shook her head. “It’s understandable, considering the circumstances. Don’t be so quick to dismiss someone because you like them or think they’re not capable of it. My time in prison taught me a lot of things, including this: Everyone is capable of murder.”
The mood was way too serious, so I tried to lighten it with a joke. “Even me?”
She looked me in the eye. “Considering all the love and loyalty you seem to have for your family and friends? Absolutely.”
Chapter Twenty
The usual crew gathered at Tita Rosie’s Kitchen for our morning meeting: me, my aunt and grandmother, my godmothers, Bernadette, and Joy. My aunt had also convinced Adeena and Elena to come join (“We never see you anymore! You’re getting so thin, please eat with us!”) and we all built up our silog platters, this time with the addition of fried tofu and bangus for my vegetarian/pescatarian friends. I had to admit, it was nice to see them chattering with everyone and stuffing their faces with my aunt’s excellent cooking again. I hadn’t realized how lonely I’d been feeling lately considering that I was the one who kept pushing them away.
After filling everyone in on what happened yesterday, Bernadette passed her phone around the table so everyone could see the picture of the notes she’d snapped the day before.
“Oh yeah, that’s definitely Mr. Weinman’s handwriting. I haven’t seen the first pageant letters, but I saw the ones he sent to Winnie and it’s a match. I’d recognize that old-fashioned handwriting anywhere,” Adeena said once the phone reached her.
“And the detective said they can’t do anything until they get the fingerprint results back?” Ninang June asked her daughter. Bernadette nodded and Ninang June scowled. “What a waste of time. I understand the need to do things properly, but with a town this small, how long could it possibly take to run those prints?”
As if in answer to her question, the door chimed and Detective Park walked in. He didn’t waste time with pleasantries.
“The results came in this morning. Oskar Weinman admitted that he sent those notes, both the pageant ones as well as the ones on your car the other day. Said he didn’t appreciate you poking into his personal business during such a sensitive time,” here he gestured to me and Bernadette, “and he was humiliated after he got kicked off the judging panel even though it was Rob Thompson who did him wrong. He’d hoped the threats would be enough to derail the pageant, but seems like Shady Palms’s parents weren’t going to be put off by something as small as threatening letters.” Detective Park did a good job of keeping the censure out of his voice, but I knew it was there all the same. He continued, “Anyway, it’s good that you figured it out when you did. We searched his home and found that he was planning to escalate. Stage schematics and scribbled notes lead us to believe he planned on sabotaging the final event, possibly causing harm to all the people onstage. Good work.”
I shook my head. “I can’t believe Mr. Weinman would go that far just because he couldn’t be a judge in this ridiculous contest. What was he hoping to gain from all this?”
Ninang April said, “Even though it wasn’t publicly announced, most of the town knows Rob slept with his wife and got him kicked off the panel. On top of that, his business is struggling and that position would’ve come with free advertisement and other perks. He probably wanted to ruin something he knew Rob cared about.”
What a sad thought. “You said he confessed to the notes, but what about Rob’s murder?”
Detective Park frowned. “No, he says he had nothing to do with it. Claimed he was on a date with Winnie Pang when the murder happened.”
“Really? Did she, what’s the word . . . validate? No, corroborate? Whatever, did she back up his claims?” She’d given me the impression that she’d wanted nothing to do with him, but maybe she was seeing him on the low and was too embarrassed to say something. He was quite a bit older than her after all, and she’d made such a big deal about not relying on a man. Maybe she didn’t want to look like a hypocrite.
Detective Park nodded. “She said he was telling the truth, but asked me not to spread that information around. So again, this is confidential and I better not hear this making the rounds. Is that clear?”
He directed his stare at the aunties, who rolled their eyes but agreed. “It’s fine. Oskar Weinman admitting to the notes and attacks on the judges is more than enough to keep us busy. For now,” Ninang Mae added.
“So what does this mean? Are you still looking for Rob’s killer?” I asked, trying not to glance toward Bernadette.
“The sheriff seems to think that Mr. Weinman did it. He admitted to the threats because we had evidence against him, but thinks he can fight us in court over the murder.”
“That’s not really an answer, Detective.”
He sighed. “As far as the mayor and SPPD are concerned, we’ve got our man and it’s only a matter of time until he confesses. He’s out on bail now, but he’ll have his day in court. Case officially closed.”
“That’s great!” Bernadette said. “Now I can go back to work without dealing with my patients thinking I’m a killer. And once he’s behind bars, we’ll all be safe.”