The Mystery of Moutai by G.X. Chen

Author:G.X. Chen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: amature sleuth, detective adventure, mystery amateur female sleuth
Publisher: G.X. Chen

CHAPTER 8

Paul Winderman was in the kitchen drinking his first mug of coffee at the crack of dawn when his cell phone rang. It was Ann. “Good morning, or should I say good evening?” he quipped.

“How about good afternoon,” Ann replied with a chuckle. The last time she called, she had asked Paul to look out for the arrival of a book. Even though Paul hadn’t totally lost his hope of solving Shao Mei’s murder, he was practical enough to realize Shao Mei’s file would probably end up in the middle drawer of his file cabinet.

The steel-framed file cabinet in the corner of his office had three big drawers and contained all the cases he had been working on since he had started his career as a homicide detective in Boston almost two decades ago. The top drawer, labeled Case Pending, housed all the files of current cases that he had been working on; the bottom drawer, labeled Case Closed, housed most of his cases with satisfactory results; and the middle drawer, labeled Cold Case, contained a few thick files he would open periodically when there was a fresh lead. Paul hated to place any case file in the middle drawer but sometimes his hands were tied—this was the case in the murder of Shao Mei.

It had been two months since the crime had been committed and the police still couldn’t pinpoint a person in the city who was remotely suspicious or tied to Shao Mei’s murder, as if her killer had just walked off the planet and disappeared into thin air. No matter how hard they had tried, Paul and his colleagues weren’t able to find any clue pointing to the motive or the reason why Shao Mei had to die.

Sitting on a kitchen stool, Paul listened carefully to what his amateur friends had to say. He was doubtful that their overseas pursuits would bear any fruit, but he was appreciative of their efforts. The young pair had been trying very hard to help him. “Yes, I have to admit it did cross my mind at the beginning,” he told Ann after she had presented him the question about gangsters. “But I don’t think Shao Mei’s murder is gang-related. The Asian gangs we know in Chinatown are mostly young men whose favorite weapons are guns and knives. Why should they change their methods if they want to rob or kill someone in Chinatown? Using a bottle of expensive liquor as a murder weapon is simply too complicated for these guys. No, my friend, it’s very unlikely.”

“I thought of it only because I had difficulties explaining the recent events,” Ann lamented. “Why did Mr. Wang, the owner of the bookshop in Wangfujing, have to die? According to an eyewitness next door who saw the body before the police, Mr. Wang died the same way that Shao Mei did. Do you think these two cases are related?”

“I can’t really tell unless I have evidence,” Paul replied. Being a homicide detective, he

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