Can I have noodles with that?

I’m not sure what it is about crime scenes but I always get hungry at the most inappropriate moments.

The growling emanating from my stomach is so loud it breaks down the frosty exterior of the middle-aged, gruff forensics officer taking photos of a discarded red stiletto, half empty bottle of white wine and blood stains at the back of Tastes of Asia.

‘Bit peckish Maddie? The dumplings look good and you could always wash them down with that Chardy,’ he laughs at his own wit as he gestures to the menu tacked to the back door and the forlorn-looking bottle of wine.

Rolling my eyes to the sky I retort, ‘Actually George, I’d like some noodles with my side order of murder. And for the record it’s a Riesling, not a Chardonnay.’

George shrugs and returns to his job, ignoring my sarcasm.

The smell emanating from overflowing garbage bags jammed into the green hopper mere metres from the back door mixes with the ever-present odour of fried food and the stench of urine. If it were a fragrance it’d be called something like Back Alley Breeze. My eyes lock on a soft rustling coming from one of the bulging plastic sacks and I tap George on the shoulder.

‘Probably just a rat,’ he grunts and I shuffle sideways. I hate vermin. I’ve had a phobia about them ever since playing in a grain silo on my parent’s farm when I was five. There were hundreds of the devils running through that stuff. They even crawled through my hair. Thankfully, I don’t have to go through the rubbish. That’s the job of George and his team.

The Twin Peaks theme music echoes through the narrow space. The boss is calling. This time George rolls his eyes and I ignore him.

‘What’s the story?’ he starts as soon as I pick up.

‘I’m fabulous and how are you on this fine Sunday morning?’ I sass before moving into report mode. ‘No bodies. No victims. Not yet. But there’s enough blood to indicate a struggle. The owners are Kiara and Jimmy Chen. I’ve spoken to the head waiter who said the last customers left around 11:00 pm. They were a large group celebrating a birthday who spent big on drinks but were friendly. No arguments about the cost, number of spring rolls, lack of MSG or anything. Adam, the waiter, who is also Jimmy’s nephew, left the premises after cleaning and re-setting the tables at 11:45 pm. Kiara and Jimmy were still checking supplies for the next day. Adam called the police after he arrived at 6:45 am with the fish market delivery and noticed the blood and discarded shoe at the back door. Neither Jimmy nor Kiara is answering their phone and I left my number with the nephew. Told Adam to call me if he hears from them or thinks of anything else that may help our investigation.’

Before I can continue, Senior Detective Tom Gardiner interrupts.

‘Footage? Phones?’

‘The owners installed cameras a couple of years ago but they haven’t worked for months. I’ve got Josh checking neighbouring businesses and the local council to see if we can access anything but it’s a dark and dingy spot. I’m not hopeful of getting anything. The GPS on both phones is not responding. Their last known location was here, at the restaurant.’

‘Do Kiara and Jimmy have kids?’ the head of the Homicide Squad pushes.

‘Jimmy did. Kiara’s his second wife. He has three kids with his first wife, Lily – twin girls aged 16 and a 13-year-old son. They live with their mum. The nephew, Adam, said it was a bitter divorce. Kiara’s 20 years younger than Jimmy. She was a server at the restaurant and Lily’s best friend when she and Jimmy started having an affair.’

‘Have you talked to the ex-wife yet? The kids?’ Senior Detective Tom Gardiner asks.

‘No. I’m heading there shortly. I want to see what theories George and his team have before I visit them. Boss, there’s a half bottle of wine in the alley as well. George is taking DNA swabs. The nephew said the Chens often took unfinished bottles of wine home and the red shoe is definitely Kiara’s. She always wore red stilettos – it’s her thing. Personally, I couldn’t think of anything worse than wearing high heels and being on your feet serving crappy customers all day and night.’

I hear a muffled sigh at the other end and picture his nostrils flaring. He’s not in a good mood.

I grab a much-needed double-shot coffee and toasted sandwich from a nearby service station while George and his team search the garbage. When I return, he confirms the hopper contained nothing but general restaurant rubbish and … rats. George confides it looks like the hopper has moved from its usual position and there’s fresh blood on the outside. It may have been bumped during the fight or scuffle. The team will test the blood stains on the footpath and on the hopper for matches to the Chens. Jimmy Chen’s car is still parked on the street nearby and forensics officers are already trawling through it. There are no weapons, unless you count the stiletto and bottle, but there’s nothing to indicate they’ve been used in an attack. They’ll run tests on them too, but unlike the CSI dramas on TV, forensic tests take time. George concludes its likely the Chen’s were attacked and taken from the scene after leaving the restaurant last night. The first question is why? The second is, are they still alive?

I put in a call to the boss and request our best financial analyst investigate the Chen’s bank accounts. I want to know if they were in financial trouble or owed money to any unsavoury people.

As I pull up in front of Lily Chen’s neat two-storey townhouse at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in Springvale my phone pings. It’s a message from a private, unknown number. I’m greeted by a photo of a note. The letters, cut from a magazine, have been pasted on a blank, white piece of A4 paper. It looks amateurish and the lack of punctuation irritates me. It’s like something you’d see in a B-grade movie but I immediately forward it to the boss.

Our murder investigation has now become a kidnapping and ransom operation. After a quick conversation with Senior Detective Gardiner ˗ I once called him Tom and got a roasting ˗ I gather my phone and notebook and stroll past a pretty garden. Bright coloured flowers border a gravel path that weaves past a large pond where fat carp swim under lily pads. Dotted through the garden are statues of dragons and mini pagodas, and I can’t help but smile when a Hello Kitty perched by the water’s edge waves at me in the late morning sunshine. 

Before I can ring the doorbell, the front door swings open. A petite woman with a dark bob, greying at the temples, and wearing faded designer jeans with a white Country Road t-shirt stands behind a screen door. It’s hard to be sure, but I guess she’s in her late 40s. The only thing out of place are the fluffy pink slippers on her feet.

‘You took your time,’ she states as she unlocks the screen door. Her eyes rake over my messy blonde ponytail and the navy pant suit and pale blue blouse ˗ recent Target purchases.

‘Lily Chen?’ I show her my ID and hold out my hand but she leaves me hanging. ‘I’m Detective Maddison James. May I come in?’

‘Yes, yes,’ Lily replies as she bangs the front door closed and waves me through to a small loungeroom where a teenage boy is playing Call of Duty. Lily orders him to leave and do homework and he scuttles away.

I perch on the edge of a large, white leather couch as Lily lowers herself onto a plush armchair opposite me. I randomly wonder how she keeps the leather looking so pristine when she has three teenagers in the house.

‘Do you mind if I record our conversation Mrs Chen …’ 

‘Wu. I changed my name. After the divorce. Lily Wu, and yes you can record our conversation. I have nothing to hide.’

I push the button to start the voice recording app on my phone and begin.

‘Ms Wu. You’re aware that Jimmy and Kiara Chen have not been seen or been in contact with anyone since around 11:45 pm last night. When was the last time you saw or spoke to either of them?’

Lily pulls her phone from her pocket and hands it to me. 

‘So, you’re not going to ask me about this?’

It’s the message. The ransom note. ‘When did you get this? Do you know the number?’ 

‘Ten minutes ago, and no, it’s a private and unknown number. What does it mean?’ her voice is sharp as she snatches the phone from my grasp. 

‘We don’t know yet. Ms Wu, when did you last speak to Jimmy or Kiara?’

‘I don’t speak to Jimmy. We message each other, that’s it and I never talk to her. The homewrecker,’ she spits. ‘The last time Jimmy and I messaged each other was yesterday at 10:30 am. He pays for the twins tutoring but the company called me. He’s behind in his payments. I messaged him demanding he pay the outstanding bills. Li and Min’s marks have been very disappointing, ever since Jimmy cheated on me,’ Lily bellows and I wonder if her children are listening in. Poor kids.

‘How did Jimmy respond?’ I ask as I take notes.

‘He said he’d take care of it but he still hasn’t paid them,’ Lily scoffs. ‘I know it’s her. She’ll be in his ear telling him not to waste money … on his own children! She has champagne tastes. Jimmy spends every cent he can to make her happy. To keep her. Have you seen where they live? Top floor penthouse apartment a couple of blocks from the MCG. And did you know he bought her a new BMW? Not to mention all the jewellery and designer shoes. Meanwhile I live in our old, modest home in suburbia and he can’t be bothered to pay for his kids education!’ Lily’s face goes red as her voice goes up another notch. 

‘Did you argue a lot?’ It seems an absurd question, considering her rants. 

‘Argue? Ha! That’s a good one. Jimmy’s weak. She’s walking all over him. I demand and he usually delivers but lately he’s pushed back. I know she’s behind it.’

Here’s the opening I was looking for, ‘How was Jimmy’s finances? You said they live in a penthouse and Kiara has an expensive car. The restaurant must be doing well?’ 

Lily laughs. The sound ricochets around the room. ‘You obviously know nothing about the restaurant business. When Jimmy and I ran it, we worked hard every day and made enough for a comfortable lifestyle, but that’s all. We almost went broke during COVID. Cut back staff to just to us, Kiara and Adam. Home deliveries kept us afloat. That was when the two of them got together, during the pandemic. I caught them, doing it in the restaurant kitchen. At it like dogs on heat. I kicked him out that night and haven’t stepped foot in the place again. We built it together, but now I want nothing to do with it. Since then, Kiara’s changed the menu. Made it modern and trendier. She calls it a fusion of Asian flavours. No more Beef and Black Bean. Oh no, it’s Spicy Singapore Noodles these days. Our loyal customers left so they rebuilt their client base and went for a younger demographic.’

I pause as I digest all Lily has divulged. ‘So, how’s it doing now? Do you know?’

‘Adam, Jimmy’s nephew, told me they’re making more money than before COVID but they’d have to. To keep up with all Jimmy’s extra expenses.’

‘Do you know if they owed money to anyone? Did Jimmy have silent partners or associates that might not be happy with the new direction?’

Lily snorts, the sound so loud the kids must have heard it. ‘What are you asking Detective? Do you think because we’re Chinese Australians we do dodgy stuff? Because our restaurant is in Chinatown that we have criminal connections? The Triad maybe? Is that what you’re asking?’

Keeping my voice calm I push on, ‘Well, do you? Does Jimmy?’ 

‘Please. Spare me. Haven’t you listened to anything I said? Jimmy’s an amazing cook but he’s a push over. He’d never get messed up with that crowd, his ulcer couldn’t cope,’ Lily chortles.

Crunch time. ‘Ms Wu, where were you between the hours of 11:00 pm last night and 6:45 am this morning?’

Lily leans forward and speaks directly to the voice recorder, all the time staring me down. ‘I was home, except for my regular gym class at 5.45 this morning. I was here, looking after my children. You can ask them if you want to.’

‘Okay, thank you Ms Wu. I would like to talk to your children but as they are under 18 you should sit in on the interviews.’

Lily stands to get the kids but turns to me first. ‘Do you really think they’ve been kidnapped? Who would do something like that?’ her voice is soft and it’s the first time she exhibited any real concern for her ex-husband and former best friend.

‘It’s early days Ms Wu but we are treating this seriously.’ Lily takes a deep breath before exiting the room. Quick, firm footsteps echo on the stairs. I hear muted voices and doors opening and closing and then lighter footsteps approaching. I’ve stopped the recording and my phone now sits on a coffee table in the middle of the room.

I rise as the twins, who are almost identical in appearance, enter the loungeroom, their younger brother trailing behind. I introduce myself and ask their brother to wait outside while I speak to his sisters first. Min and Li sit close together at the end of the couch and Lily resumes her position. The way her hands rest on the arms of the chair remind me of Morticia in old The Adams Family TV show. Like Morticia Adams, Lily commands the room. The twins glance at their mother before agreeing to the recording. I ask when they last saw Lily at home, and Min, who is the spokesperson for the pair, says they had dinner around 7:30 pm before the girls went to their bedroom to study. They snuck to the kitchen for a snack around 10:00 pm and saw their mother in the loungeroom watching television. They stayed up until after midnight working on an assignment together and both heard their mother take a shower and go to bed around 11:30 pm. They heard their mum leave the house at 5:30 this morning, explaining she’s an early riser and goes to the gym before returning home to get the family ready for the day. I ask Li if this is correct and she squeaks out a yes for the recording. 

‘So, the last time you both physically saw your mother was around 10:00 pm last night but you heard her have a shower at 11:30 pm and leave the house to go the gym at 5:30 am. The front door is downstairs. That’s a long way from your bedroom. Do you normally hear it from up there?’

Min steals another peek at her mother before responding. ‘Well mum isn’t that quiet; you know what I mean? We know her footsteps and she’s pretty noisy when she moves around the house. The front door jams, so you have to pull it open and slam it shut. So, yeah, we did hear her.’ Li nods along to this revelation.

Next, I talk to their brother Xin. He says he went to his room after dinner to do homework but admits with some trepidation and sideways looks at his mother that he played games online with friends before falling asleep around 10:00 pm. He had his gaming headphones on so he didn’t hear his mother moving around the house but did hear her leave to go to the gym this morning. 

I thank the family for their cooperation and let Lily know we’ll be in touch. I reach the front door first. Min is right, it does stick. I yank it open and the last thing I see as Lily slams it shut is her smug expression.

As I walk to the car I call my offsider Josh and ask him to contact the gym, ask for proof that Lily is a member and was there this morning. He tells me he’s had no luck with CCTV footage of the back alley but has requested footage from a bank across the road that may provide an angle to the front door of the restaurant. I hop in the car and punch in directions to the gym. The GPS says it’s a 10-minute drive and I figure you could shave a couple of minutes off that early in the morning. I drive to the gym and take note of the limited parking out the front and the large car park at the rear of the building.

When I arrive at the command centre on St Kilda Road, the boss ushers me into his office. ‘How did it go? Is she clean?’

I plonk onto the chair opposite him before recounting my interviews with the family. ‘In short, Lily has no love for her ex and particularly her former friend. She’s still very bitter about the breakup but I’ll put money on the table she was at home last night and went to the gym this morning. If not, then she’s one hell of an actor.’

Josh knocks on the door. ‘I’ve scanned the footage from yesterday through to this morning from the bank across the road. Nadda. Nothing. Customers going into the restaurant, customers coming out. The large group leave just after 11:00 pm last night like Adam Chen said and then he leaves at 11:45. The lights go off in the restaurant at approximately 12:10 am and then nothing until Adam returns at 6:45 am.’

I sigh in disappointment but Josh grins. ‘Okay,’ I say, ‘I’ll bite. What else do you know?’

Josh says he got confirmation from the gym that Lily is a member and she attended a spin class at 5:45 this morning. She left the gym around 6:50. In their eagerness to help, the gym sent Josh not only Lily’s membership details but their complete membership list. Adam Chen is on it.

‘Lily Wu and Adam Chen go to the same gym. Interesting but not damming,’ the boss replies.

‘True,’ Josh answers as his grin expands, ‘but they also gave me their footage from this morning, from the street and the back car park. As they’re a 24-hour gym they’ve had car break-ins while members are working out. The company put a camera out there six weeks ago. Kept it quiet and the camera is well hidden.’ Josh places a series of photos on the table and we all lean in. They show Lily pulling into the carpark then getting into Adam’s car, the two of them talking before they kiss and she exits the vehicle.

‘Well. Well. Ms Wu and Mr Chen have some explaining to do,’ the boss says. ‘Good work Josh.’

My phone pings. It’s another message. Another note. This time demanding $1.5 million within 24 hours or pieces of Jimmy and Kiara will be delivered to headquarters.

‘Get onto the tech team. See if they’ve had any luck tracing that number. Ask George if he has any results yet and if Matt has anything on their financial situation. I’ll get the approval to seize and examine Ms Wu and Adam Chen’s phones and put them under surveillance,’ barks the boss.

I’m half out the door when he calls me back. ‘Wait. Give Ms Wu a call first. See if she got this latest note and ask her to send it to us. Tell her we’d like her to come in. Let her know we’d like to clarify points from her statement and need to discuss where we go with the investigation. Let’s see how she reacts and what she does.’

Lily Wu sends me the message. She asks me how the investigation is going and who will pay the ransom before telling me she doesn’t have the money and asking if the police will cough up the cash. I tell her there’s a lot to discuss and ask her to come to the station. Lily says she will be there at 4:00 pm, after the kids soccer. She sounds cool, calm and in control and all I can think of is how I’d hate to play this woman in poker. 

George informs me they’ve identified three different blood types on the pavement and the hopper, indicating that the attacker, or at least one of them, may have been injured in the fight. His team are currently collecting DNA samples from the Chen’s apartment and we should know soon if there’s a match. 

From Matt’s investigation so far, Jimmy has a separate account he’s been siphoning money into from the restaurant but it’s not clear why and there’s been no transfers for over a month. The account is almost dry. Jimmy and Kiara rent the penthouse and the lease for the BMW is in Kiara’s name but the restaurant is his. Jimmy took out a loan to buy out Lily’s share 18 months ago. He owes the bank more than $500,000 for the business. There’s been significant extra expenses for clothing, shoes and jewellery and Jimmy’s credit card is maxed out. He’s skint. Matt will keep digging and call me when has more to share.

The tech team are not getting anywhere with the phone number. It looks like it’s a burner phone. Untraceable. Josh and I look into Adam Chen. He’s 21 and doing IT at university. The kid is smart, top marks at school and great marks at uni. He’s been working at the restaurant since he was 16 and deferred his studies for a year to help Jimmy and Lily during COVID. Adam is also a fitness fanatic, enters triathlons for fun and rides mountain bikes on weekends. He’s young, clever, fit and strong. 

At 10 minutes past four, Josh and I escort Lily to a small interview room that’s always a couple of degrees warmer than the rest of the building. The boss is watching and listening in the room next door. What Lily doesn’t know is that Adam is already there. We picked him up a short while ago and confiscated his phone. We’ve let him sit and stew.

As the door opens, Adam jumps up. Lily’s eyes narrow when she sees him and he quickly returns to his seat. 

Josh and I pull up chairs opposite the couple and I start, ‘Thank you for coming in Ms Wu, Mr Chen. There are key points we’d like to clarify regarding the statements you’ve made.’

‘Why are you wasting time talking to us. You should be out there, finding Jimmy! Didn’t you read the note? The clock’s ticking. I don’t care what happens to her but Jimmy was once my husband. He’s the father of my children …’

‘And your regular paycheck,’ I interrupt.

‘How dare you?’ Lily shouts. ‘He has obligations. To his family. To me!’

I pull Lily’s statement from that morning from a small folder and place it on the table between us. ‘You said the last time you messaged Jimmy was yesterday at 10:30 am when you demanded that he pay the outstanding bill for Min and Li’s tutor. Correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘Ms Wu, what else did your ex-husband cover? School fees? Piano lessons? Soccer gear? The townhouse? Your rates?’

‘The house is mine. I paid the bank what was left when Jimmy gave me money for my half of the restaurant and yes he pays half the school fees and for the kids extra-curricular activities. It’s the least he can do after tearing our family apart.’

‘From what I can see he hasn’t been doing his ‘part’ for several months. The outstanding tutoring is just one of many bills he’s failed to cover recently. Is that right?’

‘I told you, she’s behind it. Stopping him from doing what’s right,’ Lily thumps the table as her face goes crimson.

‘So, you and Mr Chen came up with a plan to get back what he owes you, didn’t you?’ I lean forward, my face so close to Lily’s I can see the expertly applied false lashes that frame her eyes. Through all this Adam has stayed quiet but now squirms on the chair as if he’s desperate to go to the toilet.

‘Me? Adam? That’s ridiculous. Adam is my nephew, or was my nephew,’ Lily states with absolute authority.

I spread the photos from the gym’s CCTV camera on the table. Adam gulps and beads of sweat shine on his forehead. Lily remains defiant. ‘Adam was worried about me. He wanted to make sure I was okay. That kiss is nothing more than a concerned peck.’

There’s a knock on the door. The boss enters holding Adam’s phone. He introduces himself and pulls up a chair to the table. ‘We have evidence that you and Mr Chen have been having a relationship, an intimate relationship, for six months. Would you like me to share the photos and videos? Some are, well, quite explicit,’ Senior Detective Gardiner says as he waves Adam’s phone in front of them.

Lily punches Adam in the arm and he recoils.

‘Your phone has been quite the treasure trove,’ the boss continues, speaking to Adam. ‘You’re clever Mr Chen. All the messages between you are encrypted and you jammed your GPS so we can’t see where you’ve been. But what we’ve accessed so far confirms your relationship and that together you plotted the kidnapping and ransom. What we’d like to know is where you put them. Are they still alive? Don’t worry we have a crack team and they’ll get there eventually but if you tell us now. If you cooperate, it may lessen your sentence.’

Adam shifts in his chair as Lily’s eyes bore into his. ‘Don’t say anything Adam. Not until we get a lawyer.’

 ‘Sure. You can play that card but like I said, help us and it will be better for you,’ the boss pushes as he continues to speak only to Adam.

‘Alright. It’s true but you don’t understand. We’re in love,’ Adam starts. Lily places her head in her hands as Adam spills the beans on their plans. He tells us where Jimmy and Kiara are and when we get to the tin shed on a pig farm that belongs to one of Adam’s university friends, the couple are bound together and heavily sedated. We pick up Adam’s friend and discover the plan was to chop them up and feed them to the pigs. Apparently, pigs will eat anything. You learn something new every day! 

Three months later I’ve just finished interviewing witnesses at a gruesome murder scene and, as usual, I’m starving. Before I realise it, I’ve pulled up outside Tastes of Asia. A young woman greets me at the door and escorts me to a cosy table by the window. Kiara’s serving other customers but recognises me immediately and totters over in her killer red stilettos. After almost suffocating me in an enormous hug, she tells me I can order whatever I’d like from the menu. It’s on the house. Kiara recommends the dumplings as a starter and the Kung Pao Chicken for the main. When she asks if I’d like rice to go with the chicken I reply, ‘Actually, can I have noodles with that?’