Second Chance

Chapter 10 - Jake Investigates

The day didn’t start well for Ah Ying. Her left eye had been twitching the whole time. Being a superstitious person, she believed this was a not a good sign: misfortune was about to befall her. When she told Mao-chan about it, he, being more open-minded, just shrugged at her notion in the beginning. But when she became more and more restless as the morning dragged on, he thought it might be wise to take her to a nearby temple. Only after she had prayed to Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, was her heart able to find peace. And amazingly, the twitching was gone too.

This phenomenon had Mao-chan at a loss for words. Nevertheless he was glad to see his wife revert to her chirpy self.

The uneasiness in Ah Ying, however, reared its ugly head again when Jake called her and Mao-chan to the living hall right after dinner. Throughout their years of employment under him, they had never been summoned to his presence like this before. Furthermore, ever since his return from his outing this afternoon, he appeared sombre – that certainly didn’t augur well. She wondered what he had in store for them. As they took their seats on the couch near to the fireplace and faced Jake, an atmosphere of nervous apprehension entombed her.

Upon noticing Ah Ying’s trembling legs, Mao-chan began to get a troubled feeling. He realized now that his wife’s eye twitching was truly an omen for disaster – even Guan Yin could not help them. Faced with this undesirable situation, he knew what he had to do. After taking a deep breath, he stood up and bowed to Jake. “My wife and I are terribly sorry if we had done anything to displease you, Master. We hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive us.”

“Was it my cooking, Master?” Ah Ying added, standing up as well. Her voice was becoming a whisper. “Was it too salty? Or too bland? Please advise us and we promise we shall not repeat our mistakes.”

Jake, sitting on a big velvet chair, was puzzled. “What are you two babbling about? I am not appraising your performances, which by the way are excellent. And I loved your vinegar trotters dish tonight, Ah Ying; no one can cook it the way like you do.” A pause later, he said, “No, I called you here for a chat.”

“A chat?” Mao-chan asked, his forehead wrinkled.

“A chat?” Ah Ying echoed.

“Yeah, a chat; conversing with one another in a casual way, that kind of thing,” Jake said, amused by their weird behaviour. “And please sit down, for heaven’s sake. Your standing at attention is making me mighty uncomfortable.”

The couple did as they were told, a long heavy sigh escaping their lips while they were at it. Then Mao-chan gave his wife a face. “Silly woman!” he chided her. “You got me all worried sick for nothing.”

Utterly embarrassed, Ah Ying wished she could bury her head in the ground like an ostrich.

“What’s going on with you two?” Jake asked.

Mao-chan told him what had happened.

Jake chuckled. “Don’t be so hard on your wife, Mao-chan. She might have overreacted but she meant well.”

“I know,” Mao-chan said, his open-mouth-smile showing off his gap teeth. “I was just teasing her, that’s all.” He then bear-hugged Ah Ying and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

Ah Ying blushed. “No, no, not in front of Master, you moron!”

This time, Jake let out a loud hearty laugh. He liked Ah Ying and Mao-chan; they always cheered him up whenever he had a bad day, like today. Married for over twenty years, they never had a serious fight and they were still as much in love, if not more than when they first met each other through a matchmaker. The only downside to their happy union was that they had no offspring.

After wiping away his tears of laughter with his handkerchief, Jake eyed the couple then revealed his real purpose for calling them here. “I’d like you two to help me out with something. And this something goes back three years ago. So before I proceed, may I ask you this: how sharp is your memory?”

“Sharper than a razor, Master,” Mao-chan answered with pride.

Ah Ying nodded in agreement.

“Excellent,” Jake said, looking pleased. “Now listen carefully, because it involves Madam.”

Ah Ying was dumbstruck by her master’s disclosure. All she could muster up was a meek “Oh” reply.

Mao-chan’s eyebrows rose a couple of notches; he was shocked too. But he was able to regain his bearings faster than his wife, and he flashed Jake an anxious look. “Master, I beg of you, let the past go,” he pleaded. “You know it cannot be changed or undone. On the other hand, it will only bring back sorrow and pain to all of us, especially you. We don’t wish to see you getting sick again.”

“Your deep concern towards my welfare is profoundly appreciated, my friends,” Jake replied, smiling at them. “But I must do this – it’s very important to me … and to Madam. Please help, please.”

The chubby chauffeur looked at Ah Ying. Then he looked back at Jake. “Very well, Master,” he finally gave in. “What do you wish us to remember?”

“I only need to know one thing,” Jake declared. “The week before Madam was admitted to the hospital, did she come in contact with anyone outside her small circle of acquaintances?”

There were a few moments of silence as Ah Ying twirled her hair with her finger and Mao-chan knitted his brow, both deep in thoughts. Only the soft crackling sound of wood burning in the hearth could be heard. Jake watched them and waited with bated breath.

At last Ah Ying said, “I remember Madam only left the house twice that week: the first time she went to her hairdresser. Then, a day before she fell sick, it was at the street market. It was her weekly routine; she told me this place had everything from food to the latest clothing fashions that she liked to spend time browsing through and finding a good bargain. The people whom she spoke to were all known to us too.”

“Yes, that’s correct,” Mao-chan chipped in. “Ah Ying and I accompanied her on both occasions. There was nothing out of the ordinary that I can recall.”

Jake fell back to the chair, his heart sinking within him; it was not the response he’d been hoping for. “Are you both certain?” he asked in a crestfallen voice.

“Positive, Master,” Mao-chan replied, full of self-assurance.

“What about an old monk? Did she meet anyone that looked like one?”

“No.”

“A monk?” Ah Ying cut in, looking thoughtful. “Now that you mention it, yes, there was an old man in the street market. Although bald-headed, he was no monk as he was dressed in civilian clothes. He appeared out of nowhere and knocked into Madam, causing her to fall to the ground. He apologised for his clumsiness and offered to pay for the medical expenses. But since there was no harm done, Madam declined his offer and let him go.”

Mao-chan was stumped. “That’s strange. How come I have no recollection of this?”

“That’s because you were busy looking for a space to park the car after dropping us off; you didn’t witness the incident,” Ah Ying answered. “Madam must have thought it was too trivial a matter to even worth a mention. In fact I’d totally forgotten about it until Master brought up the monk topic.”

Jake’s eyes lit up. “Was this old man in his sixties, short, and with white beard and a round, benevolent face?” he asked excitedly.

“Why, yes,” Ah Ying said, surprised. “But how did you know?”

“Yes, that’s him!” Jake cried, rising to his feet and pumping his fist in the air in triumph. “That’s Master Muk Long! Your statement has proven that he was the assassin beyond a shadow of a doubt. That bastard disguised himself and staged the accident so that he could apply the Dim-Mak strike on Mei-suet.”

“What is happening, Master?” she pressed. “Who is Master Muk Long?”

“Master, you are talking in riddles; what is actually going on?” Mao-chan asked, scratching his head – he thought Jake had gone cuckoo.

Jake sat down and told them everything: from his trip to Devil Falls yesterday to his encounter with the old monk this morning.

The couple looked as if they had been struck by lightning.

“W… Why would the monk want to kill Madam?” Mao-chan asked, his voice shaking both in anger and confusion. “She was such a nice, sweet lady. Everyone whom she had dealings with liked her.”

“I don’t know,” Jake answered, clenching his fist. “But I strongly believe Master Muk is not the real enemy; someone else hired him to do the killing. It’s my job now to ascertain who he is. Only then will the reason behind Mei-suet’s senseless murder be revealed.”

Mao-chan stood up once more, and bowed to Jake. Ah Ying joined him.

“Master, we Chinese firmly believe in the ‘an-eye-for-an-eye, a-life-for-a-life’ doctrine,” the chauffeur said sombrely. “To exact revenge for Madam is not only the right thing to do, it is your sworn duty. Ah Ying and I know you’ll encounter difficulties in hunting down the mastermind, and we are more than willing to assist you in whatever way we can. All you need to do is ask.”

“Thank you, the two of you, I truly appreciate that,” Jake responded, blessed with the knowledge that their loyalty to him knew no bounds.

Ah Ying who had remained silent all this while, finally spoke. “Oh, poor, poor Madam,” she said, her voice cracking and her eyes welling up. “She doesn’t deserve this.” Thereafter she began to feel faint.

Fortunately Mao-chan, alert as ever, managed to grab her by the shoulders before she collapsed.

“May we be excused, Master?” Mao-chan requested, his anxious eyes on Jake. “I’m afraid the trauma of discovering Madam’s actual cause of death is a little too much for my wife to bear.”

Jake nodded his approval without hesitation. “Call the doctor if Ah Ying’s condition does not improve.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Mao-chan replied as he led Ah Ying to their room. “She will be all right after I apply medicated oil on her temples and give her a short rest.”

Later, in the privacy of his study, Jake decided to call up Wing-mun. He felt it was only right and proper to inform his buddy about Master Muk Long’s misdeed; he didn’t want anything to come between them should the unfortunate happen to the old monk, which he reckoned would be very likely.

However, Wing-mun didn’t answer the phone. Jake dialled another couple of times yet he got only a ringing tone in return. He was about to hang up when he eventually heard a soft “hello” – it was Wing-mun’s voice.

“Hello there, Mun Gor,” Jake greeted him. “Already in bed so early? It’s only nine o’clock.”

“Oh, it’s you,” the drug lord said, puffing hard. “Yeah, I am in bed doing gardening.”

“Gardening … in bed?” Jake asked, his face twisted into a scowl. But before he could inquire further, he heard a woman’s faint moan on the receiver. Remarkably quick-witted, he caught Wing-mun’s meaning on the spot. “Oh, that kind of gardening,” he chuckled. “No wonder you sound so out of breath. At what stage are you in now?”

“The ‘ploughing-and-wetting-the-soil’ stage. It’s a strenuous job, but oh, so enjoyable.”

“I am sure it is.”

“Can we talk tomorrow, Jake? I am about to reach the final and most crucial stage here.”

“Of course, no problem. Enjoy your … err … gardening, Joy-stick.”

Wing-mun snickered. “You can bet on it, Dead-stick. And don’t worry, I won’t let you feel left out. I’ll plant another seed on your behalf. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Gee, you’re all heart,” Jake said in a humorous tone.

Winter was early this year. Jake stood by the window, watching the snow sprinkling down flake by flake, from the charcoal-black sky, gently blanketing the courtyard and the surrounding woods in a deep and pearly white. Even though he was not particularly fond of winter, he had to agree that there was something magical about the first snowfall of the season, and it warmed his heart.

It’s like a gift from God, purifying the sinful world with its whiteness and lavishing beauty, Jake thought, the wondrous sight bringing a smile to his face. If only He had not taken Mei-suet away from me, we would be happily dancing and drinking champagne right now. But a moment later, he received a big jolt when he heard his own reflection on the glass speak to him: “Are you still so blind not to see the error of your ways? You can’t escape the consequences of killing people your whole life. What goes around comes around. Karma has gotten back at you. So stop blaming God for Mei-suet’s death. This is all your own doing.”

Jake quickly backed away from the window, breathing hard – was it his conscience or God Himself messing around with his head? He absolutely had no idea. But whoever he was, Jake had to admit he was telling the gospel truth. The ex-gunman slumped, full of remorse, onto the armchair.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, the only words that came out of his lips were: “What have I done? What have I done?”