Fan Fiction |
by Mimosa
It was 1 in the morning. Gallen lift his head dizzily off the thick pile of book and threw a glance at his friend enviously. Nick was sound asleep on his stomach, records and comic books scattered about the floor around his bed. Well, Nick did not have a killing final exam the next morning to worry about. Gallen got up to opened the window. Summer air mixed with the sweet scene of freshly watered grass blew into his face. Gallen suddenly long for a walk. He dimmed the light and noiselessly got himself out.
“The following morning I woke up quite late. I assumed Gallen went to take his final examination, so I just chilled inside the room, waiting for him to come back. But he didn’t come back until very late in the afternoon with a very queer look on his face. Then he told me he had decided to quit school and go back to HK by that night’s flight”
“I was really mad! I came to San Diego just the day before. He didn’t bring me anywhere yet, and now he wanted to leave me there and flied back to HK? That was unacceptable. I yelled and kicked around, and I guess I got onto his nerves. He finally showed me a slip of computer printout. Blood test record!”
“His own?” Old Eddie Cheung interjected “Was it Gallen’s blood test record?”
“I assume so, why?” Nick was slightly surprise
“Never mind! What about the blood test?” Julian impatiently reminded the young man
“Oh, there was the blood group circled in red. It said type A. Then he said something about his parents both had type O blood.”
“What did you think of it, Mr. Cheung?”
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Gallen is not a Wong!” Nick answered at once. Seeing the encouraging nod from the older detective, he ranted on “I think he’s a Tong!”
“What makes you say so?” Eddie asked sharply
“Well, Uncle Chan Yip is super nice to Gallen! I remember when we were small that every time Gallen got yelled at by his father, he would run to Uncle Chan Yip’s apartment, which was right next door.” Nick obviously loved the remembrance. “Uncle Chan Yip would allow us to play with his “super” computer, which was about the size of this table! He also taught us how to play guitar. Acoustic guitar! Gallen was getting very good at that. Uncle Chan Yip also talked to us a lot about Gallen’s Mom. His tone, now that I think back about it, must be that of an admirer talk about the love of his life.”
Eddie interrupted Nick’s enthusiastic recall process before it ran an additional page. “Is there anyone else who knows about that blood test?”
“Uh.. I don’t think so. Gallen made me swear not to let anyone know” Nick blushed… “I mean you are the police, so…”
“You’re doing the right think, Mr. Cheung” Eddie reassured him.
***
Julian looked up at his senior partner, who was stroking his jaw thoughtfully. Eddie nodded at Julian, and Julian went on eagerly:
“It seemed clear now. That Gallen Wong found out he wasn’t a Wong. He was afraid the rich Mr. Wong would find out and disinherit him, so he acted first. The whole thing about the Berkeley and the girlfriend might just be a cover. The secretary, that Mr. Tong, might be an accomplice, or even the murderer. That explained why he lied about leaving the office at the same time with Gallen Wong. He wanted to provide alibi for Gallen, who could very likely be his son. Then the second victim must learn about the secret somehow, probably from that talkative Nick Cheung. The second victim black-mailed him, and he just terminated the guy!”
Eddie kept stroking his jaw…
“So, which one would more likely be the murderer in your theory?” Eddie said after a long pause “You brought up two names, Julian”
“Uh… More evidences point toward Gallen Wong, aren’t they?”
“Nothing is what it looks, Julian!” Eddie shook his head slightly. Leaving Julian stood with an expression of loss on his face, Eddie walked out.
***
Hester still sobbed gently. Mrs. Yung sat next to the young actress, patting her back sympathetically.
“What can I do, Auntie Yung? I’m so worried. He hasn’t called at all!” She broke into tears again “I don’t know where he is! I came to all the sets to look for him. I’ve spent 2 hours there, but he wasn’t there…”
The old housekeeper shook her head; her face wore a very odd look for a second. But Hester didn’t catch it. She was startled looking at the clock… “I must go, Auntie Yung. Roger must be home soon. I don’t want him to find me here.”
And with that, Hester hastily retreated through the back door. The old woman stood still for a while. Her hand holding the table cloth had clutched into a fist. Her eyes were grim.
***
“Hester, are you okay?” Roger asked, irritated.
Hester had been quite absent-minded. Roger thought he should be the one that needed consolation. He was bewildered to hear about his brother. Roger needed some emotional supports right now from his girlfriend, but Hester seemed to have a problem of her own, which occupied all her thought. Somehow Roger could not help but thought Hester did not really love him. They had been dating for quite a while, yet she did not allow him to go pick her up at the sets, nor allowed him to bring her home. Well, Roger wasn’t too keen on introducing Hester to his family. Roger’s heart sank at the thought of his father. Well, now he wouldn’t have to worry about “putting up” with him anymore. Yet Hester refused so violently when Roger called and asked her to join dinner at his house. Only Felix and himself, Roger explained. The hotpot, Gallen’s favourite, was too much for two.
The atmosphere at the dinner table had been so depressed. It had been intended to be a little brotherly gathering, but it lost all the meaning as Gallen now somewhere about, wanted by the law. Roger nerves were wrecked.
And now this absent-minded air Hester was flashing about! It killed him!
***
“Jessica, what can I do to help him now? You know as well as I do he is innocent!” Hester spoke pleadingly
“Calm down, Hester!” Jessica frowned. “How can I be sure he’s innocent? If he is, he should give himself to the law by now, not running off like that!”
“So which one of you was there that Sunday’s night?” A male voice startled the girls, making the jump to their feet. Raymond had come to the door, looking sternly from one of the twin to the other. The twins averted their eyes, saying nothing.
“Come now! Was it you Hester?” Raymond turned his attention to the distressed girl. “So you date both brothers, sis?”
“Now stop talking like that Raymond!” The other sister objected.
“And you lied to me about being there, why did you do that Jess? For Hester? Or for someone else?”
Jessica’s answer threw both Raymond and Hester off their balances.
“It’s Roger!” Jessica said, very softly “He would never care a penny for me. He only loves you Hester. And it hurts me to see you cheat on him with Gallen.” She turned to her brother, whose jaw had dropped down “I don’t want him to hear at the court that Hester were there that night. So when Hester came and cried with me, I told her to let me stage a little lie”
“How silly!” Raymond cried in horror “Little lie! Do you realize you’re messing with the law? You gave false statements to the police, both of you!”
***
Gallen came round with an indescribable pain under his waist. The pain shot straight up the very top of his head, causing him to groan despite his own will.