that’s all. But I would
like to hear what they have to say.”
After Mycroft settled them into a living room that seemed to the police officers the
size of a community center recreation basketball court, Staff Sergeant Panchal started
to ask questions. Speaking with Cherril apart from Aunty Lee had been her idea and
she wanted to make sure any evidence she extracted was credited to her.
“Someone heard you saying, ‘I hope it wasn’t the chicken buah keluak, ’ after Mrs. Sung and her son were found dead. Can you explain why you said that?”
“Because—well, you know they can be poisonous if not prepared properly. But nobody
ever had any problems with Aunty Lee’s buah keluak before.” Cherril glanced at her husband and Inspector Salim as she spoke. Mycroft
remained impassive but Salim nodded slightly.
“Did you mention your concern to the police you gave a statement to?”
“No. I didn’t. It was just a thought. A joke, in fact.”
“I understand you were helping with food preparations yesterday.”
“Actually I was taking care of the drinks.”
“So you did not touch any of the food? You did not help with any of the preparations?”
“Well, of course I did help a bit. There are only three of us, Aunty Lee, Nina, and
myself—”
“What qualifications do you have in food preparation, Mrs. Peters?”
“I—well, I’m sort of learning on the job.”
“Yet you were helping with the food preparations for the party yesterday. Did you
help with preparing the chicken buah keluak ?”
“No.”
“You were formerly working as an air stewardess, am I correct? “And you left your
job as a stewardess after some complaints were made against you, is that correct?
Did these complaints have anything to do with your food service?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? There is a copy of the complaints made and the passenger, one Mr. Scott
Barber—”
“The passenger said that he wanted the chicken main dish but he didn’t want to eat
halal chicken because he was not Muslim. I explained to him all the chicken on board
was halal and he got angry. Actually he was very drunk. But I didn’t leave my job
because of that. I left because I got married.”
“And do you cook at home, Mrs. Peters?”
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Cherril said. “Why are you asking
such stupid questions?”
She turned to Mycroft but he was watching as Staff Sergeant Panchal pointedly wrote
down “uncooperative” on her pad.
“I think you should leave now,” Mycroft said.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” he asked after the police had left.
“Why not just go for cooking classes? We can do up the kitchen here if you like.”
“Of course I want to go through with it. What happened has got nothing to do with
Aunty Lee. We just happened to be there when it happened, that’s all.”
“Aunty Lee manages to be around a lot whenever something happens. I don’t want her
dragging you into trouble. You know they’ll probably decide it’s food poisoning and
drop it, right? And you know that’s going to have an effect on her business. Are you
sure you want to go into it now? Just think about it.”
“Who else would take me on without any experience? Besides, you don’t know who else
might have had a motive to do away with the Sungs. Maybe Mabel’s daughter had a boyfriend.”
Mycroft snorted at this. “Or her husband had a mistress. Any of those people might
have had something to do with it. And you said yourself, isn’t it possible that Mabel
killed herself and her son rather than watch him die slowly?”
Cherril was already starting to sound a little like her culinary mentor, Mycroft thought.
Whatever she wanted to do was fine with him as long as she was happy. But now it struck
him that it might also be very tiring—for him.
11
Buah Keluak
“We should get back to the guest list,” Salim said as they got back into the
like to hear what they have to say.”
After Mycroft settled them into a living room that seemed to the police officers the
size of a community center recreation basketball court, Staff Sergeant Panchal started
to ask questions. Speaking with Cherril apart from Aunty Lee had been her idea and
she wanted to make sure any evidence she extracted was credited to her.
“Someone heard you saying, ‘I hope it wasn’t the chicken buah keluak, ’ after Mrs. Sung and her son were found dead. Can you explain why you said that?”
“Because—well, you know they can be poisonous if not prepared properly. But nobody
ever had any problems with Aunty Lee’s buah keluak before.” Cherril glanced at her husband and Inspector Salim as she spoke. Mycroft
remained impassive but Salim nodded slightly.
“Did you mention your concern to the police you gave a statement to?”
“No. I didn’t. It was just a thought. A joke, in fact.”
“I understand you were helping with food preparations yesterday.”
“Actually I was taking care of the drinks.”
“So you did not touch any of the food? You did not help with any of the preparations?”
“Well, of course I did help a bit. There are only three of us, Aunty Lee, Nina, and
myself—”
“What qualifications do you have in food preparation, Mrs. Peters?”
“I—well, I’m sort of learning on the job.”
“Yet you were helping with the food preparations for the party yesterday. Did you
help with preparing the chicken buah keluak ?”
“No.”
“You were formerly working as an air stewardess, am I correct? “And you left your
job as a stewardess after some complaints were made against you, is that correct?
Did these complaints have anything to do with your food service?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? There is a copy of the complaints made and the passenger, one Mr. Scott
Barber—”
“The passenger said that he wanted the chicken main dish but he didn’t want to eat
halal chicken because he was not Muslim. I explained to him all the chicken on board
was halal and he got angry. Actually he was very drunk. But I didn’t leave my job
because of that. I left because I got married.”
“And do you cook at home, Mrs. Peters?”
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Cherril said. “Why are you asking
such stupid questions?”
She turned to Mycroft but he was watching as Staff Sergeant Panchal pointedly wrote
down “uncooperative” on her pad.
“I think you should leave now,” Mycroft said.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” he asked after the police had left.
“Why not just go for cooking classes? We can do up the kitchen here if you like.”
“Of course I want to go through with it. What happened has got nothing to do with
Aunty Lee. We just happened to be there when it happened, that’s all.”
“Aunty Lee manages to be around a lot whenever something happens. I don’t want her
dragging you into trouble. You know they’ll probably decide it’s food poisoning and
drop it, right? And you know that’s going to have an effect on her business. Are you
sure you want to go into it now? Just think about it.”
“Who else would take me on without any experience? Besides, you don’t know who else
might have had a motive to do away with the Sungs. Maybe Mabel’s daughter had a boyfriend.”
Mycroft snorted at this. “Or her husband had a mistress. Any of those people might
have had something to do with it. And you said yourself, isn’t it possible that Mabel
killed herself and her son rather than watch him die slowly?”
Cherril was already starting to sound a little like her culinary mentor, Mycroft thought.
Whatever she wanted to do was fine with him as long as she was happy. But now it struck
him that it might also be very tiring—for him.
11
Buah Keluak
“We should get back to the guest list,” Salim said as they got back into the
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