“It’s OK, I’m here.” Tita Rosie plodded toward us, her face still filled with grief but her voice clear and strong. She smiled at Amir and nodded at Detective Park. “Jonathan. Let’s get this over with. I want to start cleaning as soon as your men are done in my kitchen.”

Detective Park’s face softened as he looked at her. “Rosie, I’m sure you don’t believe me, but I’m very sorry about all that’s happened. I just need your statement and I can assign some men to this case.”

“You’re not going to look into it yourself?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Already have my hands full with the Winter case and now the Spinelli assault. But don’t worry, I trust—”

“Wait, don’t you think this vandalism and your case are connected?” I asked.

“No comment,” he said, readying his tablet. “Now, on to the questions.”

We walked him through everything we’d seen and done, starting from when we got home last night until the cops arrived at the restaurant this morning.

Other than the questions he asked, Detective Park made no additional comments, just noted down the information as we gave it. When we finished the interview, he said, “OK, give me a moment while I go check on something.”

We watched him converse with another officer, who pulled out his own tablet and seemed to be comparing notes with Detective Park. The detective nodded, seemingly satisfied, and made his way back to us.

“OK, your story checks out. The officer tailing Ms. Macapagal confirmed your alibis for last night.”

Wait, someone was tailing me yesterday and I never even noticed?

My hands balled into fists. “You had someone spying on me? How dare you!”

“Ms. Macapagal, forgive me, but you’re a suspect in both a homicide and a narcotics case. On top of that, you were also found at the scene of an assault. Only a fool would’ve let you out of their sight after that series of events. At the very least, we can clear you of vandalism. Judging by the lack of smell, the earliest this could’ve happened was last night. Your tail confirmed your whereabouts early Sunday. Also, the patrols were adamant neither you nor any member of your family left the house after our talk yesterday.”

“Oh, goody for us.” My initial instinct to react with sarcasm was quickly brushed aside when what he said sank in. “Wait, did you just say I was cleared of vandalism? You thought I destroyed my own restaurant? Me? Ruin the years of hard work that my aunt and grandmother put into this place? How could you even think such a thing?”

He shrugged. “It’s not unheard of. You could’ve done it to throw us off your scent. Make your family out to be the victim, so that we focus on some phantom vandal instead of you. Or maybe you did it for insurance reasons.”

I thought Lola Flor was going to spit in his face, she looked so disgusted with him. I put a hand on her arm and almost shook my head at her, but that would make her more likely to act out of spite.

Amir stepped between my grandmother and the detective. “Well, unfortunately for the Macapagal family, they are the victims.” He gestured toward me. “My client is innocent of all these heinous crimes you seem desperate to pin on her, and I hope your department works quickly to find the true culprits.”

Detective Park ignored him, closing his tablet with a snap. “Our interviews are done and we have the pictures we need. You might want to talk to Mr. Nelson and reschedule that health inspection, Rosie. Hate seeing this place closed down for so long.”

My aunt didn’t answer him, just turned around and marched back to her office. Lola Flor followed her. I stayed put, watching the cops pack up and leave as a unit.

Detective Park lingered for a moment before saying, “I was serious about hating to see this place closed down. Rosie is a good woman. You need to take better care of her. I don’t think she’s handling this well.”

How dare he accuse me of not taking care of my aunt when he was one of the main reasons she was so stressed out?

The fury in my eyes must’ve been palpable because he took a step back. “Look, I’m just saying . . . call a cleaning service. Have it charged to the insurance. Don’t let her put everything on her shoulders, OK?”

I didn’t give a response and he didn’t seem to be waiting for one. He turned his attention to Mr. Long and the health inspector, and I watched, confused, as Detective Park issued a warning to them. Something about not pulling any of that “funny business” here. What the heck was he talking about? Was Detective Park also investigating the scam Derek seemed to be pulling on local restaurants? That dude had his fingers in a lot of pies.

After the detective left, Amir cleared his throat and handed his business card to the health inspector. “I’ll be contacting you with some concerns I have about your business practices, Mr. Nelson. You too, Mr. Long.”

The health inspector nodded and hurried away without a word, but Mr. Long narrowed his eyes at us. “We’re not done here. Not by a long shot.”

Chapter Twenty-seven

Mr. Long’s not-so-cryptic threat hung in the air long after he left, making me wonder what else was in store for my family. Was he trying to hint that the destroyed kitchen was only the beginning of our problems? Was that a confession?

I asked Amir as much.

He frowned. “I don’t know, Lila. He definitely has it in for your family, but I have a hard time picturing him taking that kind of risk. He already knows you’re having trouble with your bills. He could just wait for you to default on your payments and close you down without dirtying his hands.”

“Well then feel free to brainstorm with me because I’m all out of ideas.” I chewed on a fingernail, not even caring that I was getting a mouthful of glitter polish. Usually that was enough to deter me from this old habit, but today was a special occasion.

Tita Rosie and Lola Flor approached us, arms loaded down with cleaning supplies. “We’re going to start cleaning up, Amir,” my aunt said. “I’m sorry, but can we talk about how to file insurance claims and everything else later? I want to get this done as soon as possible.”

“Of course, Auntie Rosie. But shouldn’t you call a cleaning service for this? It’s a lot of work and you’ll probably be reimbursed by your insurance, if you’re worried about the money.”

Lola Flor dismissed that with a quick psh. “Pay good money for something we can do better ourselves? Forget it.”

Knowing better than to argue with my grandmother, he said, “OK, I’ll handle things on my end and be back soon.” He gave a quick squeeze of my hand, nodded at my aunt and grandmother, and hurried out.

I went to the office to change into the spare clothes I kept around for cleaning, then walked back to the kitchen, hesitating at the doorway. I watched my aunt stoop over as she swept up the debris while my grandmother threw out everything that was left in the fridge, keeping up a steady stream of complaints and Tagalog curse words as she did so.

As I stood there, a silent observer of this tragedy, Tita Rosie straightened slowly, groaning as she rubbed the kinks out of her back. The fluorescent lighting picked up flecks of gray in her beautiful black hair, gray strands that weren’t there when I first left for college. A collage of images overlaid themselves in my mind like a photo reel as I remembered watching this same sight year after year, her spirited movements becoming slower as time passed. It was there that it hit me: My aunt was getting old. Old and tired and massively overworked.

Detective Park was right. Tita Rosie needed looking after and there was no one else up to the job but me.

So I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

* * *

? ? ?

I was hauling out yet another bag of trash when Amir and Adeena showed up. Bernadette, Marcus, and the Calendar Crew pulled up next to them, followed by Kevin.

“What are you all doing here?” I asked, nearly dropping the bag.

“Did you think we were going to let you handle this mess alone? Amir told us what happened. We’re here to help.” Adeena held up a bucket with cleaning supplies and rubber gloves.

“Just like Rosie and Flor not to say anything,” Ninang April said as she pushed past me to enter through the back door of the kitchen. “What are they trying to prove?”

As expected, my aunt made a big fuss, thanking everyone for their time but insisting we didn’t need help. “Besides, don’t you all have work?”

“The coffee shop’s closed on Mondays,” Adeena said.

Kevin nodded. “Plus you’ve been so helpful lately, I figured it was time I extended a neighborly hand.”

The Calendar Crew spent most of their time helping Ninang June run her late husband’s business and had a side hustle selling things on eBay, so their schedules were extremely flexible.

“Well, what about you three?” Tita Rosie asked, looking at Amir, Bernadette, and Marcus. “You have a career. Very important jobs, diba?”

“We’re both working the midafternoon shift,” Bernadette said, gesturing to her and Marcus. “So as long as we leave before two, it’s not a problem.”

Amir shrugged. “You’re my client, aren’t you? So I’m technically working. And my prices are very steep.”