Raymond and Kenneth walked out into the open area of the bar where the cops were waiting.  His eyes immediately fell on Charmaine as he advanced towards her.  He noted with displeasure that her face was set again in that sour expression he hated.  As he approached her he searched her face for a clue as to why she was even here but he couldn’t see any.  Flanking both sides of her was two young officers whom Raymond recognized from previous encounters.  All three of them looked determined as if they were here for something and weren’t leaving until they got what they came for.  “Madame Shen, what brings you here?” he asked softly.

Charmaine had expected him to greet her with his usual cockiness but was surprised when he spoke to her in a calm friendly way.  “A young girl was found dead a few blocks from here just now.  Inside her bag we found your business card.  So we’re here to question you and see if you know anything about it.”

Keeping his eyes on her Raymond said, “I’ll answer any questions you have.  Let’s step into the back room so we can have some privacy.”

Charmaine nodded and with Bosco and Natalie a step behind, they followed Raymond into a room.

Once seated, with Charmaine sitting directly across from Raymond, she asked, “Were you here in the bar all night?”

Raymond nodded.  “I arrived here a little after 9:00 pm and have been in this room going over paperwork since then.  My employees can be my witnesses.”

“Did you give out your business card to anyone in particular tonight?” Bosco asked eyeing Raymond warily.

“No.  I was in here alone.  I only came out to use the bathroom and to get a drink,” Raymond responded calmly to Bosco’s question but his eyes remained fixed on Charmaine.

After jotting down Raymond’s response, Bosco continued, “Are you the only one who has access to your business cards?”

Raymond leaned back against his seat and looked at Bosco, “No.  My business cards are kept in a draw behind the bar counter.  Everyone who works here knows where it is.”

Bosco narrowed his eyes at Raymond and said, “That’s strange.  Why would you leave your business cards out in the open for everyone.”

Raymond chuckled and answered with humor, “I don’t have any reasons to keep them locked away and hidden.”  With a taunting grin he asked Bosco, “Should I?  Is there a law against leaving business cards lying around?”

Bosco ignored the questions and studied Raymond with probing eyes.  “I find your reaction very strange.  We tell you a girl died a few blocks from here and she had your business card in her bag and you don’t appear to even care or show any interest as to why she had your card.”

“I don’t care because a lot of people have my business card,” Raymond answered in the same calm tone which seem to infuriate Bosco further since he was trying in vain to find a way to make Raymond crack.  “And a lot of people die every day.  It’s part of life.”

Bosco jumped out of his seat and with his hands on his hips he shouted angrily, “The girl was only fourteen!  She died of drug overdose!”

Raymond’s indifference to the questioning abruptly changed.  A flicker of sadness and grief flashed across his features.  It was gone so quickly no one detected it except for Charmaine who had been watching his reactions during Bosco’s interrogation.

In a somber voice, Raymond said quietly, “I have nothing to do with her death whether you believe it or not.”

Before Bosco could say anything Charmaine quickly jumped in, “Mr. Lam, thank you for cooperating with us tonight.  That’s all the questions we have for now.  If we have further questions I hope you don’t mind us coming again.”

“Of course not,” Raymond said smoothly.  “It’s my duty to cooperate with the police.”

Charmaine stood up as did Bosco and Natalie.  “Thank you again.  I apologize for taking up your time.”  She turned to leave but Raymond called out to her.

“Madame Sheh.”  When she turned around to look at him he said, “Can I speak to you in private for a minute.”

Charmaine didn’t know what he could possibly want to say to her but she was curious so she nodded her head.  Kenneth took that as a cue and led Bosco and Natalie out of the room.  When the door closed with a soft click, she looked directly at Raymond, “What do you have to say?”

Raymond walked towards her, a wan smile on his face.  Looking down at her he said firmly, “I swear to you I don’t know anything about that girl or her death.  I’ve been here all night.”

Charmaine didn’t really know why but she believed him.  Maybe Steven’s persuasion had succeeded or perhaps it was that flicker of grief and sadness that had come and gone so quickly on his face.  There was no way a person can mask those expression unless it was heart felt.  “Don’t worry.  If you’re innocent we won’t be able to stick any charges on you,” she assured him.

Raymond was relieved by her words and said, “Thank you for believing me.”

With a friendly smile Charmaine said, “You should thank Steven.  After bumping into you the other night he put in a lot of good words for you.”

“Steven?” Raymond said hoarsely.

“Yes.  Steven said your brother transformed your family triad business to a respectable legal one.  He admires your brother a lot you know.”

Raymond looked at her with a strange expression and asked, “And you take his word for it just like that?  What if he lied to you?”

Charmaine laughed softly.  “Steven doesn’t lie.  Besides what reason would he have for lying?”

Raymond shrugged as he tried to ignore the growing annoyance within him.  “Seems like Steven also turned around your prior opinion of me.”

Suppressing another soft laugh Charmaine nodded her head.  “Steven is right.  I get too involved with my cases and try to solve each one of them rapidly that I tend to jump to wrong conclusions.  He reminded me that everyone is innocent until proven guilty and not the other way around.”

Raymond was now beyond annoyed by her frequent mention of Steven Ma.  “I will have to thank him then for taking my name off your number one suspect list,” Raymond mumbled sarcastically.

Charmaine completely missed the sarcasm in his tone and responded with a twinkle in her eye, “Yes you owe him big time otherwise I’ll be crashing your bars every night until you make a confession,” she joked.  “Take him out to dinner one night but not tomorrow night.  He’ll be having dinner with me.”

“Sure,” Raymond said with a forced smile.  He then walked to the door, “If that’s all I have to get back to my papers.”

At the door Charmaine turned to give him another smile, “Thanks again Mr. Lam.”

“No problem,” Raymond said then closed the door behind her.  Alone in the room he stalked back to the sofa kicking a nearby ottoman that got in his way.  He poured a hefty amount of liquor into a glass and drank it in one gulp.  He was feeling moody and edgy.  Had been since she mentioned Steven Ma’s name one too many times.  Just the reminder brought out a fresh wave of anger and with frustration he threw his glass across the room.