By the time he collapsed at his desk, Chan wished he’d gone back to Kelso’ for a nap instead. He found a bottle of aspirin buried in the back of a drawer and downed two with a few swallows of bitter squad room coffee.
“You look great,” said Kelso, eyeing Chan across the desk.
“Good work, Detective,” said Chan, burying his head in his hands.
“So . . . ?”
Chan told Kelso where he’d been. How he’d found out his godfather was in Shanghai, and why that concerned him more than Snuffy being in town.
“I can’t protect him there, Chin. He’s an open target.”
“Come on, David, man. From one dream you’re telling me now that he’s being hunted down across the Pacific Ocean? What? He’s into some kind of international intrigue?”
The phone rang. It was Kathy. “Hey, how are you, honey?”
He appreciated the sound of her voice so much now. He shook his head, then remembered she’d not be able to see this. “Not great. My head is killing me.”
“Well, I’m sorry to contribute more to that, but I’ve got bad news. They just brought me a suicide. It’s Harvey Wong.”
The news stunned Chan.
“David?”
“Where? How?”
“The report says he jumped off a lānai at some mansion up your way. Pacific Heights Place. A neighbor’s dog found him when it sniffed out the body in the yard.”
“Suicide? I don’t believe it, Kathy. Not for a minute. Someone’s tying up loose ends.”
“Okay, David, go do your thing. Again, I’m sorry to make things harder on you.”
Chan hung up and told Kelso about Harry Wong.
“Chin, we just saw him yesterday. There’s no way he was suicidal, right? The guy just wanted a place to hide out for a while.”
Kelso didn’t say anything.
“Well?” said Chan.
“Look, boss, you were the one reading the situation. You thought he had nothing to do with any of the fires or the murders.”
“So what?” said Chan. “You’re telling me you did? That I was misreading him?”
“Eh, David, that’s not what I’m saying. No way. Whatever you think, brah, I trust your gut. But still . . . ”
“Still what?”
“If he didn’t do them himself, maybe it was all too much for him anyway. His family business. Maybe he couldn’t take all the weight anymore.”
Chan thought about this. Sergeant Honda came in and dropped a letter on Chan’s desk. “This was in the mail for you.”
Still confused by Wong’s supposed suicide, Chan opened the letter. It was written in beautiful cursive.
Dear David, by the time you see this, I’ll be gone.
First, I wanted to tell you that Alice and I have always been honored to be your godparents. When your dad told us he wanted us to do it, I was flattered. To be chosen by a man I admired so much, well, it was a real honor. For both of us.
Second, I’m sorry I’ve not been better at the job. You know it’s funny, but after the baptism ceremony, they gave us a list of our obligations as godparents. Number one on the list, we were supposed to teach you the Ten Commandments. Well, David, never having been much of a church person, I did know there were ten, but I knew only one: Thou shalt not kill. That one I knew very well.
There were other things we had to make sure you knew, like the Apostles’ Creed, and some other things I don’t remember. I had no idea what any of them were.
So I’m sorry I never taught you any of them, but I didn’t know them to teach them to begin with, so I’ll use that as a shameful excuse for not doing the job. But in all fairness, your dad was amused when I asked him if this were a genuine obligation. He said it wasn’t, that he and your mom would take care of all of that. The whole thing, about being godparents, it was more symbolic, he said. So I just let the whole matter go.
Maybe that was wrong. Maybe your dad was just being kind. I don’t know.
I do know things haven’t been as good between you and me since your father died. I’ve always been aware that you believed more should have been done to track down his killers. I’ve always known that you hold me responsible for not going after them with the kind of intensity you would have. And for this, I’m so sorry.
I also know that from time to time you’ve wondered about my involvement in other cases, and how I’ve gone about investigating them. I hope you believe me a good enough policeman to have figured out that you had very strong suspicions about me from time to time. I’ll say no more about this.
David, by the time you read this I’ll be gone. I told Alice that I was going to Shanghai to visit Ben, but that’s not true. I tried to get her to go with me, but she can’t. I understand her dedication to her work, and that’s one of the things I have always admired about her. She’s the love of my life, David. You do know that your dad brought the two of us together, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
I know your father, your grandfather, my father and now you, are the four best minds ever to serve HPD. I’m proud to be the godfather of one.
This being said, I know you might find reasons to try to locate me. I, in turn, will try my best not to allow you to do that.
No matter how this may play out in the end, Godson, I am forever yours with great love and aloha,
Uncle Snuffy
Chan read the letter again. Then he took two more aspirin and handed the letter to Kelso.
“Chin, I have to head back to your place. I have to get some sleep.”
“Sure, David, sure. You need the rest, bruddah. Take it easy.”
When Chan’s head hit the pillow, he was out. And then he dreamed.
In it, he was standing in the parking lot of Kelso’s condominium. Looking up, he saw his Uncle Snuffy standing at the railing of Kelso’s third-floor lānai
“How did he know I was here?” Chan wondered.
At that moment, Apana looked down at Chan and smiled and waved.
In response, Chan pulled out his revolver, and taking careful aim, put a bullet in his godfather’s forehead.
Jumping in his blue Chevy sedan, Chan sped out of the parking lot.
Where he was going, he had no idea.
Lanning Lee 