Brian was interrogating the owner, Chang Lee, at a table in the back of the restaurant. He motioned for Zoe to go into the kitchen. The walk-in freezer door, already crisscrossed with yellow police tape, stood wide open. CSIs in white jumpsuits and booties, looking like Q-tips, moved in and out of the freezer and through the kitchen, taking photos, collecting samples, and lifting prints. Pots of egg drop soup still steamed on the stove beside woks full of unfinished stir-fried rice. The air carried the pungent scents of fish sauce and fermented tofu. The staff, bleary-eyed and exhausted, stood waiting along the wall.
Brenda O’Brien from the Medical Examiner’s office was examining the body of Chang Lee’s wife. On an antique throne sat Mei Lee—hands cut off, a silver tray of Peking Duck balanced on her stumps.
Zoe had seen a lot of crime scenes in her time, but this one was straight out of hell.
“Welcome to frozen hell,” said Brenda
Excerpt from Chinatown Mystery coming soon on Amazon Kindle
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