The Red Light Girls (Unsolved Mysteries Book 2) by Kim Knight (most romantic novels TXT) 📗

bad luck or evil spirits during her ritual. As she moved around the room, she hummed the tune of the song played at her own mother’s funeral years ago.

From one of her deep pockets, she pulled out a sage smudge stick, lit it, the made her way around the room with it. She sang a soft tune, allowing the smoke to move over every corner of the room. After a bit, she placed the stick on a plate on the desk, leaving it to burn.

Turning around, she faced the table she had prepared. She had to be quick, and not allow the housekeeper to realise that she had gone against the wishes of the head of the household—her husband. He had refused to prepare an ancestor altar for their deceased daughter.

Traditionally, a younger or unmarried family member, such as Suzy, who transitioned into the ancestral realm, wasn’t fussed over. Mrs. Chan refused to not acknowledge that her only daughter had passed—the only girl she had managed to bare, in hopes that she would make something of herself. Hence, the reason she encouraged her husband to allow Suzy to explore Europe.

Mrs. Chan clasped the fabric of her kimono and walked over to the table. Her wooden sandals clicked against to solid floor. She knelt in front of the low table filled with incense, candles, flowers, crystals, a glass of water, a plate of fruit, a statue of a Chinese deity, and photographs of her daughter.

She lit the candles and incense, then held up the glass of water. Bowing her head respectfully at Suzy’s picture, she placed it in front of her with a half-smile.

The fruit she had prepared on the table she picked it up, bowed her head respectfully, then placed it in front of the Chinese deity as an offering. She lowered her head in prayer and recited a Chinese a prayer.

Once done, and with tears in her eyes, she pulled her phone out from her kimono and dialled the international number to the coroner’s office. As she waited for the phone to connect, she thought about life in general, as well as her own.

Holding the line, waiting, her gaze settled on Suzy’s smiling face. When someone answered the phone in perfect English, with excellent pronunciation she asked to be put through to Dr. Cleveland’s office. Anyone would think that she was brought up in the UK. Being well educated, and from a wealthy Chinese family, it was her mother who had insisted she perfected it, just as she had insisted Suzy perfected hers.

Her father was a high-profile politician, and her deceased mother was the author of more than sixty books on Chinese and Buddhist philosophy. Which now paid Mrs. Chan a handsome sum of royalties each month, as her mother’s fortune passed to her upon the woman’s death.

Mrs. Chan had qualified as a lawyer and even had the reputation of being a fierce litigator, with a high success rate. The thought of this made her smile, then chuckle to herself. She had so loved the court-room action in her younger days.

Her gaze moved to Suzy’s picture, and through her tears, she smiled.

“Those were the days, my dear child,” she whispered in her native language Cantonese.

She had given up work in her late thirties to raise Suzy. Once her fortune rolled in from her mother’s published work, she continued to fight cases on behalf of poor Chinese women for no legal fees—her way to give back to society.

Now, in her sixties, she continued her work as a free legal representative, and was a figure head for a number of charities.

What good is my life if my only child can be buried before me? She thought to herself.

“Hello, Coroner’s Office, Dr. Cleveland’s secretary how can I help you?” A bubbly voice came across the line.

“Oh, hello. This is Mrs. Chan from Hong Kong.”

“Hello, Mrs. Chan. How can I help you?”

“I believe you still have my daughter in your care—Suzan Chan. A pretty girl. You have her, yes?”

“Yes, Ma’am, we do. How can I help?

Mrs. Chan sobbed into the phone for a second, then composed herself. “I’d like to organise a flight for her body back to Hong Kong. I wish her to return this week for a cremation.”

“No problem. I just have to check with the coroner to make sure the body is ready for release. We’ve never done this before. I assume you will contact the airline and give us details?”

Mrs. Chan frowned and pulled the phone from her ear as if to wonder if she had heard right. Airline? “No. No. We will organise a private plane, thank you.”

“Okay, err, let me see what I can find out, Mrs. Chan. Leave it to me. Someone, will give you a call tomorrow.”

“Thank you, goodbye.”

Mrs. Chan cut the call, then blew out the candles and incense. Bowing her head once more, she recited the prayer in Cantonese again, and asked her ancestors to help Suzy transition. She then removed a wad of paper ancestor money from her Kimono.

Licking her finger, she pulled out a sheet, stuck a match, lit the paper money, then placed it on a plate to burn out.

She watched the hues of colour and smoke swirl in front of her.

“This is for my benevolent ancestors, those known and unknown, to repay any debts owed,” she whispered in Cantonese. “Please look after my little girl.”

Once it burnt out safely, she rose from the ground. Glancing around, she took in the sage-filled room, breathing in the heavenly scent, then headed over to the other table and blew out the candles. She left the incense, sage smudge stick, and ancestor table for Suzy intact.

I will deal with any tongue lashing from him if needed. She thought and prepared herself for any backlash from her husband’s disapproval.

He hardly used that study anyway. This was her personal space to mull over her casework and the legal battles she often dealt with.

She gave the room one last glance, then moved over to the door.