Joe mumbled rude words to himself as he shoved the shovel into the garden's hardened soil. Hot summer sun baked the soil into something so much less yielding than concrete. It was not that he was complaining about going undercover- there was nothing he wanted more then than to catch the culprit who was causing Queen so much duress. However, it was the nature of his undercover role that caused him to grumble incessantly under his breath. Whenever gruffly Ted ordered him around, Joe would mutter something his mother would frown softly. However, finally they brothers had a chance to meet the mysterious Ted, or, Tachapon Suwatchi. He was a huge burly man with almond eyes and honey-browned skin. Always shirtless, his body glistened with sweat and glowered with a quiet menace. Weathered features carved by experiences maybe did nothing to soften the hard look he wore, nor loan him any air of wisdom. An imposing man Ted was, hovering over Joe at six feet five most probably. A quiet, brusque giant.
The younger man was getting quite accustomed to the man's frown after only an hour of working under him. He hoped Frank was faring better with his "office job" a little bitterly. Frank was roped in to help tally up the days' takings. No one suspected Frank and Joe to actually be privately investigating since it was common for Queen to hire temporary help (mostly cashless teenagers) since many people who came to Um fell in love with it and hurriedly seek employment with Queen in exchange for food, cash and lodging to prolong their stay. Frank and Joe were the only hired help this week though.
"All right boys! Queen has given me the permission to assign duties to the both of you. But I'm democratic! What do you boys want to do?" Clown, in his jester hat and clashing white t-shirt and jeans get up, looked about as ridiculous as a circus in the middle of a 'peopleless' desert and as comfortable as a man in his own home. Frank always raised a brow sub-consciously at Clown's get-up but Joe was finding it easier to accept with time.
Immediately, Joe raised up his hand before Frank could beat him to the coveted task.
"I want to be the masseur."
The four of them laughed despite the tenseness which the escalating case brought and Frank clapped his back, almost knocking the wind out of him. "Sure you do, Casanova."
"Well, there's no opening for the masseur and Queen only wants females for that job. There's an opening for an accounts assistant and a general help. Guess who I appointed to which post?"
"I thought you wanted to be democratic!" Joe protested, knowing he was definitely cast in the role of the general help. Clown threw back his head and laughed sinisterly.
"Yes! I gave you both the chance to speak up, didn't I? This is life, kiddo!" He squealed and then danced away as Leaf Lady shook her head with an exasperated smile on her kindly face.
"Ignore the nutcase. Here, let me explain your duties. It's not without cause why we assign you kids to these two jobs…"
"When you're finish planting the seed, water the plants over there." Ted gestured over to a plot of orchids to Joe's left. "Queen loves her orchids." He growled in slightly accented English. That was how Ted communicated as Joe found out. He growled, grunted, barked and shouted when he needed to. He never spoke.
"I'm needed in the kitchen." Joe objected lamely. The evening sun was beating down on his back- the last burst of the sun's energy before it goes dark. Before dinner was served, Joe knew he needed to talk to Little Kat who should be in the kitchen at about seven o'clock. But he knew that Ted would not let him off so easily.
"You'll have enough time…" Ted cut off Joe's weak dissent but, to Joe's surprised, his voice withered off when he met Joe's eyes, probably seeing how pathetically unhappy Joe looked. "All right. Pour the seeds in and go to the kitchen. I'll water the plants." He mumbled harshly before resuming shoveling a distance away from Joe.
"Say…" Joe set the shovel down and decided to push his luck to make small talk. "Have you ever tried speaking civilly? You have shown you can be pretty nice."
"Shut up. If you want to earn enough today to enjoy the beach tomorrow, get to work. I have to go clean up the mess the bastard made on the breakwater." Ted barked back. Joe signed and shook his head.
"We could have gotten along quite well, you know."
"Another word from you and I'll twist this shovel round your neck. You're as intolerable as the two friends Queen invited over."
Joe raised a brow as he watched Ted gazing threateningly inwards. Before he could ask Ted anything else, Ted stormed away to clean up the breakwater most probably, leaving Joe alone in the garden with the trusty old shovel.
Half-expecting Ted to make good on his threat to strangle him with metal, he performed his duties as fast as h could. Queen made it clear that she did not expect them to do anything but Joe hardly believe that telling Ted he was an undercover teenage detective trying to find out who was hurting Queen and then asking Ted if he was the psychotic culprit would make him anymore likeable to Ted. Putting his t-shirt back on when he finished so as to offend the ladies in the house, he dashed into the villa and went right into the impressive kitchen about the size of his own house entire ground level. It was already six-fifty and Little Kat was inside, slaving over the stove to make dinner for Queen.
"For Queen?" He indicated to the porridge Kat was whipping up in a bid to strike up a conversation. Queen probably did not want to eat any extravagant stuff since her ordeal. Little Kat turned around, blushed shyly and nodded.
Standing at no more than five-feet two, she was a pleasant looking girl with freckles splashed across the bridge of her nose. Smiling black eyes and straight black hair gave her a simple appeal. A slightly chubby figure loaned her a childish youthfulness and naivety. Joe found it very easy to like her in the big-brotherly sort of way and he knew why Rabbit Clown had labeled her harmless.
"What's that you're making?"
"Fish porridge. Madam likes it very much. I hope it will cheer her up." Kat spoke in halting English. She smiled bashfully at Joe before opening up an ornate kitchen cabinet to bring out a set of silverware. After pouring the porridge into the extravagant bowl, she set the necessary utensils onto a beautifully crafted silver tray.
"I have to bring it up to her now. Your name?" She asked him through lowered eyes which peered at him timidly from time to time. Joe, ever a lover of women, knew a crush forming for him when he saw one. However, he also knew he might break her heart at the end of the case.
"Joe." He replied, flashing his brightest smile, watching Kat's blush deepened. "And yours?"
"Kathaleeya. But call me… Kat. Welcome. You temporary help?"
"Yup. If you need the floor mopped, cabinet cleared, silverware polished or the cat fed, just holler for me." Joe leaned against the door frame of the kitchen and gazed languidly into her eyes. Kat averted her quietly admiring eyes and looked down onto the floor before she reached for the silver tray to bring it up to Queen.
"Madam will need her dinner now. I'll be back here later… you'll be here? Uhm…" She glanced around quickly for an excuse to her question probably. "There are dishes to wash."
"That's my job!" Joe commented melodiously while he winced inside. He moved aside to let her pass. After she was gone, he muttered under his breath. "Washing dishes. Bah! Humbug!"
"Who's bah-ing now?" Leaf Lady popped her head in. "How are you doing, dear?"
Joe trotted over the gigantic sink and picked up a washing sponge. "Just dandy! I love washing dishes on a gorgeous beach."
"There's something called the dishwasher, you know." Leaf Lady hoisted herself up on a kitchen's counter bar stool and pointed at a bottom cabinet. Joe glanced at her suspiciously before he opened up the carved doors of the cabinet to find an upmarket, state-of-the-art dishwasher hidden inside.
"Queen likes to hide unsightly things."
"Unsightly? This dishwasher will make our kitchen look a hundred times better! Trappings of the rich, huh?"
"The rich have their own problems."
"Right. Everyone's life is different." Joe commented off-handedly. He stacked up the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. However, he was stumped by the console that would please a computer nerd like Frank or even his computer genius friend, Phil. The dishwasher might convert techno geeks to loving house chores.
"Let me." Leaf Lady stood up and walked over to him, sighing as she did. "I had to calm her down in the early afternoon with Valium. Terrible prank to be played on someone."
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Venturing on a hunch, Joe asked Leaf as she pressed the silent buttons to work magic. After she activated the dishwasher, she straightened up and sighed again with her hands akimbo.
"In strictest confidence. I'm only telling you this because I believe it will help your case. Sometimes, a person's past can surface up quite unexpectedly. Nineteen years ago, when Queen was about four months pregnant, she went on a diving trip with her husband. Of course she did not join Peter, she stayed inside the lounge to read. He never returned alive due to an accident. His weights were not fastened securely and he shot up the surface after they dropped. He had the bends and died. It was investigated into and concluded as an accident. Vicious rumors started- saying that she had planned for his death just so she could finally be with Ted. When she gave birth to a stillborn, she almost lost it but Ted brought her to this untouched island to calm her nerves. She fell in love with it and bought it, moving to here over from Bangkok and handled Peter's businesses remotely. She became a recluse though she opened up a resort because her giving nature demanded that she shared this little secret with the rest of the world but look at the tall imposing fences she constructed to separate herself from all of you- she may seems strong but inside is a woman who could not forgive herself for her affair with Ted- an affair that Peter, to his breath, did not know about."
Joe pressed his lips together, not knowing how to process the information she had given him. "We all make mistakes… she's… well… no exception."
Leaf Lady's gaze pierced into his with the unraveling of an ancient knowledge. "Marriage is a sacred vow that is eternally binding and witnessed by the Heaven. When Queen had an affair, she broke her promise to Peter. In her eyes, Peter's death and the stillborn child she named, Michael, was her retribution but wrought on the innocents instead. I tried to talk her out of her silly notions but to no avail. She decided to deal with her grief and guilt by hiding away. In time, her relationship with Ted grew bland and Ted married someone else though it's obvious that he had always carried the torch for Queen. His wife succumbed two years ago to cancer."
"Hmm… Ted is sounding like a guy I should really look into. Satisfy my curiosity- are you, Queen and Clown good friends?" Joe poured a glass of water each for Leaf Lady and himself. She nodded.
"Clown or his other personalities' real name is Don. My name's Maya though I'm finding your nickname for me very endearing, considering how we got acquainted. I'm sorry for this case to happen- the both of you are supposed to be on a self-discovery journey, not to be roped in some emotionally draining case."
"It's all right…" Joe took a long drink. "It's our calling. When wherever you go you get right smack in the middle of a case, you know it's a calling as obvious as the morning sun on a cloudless day. We'll be blind to miss it."
Leaf Lady chuckled lowly and her eyes crinkled with some mystery. "Of course. So I have been informed by someone's heartfelt laments."
"Who's that someone?" Joe's interest was piqued. He set his glass down onto the counter and gripped Leaf's left wrist playfully, shaking it lightly. "Tell me! Who's that someone? He or she sent us on this trip and paid for everything right? Puleeze… tell me! I'm dying to know who!!!"
She laughed softly at his childlike display. "You'll know soon enough. Back to the case…" She glanced around furtively before guiding him to those bar stools and motioned for him to sit next to her. In whispered tones, she revealed to him her reservations.
"Ted or Robert could be involved, but it's my guess."
"Ted and Robert?" Joe whispered back, respecting her need to be cautious.
"Yes…" She lowered her voice even more and spoke right into his ear. "They were both on the diving trip that terrible day."