VII: Revelation
Several minutes later, Liqiu was sitting in an empty investigation room. The officer removed the handcuffs, and he left the room. She looked down at her wrists, and she saw the bright red marks caused by the tights handcuffs. They did hurt for a little bit. Liqiu thought about what could happen to all. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Liqiu didn't like the situation she was in right now, but she needed to stay as calm as possible. It would do her more good in her case. Also, she was curious about something called the Shen Case. She heard Lazar saying that he was going to call the family about it. Liqiu knew that Shen was her and her mother's last name, but that didn't mean much. There could be someone who had the same last name as her that wasn't related to her.
Moments later, a female detective walked into the interrogation room. She was a middle-aged woman with wavy shoulder-length red-violet hair and light brown colored eyes. The woman had on a simple navy blue colored dress shirt and black slacks. As she took her seat, the woman looked over at lilac haired teenager sitting across from her.
"So this is the girl my boss wanted to interrogate. I doubt this girl knows what is going on," she said.
Liqiu saw the woman adjusted and organize her Manilla folder and a few small zipper bags that says evidence. Her eyes focused on the contents of each bag. She then looked up at the woman, and the woman looked back with her light brown colored eyes. The red-violet haired woman smiled at the lilac haired girl. Liqiu felt a warm feeling once the female detective smiled at her. She didn't understand why, but the Chinese teenager believed that the detective wasn't like the others.
The female detective said, "My name is Detective Marissa Belmonte, and I work with Special Investigations. I will be asking you some important questions, Liqiu."
"Okay," replied Liqiu.
Detective Belmonte asked, "Can you describe the type of cards you use in your deck?"
"Sure thing. My Sino Legends deck has cards based on different Chinese lores and legends. Some include the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac and the Dragon Kings of the Four Seasons from The Journey of the West," explained Liqiu.
The detective asked, "Were you aware that the deck you were using was missing 11 years ago as part of an ongoing investigation?"
"No, as I mentioned to your boss. My mother gave me her deck right before she died," the teen replied.
Detective Belmonte's expression changed once Liqiu mentioned how she obtained the deck. She was surprised by the revelation, and she then looked at the second zipper bag. It contained a letter that was written by the deceased around the same time. She also had the autopsy report of the dead woman in her file. Marissa discovered something when she read it, and it made sense. Her eyes shift towards the necklace the Chinese teen had around her neck.
"The necklace has locket. Maybe this can prove the girl's statement," she said.
Liqiu noticed how observant the detective was acting. She hasn't asked any more questions once she revealed where she got her deck. The teen assumed that Detective Belmonte must have discovered something, which made her look down at the file. Liqiu was a bit uncertain at first, but the woman has been doing her job since she first arrived in the room. It was a good thing, and Detective Belmonte has been helpful since the start of the interview.
Belmonte asked, "Can you take off your locket and open it for me, please?"
"Why you are asking me this?" questioned Liqiu.
She replied, "I want to see something and order a DNA test to confirm my findings."
Liqiu didn't expect that kind of response from the detective. She also knew why she would ask for her locket and the request to do a DNA test. Marissa found out that the missing deck was never missing. The detective knew that Liqiu was the daughter of the dead woman that went missing 19 years ago. Liqiu cooperated, and she removed her necklace and opened the locket. She saw the photo of her mother and her posing in front of her mother's duel runner, Heavenly Baihu.
It made her a bit teary-eyed, but the Chinese teen pushed her necklace in front of Detective Belmonte. The red-violet haired woman saw the small photo inside the locket. It was a photo of Daiyu Shen, the woman who ran away from home 19 years ago and Liqiu, who was about 4 in the picture. Marissa saw how happy both mother and daughter were in this photo. A dying mother giving her daughter a deck of cards wasn't a crime. Once they can do the DNA test, Detective Belmonte can tell her boss to close the case for good.
Detective Belmonte saw a flower shape mark on Liqiu's right forearm. It was in the shape of a chrysanthemum. Liqiu's mother had a faded out version of the same chrysanthemum shaped mark when she died. It wasn't a coincidence that the Chinese teen had that same mark in the same spot. Right away, she stood up and walked out of the interrogation room.
Standing outside the interrogation room was her boss Lazar. Despite being one of the top detectives in Special Investigations, she didn't like being bossed around by him. Belmonte was aware of his rude behavior towards the low-ranking officers. She doesn't talk about it with anyone since she may get fired for that. Lazar and Marissa looked at each other.
"I did not expect that turn of events there," said Lazar.
Belmonte replied, "I'm not surprised that you were listening in to the interrogation, boss."
"I helped closed this case 11 years ago, detective. I know all the same details you learned from those files."
She asked, "What we are going to do now?"
"The Shen Family wants to meet Liqiu and talk to her. So take her to your office after they test Liqiu's DNA. After that, Liqiu can pick up her stuff at the Impound. Make sure you give her waiver, so she doesn't have to pay any fees for her duel runner and deck. You will be allowed to escort her back to the Satellite under Goodwin's orders," he explained to her.
Lazar walked away, and Detective Belmonte saw the 16 year old sitting there by herself. The middle-aged woman sighed and walked back to the interrogation room. Liqiu's dark brown eyes looked down at the detective.
"What do you need now?" she asked the woman.
Detective Belmonte replied, "I need to ask about doing a DNA test. Since we don't have sufficient evidence to keep you here, we need to test your DNA with your consent."
"That is fine with me," said Liqiu.
Marissa also needed to get that DNA sample and compare it to Daiyu's DNA to prove that Liqiu is Daiyu's daughter. Even though there was evidence that proves it, Detective Belmonte still had to do it so she can close the case. She walked out once more, leaving Liqiu by herself once more. Marissa had to get the materials needed for a DNA test and do that before the Shens arrive.
As for Liqiu, the 16 year old sighed and picked up her necklace from the table. She looked down at the photo inside the locket. The Chinese girl always had this photo of her and her mother ever since she got this necklace as a birthday gift. It was one of her prized possessions along with her deck and a stuffed white tiger she had since she was born. She missed her so much.
Liqiu closed the locket and picked up the necklace. She began to reminiscing of good old days with her mother. The teen recalled the days she spent with her mother at her job while her father worked in the factory. Liqiu remembered who took that photo of her and her mother.
It was another day in the shop. My mom was working while I was sitting in the back, eating one of the steamed pork buns she made of us. Since dad was working in the factory, I had to stay with my mother while she was working at her shop. It wasn't all that bad since my mom made sure she brought my favorite toys and my deck of cards so we can duel for fun later.
As I was eating my pork bun, I looked over at mom. She was dealing with another customer. They were yelling at her, and she was trying to calm them down. I had no clue what they were saying to each other. After that, the rude customer stormed out. She sighed, and she looked towards my direction. I stared at her with my dark brown colored eyes as I held on to my pork bun.
My mom said, "I'm sorry if you heard that, Xing."
"What happened?" I asked her.
She replied, "We didn't agree on something, and the man got mad and left."
"Why?" I asked her again.
My mom didn't say anything once I asked her why. I returned to eating my pork bun in peace. She sighed and watched as a black haired woman walks into her shop. Her brown colored eyes looked around the shop. She wasn't one of my mom's regular customers. The woman roamed around the store and looked at the items my mom had. While she was doing that, I took another pork bun from the lunch box.
Within a few minutes, the woman approached the counter with four film cartridges. My mom looked down and saw the shiny new instant camera in the woman's possession. The blonde haired woman noticed me sitting there with a pork bun in my hand. She just smiled before looking up at my mom.
"Is that your daughter?" the black haired woman asked.
My mom replied, "Yes, that is my daughter, Liqiu. Since her father works in the factory, I have to bring her to work."
"She's beautiful, and I have a daughter who's about her age," the customer said.
My mom wondered, "Are you a photographer?"
"Yes, I'm a photographer, and I was wondering if I can take a few pictures of you and your daughter," responded the dark haired woman, "by the way, my name is Jinjoo."
She said, "That is fine with me, and my name is Daiyu."
Minutes later, my mom and I were outside the shop. Ms. Jinjoo was getting her camera ready for the pictures. I remember she took like five pictures of the two of us. The nice woman gave my mom three of them to keep for herself. We watched Ms. Jinjoo walk away, and that was the last time we saw her.
Liqiu sighed to herself. Right after that, Marisa came back with a person from the medical examiner's office. She remembered that they needed to get her DNA, so could test it. The lilac haired teen knew that her mother died and that there will be a DNA match. Liqiu opened her mouth, and her dark brown eyes watched as that person swabbed her mouth for that sample. It was only two swabs, and the person placed them inside a zipped up plastic bag.
Right after that, the Chinese teen watched the person leave the room. Shortly after that, Liqiu was able to leave the room, and she followed Detective Belmonte to her office. She wasn't sure what was going on, but Liqiu was glad that the interrogation was over. As for Marissa, she noticed how quiet the Satellite teen was. Since she arrived in the city, the girl has been cooperating with authorities. Belmonte knew the girl didn't have much to hide. She also believed that Liqiu was innocent from the get-go.
"Now we have to wait for the Shens," she said to herself.
In the Tops, a fair-skinned woman in her early-fifties adjusted her navy blue colored suit jacket. Her lilac hair was in a simple bun, and she looked herself in the mirror. Immediately, the middle-aged woman hears the sound of the door knocking.
"Come in," said the woman
The door opens, and a young woman with dark blue hair and light tan skin approaches the older woman. She was around her mid-20s, and her dark brown eyes focused on the woman looking at her reflection.
She asked, "Are you sure you want to do this, mother?"
"Of course I want to do this Chunhua. I want to meet this Liqiu girl, and I want to know if she is my sister's daughter," replied the older woman.
This ends the seventh chapter of Satellite Girl. We got introduced to 4 new characters (Detective Marissa Belmonte, Jinjoo *who appeared in the flashback*, Chunhua, and Chunhua's mother). As for the flashback scene, Liqiu was around 4 years old when that photo of her and mother was taken. Well the next chapter will be another flashback chapter and it will focus on Daiyu and Chunhua's mother since I want people to know a little more about them before what will happen in the next chapters. Well for now, read and review.