A Lunar New Year Homicide (Day 1)

Detective W sighed and twirled around his revolving chair. Ever since that church incident, it has been three weeks Detective W went by without a case. He always thought that was a good sign— a sign that told him Owlsburgh was peaceful for now.

The bombing incident was still fresh in his mind. The identity of the mastermind, O.N., had eluded him many times. Detective W thought the mannerisms sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He lazed under the warm afternoon sun and started thinking about what to eat for dinner. After all, today was Lunar New Year's Eve— one of the most important days for Detective W. It was a day of celebration and feasting.

Brrt! Detective W took his vibrating phone out of his pocket. "Yes. W here. How can I help you today?"

"Yo! W! How is it going?!" a jolly voice piped up. "Wanna eat dinner at my house tonight and watch the New Year Gala?"

Detective W grinned. The person on the other end was his close younger brother, Lei Hui. It has been 2 months since they last contacted each other.

"How many people will be there, Lei Hui?"

"Hmm... about nine, including you, bro."

"Will Dad and Mom be there?" Detective W asked.

"No! Don't tell me that the disastrous reunion slipped from your memory..." Lei Hui sighed. "They were throwing a huge fuss about you being single."

"Hmph. The sooner they let that die down, the better it will be..."

"... I'm not here to talk about that. You wanna go or not, bro?"

"Sure," Detective W replied while digging his nose. "By the way, a few of my friends will be coming with me. The total will be twelve, then."

"Fantastic! The more people, the merrier! Oh, by the way, bring some of your own food too! It will be fun tonight!"

"Got it! Thanks, Lei Hui! See you there!"

Ha-Eun and Ha-joon came into the department once Detective W finished talking.

"Hey, W! We got all the things from your grocery list! Man, this duck is heavy!" Ha-Eun groaned.

"What are you going to do with all this mushrooms, fish balls, tofu, and dumplings?' Ha-joon wondered.

"Change of plans. We're still gonna bring the food though," Detective W said.

"What change? Where are we going?" Ha-Eun asked, her eyes sparkling in anticipation.

"To my brother's house. Let me call my assistant real fast. My friend deserve it here, after all these months of working with me." Detective W explained.

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Lei Hui's house was deep in the Owlsburgh suburbs. However, what you didn't expect was that Lei Hui lived in a modernist mansion. It was not as grandiose as the mansions you saw online, given the outer appearance. But damn, the mansion was.... humongous. The stone mansion had a flat roof and several glass panels unveiled the game room.

"Oh, yeah. I didn't mention this to you guys," Detective W interjected as the you, Ha-Eun, and Ha-joon looked at the mansion slack-jawed. "My brother is a wealthy software engineer. He's one of the co-founders of OwlPedia- a homework solutions/textbooks provider site. I remember he told me around 80 million students use OwlPedia."

"You... you have a rich brother and you never bothered to tell us that until now?!" Ha-Eun shrieked.

Detective W parked the car in the garage. He grabbed the large blue cooler with all the food inside. "Calm down, Ha-Eun. Save your energy for the actually surprising things."

He rapped on the door. "Lei Hui! Yo! It's me, W!"

The reddish-brown cedar door swung open. "What's up, bro!" a young and rich voice greeted.

You thought Ha-Eun's jaw couldn't drop any lower, but it did. You saw Ha-Eun covered her mouth with her hand, wide-eyed, whispering to herself, "Oh my god... why is he so... damn... handsome?!"

You looked at Lei Hui. His smooth dark hair, in contrast with his pale complexion, along with his warm brown eyes, oval-shaped jaw, and toned figure reminded you of some East Asian celebrities. He was about 4 inches taller than Detective W.

"Tall, rich, and super handsome..." Ha-Eun murmured with longing eyes. "A home run here!" She then eyed Detective W. "Oh, god! Why do you have to make me pick?!"

Detective W whispered to Ha-Eun, "We can hear you, you know that, right? Second thing is, he's happily married. So, get rid of whatever thoughts you have about him."

Ha-Eun's face fell quicker than a bullet train and she drew out a deep, long sigh. With a wistful look on her face, she shook her head, took off her shoes, and walked in.

"Good afternoon, Hua Xiu!" Detective W greeted Lei Hui's wife. "I guess I will be helping you with the food preparations!"

You helped Detective W with the other cooler of food and heard Ha-Eun draw a deeper sigh. "Even the wife is heavenly beautiful, huh... I sure have no chance with W's brother..."

You eyed Hua Xiu. Her slim-fit jeans and tight long-sleeved shirt accentuated her hourglass figure. Her long, silky brown hair was tied into a ponytail.

"W! No need for you to do this much!" Hua Xiu protested.

"My rules, sis, whether you like it or not." Detective W shrugged.

"Fine. Just help me with the noodles, then!"

With Lei Hui's permission, you explored the mansion with Ha-Eun and Ha-joon. You waltzed into the game room, finding a short-haired, solid-built man playing Just Dance. He was dancing to "Rasputin".

The solid built man slowly got down to the floor with each step and kicked each leg. You were impressed by the man's dexterity.

You went up to the second floor. In one of the guest rooms, a short-haired woman with sharp cheekbones shouted at her phone. Since she was speaking Mandarin, you had no clue as to what she was screaming about.

You realized you were gawking at her and shuffled away from the door. You walked to the next room and found another woman watching TV. Her eyeglasses reflected the blue screen and she reached for the potato chips right next to her on the couch. She didn't even notice you three standing at the door.

Walking around the mansion, you found a podgy man with a loose t-shirt running at the treadmill. Several dumbbells laid beside the treadmill. The speakers were blaring out peppy Japanese songs.

You three then ventured to the second floor game room and enjoyed a couple rounds of pool and ping-pong. Ha-Eun thrashed you in a game of ping-pong and Ha-joon, despite being unfamiliar with pool in the beginning, quickly demolished you.

Detective W ran up the stairs. "Hey! Dinner is ready in 10 minutes!" he exclaimed. "Oh shit! Nice smash, Ha-Eun!"

Ha-Eun dribbled the ping-pong ball. "Wanna go again?" she asked you.

"No. But, hey, boss, you want to go against her?' you said, breathless. "She is crazy good at this..."

"Sure!" Detective W grabbed a paddle and swung his arms around. "I haven't played for a long time, though."

Ha-Eun served a fast curveball. Detective W returned it with a top-spin, making Ha-Eun run to the right side of the table. Afterwards, he smashed the return to the other side of the table.

"Play fair!" Ha-Eun exclaimed.

Detective W shrugged. "I am. Be faster next time."

Ha-Eun pouted. You guys then went downstairs for the dinner.

You guys sat a wide round table. Empty bowls and chopsticks laid around the table. Little kids sat around Lei Hui and Hua Xiu's sides. "It's Uncle W!" they squealed. "Uncle!"

Detective W gave them a light hug. "Yong, Chun, long time no see." He handed them a red packet each.

"Thanks, Uncle!" they shrilled. They then ran back to their seats.

Lei Hui started the conversation. "Since there's many different people here today, I want you all to introduce yourselves. Starting with myself first, of course. I'm Lei Hui. Thanks for coming to this dinner tonight."

The entire table went through the round of introductions. You learned that the short-haired, slender woman was Lily Yu, the CEO of a a chemical company. The glasses woman with silky hair was Yua Zhang, Detective W's cousin who was a Chinese teacher at a local school. The solid built man with fierce eyes was Meng Yang Hu, Hua Xiu's personal trainer friend. The podgy man with thick fingers was Liu Pang Zi, a plumber who's trying to lose weight.

The food there was absolutely scrumptious. You kept finding yourself grabbing more duck cuts and dumplings. The soup's spiciness was just right and it led you wanting for more.

The rest of the night was spent with conversations and drinking. Detective W, who abstained from drinking alcohol, observed the rest of them. Lei Hui smiled as he picked up a large gray container from the floor.

"Hey, guys! You guys want to try out my new desserts with liquid nitrogen?"

Lily, who was struggling to keep her eyes open, slurred, "Yesh... sure... be careful with it though, Lei Hui." She then fell asleep.

"Sure! Will save one for you!" Lei Hui exclaimed. Hua Xiu put out some ready-made ice cream base and put it on each plastic bowls. Fumes arose from the bowls.

"That's weird..." Lei Hui muttered as he poured out the liquid nitrogen. "There should be more than enough for everyone..."

"It's fine, Lei Hui," Detective W said. "I don't need ice cream."

"Same," Ha-joon and Ha-Eun agreed.

The rest of the night was spent watching the Lunar New Year Gala. Detective W and the rest were discussing about the best TV station for the Gala. In the end, they went with the usual CCTV's New Year Gala and watched it instead.

You, who had no idea what the TV people were talking about, were still mesmerized by the dancing, singing, and the magic shows. Two hours flew by without you knowing it.

Suddenly, you heard a thunderous bang from downstairs. Detective W, who jolted from the sound, bolted downstairs and checked what happened. The scene before him left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The closet doors, broken from the hinges, laid on the living room floor. Some wisps of transient vapors wafted from the closet. Six open metal canisters were beside the corpse.

You gasped as you saw the corpse. It was Lily Yu. Her lifeless eyes looked at the ground, her body all huddled into a tight ball. You tapped the ground with your fingers. It felt colder than usual.

Detective W opened the door and the windows. He then checked Lily Yu's pulse. There was none. Her skin also felt frigid.

You asked, afraid of the answer, "Boss? What killed her...?"

"It's extremely simple, really. You've also seen the murder weapon. You should be able to connect the dots together."

----------------What killed Lily Yu?-------------