The Feng Shui Detective's Casebook Part 27

'Yes, he said that, but wouldn't you like to know anyway? Just for fun. It would make your investigations much easier and much quicker too, if you already know who did it. Then you could just investigate him him only. Save loads of time all round.' only. Save loads of time all round.'

Santos looked at Cabigon. Their eyes continued their earlier discussion: We could humour the old girl. We could humour the old girl.

'Okay,' said the chief editor.

The reporter said: 'We need to be quick. I have a phone interview to do.'

Cabigon looked at his watch. 'And I have a meeting to go to.'

'Yes, yes,' said Madam Xu. 'No need to be impatient. It's worth taking a little time over this to get it right.'

She sat down and placed her crystal ball down on the table. Then she put on a pair of reading gla.s.ses through which to stare at it. She picked up her little canister of chim chim and started shaking it. 'I'm combining methods to go as fast as I can,' she told the onlookers, as one sliver of engraved bamboo popped out. and started shaking it. 'I'm combining methods to go as fast as I can,' she told the onlookers, as one sliver of engraved bamboo popped out.

She ran her hand over the list of five names. 'Hmm, interesting,' she mumbled.

She went back to her crystal ball and gazed deep into it again. 'This is called scrying,' she explained. Then she closed her eyes, put her hands on her tilted-back head, and took a series of deep breaths. Once again she opened her eyes and ran her hands over the list of five names.

'Got it,' she said. 'Got it.'

Santos's gathering boredom lifted. 'So which do you reckon it is?'

'It isn't any any of these,' Madam Xu said. 'This is a list of innocent people. Well, probably innocent is not the right word for a group of business tyc.o.o.ns, but they are certainly innocent of the crime of which we are accusing them.' of these,' Madam Xu said. 'This is a list of innocent people. Well, probably innocent is not the right word for a group of business tyc.o.o.ns, but they are certainly innocent of the crime of which we are accusing them.'

'That's not very helpful,' said Ferdinand Cabigon, suddenly annoyed. He looked at his reporters. 'Well I still think it was somebody on that list, whatever your spirits say.'

'Oh it wasn't just the spirits that told me that the murderer was not someone on that list. They merely confirmed what I learned from another source. My source was flesh and blood. It was, in fact, Mr Wong here.'

All eyes turned to the feng shui feng shui master. master.

The old geomancer looked surprised to be receiving such attention. 'True that it is not one of the people on the list who did it.'

'So who did it?' Cabigon asked impatiently.

And more importantly, have you got some evidence, some proof?' Santos said, exasperation in his voice. 'We have a newspaper to fill.'

Wong leaned back in his chair. 'The murderer of Ms Gloria Del Rosario was very clever,' he said. 'Clever in two-three ways. First, he knows that people will think that someone she insulted killed her. She is a reporter. So killer reinforces this idea by leaving a message that she should have printed correction. So everyone think she wrote something wrong about a man and refuse to print correction.'

Wong intertwined his fingers in front of him. 'So first thing we realise is that murderer probably is someone she did not not write about. He is someone whose name is absent from her column. Murderer wants to send us in wrong direction.' write about. He is someone whose name is absent from her column. Murderer wants to send us in wrong direction.'

Joyce forgot that she had pledged never to speak to her boss again: 'So the note about the correction was a red herring?'

'Red earring?'

'Herring.'

'Don't understand.'

'It's a type of fish. Comes from Norway or something.'

The geomancer nodded. 'Thanks. But I think no fish involved.'

He pointed to the piles of newspapers on the conference room sideboard. 'I check through all the gossip columns in all the newspapers. Nearly all have same names at same parties. Same politicians, same business people, same celebrities. I make list of all names which appear in three main newspapers over past six months.'

He pulled out a sheet of paper and pointed to some tiny, tight blotches. 'This is my list.'

'It's very short,' said the sports editor, a short fat man sitting next to Wong.

'Yes. It shows seven people who were mentioned at least six times in other gossip columns but not even one time not even one time in Gloria Del Rosario's column.' in Gloria Del Rosario's column.'

Santos started to look interested.

'I ask intern to do research on these six,' the feng shui feng shui master continued. 'Find out which companies they involve in, who is shareholders? We find that five out of six are connected some way with man called Billy Valesco Ong. They are on boards together. They are listed in consortiums together. In photographs file, they are at c.o.c.ktails together.' master continued. 'Find out which companies they involve in, who is shareholders? We find that five out of six are connected some way with man called Billy Valesco Ong. They are on boards together. They are listed in consortiums together. In photographs file, they are at c.o.c.ktails together.'

There was silence in the room. n.o.body dared to move a muscle. Wong had spoken the name of the publisher of the newspaper, a scary individual who once sacked a senior staff member for misspelling the name of the Ong family dog.

'So now we decide what is the real story,' the feng shui feng shui master continued. 'Fact is, Mr Ong does not like his friends to be embarra.s.s in the newspaper. He has certain loyalty to them. But he has no direct contact with editorial staff. So he ask someone else to make sure these peoples' names do not appear in gossip column in negative way. He ask person who stands between board of directors and reporters. This man is chief editor.' master continued. 'Fact is, Mr Ong does not like his friends to be embarra.s.s in the newspaper. He has certain loyalty to them. But he has no direct contact with editorial staff. So he ask someone else to make sure these peoples' names do not appear in gossip column in negative way. He ask person who stands between board of directors and reporters. This man is chief editor.'

Every eye turned towards Ferdinand Cabigon.

'This is ridiculous,' said the editor. 'There's no censorship in this newspaper. No more than in any other newspaper, anyway. I have complete freedom from the proprietor and make my own decisions. He has never interfered, not once.'

Wong continued. 'So editor had series of little interviews with chief gossip columnist of the paper. He tells her if she wants to keep her comfortable little job and big pay packet, she better be very careful to not mention name of any of proprietor's friends. Gloria she say, okay. But she feel very bad. Other reporter in other newspaper write about them. But not her.'

'This is probably true,' the sports editor said. 'Her column did seem to get very tame in recent months.'

'Shh,' Santos scolded him, his eyes fixed on Wong.

After some time, Gloria worry this will be noticed. She decide she will not censor herself any more. She tell editor she will no longer keep proprietor's friends out of column.'

'This is crazy,' Cabigon objected, becoming red in the face. 'All make-believe from beginning to end. I think you better leave now, Mr Wong.'

The feng shui feng shui master held up his hands. 'Not finish. Ms Del Rosario and editor have big fight on Friday. Editor sacks her. She tells him she is more happy to leave job than to stay in job and censor herself. She say she will write her last column that night.' master held up his hands. 'Not finish. Ms Del Rosario and editor have big fight on Friday. Editor sacks her. She tells him she is more happy to leave job than to stay in job and censor herself. She say she will write her last column that night.'

The editor had begun to sweat profusely.

'Before her column go to sub-editor and layout desk, editor reads it,' Wong continued. 'He sees it is confession. Confession that she censored herself. Because editor ask her to. Her column destroys her reputation. But also it destroys his his reputation. On Friday evening -' reputation. On Friday evening -'

Ferdinand Cabigon rose to his feet and shouted at the visitors. 'That's enough. This is slander. You and your crazy friends will get out right now.' He tried to speak with authority, but his voice shook. He turned to his staff. 'Throw him out.'

Boy Santos Jr rose to his feet. 'I'll throw them out. But first I want to hear the rest of what Mr Wong is saying. About what happened on Friday evening.'

Journalist and editor stared at each other.

Cabigon opened his mouth. 'I -'

Santos interrupted. 'Free speech. Isn't that what newspapers are all about? Sit down,' he ordered. 'Boss.'

The reporter looked to his colleagues for support. Several of them nodded.

Cabigon reluctantly took his seat.

Wong continued: 'So editor call her to executive office on top floor-he says he wants to give her goodbye gift. She go upstair with him. He asks her to wait. Then he run downstair. He type suicide message on her keyboard to him. He clicks "send" b.u.t.ton. He rush upstair to executive floor. He take her up to the roof to show her something-then he push her off. He goes to executive toilet to wash his hands, make sure no fibre from her clothes on him. He goes downstair back to his desk.'

There was a sc.r.a.ping sound. Ferdinand Cabigon had pushed his chair back again. All eyes turned to him. His face was wet and his eyes staring.

'Stay,' Santos said.

'Soon, body is found, splat, dead on ground,' Wong continued. 'Many photographer, reporter, they run downstair, out of building, have a look. They see Gloria is dead. Mr Santos he run upstair and run into editor's room to tell him Gloria dead. At that moment, editor press send-and-receive b.u.t.ton and receive her final email. He reads it, pretends to be very shocked.'

Cabigon shrieked at Wong. 'There is no proof of this. There is no proof of this at all. It's just a wild story. She never wrote any final column. What you've said is pie in the sky.'

'No, it isn't.' The quiet voice came from his secretary, Baby Encarnacion-Salocan.

Everyone in the room turned to stare at her.

'Gloria thought you might just delete her final column, so she sent an extra copy to me. I kept it. She treated me decently. So did Mr Wong and his a.s.sistant. So I printed it out and pa.s.sed it on to him.'

Madam Xu clapped her hands. 'So that's how you worked it all out. d.a.m.n clever of you Wong. I thought for a moment that you must be psychic, to know so much detail about what happened. But you had the full story from the victim. That's cheating, Wong.'

Santos rose to his feet, and with the help of the business editor and the sports editor-the two bulkiest men in the room-escorted Ferdinand Cabigon back to his office, where he was incarcerated until the police could be summoned.

Back in the conference room, Wong was defending himself from Madam Xu.

'Column of Gloria did not tell me everything. Just bit about how editor ask her to censor herself. How she decided to leave job instead.'

Joyce leaned into the conversation. 'But how d'you know about how he pushed her? She couldn't have written all that down. And how come you suddenly know how to send emails?'

'How to do email I don't know. Baby told me all that stuff. I just repeat it.'

Ms Encarnacion-Salocan bowed her head. 'I was sitting outside the editor's office the whole time. I saw him rushing in and out. I checked the send and receive times on Gloria's intra-office emails. Remember, I'm the editor's secretary. I have top level clearance. It was easy for me to work out what had happened. Gloria was my best friend. She confided in -' The woman burst into tears.

Madam Xu was still annoyed with Wong. 'You had too much help. This doesn't count.'

Boy Santos Jr re-entered the room and turned to the visitors. 'Thank you for your help.'

'Thank you is very nice,' said Wong. 'But we still get paid I hope?'

'Don't know. Cabigon signed the contract. If what you say is true, and he gets arrested, the owner might nullify things he signed. Especially as you make him look bad. Hard to say.'

The feng shui feng shui master looked depressed. master looked depressed.

Joyce's mind was whirling with the excitement of the past days: a murder, an investigation and a spell in jail- she felt bonded with Santos. 'What an amazing three days. I never realised being a reporter was such a complicated and exciting job.'

Santos smiled at her. 'It can be. But sometimes it all seems to go out of control.'

'But even then-I mean, it's amazing how you always find the right thing to put in the paper.'

The investigative reporter sat down next to Joyce. 'Thanks, Joyce. But you know what? For the first time since I started this job, I have absolutely no idea what we should be putting on the front page tomorrow.'

At Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Wong peered at the piece of bread that Madam Xu had purchased for him as a snack. Joyce was in the airport CD shop.

'This is what?'

'Authentic French cuisine, according to the table d'hotel, table d'hotel,' she said.

'Looks funny.'

'Adobo Croissant, it's called. Try it.'

He took one bite-and then set it aside, wiping all traces off his lips with his napkin.

'Not hungry,' he said.

'Me also,' said Madam Xu.

The case had been interesting, but the two Chinese mystics were still depressed about how wrong they had been when examining Gloria Del Rosario's apartment. How could two so-called experts in the predictive arts have missed something as large as the imminent death of their subject?

'I'll buy you a much better snack, Mr Wong,' said a voice.

They looked around to see Baby Encarnacion-Salocan. The editor's secretary sat down, explaining that she needed to tell them something before they left the Philippines.

She told them that she had been miserable for the past six years, working for a wily and increasingly untrustworthy boss. She had desperately been seeking changes in her life, and wanted to quit the newspaper and start working independently.

'I vacated my flat and moved in with Gloria three months ago. When she said that she was ent.i.tled to a free session from a top feng shui feng shui expert from Singapore, I asked her to accept,' she said. expert from Singapore, I asked her to accept,' she said.

'So birthday was your birthday, not birthday of Gloria?' Wong was wide-eyed.

She nodded. 'Gloria accepted Mr Pun's offer of a free feng shui feng shui and astrological consultation, but she gave you guys my birth date instead of her own. That home office area was mine, not hers.' and astrological consultation, but she gave you guys my birth date instead of her own. That home office area was mine, not hers.'

Madam Xu, shocked, put her fingertips to her lips, barely daring to believe her ears. And that handprint . . . ?'

'That was my hand,' said Baby.

'Thank G.o.d.'

'So when you both predicted that the apartment's inhabitant would enjoy a full and rich life, you were talking about me, not poor Gloria,' Baby continued. 'I'm sorry to have deceived you. I couldn't have afforded to employ you myself. It was because of the lies Gloria and I told that you got mixed up in all this.'

Madam Xu was stunned. 'So I have not lost my abilities after all,' she gasped. 'And Mr Wong the same. We got it right!

Thank you for the best news we have had in days. That news earns you a big kiss and a hug.'

The two women clutched each other tightly.

Wong looked alarmed and slipped away.

Epilogue: Letters from friends Feng Menglong was a sage who lived in recent times, four hundred years ago. He wrote a book called Zhinang Zhinang.In his book he said men always strived to have easy lives. If any obstacles came their way, they would get off the path of righteousness.Feng Menglong wondered why Heaven made it so difficult for men to attain enlightenment. While he was thinking about this, he encountered an example of the problem.One farmer of his acquaintance wanted to study and reach enlightenment. But his land was too dry that season and he had to spend every day carrying water to it.The farmer said: 'I would study and acquire wisdom and become enlightened if I did not have so many troubles in my life.'The difficult times continued. The farmer carried water every day and forgot his pursuit of the truth.But other people in the village continued to study and seek enlightenment. Their fields became dry and dusty and the soil was blown away by the wind. The farm became a mound of lushness surrounded by baked hollows.Then one day, after a long drought, the rains came.The water sprinkled the mountaintops and ran down the sides. The water filled the deep hollows of the land.Feng Menglong saw that the lowlands had much more water than the plateaus.He realised that a life with highs and lows is richer than a life with only highs.Blade of Gra.s.s, learn from the words of Shanneng, a Zen master during the Southern Song Dynasty. He said: 'When hardship is over, we look back and discover a certain joy in it. But if you can discover the joy while the hardship is happening, your winter will be as filled with as much wonder as your summer.'