Page 6 of Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)

Vera harrumphs.

“It’s okay, Vera,” Selena says. “I’ve had breakfast anyway.”

Still, Vera shoots the other officers dirty looks as she packs up her containers. “Next time, I make sure to leave some aside for you,” she says to Selena.

“Okay. I’ll see you later, Vera.”

As Vera goes down the elevator, she realizes that her chest is no longer as tight as it was when she’d arrived. Thank goodness for Selena. Still, when Vera thinks of her credit card, she feels exposed, as though someone had found out her deep, dark secret. Not that she has any deep, dark secrets. She is a respectable Chinese mother, after all. No deep, dark secrets to be found here, no sir. She’s making a mental note to drop by her bank to have them issue her a new credit card when, while exiting the building, she nearly bumps into the same girl she’d noticed while walking in. The girl’s mouth drops open, but she doesn’t say anything. Anxiety is plainly written across her face.

I mustn’t meddle. I don’t do that anymore, Vera thinks.Whatever is bothering this girl, she’s clearly got the right idea, coming to the police station. She knows what she’s doing. I will mind my own business and walk away.She turns away and starts walking.

To give Vera some credit, she actually manages to walk three whole steps before she swings around, her face set in a determined expression. The girl shrinks back as Vera marches toward her. Vera’s expression softens when she gets to the girl. She pats the girl lightly on the shoulder and says, “Come. We will have tea.”

Three

MILLIE

Millie’s mind is a mess. Granted, it’s been this way for a while now. Ever since she came to this place. Everything feels a bit like a dream. No, a nightmare. There’s such a sense of surrealness about life, as though she were standing behind herself, watching herself going through the motions every day. Sometimes, Millie can barely remember her own name.Millie, she reminds herself every morning, as she gazes into her cracked mirror.I am Millie. Just go through the motions, and you’ll be okay.

Except now she’s not going through the motions. She’s going through something else. Something entirely unexpected, and Millie doesn’t know what to do. Mother and Father don’t like unexpected. They’ve explained to her many times that unexpected is bad. She watched in the past week as they explained this to her little sister Mina. She’d nodded and agreed with them about the dangers of the unknown and how they should always, always play it safe.

But this strange old lady has taken Millie by the hand, andMillie could probably yank her hand out of her grasp and run away, if Millie wanted to. And she should, really. But there’s something about this old lady that reminds Millie of her grandmother, her nainai back home, and Millie can’t imagine doing anything as horrible as pulling her hand away from her grandmother. And anyway, the old lady promised her tea, and Millie really wants tea. And maybe unexpected is bad, but how bad can it be when it includes a little old lady? Little old ladies are known for being harmless.

And so Millie lets the strange old lady lead her down the streets of San Francisco to Chinatown, past numerous grocery shops and cake shops, where everyone calls out to the old lady and she waves back at them. It’s clear that whoever she is, the woman is a beloved part of the community, and again, Millie gets the sensation that she’s outside of her own body, watching this scene play out before her. She can almost hear background music, something light and playful to serenade this scene. In a past life, Millie used to be a beloved part of a neighborhood. She thinks. She can’t be sure. Everything is such a blur these days.

The woman stops suddenly, and Millie almost bumps into her. She looks up at the huge sign above the door as the woman takes out her keys.Vera Wang’s World-Famous Teahouse. Millie’s eyes widen and she stares at the woman. To think, she is with the famous dress designer herself. Her mouth goes dry. Should she curtsy? She should definitely curtsy.

Vera opens the door and glances over her shoulder at Millie, then frowns. “What you doing?”

“Miss Wang, it is such an honor to meet you.”

Vera looks confused for a second, then she laughs. “Oh! No,no, I’m not that fashion lady. I’m just Vera Wong, tea expert and crime solver.”

Millie straightens up. Now she feels stupid. Of course it wouldn’t have been Vera Wang the dress designer. Why would Vera Wang own a teahouse in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown? Stupid, stupid. This is why they get angry with Millie so often. Why she gets punished so much. And why, after so many years of working for them, she still owes them so much.

“Come, come. Why you stand outside?” Vera calls out.

Millie blinks, gives herself a little shake, and steps inside the shop gingerly. Her breath catches in her throat as she takes in her surroundings. Has she stepped into a magical place? The walls are painted in colors so rich and vivid that she can practically smell them. She’s transported into a starry night in Shanghai—she’s only ever been to Shanghai once, but she was kept in the dark for most of that day, and then she’d left the country altogether, so she doesn’t think it counts, not really, and anyway, this is a very different Shanghai. There is a boathouse and people spilling out of it, laughing, drinks in hand. Red lanterns adorn the boat and the waters around it, and the scene is so beautiful Millie can only stop and stare.

“Very good, isn’t it?” Vera says from behind the counter. “My niece draw it, you know. Very talented artist. She is in such high demand now, I tell her, Sana, don’t keep coming to visit me, you must be so busy. But she says, Auntie Vera, you are most important person in my life, of course I must come visit you always.” She laughs to herself as she measures out some ingredients into a teapot. “Oh, that Sana.”

Millie feels an inexplicable surge of envy toward this Sana, acomplete stranger she’s never met, and yet already, she knows Sana must be everything she’s not. Sana is ultra-confident and has never known what it is like to hate herself with so much passion that she wants to peel her skin off. She also feels jealous because Sana has an aunt like Vera. Millie has the feeling that if she had an aunt like Vera, she wouldn’t be in the mess she’s currently in.

“Sit,” Vera commands, and Millie’s body listens without consulting her brain. Vera then bustles out from behind the counter with a tray of accoutrements. As Millie watches in wonderment, Vera brews her tea just like her nainai used to, pouring scalding hot water all over the teacups and then throwing out the water. She smiles at Millie as the tea steeps, then lifts the tiny teapot daintily and pours it into four teacups. “Two each,” Vera says. “Come, you drink while is hot.”

Millie does so and then has to stop because tears have filled her eyes. She sits there, blinking rapidly, begging her tear ducts to quit doing whatever they’re doing. Vera pretends not to notice, sipping her tea with exaggerated enjoyment.

“Dried candied winter melon peel with goji berries and rose petals. I make the candied winter melon peel myself, you know,” Vera says. “With my granddaughter Emma. Oh, she eat half of it before I manage to stop her.”

Millie swallows the knot in her throat and takes another sip. “You have such a big family here,” she says finally.

Instead of agreeing, Vera gives her a strange look before smiling. “Yes, I do, don’t I? Now, you tell me what is your name and why you act so strangely.”

She really shouldn’t be here. She should run. Drop this teacup and just bolt out of here. But there’s something about Vera thatmakes going against her not just hard but nearly impossible. “My name is Millie,” Millie says.

“Millie,” Vera says, nodding with approval. “Where are you from, Millie?”

“Yunnan,” Millie says.

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