Free Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials by Ovidia Yu Page A

these credentials, Salim should have been
     rising through the public service ranks as an example of how meritocracy benefited
     minorities. So why wasn’t he?
    “You got a body?”
    “Two—”
    Inspector Salim took down the address he was given. “Fast response vehicle?”
    “Three on the way. But CP is here and asked for you.”
    Salim, on his feet and moving to the door, had already sent their destination and
     a message to his driver to meet him by the car.
    “You know who they are?”
    “Mabel Sung and her son, Leonard. Apparently there was some kind of party at the house
     and it may have been food poisoning.”
    “ Kanasai! How many guests present? Anybody else sick? Who provided the food?”
    “No indication. The caterer is Aunty Lee’s Delights.”
    “Ah.”
    Salim knew Aunty Lee’s Delights well. The small café in Binjai Park was within walking
     distance of Bukit Tinggi NPP.
    Salim remembered the message Panchal had given him. He thought he knew who had sent
     it.
    “With me, Panchal.”
    Though she should have expected to accompany him, Salim had to wait while she retrieved
     her phone from its charger, locked her desk, and shut down her computer. All according
     to regulations, of course.
    It was at times like this that Salim missed Timothy Pang most. Timothy would already
     have called up all available information on his phone and by the time they arrived
     at the crime scene would know the ages, educational qualifications, declared and undeclared
     income, and Pinterest loves of the people involved. Plus the way his new aide watched
     him made Salim uncomfortable. He reminded himself that change was good. Panchal reminded
     him to put on his seat belt.
    There were other eyes on Inspector Salim Mawar. He might believe it was by his own
     decision that he was still at the Bukit Tinggi Neighborhood Police Post. In fact his
     being allowed to decline several offers of promotion and transfer was part of an as
     yet unnamed Ministry of Home Affairs experiment. If all went well it would be hailed
     as a successful step forward. If not, then all there was to see was an efficiently
     run police post in an important residential area. Salim had declined to be promoted
     to a higher level in a larger machine. His salary, power, and prospects would all
     have improved, but it was made clear he would be a very small cog. At the moment he
     was running things very well in his little kingdom. Crime rates were low and harmony
     and goodwill were high. The idea was to gradually expand and replicate this success.
     Like the Regional Public Libraries and Regional Post Offices set up following the
     same principle that had combined individual voter constituencies so successfully into
     Group Representation Constituencies or GRCs. Regional Police Hubs, starting with the
     Bukit Tinggi Regional Police Hub, would be small enough for residents to feel a connection
     with the officers but large enough that new officers could ride on the coattails of
     their experienced seniors.
    As things stood, calling Bukit Tinggi a “neighborhood” post was a misnomer, as its
     jurisdiction stretched some way beyond Bukit Tinggi. And Inspector Salim had already
     solved cases beyond the Bukit Tinggi district. Just weeks ago he had exposed and arrested
     a group of international con artists in Chinatown, thanks to a tai tai in his district who told him about a wise man there who offered to bless her jewelry
     and money to ward off bad luck. Most tai tais were idle wealthy women, but Aunty Lee, though wealthy, was anything but idle.
    In any case it was not quite an official project. If anything went wrong it would
     still be possible for top officials to deny the whole experiment. But if successful,
     it could provide a template for things to come. Among the unknown factors was how
     much the experiment’s success depended on Salim and his relationship with residents
     in the area.
    “What do we know so far?” Salim asked as they