“Sorry, Mrs. G.”
“It’s my fault. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” Carlita shifted her gaze to Elvira’s place. “Have you seen Elvira since her accident?”
“Yeah. She’s cranky and running Dernice ragged.”
“I feel bad about her arm.”
Luigi shrugged. “I think she’s milking it.”
“Elvira? Taking advantage of a situation?” Carlita joked.
“You got her number,” Luigi grinned. He quickly sobered. “How’s Tony doin’?”
“He’s hanging in there.”
“I think I’ll stop by his place later, maybe invite him over for a beer,” Luigi said. “In the meantime, I gotta get going. My next job is waiting for me.”
Back home, Carlita plopped down in front of her computer. There was a link between Mei Zhao and the Zhao who sold Sandy Sue’s ring. She would bet money on it. But how could she link the two together?
Steve had mentioned nearly renting real estate from Hou Zhao. She began researching commercial property.
She tried several search variations, but nothing using the name Hou Zhao surfaced. Carlita leaned back in the chair, staring blankly at the screen. “There has to be a way.”
“Wait a minute.” Carlita snapped her fingers. “Why didn’t I think of that?’ She grabbed her cell phone and scrolled through her list of contacts until she found the one person who might be able to help.
“Annie Dowton speaking.”
“Hey, Annie. It’s Carlita. Are you in the office today?”
“I’m on my way in to write up a contract. I should be there any minute.”
“Do you mind if I swing by? I need to track down a commercial real estate owner.”
“C’mon over.”
“I’m on my way.” Carlita arrived first, but only by a couple of minutes. “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. How’s business?”
“Brisk, but you won’t hear me complain,” Annie said. “Are you in the market to buy more real estate?”
“No way. I can barely keep up with what I have.” Carlita waited for Annie to unlock the door and followed her inside. “Someone robbed Sandy Sue Jarvis, the owner of the new barbecue joint around the corner. A ring was stolen. It ended up being sold to our pawn shop. Have you been by there?”
“Not yet. My receptionist, Cindy, has. She said the food was okay.” Annie dropped her purse on the desk and motioned for Carlita to have a seat. “What does this have to do with commercial real estate?”
“Ravello’s recently hired an employee. Her last name is Zhao, which is also the last name of the person who sold us the ring.”
“And you think there’s a match?” Annie asked.
“Possibly,” Carlita said.
“Doesn’t the pawn shop keep a record of sellers?”
“It does. Unfortunately, our computer is on the fritz. Tony thought he had a handwritten record of the seller’s information, but we can’t find it. All Tony can remember is that the person’s last name was Zhao.”
Annie blinked rapidly. “You think your new employee robbed Jarvis and is now working for you?”
“That’s where it gets tricky. Mei Zhao, Ravello’s new employee, is not the person who sold the ring. Steve Winter mentioned Hou Zhao owned real estate. I can’t find anyone by that name or any contact information online and thought maybe you could help.”
“It’s possible the property is owned in a trust or a DBA name.”
“I guess it was a question I should’ve thought to ask Steve.”
“Real estate agents have a private database. If Hou Zhao owns property, it will show up in our system.” Annie turned her attention to the computer. With a few taps of the keys, she told Carlita she had an address. She rattled it off.
“That means nothing to me,” Carlita said. “Do you know where the property is located?”
“Yep. It’s out by the highway.” Annie shifted the screen, giving Carlita a visual on the location. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized she’d already visited that exact spot.
Chapter 23
“What does this mean?” Carlita whispered.
“What does what mean?”
“Sandy Sue and her brother were joint owners of Big Hog’s BBQ. It’s in this strip mall. She sold him her half of the partnership and opened her own barbecue place. Her brother still owns Big Hog’s. Mercedes and I were there the other day.”
“And Hou Zhao owns the strip mall,” Annie said.
“Steve told me he backed out of leasing space from Zhao because of a shady contract.” Carlita pressed a hand to her cheek. “What about Mei Zhao? Does she own property?”
Annie tapped the keys. “Nope. Hou Zhao owns that strip mall and another property. It appears to be vacant land.”
There was a link between the stolen ring, Sandy Sue, Big Hog’s BBQ and Hou Zhao. At the very least, they all knew each other.
There was only one person who could help fill in the blanks. Sandy Sue Jarvis. Would she talk to Carlita? There was only one way to find out.
*****
It was the next day before Carlita got up the nerve to make her way across the street. Since the barbecue place didn’t open until eleven, Carlita gambled on Sandy Sue prepping in the back.
“Here goes nothing.” Carlita sucked in a breath and rapped hard on the front door.
Sandy Sue appeared. She unlocked the door and stood blocking the entrance. “Hello.”
“Good morning. I was wondering if I could speak with you for a moment, about the robbery.”
“Why? Because the cops are coming down on you?”
“No. I didn’t steal your ring or rob you.”
“Tell that to the investigators.” Sandy Sue started closing the door.
Carlita wedged her foot in the opening. “Does the name Hou Zhao ring a bell?”
There was a look of surprise on Sandy Sue’s face. “What do you know about Hou?” she asked.
“I know he owns a strip mall out by the highway.
