Chapter 20: Before Witnesses

Victor had taped CLOSED FOR WEDDING inside the front door. Qing had added AND INVENTORY beneath it in marker, and Su peeled the line off with a thumbnail. "People respect inventory," Qing said. "People respect weddings." "You have never run a shop." "I run this one." "Badly. It has a flower on the counter that smells like a threat." Lan Pham leaned across the counter and turned the vase a quarter turn. "The peonies hide the card reader. Leave them." That was all the argument the morning had left. Su wore the cream dress, and Lan had shortened it at seven a.m. after declaring the original hem a hazard on stairs. The sleeves ran to her wrists and held warmth better than they looked. Under the cuffs her skin was human and her nails were clear. May sat by the clinic partition with her cane across her knees. She had…