The Hero Next Time: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 4)

Chapter Thirty-Five: Sunny, Wednesday

Sunny found the Corolla in the parking lot of Century House. He made sure Tej had opened the door to their Prius and strapped in before he approached the car. 

The Corolla started, the headlights turned on, and the passenger side door unlocked. He opened it and climbed inside. He made a point of not looking at the driver until he was strapped in and the car backed out of its space and pulled away. He checked the sideview mirror and was relieved to see Tej behind him.

He took a deep breath and let it out, then turned to see the driver.

He said, "Hello, Naira."

The woman from Jordan's photos was wearing a toque over her normally lustrous black hair, but her face was the same. She was solid in build, wide in the shoulders underneath a dark coat, and the legs underneath her woollen stockings were muscular. She was a police officer, so she had to be in good shape. When Bishan was training in martial arts, she'd developed that same solidity. If Jordan didn't have a type in race, maybe it was in body type.

She looked briefly at him before focusing back on the road, turning on to Eighth Street heading down the hill. "Your name is Sunil Singh Parhar. I did a bit of checking on you. You did indeed have a sister named as a victim in a homicide, for which one Balwinder Singh Johal was convicted back in 2004; a man and woman who are probably his parents were convicted of being accessories after the fact."

He nodded, impressed. "I guess as a police officer you have access to that information."

Her jaw clenched in annoyance. "How do you know about that?"

"It was completely by chance. Your friend Maria outed you unintentionally."

Naira shook her head in disgust. "Fucking Maria. How do you know her?"

"She was there when we were talking to her partner, Detective Tracey, at the New West Police station, discussing the missing persons report Birinder filed. We were confused about which Naira had been reported missing, you see, and she was surprised to see your picture in connection to the case. Does she know anything about this?"

"Of course not. I couldn't trust her with this. She's a great friend, but not exactly discreet. I wouldn't be trusting you with this either, except you seem to be the last person to have had contact with Jordan."

"And to a police officer, I'm the first suspect."

She glanced at him briefly before turning back to the road. By this time they'd passed the New Westminster Skytrain Station and hit the end of the road at Columbia. "Why don't you start from the beginning, when Jordan first came to you."

He told her everything, starting with his campaign opener and ending with his dinner with Birinder on Saturday night. He finished by saying, "The police talked to Birinder after questioning us about Jordan's disappearance."

Naira shook her head and chuckled. "Poor Bir."

"Why poor Bir?"

"Because he's clueless as fuck and unable to see past his own nose."

Sunny shook his head in confusion. "What the hell is going on here, Naira? First of all, is that really your name?"

She turned to him with raised eyebrows. "Seriously? Do you think I'd be able to join the police by misrepresenting myself?"

"Maybe you joined under your real name, but told Jordan your name was Naira."

"Why would I need to do that? Plus I had to provide ID for the marriage license to marry Birinder."

"So, that was you listed in the divorce order I looked up?"

"Yes, of course! My ill-fated marriage isn't anything I tried to hide."