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MY OFFICE WAS MY DOMAIN. I did all the decorating, had the furniture moved in, had stupid pictures on the wall to cover it, and all the secret stuff, like hiding my big shotgun underneath my main desk where I could get to it easily.
Punch Judy ruled the reception area. It would be like an ex-posh gang member to have an haute-couture interior design decorating sense. With her punk rock playing in the background on an infinite loop, she had turned the barren space into some hipster, scenester receptionist-waiting room of the stars. Psychedelic posters on the wall, her fancy "modern" glass desk with see-through glass drawers, and a boombox on top along with her own mobile computer. All of her workstation was behind a metal barrier, but it didn't look like a barrier with the decorations. The waiting area had these geometric, purple couches around a glass table on a shimmering, neon powder blue rug. The reception table had French fashion magazines, which I thought was stupid because how could people read them, but then I realized—fashion magazines—so that meant lots and lots of pictures with few words, so it didn't matter, and numerical prices were universal.
Now, she was working on her own do-it-yourself neon light sign. I don't know where she found it, but she was busy at work, making a LIQUID COOL sign for the space she designated right on the wall behind her, outside my office. It would be the first thing people would see. She even had another box in smaller neon letters to make DETECTIVE AGENCY. I was impressed.
There was a knock on the door.
I was glad I had turned over office door security to her. I still didn't know why a paranoid, like me, who checked my car and home doors multiple times with my OCD self, would so carelessly leave my new office door unlocked more than once.
PJ walked to the door and opened it. We hadn't connected the door buzzer yet, because we still had to get the hallway camera.
There he stood. Dot's father, Mr. Wan.
He ignored Punch Judy as he walked past her. His eyes avoided me too as he walked in. He casually held his hands together behind his back as he strolled around. First the reception area, then to PJ's desk, then he walked into my office. PJ and I looked at each other, and then I bolted to my office. Just as I was about to go in, he came out. Mr. Wan strolled to the door, opened it, and closed it behind himself. We looked at each other again.
"That's China Doll's father?" Punch Judy asked.
"Yeah."
"You are not in good standing with him. I would not marry her if I were you. You marry her; you marry him."
"Don't say that. I'm trying not to think about it."