Arsenic and Adobo

Lila goes over to see Derek’s mother, and the house brings back memories. The idea of staying in Shady Palms makes Lila feel “like death.” Lila thinks Mrs. Long isn’t home and starts to leave but then runs into her outside the house. During their visit, Lila shares ube cookies with Mrs. Long, which she enjoys. They talk about Mr. Long and Lola Flor keeping the thermostat low, as well as Tita Rosie’s hospitality. When Mrs. Long goes into the kitchen to make coffee and doesn’t come back, Lila goes to see what happened only to find Mr. Long dead on the kitchen floor. Mrs. Long asks Lila to call the cops.

Detective Park notes that Lila has terrible luck or excellent intuition regarding crime scenes. Lila asks him questions about the connection to Derek’s murder. Detective Park says Cate is going to stay with Mrs. Long. Mrs. Long tells police that she was out for a walk before running into Lila and that Mr. Long had gone to a friend’s house. Lila asks more questions, wondering if this murder is connected to Derek or a burglary gone wrong. Then she asks if there was a gift for her in Janet’s office, but the detective doesn’t think they found anything like the dachshund statue that Terrence described.

Detective Park called Tita Rosie before talking to Lila. Rosie arrives with Lola Flor, and they invite Mrs. Long and Cate to stay with them. Mrs. Long agrees, but only for one night.

Lila goes to Java Jo’s, and Adeena snubs her. While waiting for her order, Lila scrolls and posts on social media. She finds a message from Yuki in the business social media account for Tita’s Rosie’s Kitchen, which only Lila checks. Yuki wants to meet but not in a public place. Lila agrees to meet her at the funeral home. When Kevin finishes making Lila a drink with dairy, Adeena objects, knowing that Lila is lactose intolerant. They bicker, and Lila tells Adeena about Mr. Long’s body. Then, Lila leaves her drink behind and tells Adeena that she is going to question a suspect.

Lila meets Yuki at the funeral home. Yuki asks Lila about her romantic relationship with Derek. Then, Yuki admits to having an affair with Derek and giving the health inspector money. Derek wanted Yuki to run away with him, but she didn’t want to leave her family. Marcus calls to tell Lila that Tita Rosie is being questioned by the police. Lila heads to the police station and calls Amir, who is already heading there.

Amir gets to the station first and stays with Tita Rosie as she is questioned. Marcus tells Lila that the knife used to kill Mr. Long belongs to Tita Rosie, and Lila collapses. Marcus then reveals that the sheriff has gotten involved, and there is a lot of pressure to close the case. The local newspaper is covering the case extensively. Lila tries to ask more questions, but Detective Park interrupts her. He says Tita Rosie is free to leave, but she has to come back and answer more questions the next day. Tita Rosie says she is tired, and Lila cries as they leave the station.

When they get home, both Tita Rosie and Lila take a nap. When Lila wakes up, she puts out some refreshments for Cate and Mrs. Long. Cate offers to make some coffee that she bought, and Lila gets out a French press. Mrs. Long is upset that there are only milk substitutes, and Lila manages to find some creamer for her. Then, Mrs. Long reveals that her husband, Derek, and the health inspector were all regulars at Java Jo’s but didn’t share details about their side business with her. Lila mentions that Kevin claimed that he and Derek were just acquaintances, and this upsets Mrs. Long.

Lola Flor joins them in the kitchen, and Lila decides to bring some food and coffee to Tita Rosie. Lila finds Tita Rosie saying prayers with her rosary in her room. While Tita Rosie eats, she admits that she went to Mr. Long’s house. He said he wanted her to meet with the health inspector too. Lila believes this is part of the scam that they ran on the other restaurants. Tita Rosie says she is still tired and sends Lila back to check on their guests.

In the kitchen, Lila talks with Mrs. Long about Tita Rosie’s concerns about her reputation. Mrs. Long knows that it wasn’t Tita Rosie or Lila who killed Derek, and she knows that her husband planted the drugs in Lila’s locker. The bag originally belonged to Derek, and Mrs. Long gave it to Mr. Long when she found it after Derek’s death. Mrs. Long says, “We know who killed Derek. Don’t we?” (279). Then, she runs out of the room.

Adeena calls Lila and says the lab discovered that Derek was killed by nicotine poisoning. Derek was also poisoned by low levels of arsenic over a long period. When Adeena starts talking about a new suspect, she is interrupted, and Lila hears her scream. Lila drives to Java Jo’s, nearly getting into an accident on the way there. At Java Jo’s, the door is locked, but Lila can see Adeena’s bracelet on the floor through the glass. Lila bangs on the door until Kevin answers it.

When Kevin lets her in, Lila asks him where Adeena is. He claims that he doesn’t know but doubts that she has been kidnapped. Kevin refills his vape pen, and Lila realizes he is the killer. Kevin watches her expression change during this realization and makes fun of her inability to hide her emotions. Then, Kevin admits he locked up Adeena because she figured out he killed Derek using liquid nicotine from his vape. He plans to leave town, and he isn’t going to kill Adeena. The original owner of Java Jo’s was Jo, his sister. Derek got her back into drugs after she became sober, and he supplied the drugs she overdosed with.

Kevin knew that Derek planned to leave town with Yuki and confesses he poisoned Derek before he could leave. Lila manages to throw a pot of hot coffee in Kevin’s face and runs to the back room where Adeena is tied up with duct tape. Lila barricades the door and helps Adeena get out of her bindings. Adeena says Kevin took her phone, and Lila says she left hers in the car. They decide to “rush him together” when he gets the door open (286). Adeena holds up the dog statue that Janet made for Lila as a weapon. Lila realizes Kevin attacked Janet with the statue, putting her in a coma. Kevin admits that Janet was Derek’s drug supplier, and she discovered that Kevin killed him.

Lila punches Kevin with her keys between her fingers. This allows her and Adeena an opening to get out of Java Jo’s. Kevin throws a chair at Lila before she can escape. Lila throws her car keys to Adeena, and Adeena throws the statue at Kevin but misses. Kevin kicks Lila in the face and runs after Adeena. Lila picks up the dog statue and throws it at Kevin. It knocks him out, and Lila prays over him, thinking that he’s dead.

Detective Park arrives and asks Lila to move so the EMTs can work on Kevin. Kevin is still alive, and the detective suggests Lila also go to the hospital. She says she has the answers to the detective’s questions.

At the reopening of Tita Rosie’s Kitchen, Lila greets all of the people Derek scammed. She also hugs Janet, who has woken up from her coma and confessed to her crimes. Amir got her off on bail. Janet reveals that Derek started scamming restaurants when he turned informant for the police and lost his income from selling drugs. Lila wonders if Terrence and Janet’s marriage will survive, and she resolves to be a better friend to Terrence. Kevin is in a coma from Lila hitting him with the dog statue. Mr. Nelson, the health inspector, told the police about the restaurant scam and that Mr. Long had been giving Derek low doses of arsenic. Mr. Long wanted to blackmail Kevin over Derek’s murder.

Lila thinks she made the right choice in throwing the statue, but she also feels guilty about harming Kevin. When she sees Detective Park at the reopening, he takes a moment to comfort her. Lila looks at Amir and Jae while thinking about them as potential boyfriends. However, she wants to focus more on her friendships than on romance. Earlier that day, Lila helped Cate and Mrs. Long skip town. Mrs. Long admitted that she killed her husband, but Lila doesn’t believe she should be prosecuted.

Before she left, Mrs. Long gave Lila the deeds to the restaurant and Java Jo’s. Lila agrees to run the cafe with Adeena and Elena. Elena wants to call it the “Brew-ha Cafe.” Lila says that Shady Palms is her home.