Linda

Biodata

Background / History

Church Relief Work

Linda studies journalism at New York University, while her parents live near Pastor Essen Borg’s church. She regularly helps distribute relief meals as part of her practical coursework and research for a paper on social assistance. The church also provides a monthly stipend of $400, giving her a financial reason to continue the work despite its unpleasant conditions 5 10 26 28.

She meets Lin Rui, who introduces himself as Leon, during a church food distribution. After flirting with him, she refuses to give him her number, saying he is too young to date. Shortly afterward, she calls Pastor Borg to request Leon’s number herself, claiming that he looks innocent and that she wants to make friends 5.

Establishing the Food-Truck Partnership

When Lin Rui prepares a charity food business to raise money for the Jones family’s medical expenses, Linda secures a former film-prop food truck through a friend. The arrangement grants use of the vehicle, not ownership. She uses her possession of its keys to negotiate a place in the project, intending to observe the operation for her social-assistance paper 10.

Linda initially offers to work without wages or a profit share. Lin Rui agrees to her involvement on the condition that her reporting not describe him directly; she promises to observe without interfering and to use an alias for anything involving him 10.

At their Central Park location, she handles orders, payments, and recommendations while Lin Rui prepares food. The first day’s sales exhaust their supplies. When Toby admits to stealing relief meals—and later robbing relief stations with hired friends—Linda reacts with excitement, treating the incidents as potential material for her writing 11 12.

Lin Rui pays her $500 after their first day, crediting her with obtaining the truck. Although she had offered to work for free, rent and student-loan obligations persuade her to accept. She becomes one of the venture’s three founding parties alongside Lin Rui and the Jones family, and briefly questions whether investigative journalism can compete with the business’s earning potential 13.

Investigating the Homeless Deaths

Linda interrupts her food-truck work after discovering a police response to seven unexplained deaths near the church. Recognizing her friend Peggy among the forensic personnel, she photographs the scene and presses for information. Peggy reveals that the deaths resemble an earlier unexplained case, prompting Linda to pursue a report rather than accompany Lin Rui to work 18.

She gains permission to observe the examinations conducted by Professor Winters, but cannot photograph the bodies or ask questions. The condition of the remains makes her nauseated, forcing her to leave the morgue 20.

Her hopes of attracting The New York Times are disappointed: the paper shows no interest, while The New York Post is willing to consider a feature. Winters’s suspicion that a killer may be disguising murders as overdoses renews her interest in an in-depth investigation. Unknown to Linda, Lin Rui caused the seven deaths while targeting “fallen ones” 20.

Encounter with Agent Robin

Linda is present when DEA Agent Robin visits the food truck to discuss Doyle’s drug dealing and extortion. She condemns the protection drug dealers receive through their relationships with narcotics officers. Robin immediately becomes more guarded after learning that she is training to become an investigative reporter 26.

Although she shares Robin’s curiosity about Lin Rui’s unusual circumstances, she accepts Lin Rui’s explanation that television coverage of Pastor Borg’s charity work led him to the church. After Doyle’s arrest, she challenges Robin’s continued interest in Lin Rui and reassures her partner that the agent has no grounds to trouble him merely for earning money 26 27.

Reduced Hours and Continued Involvement

Linda earns over $5,000 during the partnership’s first week, but the repetitive work quickly loses its novelty. Having missed classes, she withdraws from regular shifts, and Samantha takes her place 28.

She nevertheless continues working intermittently. As the truck’s popularity grows, she warns that online attention and conspicuous success could provoke jealousy. Despite a heavy course load, she competes with the Jones sisters for shifts with Lin Rui, whose practice of splitting tips equally makes the work especially lucrative. On one such shift, she receives $500 in tips 41 42.

Appearance

• Face and build: Described as a pretty young white woman with an attractive figure, long legs, and a slender waist 5 12 41.
• Presentation: Wears carefully applied makeup; appears in a white T-shirt during the food-truck arrangements 10 41.
• Expression: Her warm smile helps put tourists at ease when she takes their orders 12.

Personality

Linda is playful, flirtatious, and fond of provoking reactions. She initially uses Lin Rui’s age to tease him, later kisses him, and joins Peggy in laughing at his discomfort over a proposed morgue visit. Her attraction becomes possessive when the Jones sisters become intimate with him: she feels jealous despite acknowledging privately that he is not her boyfriend 5 11 18 29.

Her journalistic ambition makes her persistent around police and eager to identify a major story. At the same time, she is neither indifferent to money nor consistently restrained by ethical concerns. She enjoys Lin Rui’s cunning, becomes exhilarated by the truck’s earnings, and finds Toby’s acquisition of stolen relief food exciting. Rent and substantial student debt influence her decisions about work and her future career 11 12 13 18 20.

Abilities & Skills

Reporting and Investigation

Linda applies her journalism training to both social-assistance research and local crime reporting 10 18.

• Recognizes a potentially significant incident from the scale of police and forensic activity 18.
• Uses her friendship with Peggy to obtain information about suspicious deaths 18.
• Photographs crime scenes and asserts her right to remain outside police tape and conduct interviews 18.
• Completes a community news report, though she struggles to secure prominent newspaper coverage 20.
• Has difficulty observing graphic postmortem examinations; nausea forces her out of the morgue 20.

Food-Truck Operations

Linda works both the customer-facing counter and the preparation area 12 26.

• Takes orders, handles cash and change, recommends menu items, and manages order numbers 12.
• Heats prepared food and serves milkshakes, coffee, and other drinks 26.
• Checks Lin Rui’s food-safety training, service permits, and certification for frozen desserts 11.

Networking and Logistics

Linda obtains practical assistance through personal contacts 10.

• Arranges access to the converted film-prop food truck and help with its paperwork through a friend 10.
• Drives Lin Rui to collect prepared relief food and take over the truck’s shift 25.

Relationships

• Lin Rui / Leon — Business partner and romantic interest. She admires his maturity and earning ability, helps establish his food business, and defends him against Robin’s suspicions. She becomes jealous of his involvement with the Jones sisters, but explicitly recognizes that he is not her boyfriend 10 19 27 29.
• Pastor Essen Borg — Oversees the church where she volunteers and introduces her background to Lin Rui. He also passes along her request for Lin Rui’s phone number 5.
• Peggy — Friend and forensic pathology intern who shares information about the homeless deaths and helps her follow the examinations 18 20.
• The Jones family — Fellow partners in the food-truck venture. Samantha replaces Linda on regular shifts; later, the three sisters compete with her for lucrative shifts alongside Lin Rui 13 28 42.
• Agent Robin — DEA agent whose comments reinforce her distrust of narcotics policing. She objects to his continued scrutiny of Lin Rui after Doyle’s arrest 26 27.
• Unnamed boyfriend — Pastor Borg states that Linda has a steady boyfriend when she first meets Lin Rui; the provided account does not clarify the relationship’s later status 5.

Notable Quotes

“Fine. I’ll only observe, not interfere. Anything involving you will use an alias.” 10

“Leon, I like your cunning. You’re much more straightforward than those hypocrites.” 11

“Agent Robin, you’re neither the FBI nor immigration. You just catch drug dealers. Why do you insist on keeping an eye on Leon?” 27