Pushing Daisies/Recap/S2/E05 Dim Sum, Lose Sum

The Past
Ned, lonely at Boarding School, falls in with a group of similarly lonely boys who gamble to pass the weekends when the other boys are home with their families. All that Ned has to wager is a box of chocolates he pocketed just before his father took him to school--but he discovers, after he has already wagered it, that the box had been intended as a gift to him from his late mother. He loses it, and learns that gambling always includes at least one unforeseen outcome.

The Present
Emerson receives a plea for help in the fortune cookie he received with his take-out from the dim sum restaurant below his office. There he finds Lai Di, the newly-bereaved widow of the restaurant's chef, Bao Ting. Lai Di asks Emerson to solve Bao's death.

Bao is panicky when revived, and can only say that he was afraid for his life after losing a bet. The nature of the bet seems clear after Bao's best friend comes to the Pie Hole and explains that the dim sum restaurant has been running an illegal gambling operation--but a search of the restaurant turns up no sign of one.

Tropes
"Narrator: This was the first time the private investigator had ever been ordered to...
 * Arranged Marriage
 * Arson Murder and Jaywalking: Simone lists off her dimsum poker opponents--four dangerous men with underworld connections and a plumber.
 * Bullet Time
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Illegal gambling? Sure. Betting on the outcome of innocent lives? Why not? But Shrimp Boy will not abide cheating.
 * Funny Background Event: Near the end of the episode, Ned, after being tied up by the bad guys, has an epiphany about his family. Meanwhile, Emerson is right behind him, also tied up, and desperately trying to get the end of the rope into his mouth so he can untie himself.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar:

Simone: Come."


 * Ironic Nickname: Shrimp Boy, the muscular head of a gambling ring.
 * Lost Her In A Card Game
 * Meaningful Name - Chef Bao Ting; bao is Cantonese for bun.
 * Pun Based Title
 * Retraux Flashback: To the gambling during Prohibition.
 * Scooby Stack
 * Translation Convention