The Canton Connection by Fritz Galt Page B

pictures, the more I relive that awful moment. It was so cruel, and the man was so helpless.”
    She sat limp in her chair. It seemed that she had ample emotional reason to want to find the culprit. Maybe he shouldn’t question her truthfulness.
    He cleared his throat to bring her back from that vivid memory. “What if it turns out that one of these men did, in fact, commit the crime?”
    “I wouldn’t be able to confirm it in a court of law,” she said. “I didn’t see any of these people attack him. I can tell you that for a fact.”
    It occurred to Jake that she might be extra careful not to accuse someone if there was a shadow of a doubt.
    “Remember,” he said, “this isn’t a court of law. This is a preliminary investigation. If you were only partially sure, say fifty percent, would you choose one of these pictures?”
    He hoped she would turn to Wu’s photo, but Bob interrupted the process. “I’m sorry, but we’ll have to stop at this point.”
    Jake could kick himself. He had overstepped the bounds and was clearly leading the witness.
    His face burning, Jake gathered up the photos and turned them upside down on the table.
    Stacy didn’t seem ready to leave. “You want to solve this crime, don’t you?”
    He nodded, but was unwilling to express his disappointment. It might have been his first big break in the case, and it produced nothing.
    “Listen,” she said, her voice soft, her eyes on the stack of photos. “How about we go out for a quiet dinner and talk this over under less stressful conditions?”
    “Sure,” Bob said.
    Jake looked up.
    Stacy wasn’t talking to Bob.
    “I mean you, Jake,” she said.
    Jake gave Bob an apologetic smile. His boss gave a disappointed twist of the lips and slipped out of the room.
    That left Jake staring at the woman who he believed held the key to his investigation. Maybe the mug shots and office setting had put too much pressure on her. Maybe some subtle details might emerge over dinner.
    She stared at him boldly and steadily. Her offer had been serious.
    “You sure your boyfriend wouldn’t mind?” he asked.
    She gave him a quizzical look that made him instantly regret his implication that one, she was even considering this a date, and two, even capable of cheating on a boyfriend.
    “That,” he said, “came out kind of wrong.”
    “What makes you think I have a boyfriend?” she asked.
    “I…I.” He didn’t want to tell her how he had spied on her. At least he hadn’t read her Facebook posts. “Just a guess,” he said, neatly avoiding an outright lie.
    Of course she might be lying, too.
    This was one crazy way to continue.
    “You look too pretty and successful not to have a boyfriend,” he said.
    That was not a lie.
    She smiled. “Come on.” She tossed her head toward the office door and stood up to leave. “I’ll drive.”
    “Now wait a second,” he said. “I’m the one who drives around here.”
    “Suit yourself. I’ll meet you at the Outback in fifteen minutes. Beat the rush.”
    “Sure. That works.”
    With that, she flashed a broad smile.
    He let her out of the office, and Maria escorted her to the door.
    Jake plopped down in his seat and turned to his desk phone. He needed to compare notes with Bob.
    “She didn’t bite,” Jake said over the line.
    Bob, who had been excluded from knowing who the real suspect was, merely grunted. “I saw her pick up the fourth picture.”
    “That wasn’t it,” Jake said.
    “She took her time, but I didn’t see any flicker of recognition. She certainly didn’t point one out.”
    “Didn’t you see her pause at picture number seven?”
    “That was it?”
    “That was Simon Wu.”
    Bob grunted a negative. “I didn’t see anything unusual.”
    That was strange. She had paused to study, even appraise, the p hoto.
    “Well, I’ve got dinner with her tonight,” Jake said.
    “I know,” Bob said sourly.
    “So I’ll catch you later.”
    “Keep focused on the case,” Bob said. “And