3 Can You Picture This? Read Free Page A

photo of my face while I was walking, so I shoved his bike away. Naturally, he fell over, and he was upset at me. Then I…”
    “Sam, I don’t need all the ‘before’ details. Tell me about the picture.”
    I didn’t like it, but complied. “Well, if you don’t want the whole scenario…‌for context…‌Richie showed me a photo of a man collapsed against a building. Another man, in a bright blue hoodie, was stabbing him in cold blood, right at the time the picture was taken. It looked like a rather large knife being pushed inside the guy. I’d say it was near his heart, but not quite that high. Definitely on the left side though.” I paused a moment. “Oh, I forgot. Richie told me it was taken between 5 and 10 AM, or maybe 10:30 AM. I can’t remember.”
    “Good, Sam. Good. Now close your eyes and see if there are any other details you can remember.” My little brother was good at this.
    I did as he asked, and visualized what the instant photo looked like. “The light in the photo showed it couldn’t have been taken as early as 5. It was too light for that hour. So I guess I’d say 6 to 8. Sorry I can’t be more exact about that.” I scrunched up my face as I tried to see more.
    “Relax a little more,” Rob suggested. “Don’t try to force it. Do you remember where the sunlight was coming from?”
    I felt my shoulders and my face relax. “From the left maybe. And the building, the building had limestone blocks on the bottom. It was white above the foundation.” But many of Quincy’s buildings had limestone blocks in them. The city was built on limestone bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, so that didn’t narrow things down too much.
    “Good. Good. Was there anything else in the picture? Grass, streets, lights, vehicles?”
    Deliberately relaxing my shoulders again, I went back to the picture in my mind. “I saw a green bush, a little grass, and some blacktop maybe. Not a sidewalk. Something looked familiar, but I’m not sure what.”
    “Okay, Sam. Open your eyes.”
    As I did, I looked at my baby brother in a new light. Not only was he a rookie cop, he was also someone who would make detective in the future. I was sure of it.
    He then said, “You did a great job. When you sit out in the hall, relax and think about the picture. If you come up with anything else, let me know when I’m finished talking with Richie.”
    I nodded, and got up to leave, but not before I said, “You did a great job, too.”
    Richie and I exchanged places and I could imagine what he was saying to Rob. The one thing I hadn’t remembered to ask Richie was where he had ridden that morning. I’d have to ask later.
    But the next time I saw him he was in no position to talk.

FOUR
    W hile I sat, waiting for Rob to finish talking to Richie, I realized it had been a long time between bathroom breaks. My phone rang as I looked down the long, green-tiled hallway and saw the universal sign for bathroom sticking out from the wall. I answered my phone, thinking that I still had a few minutes before Richie would be done.
    The phone call was a computer reminder that I had a reunion committee meeting on Wednesday night. I quickly made sure the appointment was in the calendar of my smart phone as I walked briskly to the women’s bathroom. There were only two stalls inside and both were occupied, so I leaned against another green tiled wall and waited. Waited with my legs crossed. As I uncrossed and sat I felt the universal relief that only comes from this situation.
    I hadn’t planned to be away that long, but as I washed my hands I thought that I wasn’t gone long enough for Richie to be done with the interview. When I tried to exit the ladies’ room, there were two women trying to get in. They wouldn’t budge, so I had to back up and step aside to let them enter. I did take an extra moment to give them dirty looks, but of course, it didn’t change anything.
    I looked back down the hall and saw that the row of metal