Eye Sleuth Read Online Free Page A

“Nothing to do with you, Yoko.”
    Eventually, Allan surfaced from his lair next door.
    “A gang shooting, Chinese gangs are always in the news,” he said confidently when I told him I didn’t know the woman who’d been shot.
    “She was Japanese,” I said peevishly.
    Allan was a fixture at SUNY way before I graduated, though he was about my age. He was the college’s resident IT genius. Couldn’t have been more different from the other IT specialist I’d known, Charlie, my ex. Allan, your classic geek, was adept at unscrambling technical problems but inept at social contact though he didn’t know that. He was a true brainiac, an admirable quality. Less admirable was the fact that Allan was always certain he was right, even when proved wrong. He was also irritatingly sure that one day I’d come to my senses and go out with him. He ignores the fact I’ve told him pointblank he’s as appealing to me as mud, even if he’s a Mensa man. He’s patronizing and patriarchal and his attitude doesn’t do a thing for my libido. Need I go on?
    “You got there pretty quick. Where were you when the shots were fired?” I asked.
    “Crossing the street,” Allan said. “At first, I didn’t know you were involved, didn’t see you till I got up close.”
    “Trust me, I didn’t want to be involved,” I muttered. Interesting…hadn’t Allan told me this morning that he’d seen that woman talking to me? Maybe he was just confused, mixed up with all the drama. We swapped details on the police questioning. Allan was, of course, certain he’d breezed through his time at the station.
    “The two detectives who interviewed me were borderline smart,” he said. “How about the detectives you saw, were they street smart?”
    “Allan, you’re too much.” I didn’t say that the detectives who interviewed me were fairly obnoxious and their attitude dismissive and irritating. Allan would want to know exactly what happened and who said what and why. No way was I going to tell anyone, particularly Allan, about the warning of danger. I wasn’t going to open that nightmare to the world. If the police dismissed it, I’d keep quiet for now.
    “I don’t think the police have a clue,” Allan carried on as if I hadn’t spoken. “What do you think?”
    “How could they if I don’t know what was going on?” I said. For a second, I was tempted to tell Allan about the warning of danger. But I buttoned my lip. He was such a gossip and would never stop chewing it over with me and anyone else who had a spare moment.
    Allan leaned forward, put his hands on the desk and stared at me. “Yoko,” he said, “Don’t let it worry you. If you need someone to talk to, I’m right here for you.”
    For one brief moment, I didn’t find Allan such a pain. Until he winked at me and said his shoulder was ready whenever I needed to cry.
    “I’ll even throw in a drink at the local watering hole.”
    “Thanks but no thanks,” I told him, wondering yet again about the size of his ego, and I pointedly started shifting the papers on my desk. Allan had to have the last word.
    “Knock on the wall when you want to call it a day,” and he headed for his office, whistling cheerfully.
    Close to six, when Allan stopped by to re-issue his invitation, I didn’t even lift my head, just shook it and he breezed off. The guy had the hide of a rhinoceros. The college had quieted down in the lull before evening classes and clinics. I shut down my computer for the day, part of my personal attempt to save energy. It was time to make a few notes about the shooting and the warning. I sat and thought about what I’d witnessed. Twinges of panic surfaced. Deep breaths, I told myself, you can’t bring Mary Sakamoto back to life. Right now, try to understand what happened.
    New York is a big city, crime doesn’t take a lunch break, my logical side said.
    Sighing, I pulled out a notebook. Perhaps the act of writing down the little I knew would take me past this