The girl followed Bosco meekly down the hall towards the main squad room.  She was here today to do a rough sketch of her .  She didn’t know how much she would be able to describe but she knew she had to do it if she ever wanted to put her behind bars.  They made a turn into a large room where desks were stationed on one side of it and the other a long rectangular table.

Charmaine who was perched on a table looking through her notes looked up when she heard them enter.  “I’m glad you’re finally here.”  Giving the girl an encouraging smile, she walked towards her, “How are you feeling today?”

The girl was nervous and it showed.  She darted her eyes around the room and was relieved to see that there weren’t many people around.  Except for Madame Sheh and Wong Sir there was only another man who kept his head bent over a writing pad and was obliviously to her presence.  “I’m fine.”

Charmaine guided her towards the conference table and pulled a chair out for her.  “Can I get you something to drink?  Coffee?  Tea?”

“No thanks,” the girl replied softly and sat down.  She immediately clasped her hands together on the table and lowered her head.

Charmaine sat down beside her.  Giving the girl’s shoulder a firm squeeze, she said, “There’s nothing to be afraid of.  We want to catch the guy who did this to you and the only way we could do it is with your help.”

The girl turned doe like eyes at Charmaine and said weakly, “I know but I don’t know if I can help at all.  Everything that happened that night is still very fuzzy to me.”

“That’s okay,” Charmaine said soothingly.  “Just tell us only what you remember.  Don’t force yourself to think.”

The girl nodded and Charmaine gestured with a tilt of her head for the man with the writing pad to begin.  He dropped the pad and slid over towards them with a binder.  Charmaine passed a few sheets of transparent papers to the girl, “Look at these eyes and tell me whether they resemble the man that night.”

The girl looked carefully at each sheet over and over and finally stopped at a pair of small slanted eyes.  “I’m not sure if these are exact but its close enough.”

Charmaine took the sheet from the girl’s hand and placed it in the middle of the conference table.  “You’re doing great.”  She then passed on the next set of sheets which consist of a variety of different shaped noses.  “Take a look at these.”

Steven walked into the room and seeing that Charmaine was interviewing a girl with her back towards him, he greeted Bosco instead.  “I came to drop these off to you guys.”

Bosco took the envelope from Steven and said, “Thanks.”

With his eyes on Charmaine, Steven asked, “Have you guys been busy lately?”

The girl heard Steven’s voice and out of curiosity turned slightly to look at him.  Steven was still concentrating on Charmaine and was therefore unaware of the girl’s searching gaze.  The girl wondered why he looked so familiar.  Where have she seen him from.  Charmaine noticed her distraction and asked, “Something wrong?”

The girl turned her attention back to Charmaine and shook her head.  With an apologetic smile, she said, “Sorry.  I just thought he looked and sounded familiar to me.”

Charmaine turned to look at Steven and found him looking at her with a friendly smile.  She patted the girl’s shoulder and said, “Take your time looking at these.  I’ll be right back.”  She walked over to where Steven and Bosco stood chatting amicably and greeted softly, “Hi Steven.”

“How are you?” Steven asked in his usual shy voice.

“I’m good.  How about yourself?” she asked feeling an awkwardness between them now that they’re no longer dating.

Steven chuckled lowly when he saw the uneasiness on her expressive face.  “I’m good.  Has Raymond been treating you well?”

Charmaine nodded happily and for a second she thought she saw a flash of anger on Steven’s face.  But it was gone so quickly she must have imagined it.  “He’s going to be here soon.  He insists on having lunch together every day.”

Steven’s smile didn’t waver despite the boiling fury within him.  In the same soft spoken voice he said, “That’s nice.  Where are you guys going?”

Charmaine giggled, her eyes sparkled keenly, “I don’t know.  He said it’s a surprise.”

Bosco laughed loudly beside them, “Ray is just full of surprises isn’t he.”  He looked with bemusement at Steven and said, “The other night he treated us to dinner and guess where he took us?”  Without waiting for a response from Steven, Bosco rushed on, “On his boat!  We went on board and he had a buffet of all types of food lined up for us.  It was amazing!  I’ve never been on a boat before and to have dinner sailing out in the waters was truly an unforgettable experience.”

Steven looked down tenderly at Charmaine and said, “I’m glad you found someone so wonderful.  You deserve it.”

“Madame Sheh,” the man at the table called out to her.  “Can you come over here?”

Charmaine gave Steven an apologetic look, “I’m sorry but I better get back to work.”

“Sure,” Steven said and looked over at the table noticing the girl for the first time.  The girl turned her head towards them at that moment and their eyes met and held briefly.  Steven quickly averted his eyes and calmly said, “I, too, better get back to my office.  I’ll talk to you guys later.”  He his heels and hurried out.

Charmaine noticed that the girl’s eyes were still on the spot where Steven once stood and said, “That was Steven Ma of CIB.”

The girl didn’t say anything but smiled.  Her mind was still wondering why Ma Sir looked so familiar and it wasn’t only his face but his voice too.