This short story is included in the collection “In Sunlight or in Shadow – Stories inspired by Edward Hopper’s paintings”, edited by Lawrence Block. This specific short story is based on the painting “Hotel Lobby” (1943), two women sitting and a man standing in that lobby. It is the story of an FBI special agent whose boss is called Mr. Hopper. He has investigated an elderly engineer to see if he could be blackmailed. Two women in this man’s life and not so clear who they are. Nice imaginative short story.
I used an old trick someone taught me long ago, which was to count to three in my head before replying to a question. Name ? One, two, three, Albert Anthony Jackson. The trick mitigates against hasty and unwise responses. Because it gives you time to think. It drives them crazy, but there is nothing they can do about it. The oath doesn’t say “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, all within three seconds of opposing counsel shutting his yap.”