“Have you ever committed a crime?” He had asked one night, over desert in a Japanese restaurant.

“Not unless you count shoplifting as a child,” she had replied. “When I was about six, I was in this store, and there were these candles in the shape of Santa Claus. I was playing with one, while my mom was checking out. In the course of my playing, I broke the figurine. I was so frightened that I stuffed it into my pocket.”

David had recalled several similar ...