“That bad, huh?”

“No, that was a cakewalk compared to this. At least, Ezra and Briena were on my side. They wanted me to find Noam. They actually helped me.”

“Chaim and Minda aren’t helping you?”

“Minda is a difficult woman. She doesn’t like me. She just about called me a goy to my face.”

“Oh my!”

“I’m sure part of it was hysteria. But there was a part of her that meant it, too.”

“What about Chaim?”

“The first time I saw him, he was all gratitude. Four hours later-the second time I saw him-he asked me to leave the house.”

“That’s bizarre. Why the sudden shift?”

“I don’t know. Either he was displeased by my lack of progress, or my charm isn’t what it used to be.” He sighed. “I know I told you that some cases can be solved in a half hour. This isn’t one of them. There is no way I am going to be able to do anything. I am totally useless.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“I’m sure it is true. I was only able to find Noam because Hersh the psycho took him to L.A. That made all the difference in the world. In L.A., I have resources. It’s my home territory. I’m lost here. I need an insider to show me the ropes. And from the looks of it, it ain’t gonna be Chaim or Minda. I can’t even get them to let me search Shayndie’s room. I can only imagine what they would say if I asked to talk to some of Shayndie’s friends or her siblings. Even if I were the type to go around them, I know that the community would close ranks.”

“You’re trapped.”

“Like spider’s prey. If they really cared about their daughter, they’d give me more information. This wall of silence makes them look complicit… like they’ve stashed her away and they’re pretending that she’s missing. I don’t know. Maybe she’s pregnant, and they shipped her off somewhere, using Ephraim’s death as an excuse. Who knows? Maybe they set the entire thing up-”

“Peter, that’s a horrible thing to say.”

“It’s not nice, but it could be true.”

“I’m sure it’s like you said. Minda is just distraught!”

“Well, she certainly doesn’t trust me.” Decker’s good nature suddenly snapped. “Jonathan calls me up… asks me to come out. So I come out. Within twenty-four hours, I think I’ve outlived my usefulness.”

Rina said, “You’re frustrated-”

“Correction. They’re frustrating me! Just like when we first met. I was the evil cop. Well, you know what, Rina? I’m tired of playing that role.”

“I don’t blame you. What I can’t figure out is why they’re so hostile toward you. Jonathan made it sound as if they begged him to ask you to come.”

“Things have obviously changed.”

“What about the cops? The ones you met with today? I guess it’s technically yesterday.”

“Micky Novack. He’s a good guy. Very simpatico, but he’s also a busy man with more important things to do. He can only tote me around for so long; then it’s every man for himself.”

“So what’s next?”

“Not much as far as I’m concerned. I say we weather out the weekend here, then cut short our stay in New York. That’ll let us spend more time in Florida with my folks. We can take Hannah to Epcot and Disney World. I can take her horseback riding or for a boat ride out on the lake. We can visit the Everglades. I really need a vacation.”

Rina was silent.

Decker tried to hide his irritation. “What’s the objection?”

“No objection. You’re right.”

“You feel bad about leaving the Lazaruses.”

“Actually, it’s okay with me. Tonight’s dinner was a little intense in the emotional department.”

“Then what is it? My mother?”

“Your mother and I get along fabulously. She respects me because I know Old Testament better than she does. And your father’s downright adorable.” Rina stroked his face. “It’s not your parents at all. And it’s not leaving the Lazaruses. It’s you. You hate it when you have to give up. You think you’re okay. Then it eats away at you.”

“Not this time.”

“Famous last words!” She looked at him intently. “You promise to forget about this as soon as we leave?”

“I promise.”

“And you really can just forget it that easily?”

“You bet. How about this? We take the boys out to dinner Sunday evening; then you and I go to a Broadway show-”

“Broadway’s dark on Sunday night.”

“Really?”

“I would not lie to you, Peter.” She noted disappointment in his voice. “How about a jazz club? More your style anyway. I’m sure the Lazaruses will baby-sit Hannah.”

“Fabulous.” Decker smiled in the dark. “That’s the spirit! Let’s opt for fun while our hearts are still beating.” He kissed Rina long and slow, feeling a tightening below the waist. But he decided to ignore it. “Good night, darling. I love you.”

“Love you, too.” Rina closed her eyes, was just about to drift off when she heard him speak.

“… off chance that Micky Novack will call tomorrow night.”

“Huh?” She was groggy. “Who’s Mick-oh, the cop. What did you just say?”

“I said, that there was a teeny, tiny off chance that Novack might call me tomorrow night. When I left him, he was investigating the possibility that Ephraim might have attended some twelve-step program meetings for Jewish addicts. If he gets a tip on that, he said he’d call me. Then maybe we’d go out together and interview the members of Ephraim’s chapter… if Novack gets a lead.”

“I just thought you washed your hands of the entire thing.”

“Only if he gets a lead, Rina.”

“But you’re not obsessed.”

“No, I’m not. Obsessed would be if I went out to the meetings without a lead and started asking questions myself. That would be obsessed. Do you see the difference?”

“Yes.”

“Are you just agreeing with me to shut me up?”

“Yes… I mean, no.” Rina lifted her head and kissed her husband’s lips. “Good night, Peter.”

She pulled the cover over her face. She fell asleep to the background noise of his muted grumbling.

9

A teeny, tiny off-chance call, huh?

Not that Rina had actually said anything. She hadn’t needed to say anything. She had simply given him one of those looks. The actual verbalized question had been: “Do I change the airline tickets?” Decker answered with an offended “No, of course not,” and left before she could see him blush.

They were walking on Broadway-Novack and he-passing the upper Seventies. The street was wide, but even so, cars were backed up from traffic light to traffic light, the area teeming with life and all the young people who frequented what the Upper West Side had to offer. There were scores of cafés and restaurants, lots of bars, and lots of stores-not the outrageously priced boutiques on Fifth or Madison, but drugstores and bookstores and liquor stores and grocery markets. The night was cold and damp, but Decker had brought along gloves and an overcoat-an old heavy wool thing that he had purchased twenty-five years ago when he and his first wife went to London on vacation in the wintertime: Off-season prices were all he could afford. The trip had been miserable, but he had been warm.

Novack was wearing a black ski parka. “While you were praising God at Shabbat services, I was working. Course that’s my job. I just wanted to assure you that we’re not all yutzes out here.”

Decker’s expression was surprised. “Why would I think that?”

“The toilet-bowl thing,” Novack said. “I had it checked out. There was recent splatter on the rim. I shoulda thought of it myself. Course it’s a lot easier to be smart when you’re working on one case as opposed to twenty, and your city ain’t under siege.”

“Absolutely,” Decker said.

“Still, it made me feel bad, you know. Got my ass in gear, and that’s not a bad thing. So I started calling some of the phone numbers on the pamphlet on the dead guy’s coffee table. The Emek Refa’im handout. Except no one was answering the phone. And then it dawns on me…” He knocked his head with his fist. “It’s Shabbos. They’re not using the phone. So I tried the good old-fashioned phone book… looked up the names.”