“You’re making major leaps, Akiva.”

“Yeah, that’s the fun part of what I do. The messy part is getting evidence to back up my ideas. Now let me play this out for a moment. The easiest way for Chaim to get illegal cash is by insurance fraud. Trouble is, claims take time. The turnabout was rather on the sudden side, correct?”

“I don’t know how sudden it was.”

“Well, how many months was it from the time he asked to borrow the shul’s money to the time you two reconciled?”

Jonathan tapped the wheel. “About three months.”

“Must have been a hell of a three-month upturn in sales, Jon. Now if it were during Christmastime, maybe. But we’re talking from June to September-traditionally slow retail months. Forgive my skepticism.”

Decker’s stomach growled.

“Take a sandwich,” Jonathan told him. “I’ve got tuna or chicken.”

“Which one do you want?”

“I honestly don’t care.”

“Then I’ll take the chicken.” Decker rummaged through his half brother’s briefcase until he found the plastic bag and the sandwiches inside. “What do you do when you can’t wash?”

“Just make Hamotzei. I’ve also got some fruit, chips, and a couple of diet Cokes. Raisie has a stake in feeding my gut. Help yourself.”

Decker said a prayer and bit into his lunch. “Thanks, I’m really starved. Should we continue?”

“You mean should you continue.”

“Yeah, I am doing most of the talking. Anything you’d like to add?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Where was I?”

“Chaim’s upsurge in business during the summertime.”

“You’re paying attention.”

“I always was a good student.” Jonathan’s voice was bitter.

Decker took another bite. “So how did Chaim get the money? Like I said before, insurance fraud not only takes time, but also the policyholder raises a red flag by making too many claims. Now, I was told that when you want big cash from insurance, you destroy the entire stock in one fell swoop courtesy of a professional arsonist. But even if they pay off and you get the cash, it won’t get you quick cash. For the same reason-claims take time, especially big ones. There would be a major investigation. So I’m asking myself what could Chaim do to generate quick cash.”

“And what have you concluded?”

“Several things.” Decker washed down the chicken-salad sandwich with his Diet Coke. “This is perfect. Thanks. You’re not hungry?”

“Actually, I am.”

Decker unwrapped the tuna sandwich for him. Jonathan said a prayer and took a bite. “So how would Chaim get quick cash?”

“Money laundering through his business, possibly. Chaim takes a cut of whatever he cleans. But then I have to ask myself how would Ephraim have found out about a money-laundering scheme since he wasn’t in charge of any of the finances, didn’t have any bookkeeping records or anything from the bank. So laundering wouldn’t be my first choice.”

Jonathan finally made it onto the HH Parkway. It was bumper to bumper. He hoped the traffic would clear once he made it past the city. “So what would be your first choice?”

“Narcotics. Drugs. Since you’re my rabbi-and you’re confidentially bound-let me tell you what my brother Randy, the Miami Vice cop, told me.” He recapped his conversation with Randy. “It seems that our brethren have been naughty boys regarding the illegal transport and sales of MDMA, better known as ecstasy. As a matter of fact, I recall a big scandal about New York Chasidim bringing in the drug. Am I right about this?”

“It was years ago.”

“About three years ago,” Decker corrected. “And it did have reverberations in the communities. So what do you think?”

“If I’m correct about this, you’re deducing that Chaim got some money by being a courier of ecstasy.”

“Actually, I’m thinking out loud.”

“Then let me think along with you. Wouldn’t being a courier imply that Chaim had made frequent trips to Israel or to Europe where the drug was manufactured and then back?”

Decker didn’t answer. He knew what was coming.

Jonathan said, “I don’t think Chaim’s left New York for the last ten years.”

“Maybe he didn’t do it bit by bit-or trip by trip. Maybe he did it in one big trip with one big score. You wouldn’t know if he took a quick trip or not, would you?”

“No.”

“I think the only way to know about his travels would be to check his passport.” Decker smiled. “Now there’s an idea.”

“Forget it, Akiva.”

“What would it hurt?”

“You want me to go over to Chaim while he’s sitting shiva for his slain daughter and brother and ask him about his passport?”

“Maybe not.”

“Definitely not!”

“You’re right,” Decker said.

They crawled along the parkway in silence, both of them wolfing down the homemade lunch. When the van finally left the city limits-heading upstate via the Saw Mill Parkway-traffic eased, and the wheels began turning at a nice clip. Feeling better with food in his stomach, Jonathan resumed the conversation.

“Do you have anything else to say, Akiva?”

Decker spoke carefully. “Just that maybe Ephraim found out about Chaim’s drug dealing and considered telling your father-in-law.”

“Ephraim wouldn’t… tattle on Chaim-especially if it were a one-shot done deal. What would be the point? To give an old man heartbreak? Besides, if Chaim did score big-one time-it would have been at least six months ago, after Chaim told me that the business was looking up. So how would that fit in with Ephraim’s so-called ongoing business conflicts with Chaim?”

A good point. “Maybe he scored more than once.”

“Then he would have made frequent trips abroad. I’ve already told you that he didn’t. We’re back to where we started.”

“Well, maybe he was debating another big score, but this time Ephraim found out.”

“And how would Ephraim have found out? Frankly put, the two men didn’t like each other. They rarely talked and only to keep peace in the family. Ephraim thought that Chaim was a self-righteous prig, and Chaim thought Ephraim was an irresponsible jerk. They kept their personal business very separate from one another.”

“But they did intersect in some capacity.”

“In some limited capacity, yes.”

“In business specifically,” Decker said.

“Yes.”

Inventory, Decker thought. Ephraim was in charge of inventory. “Hey, how about this, Jonathan? Maybe Chaim didn’t make frequent trips abroad. But maybe his products did. What about the merchandise? Did he import stock from Europe or Israel?”

“The family operates on high volume, low price. They buy cheaper wares that come from Asia, lots of Korean-made-”

“Well, isn’t Haifa a major port stop from Asia? Rotterdam too? I mean, how easy would it be to take off the backs of the computers or stereos or VCRs or portable phones or CD players and slip in a dozen bags of ecstasy pills. It wouldn’t have to be even that much. Say you bring in ten thousand pills a load, which is not very much to hide in big electronic equipment. At twenty-bucks-a-pop street value, you’re talking around a quarter of a million dollars a shipment. And how many shipments does Chaim get in a year?”

It was a rhetorical question. Jonathan didn’t respond.

Decker said, “It’s much easier to stuff the contraband into merchandise than to bring it across with people. And way more practical. Even if customs were to check for drugs, maybe they’d check one or two pallets. They’re not going to go through the entire shipment unless they’re suspicious, right?”

Decker was becoming animated.

“Ephraim’s doing inventory one day, checking numbers on a list with numbers of the actual wares, and a back falls off a VCR. He suddenly discovers a bag of pills that was accidentally left behind. He knows instantly what’s going on because he was a former drug addict. He goes to confront his brother but-”