“Good idea.”

A man was approaching them.

“The Adler woman’s husband,” said Marge. “Here goes nothing.”

“Luck, Peter.” Hollander saluted with his pipe and left.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Adler,” Decker said when Zvi was in hearing distance. “We’re still looking.”

Zvi’s eyes were full of rage. “I want to help.”

“There’s nothing you can do, Mr. Adler. It’s in the hands of professionals.”

“Professionals?” Zvi turned on Decker. “You can’t find this mamzer, and you have the nerve to call yourself a professional? Is this what professionals do? Stand around and gab while he’s still loose in the hills?”

“Detective Decker’s been in the hills for over an hour, Zvi,” Rina defended him. “That animal was shooting at him.”

Zvi peeled off some rapid Hebrew at her. She fired some back. They stared at each other.

“Seems to me everybody’s frustration is being misdirected,” Decker said calmly. “It’s the criminal’s throat we want. Not each other’s.”

The Rosh Yeshiva walked over.

“What is going on here?” he asked tensely. “Nobody is telling me anything.”

Decker filled him in on the details.

“And you called the police?” Schulman asked Rina.

“I called Detective Decker, actually.”

The old man said nothing.

“She did the right thing,” Decker said. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“Certainly not to catch bad guys,” Zvi muttered.

Schulman barked something to Adler in Yiddish. The younger man looked down.

“There is a mob out there,” Schulman said to Decker. “I’ll do what I can to get the boys back in the classrooms and dormitories, but tell your men to ease up with the threats and pushing. A few of them are becoming abusive.”

“I’ll go back with you, Rabbi,” Marge offered. “You talk to your boys, I’ll talk to the police.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

Dunn and Schulman left the three of them alone.

“At smaycha?” Zvi said sarcastically to Rina.

“Maspeek, Zvi,” she answered. She was almost in tears. “Bevakasha.”

Zvi sighed.

“I’m sorry, Rina.” He looked at Decker. “I know this isn’t your fault. I’m frustrated.”

“It’s okay. I understand,” Decker answered. “I’m going to look around a little more. You’ll stay with Mrs. Lazarus?”

Adler nodded.

“You go home, Zvi,” she said, wearily. “Tell my kids, I’m fine. I’ll wait with the women.”

“Detective?”

The three of them turned around and saw two patrolmen flanking a yeshiva student in his late twenties. The man was stooped and thin, with scanty, black, untrimmed whiskers that grew from a gaunt face. His black jacket was oversized and torn at the pockets, his white shirt wrinkled and tucked carelessly into patched black pants. The shoes on his feet were scuffed and caked with dirt. His eyes were dark and dull and swirled aimlessly in their sockets. On his head was a black homburg with the rim coming loose. His arms had been pinioned behind him and cuffed. He seemed as insubstantial as a scarecrow as the policemen shoved him along.

“Look what we found wandering in the bushes.”

“Oh my God,” Rina muttered.

“Read him his rights?” Decker asked.

“First thing,” one of the policemen answered.

“Take him down to the station.”

“Peter, that’s not the rapist,” Rina said.

He looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“That’s Moshe. He’s the groundskeeper.”

“Well, he could also be a rapist.”

“Moshe’s harmless. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“We’ll find out how harmless he is, Rina.”

“He’s not the man you’re looking for, Peter. Please. He’s a waste of your time.”

“Why? Because you know him? Because he’s one of your own?”

Zvi mumbled something in Hebrew. Rina heard it and turned bright red. She was furious at both of the men, but fought to maintain control. “No, not because he’s one of my own, but because I know he’s not a rapist!”

“What should I do with him, Detective?” asked one of the patrolmen.

Moshe mumbled placidly, a slack smile on his lips.

“Wait a minute.” Decker was angry and pulled Rina aside. “You called me here. Let me do my job.”

“Peter, listen to me. Moshe’s kept on by the yeshiva as an act of compassion. He’s off-balance. He wanders around the grounds at night muttering to himself. Everyone in the place knows about him. He’s cuckoo, Peter. But he’s harmless. I swear to you, he’s harmless.”

“Unfortunately, your oath doesn’t mean a thing, Rina. If the guy’s a psycho, all the more reason to check him out. If he’s innocent, there won’t be any problem. I just want to ask him some questions.” Decker sucked on his cigarette. “A woman was raped, I was shot at, I want some answers!”

“He won’t have an alibi for the night of the rape. He spends every night roaming the hills. He won’t know what you’re talking about.”

Zvi broke in. “Detective, may I say something?”

Decker gave him a hard stare. “What?”

“I know how this must look to you, but Mrs. Lazarus is right. As much as I want to murder the mamzer who defiled my wife, I know with all my heart that it is not the man your policemen are holding. Moshe would be no more likely to rape than you or I. He’s crazy, he’s weird, but he’s not a rapist. If you question him, he’ll crack up. You could probably convince him he was the rapist, and he’d be fool enough to believe you.”

“Peter, please,” Rina pleaded. “If you arrest him, the people here will never trust the police again. That’ll make us open targets.”

“You know what you’re asking me to do?” Decker said.

“Please,” she begged.

“Okay,” he said, mashing out his cigarette with his heel. “This is what I’m going to do. I’m going to release this weirdo into your custody, Mr. Adler. But you people have got to explain to him what’s going on and keep him away from the hills. Because if I get called down here again, and we go through another search and he’s found on or about the area, he’s going to be arrested. And I’m going to be very pissed at you all because I’ll catch deep shit for letting him go in the first place.”

Decker ordered the man released and stomped away. Zvi took Moshe aside immediately and began talking to him, patiently.

Fifteen minutes later, the search team called it quits. Within the half hour the mikvah area was quiet except for Decker, Rina, and a group of women who stayed steadfast at her side. The detective walked the group home, dropping them off one by one, until he was alone with Rina.

“I’ve got to pick up my kids,” she said.

“Where are they?”

“I’ve been leaving them with Sarah Libba. I don’t trust baby-sitters anymore.”

“Pick them up.”

“Zvi usually walks me home.”

“So tonight I’ll walk you home.”

She said nothing.

Decker frowned.

“I’d be more than happy to leave right now, but I need to talk to you about this Moshe weirdo.”

“It would be awkward if I let you inside my house, Peter.”

“Then we’ll talk here,” he said testily, taking out his notebook.

“It would really be easier if we could let this go for the evening. I’d be happy to meet you somewhere and answer any questions you’d like.”

He hesitated.

“Peter, I’m a nervous wreck.”

He regarded her face. It was beautiful, but suffused with anxiety. Time to forget about being a cop and loosen the reins.

“Okay. I’ll meet you at the station tomorrow at eleven sharp.”

“Could we possibly postpone it until Monday? Tomorrow evening is our Sabbath, and I’m having company. I was planning to cook all day, since we’re not allowed to cook once the sun goes down Friday night.”

Decker said nothing.

“I could start cooking tonight, but it’s so late-”

“No, no.” Decker exhaled. “All right. Meet me Monday at the station.”

She paused, then asked timidly: “Could we meet at Arleta Park instead?”

She didn’t want the guys at the station to get the wrong idea, he thought.