Stuart Kaminsky - Blood On The Sun

Mac and Danny had peeled away the identities of the man, enough to find the core.

Evan Drew, a.k.a. Peter Moser, a.k.a. Arvin Bloom sat silently staring at the pale wall, where he made out a face in the plaster, the face of an almost skeletal man, mouth open, crying out. He had seen such things all over the world, mostly in bathroom floors. He did not ask but he was sure others did not see the haunting images.

"I need a doctor," said Drew.

The interrogation was over. Less than an hour later word came that the district attorney's office was not interested in making a deal with Evan Drew.

Sitting in a holding cell, Drew began to rethink his options. There were few. There may not have been any.

IN THE MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS he had lived in the neighborhood, it was the first time Rabbi Benzion Mesmur had been in St. Martine's Church, which was no more than a five or ten minute walk from his synagogue and less than that from his home. Father Wosak had invited him for coffee and cookies, which, the priest assured him, had both been purchased at Kauffman's Kosher Bakery.

"If you'd prefer that I come to you…" the young priest had begun when they spoke on the phone.

The rabbi knew from the tone that he was deferring to the older man's age and his position in the community.

Wosak had made the request in Hebrew. He had also given Rabbi Mesmur a choice of times that would not interfere with his duties.

The old rabbi, in a black suit on the hottest day of the year, had walked to the church with two members of his congregation, both of whom were over seventy, both of whom had asked him to allow himself to be driven. The rabbi had said, "No, thank you."

The two men who had accompanied the rabbi remained outside when their rabbi entered St. Martine's.

After they had finished their coffee and cookies, the priest said, in English, "I have a request."

The old man waited.

"I'd like our congregation to pray for Asher Glick at this Sunday's service," Father Wosak said.

"You don't need my permission," said Rabbi Mesmur.

"I do," said the priest.

"Then you have it," said the rabbi.

"My sermon on Saturday will be on Jesus the Jew," said Wosak.

Both men thought about Joshua in the hospital, Joshua who outwardly said he could bridge the massive canyon of belief between the two religions, but inwardly knew he was a false prophet.

"And the other one?" asked the rabbi.

"We'll pray for Joel Besser too," said Wosak.

Rabbi Mesmur stroked his beard once and nodded.

For the next twenty minutes the two men discussed the meaning of God's destruction of the sons of Aaron, who had come too close to the altar. Their interpretations were remarkably close.

A sound beyond the priest's sanctuary door made him rise and say, "Excuse me."

Rabbi Mesmur also rose and followed the priest to the door.

Stella had volunteered to tell the two men about catching the murderer and about the motive for the crime.

When the two clergymen stood in the open door looking into the church, they saw Stella alone, kneeling before the altar, hands clasped, head down in prayer.

Father Wosak closed the door and the two men left Stella to her prayer.

At five p.m. Danny Messer handed the paperback book through the bars to Kyle Shelton. Kyle had asked if it were possible for the book to be brought to him from his apartment.

"Thanks," said Kyle.

He was freshly shaved, hair combed back, orange prisoner uniform unwrinkled. Kyle stood straight. Stoic. Military. Kyle Shelton, former PFC, who had served in an infantry unit in Iraq, had found a comfort zone, Danny thought. Danny's comfort zone was his work. Danny found it ironic. The very thing he loved the most had taken him to the edge of a breakdown.

There was someone sleeping, or trying to sleep, in one of the two bunks behind Shelton. The man in the bunk was covering his eyes with his left arm to keep out the sun.

The air-conditioning had been turned down to save money, or perhaps the system was overworked. It must have been about ninety degrees in the cell. The dampness and heat had brought out the worst of the smells of the cells- long-dead cigarettes that lingered, human sweat that was a cacophony of alcohol and lingered for days, essence of vomit, and the hint of something or someone who had died.

The heat had laid out the man on the bunk, but Shelton was not sweating; not a spot of perspiration darkened his prison uniform.

"Ever read this?" asked Kyle.

He held up the book, The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell.

"No," said Danny.

Kyle opened the book, found what he was looking for and read: "Life is not to be conceived on the analogy of a melodrama in which the hero and heroine go through incredible misfortunes for which they are compensated by a happy ending. I live and have my day, my son succeeds me and has his day, his son in turn succeeds him. What is there in all this to make a tragedy about?"

Kyle closed the book, held it up and said, "Thank you."

Danny nodded.

"You like to take a look at this when I'm finished with it?" Kyle said.

Danny said, "Yes."

At five p.m. Detective Donald Flack, hands at his sides, stood in front of the isolated cell in which Drew sat on the lone cot, looking at the wall. He did not acknowledge the presence of the detective.

Flack's ribs stung with sudden pain unless he walked slowly and didn't move his arms too much. Even a deep breath caused him to wince. The pain was worse than it had been during most of the time since Drew had run into him. The ribs were bruised, but some of them were the same ones that had been broken by another killer on a day as cold as this one was hot.

Neither man spoke. There was nothing more to say. Flack had come only to show that he had not been hurt by Drew's rush at him in the shop. The detective, stone-faced, looked at the man who had come very close to killing him- and there was little doubt that Drew would have killed him if he had taken a shot. The man was an assassin who, if he were to be believed, had murdered thirty-seven people. Flack believed the big, paunchy man with a monk's large bald patch and graying hair. Flack remembered how quickly the man had moved in his shop to take down both Rossi and Flack.

Drew didn't seem to notice Flack. He might have been faking it, but from the look on the prisoner's face, Flack thought that the man was crawling into himself. Flack had seen it before, but he knew it wasn't always safe inside that shell. One multi-murderer had told him about going into the shell but being driven back out by the sound of an ocean of agonized voices.

Drew smiled almost to himself and reminded Flack of someone else: Norman Bates.

After five minutes, Flack walked away slowly, hiding the pain in his chest.

Drew was thinking in Korean, trying to remember the name of the labor leader he had killed in Thailand. He did not know why he felt the need to remember, but he knew it was not because of guilt. If he were to find peace for even a short time, he would have to remember. If he were to remember, he would be able to meditate, but he couldn't. This had never happened to Evan Drew before. He couldn't control it. If only he remembered the man's name, he could go back to his meditation. He could see the man inside the restaurant. The man had been laughing, chopsticks in hand, when Evan Drew had shot him through the window.

The name suddenly came to him, but the relief he hoped for didn't come. He now had to know the exact number the man had been on the list of his killings.

At five p.m. Stella Bonasera sat in her living room, a glass of iced tea in her hand, the air conditioner turned up.