Faye Kellerman - The Ritual Bath

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.

“Fine,” he said brusquely. “I’ll meet you at the park.”

“Peter, thank you for coming down. Really, thanks for everything.”

“It’s my job, Rina.”

“Thanks just the same.”

He paused for a moment, then asked evenly: “What did Zvi say to you?”

“He just bawled me out.”

“What’d he mutter under his breath? That’s what you get for trusting a goy?”

He was wounded. She almost reached out, but held back.

Softly she answered, “Something like that.”

The Foothill rapist had dropped another turd tonight, and Hollander was pissed. The new rape meant more pressure from the brass and more of the media coverage that was turning the case and his detail into a circus. More important, it meant Decker and Marge were out on field work, leaving him stuck here to deal with the crazy Jews on a Sunday night, all in the name of public service. Shit!

The meeting, held in the community hall, was jammed with bodies and had been droning on for over an hour. The Jews didn’t like anyone, but they had gotten sort of used to Decker. They considered him the head honcho and weren’t overjoyed at dealing with a replacement. Hollander tried to answer their questions and assuage their anxiety, but he was getting tired. And he knew if he didn’t make it home soon, Mary would be too sleepy for a roll in the hay. The only bright spot was the little black-haired gal Decker liked, sitting in the back row. She was a looker and didn’t seem nearly as tight-assed as the others.

Rina sympathized with the fat detective. It was hard being center stage surrounded by hostile forces. Though he tried to ease the tension with humor, his off-the-cuff remarks came out flip and uncaring. Peter would have handled it better.

Zvi Adler was talking now. Sarah Libba had decided to show her face in public for the first time since the rape. She sat by his side, head down, hands folded tightly in her lap. Zvi was a difficult man, but Rina admired his unwavering support for his wife. He even had the guts to show his feelings for her publicly when she started to cry midway through the meeting. He had hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

Zvi was putting Hollander on the spot again, and the detective was responding with bluster. Peter was sorely missed. He’d called her to tell her why he wouldn’t be coming tonight and had asked her to keep mum about the newest rape. The knowledge, he’d felt, would raise the anxiety level and make the session harder on Hollander. But she felt sure the yeshiva people would suspect something from his absence.

Steve Gilbert and Matt Hawthorne entered the room and parked themselves next to her.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked.

“Personal invitation from Rabbi Schulman,” said Hawthorne. “All will be explained.”

“How are you doing, Rina?” Gilbert asked.

“Not too well.”

“Where’s your friend?”

“What friend?”

“The boys are saying you’re pretty chummy with the red-haired detective,” Hawthorne explained.

“What!”

“No need to get excited,” said Gilbert. “What you do on your own free time is none of our business.”

“He’s not my pal. Unfortunately, we’ve been thrown together recently.”

“Not so unfortunate for the good detective.” Hawthorne grinned.

She ignored him.

“What’s happened so far?” Gilbert asked.

“Nothing really. We’re yelling at the poor man up there, and he’s trying to defend himself. It’s yeshiva twenty, detective zero.”

Her face clouded.

“Everyone’s scared, and for good reason.”