Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home (21 page)

They suspect it of being a distribution point for pot. Paff owns it, and that was where Moose used to work evenings as an assistant manager.”

“Are you suggesting that Moose did the distributing and that Paff killed him for it?”

“That’s a possibility.” said Lanigan judiciously.

“Almost anything is.” said the rabbi with a shrug. “But I doubt if you’re really serious about Mr. Paff –”

“No, and why not?”

“Well, for one thing. I don’t think you would have gone to the trouble of rounding up these youngsters and questioning them all evening.”

“That’s for sure.” he grinned. “But unlike you. Rabbi. I found this meeting with the kids very enlightening.”

“Indeed!”

“In fact, it practically proved what I’ve suspected all along, but I had to have this meeting to confirm it. A definite pattern developed – and it all points unmistakably to

Jenkins.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, it started when Moose first joined the group. He began to ride Jenkins, and there is no doubt from what the kids said that the colored fellow was burning about it. They were all in agreement on that.”

“But Jenkins didn’t do anything about it. None of them reported him as saying anything,” the rabbi observed.

“No, and he didn’t come out swinging at any time either. Maybe it would have been better if he had. That kind of thing builds up. He doesn’t say anything until Moose is being wrapped up in the sheet. Then he cracks they ought to put it over his head. The Jacobs boy said he was joking, but you know that a lot of jokes – things that just pop out – are meant seriously.”

“Go on.”

“Next point: Jacobs leaves the door off the latch. Now who knows that? Why, only Jacobs. You remember I questioned him on that rather closely. He was the last one out, and he set the latch. Now later, when they were in the

Epstein house and were planning to go back for Moose. Gorfinkle asked how they were going to get in and it was then that Jacobs told the others that he had set the latch so that it wouldn’t lock. It’s the usual front-door lock with two buttons. One releases the latch, and the other locks it. And notice, that’s when Jenkins said he had to be getting right home because he was setting out for New York the next morning early.”

“And you think he rode off and on the wav to Boston stopped off at Hillson House.”

“I’m damn sure of it. He had the opportunity; that is, he had transportation – his motorbike. And he had the motive. He’s the only one we know definitely had a motive.”

“Because young Carter made fun of him? Did it ever occur to you that Jenkins might be used to this kind of embarrassment? That this incident probably was merely another of a long series of similar incidents he has had to suffer all his life?”

“You mean you can get used to it. Sure, but it can also build up. And this could have been the last straw. You can argue these things either way. I should think you’d be happy over the turn of events.”

“Happy? Happy that a young man who has visited in my house however briefly is suspected of murder?”

“Come on. Rabbi. Let’s be practical. Moose Carter was murdered, and that means that somebody murdered him. Now who are the suspects? Well, up till now it has been the kids from your congregation and Meyer Paff, another of your people. I should think that you’d be happy that it’s not them, that it’s not somebody you’re closely associated with, that it’s somebody from out of town, a stranger.”

“Ah, the stranger. Thank God for the stranger.”

The rabbi rose from his chair and began striding back and forth across the room. “We Jews celebrate the Passover in a couple of days. In many respects it’s a most unique holiday, and we celebrate it in a unique way. We begin by cleaning the house of all foods and even all utensils that we use during the year, and during the week of the festival we not only buy special foods, but prepare them in special utensils and eat them from special dishes with special silverware that are used for just that week. Then on the eve of the holiday we have a feast, which is repeated the following night. And in each case the feast is preceded by an elaborate ritual in which the youngest person present asks the meaning of the feast, of the unusual foods that we eat, and the unusual manner of eating them. And then we, the rest of the company, explain how we were slaves in Egypt and were oppressed and how God responded to our suffering by bringing us forth with a mighty hand from our slavery and oppression.”

“Yes, Rabbi. I know the reason for the holiday. But what’s the point?”

“The point is that Passover is not merely a holiday of thanksgiving or rejoicing. We have several such holidays, but this is the only one that has a very elaborate and specific ritual and involves the use of a special set of instructions, the Haggadah, to make sure we follow it exactly right. Why?”

“Tell me.”

“To engrave the lessons it teaches on our minds.” said the rabbi. “It’s a mnemonic, a string around the finger, a way of forcing on our consciousness and memory what people would rather not think of or would easily forget.”

“Once a year the Pope washes and kisses the feet of beggars.” Lanigan said.

“Precisely. And no doubt he profits by the lesson in humility that it teaches him.” said the rabbi primly. Then he added as an afterthought. “It’s a pity it isn’t required of all members of your faith.”

Lanigan laughed. “All right. Rabbi. Now what is it that your holiday teaches?”

“It is associated with a specific commandment that is central in our law: ‘And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong… he shall be as the homeborn among you; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.’”

“You saying that I’m being unfair to Jenkins because he’s colored and from out of town?”

“Do you have him in custody, and has he confessed?”

“We haven’t got him yet, Rabbi, but we’ll get him. It’s that motorbike of his – it’s not like a car. You can wheel one of those over the sidewalk into a hallway or even a cellar, and how is it to be found? But I have alerted the New York police, and they’ll find him.”

“But you don’t have any real evidence against him – only what you consider his motive and the opportunity.”

“Oh, we’ve got the evidence, all right,” said Lanigan. “We had it that first night, which is why I let your young people go home. As soon as the youngsters told us what they found and we knew it was murder, I sent some of my men scouring around Hillson House to see what they could pick up. And right off the bat, we got it. There’s a tall, thick hedge in front of the house, and behind it, in the soft earth where it would be hidden from the street, we found a perfect motorbike tire mark.”

The carpenter entered diffidently, awkwardly doffed his old-fashioned, wide-brimmed felt hat, and in response to the rabbi’s invitation, sat down on the edge of the chair. “My wife thought I ought to change,” he said in explanation of the black suit he was wearing, the highly polished black shoes, the white shirt, its collar uncomfortably tight, the wide florid necktie. “Out of respect, you know.”

The rabbi nodded, not because he understood, but as a sign for him to go on.

“Lanigan called me this morning to tell me to come down to make arrangements for the burial. He said they had decided that they didn’t need an autopsy.”

“I see.”

“So after I made the arrangements, I thought I’d stop off and thank you.”

“I did nothing, Mr. Carter. Nothing.”

“Well. I figure if you hadn’t gone down Monday night –”

“No. Mr. Carter.” said the rabbi firmly, “that really had nothing to do with it. Chief Lanigan quite properly refused to release the body then because he had doubts about the cause of death. Quite rightly, as it turned out. When he discovered that the death was by asphyxiation, he consulted with the Medical Examiner, who told him that an autopsy was unnecessary and that they would learn nothing by it. As I understand it, acute alcohol poisoning results in a paralysis of the nerve that controls breathing, so that the effect on the organs is the same as asphyxiation.”

“I still think that if you hadn’t gone down there they might have gone through with it anyway. Doctors have been known to do it, you know, just for practice,” he added darkly.

“You’ve made plans for the funeral?” asked the rabbi to get him off the subject.

Carter nodded. “We’re having a private affair – just the family. We didn’t want a crowd, so it’s just the family and a preacher friend of mine that I worked with on the fluoridation campaign. He’ll say a few words.”

“I think that’s best.”

“You know, Rabbi, I might have saved that boy.” Carter clenched his fists. “I wouldn’t say it to my wife, but I’m telling you.”

“How do you mean?”

“I didn’t listen. Rabbi. The Lord spoke to me, and I didn’t listen.”

The rabbi looked up with interest. “Oh?”

“I went out looking for him that night. I looked downtown and looked in the taverns, because that’s where I thought I might find him. And when he wasn’t there, I just rode around, up one street and down the other, aimless-like. I rode up by Tarlow’s Point. Now why did I go up there if the Lord wasn’t directing me? I even slowed down as I passed Hillson House. Was the Lord directing my footsteps or wasn’t He?” he demanded. “But I was angry with the lad, and it blocked out the voice of the Lord. If I had been receptive, He would have spoken to me and told me where to look. But my mind was blocked, Rabbi, and the voice couldn’t come through.”

“You mustn’t think that way. Mr. Carter.”

“I feel better for having unburdened myself. Rabbi. I had to say it to someone, and I just couldn’t say it to my wife. Oh, I know the Lord moves in mysterious ways, and it’s part of some great plan that’s beyond the capacity of my mind or else it’s punishment on me or maybe even on my wife for sins committed in the past. But I want you to know that my own faith hasn’t wavered – not for a moment. And if my anger blocked out the voice, maybe that was part of the divine plan. too. Or maybe it was to teach me that my anger was a wickedness.”

“Are you suggesting the Lord would take your son’s life just to teach you to control your anger?” asked the rabbi sharply.

“I don’t know, but it is the duty of His servants to try to understand Him. And why else did the thought come to my head?”

“Not all the thoughts that come to a man’s head. Mr. Carter, are put there by God. And not all the things that happen are God’s work. If you see His hand in everything that happens, after a while you’ll begin blaming Him for unpleasant and wicked things that happen. Some things are t he results of our own mistakes, and some things just happen by accident.”

Carter rose. “I don’t like to hear you say that. Rabbi. It seems to me that it shows a lack of faith, and I didn’t expect it of you. But maybe you’re just saying it to make me feel better.” He rose and went to the door. He seemed hurt.

“You’ll find. Rabbi.” he said, and he patted him on the arm, “that if you have faith, everything comes out right in the end.” He brightened and his face even relaxed in a grin. “By the bye, they’ve caught that colored fellow that took my boy’s life. They were bringing him in when I was down the station.”

Carter left, and the rabbi turned to Miriam. “Where’s my coat?” he said. “I’m going down to the station house.”

Ben Gorfinkle had called up in midmorning to say that he was coming home for lunch. “I want to talk to Stu. He hasn’t gone out, has he?”

“He’s still in bed. Ben.” said his wife.

“It’s eleven o’clock. Do you think perhaps he might condescend to get up by noon so that I can have a few words with him?”

“Well, you kept him up so late last night quizzing him about the meeting.”

“I stayed up just as late, didn’t I? It didn’t prevent me from getting up at a reasonable hour.”

“Well, he’s a young boy, and they need more sleep. Is anything the matter?”

“I just want to talk to him. You just make sure that he stays there until I get home.”

He had finished his Spartan lunch of a sandwich and coffee by the time Stu, yawning and gaping, appeared in pajamas and bathrobe.

“What’s up, Dad?”

“If you’d been up, you might have got the news on the radio. This Jenkins fellow – he’s been taken into custody.”

“Oh yeah? So?”

“I’ve talked to one of our lawyers down at the plant. He thinks it was a mistake on our part to let Lanigan quiz you without the protection of a lawyer present.”

“Well, natch, he’s a lawyer. What else is he going to say?”

The elder Gorfinkle gave his son a mental mark for shrewdness. “Anyway, he agreed with me that your case is entirely different from that of the others, and if you play your cards right, you don’t have to get involved at all.” Seeing his son was about to object, he plunged on. “Now, listen to me, will you? There are just three things, three hurdles that we’ve got to get over. First, there’s the business of holding the picnic on Tarlow’s Point. If that’s a private beach, then you were trespassing. As far as I can make out, you had nothing to do with deciding to hold the cookout there, but on the other hand, you did the driving, Then again, as I understand it, even the town counsel isn’t sure whether that’s a private beach or not. It’s my opinion that you’re perfectly safe in admitting that you knew you were going to the Point. You just say that you thought it was a public beach because there have been cookouts there before.”

“Well sure –”

“Just listen, will you! All right. You left before the storm, and you had nothing to do with breaking into Hillson House. Right? And when you came back – the first time. I mean – you didn’t go in. did you?”

Stu shook his head, wondering what his father was getting at.

“You heard them inside, and so you called out that you had come back, and they opened the door. Right?”

“Well, I knocked –”

“But you heard them in there. That’s why you knocked. To let them know you had come back. And you yourself didn’t go in. That’s right, isn’t it? You didn’t go in.”

“Yeah, they came out.”

“All right. So far, you’re in the clear. You were just like a bus driver or a cab driver who delivers a bunch of people to a party and then comes back for them. Now, when you returned to get that boy, Moose, that’s when you made a mistake, because you had no right to enter that house. One thing in your favor, of course, is that the door was open, so it was not breaking and entering. And get this. All the time you were thinking that there was this friend of yours lying sick, maybe seriously sick, in that house there –”