The Kabbalist (34 page)

Y
eshayahu Orlev opened
the door. “Come in Please,” he said. He shook hands with his guest, and the two
headed for the living room. “Will you have some tea?”

“Of course, Yeshayahu,
I was looking forward to it.”

Orlev went into the
garden and commenced with the leaf collection ritual. The guest smiled to
himself. A few minutes later, the professor entered with the tray, on which he
carried a teapot and two glasses. He put the tray on the table, poured tea into
the glasses and took his seat. “Well, Aryeh my friend,” he said, “what did you
want to discuss?”

Aryeh Luria took the
glass, raised it to his lips, which were almost hidden in his beard, took a
small sip and closed his eyes. “There is nothing like your tea, Yeshayahu.”

Orlev waited patiently.
Aryeh placed the glass on the table and sank into the couch. “I was shocked by
what happened to Professor Bennet.”

Orlev made an
incomprehensible gesture with his head. “…Another victim of this horrible
affair.”

Aryeh moved uneasily on
his couch. “I think I owe you an apology.”

Orlev smiled bitterly.
“You have suspected me all these years. You did not trust me.”

“I did not know what to
think…” said Aryeh.

“And what made you
change your mind?"

“I checked with my
cousin. They found two pieces of paper in Bennet’s hand with a few words still
readable…”

“I know,” acknowledged
Orlev tersely.

“He had the documents
in his possession the whole time,” said Aryeh. “Yossi says these pieces of
paper were part of a photocopy, not the original. The original documents must
have been taken by whoever killed poor Jonathan.”

The professor hung down
his head, lost in thought. He then started talking in a melancholy voice,
without raising his eyes to look at his guest. “What have we done, Aryeh? What
have we done? This is a sin which has already cost three human lives and it is
not over yet...” He sighed. “And the documents have disappeared again…”

“We will not quit
looking for them.” Aryeh sounded determined. “It is our sacred duty. These
documents belong to the Jewish people. Their proper place is in the hands of
Jewish scholars, not in a Christian monastery.”

“How would you know?” asked
Orlev bitterly. “You have never seen them.”

“You yourself
estimated, based on the hints from Diaz, that these documents are part of the
Jewish legacy.”

“I still believe it,
but what if I was wrong? Just look at what happened! People died! And two of
them were good and decent people! Fernando and Jonathan were colleagues and
friends, both exceptionally bright scholars. Jonathan was my student…”

“I think you were
right,” said Aryeh, ignoring the professor’s last observation. “We have now
substantiated the story through that Frenchwoman, who thinks these documents
are her family’s property… With all due respect to Professor Diaz, he was
holding on to something which was not his!”

“Even so, nothing can
justify all that has happened,” said Orlev. “I regret ever getting involved in
this.”

“We never meant it to
be this way. We could not have anticipated this mess.”

Orlev sighed. “When you
told me you had somebody who could discreetly retrieve Fernando’s documents, I never
imagined you were going to send a killer after him.”

“What killer? He was
just a stupid, small-time crook. The idiot hit Diaz too hard, and the whole
thing spiraled out of control. No one expected this to happen.”

“And what have we
achieved?” moaned the professor. “Three men died and the documents have vanished,
perhaps forever.”

“I believe,” stated
Aryeh, “that these documents will ultimately reach their rightful owners. They
will end up in Jewish hands.”

A long silence
followed.

“And all these years
you have suspected me,” said Orlev indignantly.

“You must admit that
the events of that night were odd, I would even say improbable.”

The professor took a
sip from his glass. “I do not want to discuss this,” he said after a short
silence. “I want to erase that night from my memory. It never happened.”

Aryeh took a final sip
from his glass and placed it on the table. “I would like you to tell me one
last time, what happened that night.”

Orlev shrank in his
couch.

“I know this is not
easy for you,” Aryeh pressed on. “Just tell me for the last time what happened
and then, like you have just said, it will cease to exist.”

The professor closed
his eyes and withdrew into himself. A whole minute passed before he started
talking, with his eyes still closed. “I already told you everything four years
ago… it was a horrible night, a nightmare that has stayed with me ever since…”
he fell silent.

Aryeh waited patiently.

Orlev’s eyes remained
closed. “We agreed not to make any phone calls,” he intoned. “You told me a few
days in advance that at about 04:30 I had to meet that man, Illuz, whose name I
did not even know at the time, at the agreed spot in the Ben Shemen woods.” He
opened his eyes and fixed an accusing gaze at Aryeh. “I don't know how I ever
agreed to do that. You are younger and stronger than me. It was you who should
have gone there…”

“I made the contact and
made sure it happened. We agreed I should not be involved in the delivery to
reduce my exposure,” said Aryeh. ‘And of course, I had to involve you actively,
so that you would not get cold feet later and turn against me,’ he thought to
himself.

“If anything went
wrong, you were to send me a text message saying
‘the conference is delayed’
or something to that effect. I got no such text before I left for the
rendezvous.”

“I had no idea of what
had happened in the monastery,” said Aryeh defensively. “I heard about the
murder only in the morning news.”

“Some time before 4 AM
I left home,” Orlev went on weakly. “It was a cold and rainy night. It felt
like a bad dream… I felt detached from reality; I could not believe I was doing
this. When I arrived there, it was just past 04:30. My heart started palpitating
wildly, and I thought I was having a heart attack. I stopped the car, switched
off the lights and sat there, trying to relax and regulate my breath. Next
thing I knew, a car appeared from behind, passed me and headed straight into
the woods. I assumed it was our man and decided to wait a while before
following him. A few minutes later, a car appeared, this time from the woods…
it was probably the same car… I could not tell… its lights flashed into my
eyes, blinding me, and then it disappeared.”

The professor reclined
exhausted on his couch. He was almost physically reliving the events of that
night. Aryeh poured him some more tea. “Please, go on.”

Orlev sipped from his
glass and took a deep breath before resuming his narrative. “I was scared. I just
wanted to run away, but somehow I managed to mobilize a shred of courage. I saw
a faint light in the woods and drove there to check it out. I still cannot
believe I had the courage to do that... It was a car, its door was open and its
internal lights were on. There was nobody inside. I looked around, fearing that
somebody was lurking in the woods… Then, when I got nearer, my headlights fell upon
something lying in the mud… It was a human body… it was raining heavily … I had
never been in such a situation before… this was a nightmare… I was almost crazy
with fear... I panicked. My heart resumed its palpitations and again I feared I
was having a heart attack.

“I am not a young man,
Aryeh… you should not have sent me there. I only wanted to run away… For a
moment I thought it was my duty to leave the car and see whether I could help
him, but I was too terrified… I was scared to death… I just turned and drove
away. I got home and went to bed, trying to forget the whole thing, but I could
not sleep. I was furious with myself for ever having become involved… and then
the telephone from you… and the news…” His voice broke up. “How could I… What
on earth was I thinking?”

Aryeh waited for the
professor to calm down before speaking. “So it was Bennet who followed you
there and took the delivery.”

Orlev sighed. “I guess
so.”

“But how could he have
known?” asked Aryeh. “I thought that Illuz might have talked to somebody. I
suspected the man who had enlisted Illuz for the job but, as far as that guy
knew, he was doing it for his revered rabbi, and he would have never dared
betray him. Bennet was not even on my list. How could he have known?”

“Jonathan was
interested in Fernando’s documents as much as we were,” noted Orlev. “One day,
after a conversation with Fernando, Jonathan told me he would give much to see
what Fernando had in his possession.”

“Yes, I know. I heard
that myself, but that was just general talk. How did he come to know about our
plans? I thought only the two of us knew.”

“I thought so too,” said
Orlev. “I don’t think he learned it from me.”

“You don’t
think
?”
wondered Aryeh. “Are you not
sure
of it?”

“Well, I believe I never
told him anything
consciously
, but he might have figured it out somehow.
Jonathan knew me really well. We were very close in those days and spent much
of our time together. We discussed this issue a few times, and I may have
inadvertently revealed something… He may have followed me…I don’t know…”

“And all these years he
had these documents tucked in his safe…” reflected Aryeh. “I wonder what he did
with them. One would expect him to publish something.”

“He could not do that,”
said Orlev. “He would have had to explain how he got them in the first place.
Yet, around that time he did start floating some new ideas… maybe the breakup
between us had to do with things he had learned from these documents… I don’t
know…” They fell silent.

“I have not lost hope
yet,” said Aryeh after a while. “I will keep searching.”

Orlev sighed. “I
believe these documents have slipped away from us forever. I am an old man, and
this adventure caused me enough agitation to last me for the rest of my life.
Now, I would like to ask you to drop this subject and never mention it again.
As far as we two are concerned, this event never happened, OK?”

Aryeh nodded. “It never
happened.”

The two sat in silence
for some time and then Aryeh glimpsed at his watch. “I have to go.”

Orlev walked him to the
door. The two said nothing. They did not even shake hands. Orlev closed the
door behind his guest and turned around.

A large figure stood at
the far entrance to the living room, a huge young man with a child’s face.

“Everything is fine,
Naphtali,” said Orlev affectionately. “Everything is all right, my child.”

T
hey were sitting at
the café in Ben-Gurion Airport. Jeanne had already checked in and was carrying
her boarding pass. It was parting time and they both felt awkward and
distressed. Their association over the last few weeks started as a business
relationship, and went through a brief romantic spell, which was abruptly
terminated when they unexpectedly discovered they were relatives. Now they were
saying farewell, still confused about what they were to each other. Until now, they
carefully avoided the issue. It was easier to discuss the turbulent events they
had been through lately.

“What do you think of
the professor’s theory?” asked Jeanne. “Do you think he really believes it?”

Luria thought for a
while. “It seems to me that he was not just conjuring theories. I feel that he
knows more than he cared to admit.”

“Or maybe all that's happened
lately just threw him off balance,” said Jeanne. “I admit I am confused. We
know somebody attacked and killed Bennet, and we assume it had to do with
Pascal de Charney’s scrolls, yet we have no proof that Bennet had them.”

Luria hesitated before
responding. “There is a piece of information that I am not supposed to share
with you,” he said after a while. “But after all we have been through, I guess
I should.”

Jeanne looked at him,
surprised.

“I learned this from
Commander Arnon. This is sensitive information, which must remain between us.”

Jeanne nodded. “Of
course.”

“They found two torn
pieces of paper in Bennet’s closed palm. He was probably holding two sheets of
paper when he died. They were torn away from his hand, but parts of them
remained inside his palm.” He paused. “These pieces of paper had old Hebrew
script on them. The first one read ‘…
thirty two wondrous paths…’”

Luria waited for Jeanne
to grasp the meaning of these words. It took her a few seconds and then she nodded,
speechless.

“On the second piece,
only two words were readable; a name.”

“A name? What name?”

“Part of a name, actually;
it read ‘
Ben Yossef’
– ‘Son of Joseph’”.

“‘Son of Joseph’?” Jeanne
considered this for a while and then her hand rose to her mouth in
astonishment. “Good Lord!”

“Exactly,” said Luria.
“Or was it his son? I never really understood how Christianity had this sorted
out…”

“Stop it!” snapped Jeanne
and Luria reminded himself that Jeanne had no sense of humor when it came to
her faith. “So you think these pieces of paper belonged to the lost scrolls?”

“To be exact, they were
parts of photocopies,” said Luria. “But yes, this is what it looks like.”

“And what about the
originals?”

‘That is still a
mystery. Bennet’s safe was broken into. The murderer has probably taken the
originals from there.”

"What about the
police? Don’t they have a clue?”

“None at the moment;
the man was a professional. He left no traces.”

“Who could he be, do
you think?”

“I don’t know, what do
you
think?”

Jeanne shrugged. “I
don’t know. We were so close… this is so frustrating. But that’s all behind us
now.”

“Have you decided to
give it up, then?”

Jeanne nodded. “Yes. Professor
Orlev convinced me that these documents never really belonged to my family, and
besides…” She was searching for words.

“What?”

“I fear that if these
documents ever become public, they would cause a lot of pain.”

“Pain? To whom?”

“They may offend the
beliefs of hundreds of millions of people. Perhaps it is better to leave things
as they are.”

Luria looked at her in
surprise but said nothing.

Jeanne now changed the
subject. “And there is this unclosed matter between us,” she added, softly.
Luria hung his head down.

“I love you, Yossi, but
we are family now, and I love you like family.”

Luria raised his head.
“I have a question for you.”

“Yes?”

“Had we not been…
family, do you think we could have stood a chance, you and me?”

Jeanne smiled. She was
definitely the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. “I do not think so,” she said.

He gave her a miserable
look, and she burst out laughing. “Stop it, Yossi. Don’t be like that. The
reason we could not have been real lovers is you, not me.”

Luria’s dejected look
was replaced by a puzzled one. “How do you mean?”

"The reason is
that you are still in love with another woman,” said Jeanne. “And she is still
waiting for you to stop being such a jerk. She is waiting for you to tell her
that you are sorry, and that you still love her.”

“
Ella?
”

“I don’t think a single
day went by without you mentioning her to me or confusing me with her. Women
are very sensitive to these things, you know.”

Luria frowned.

“Go to her, Yossi. Go
to Cambridge. She is waiting for you.”

“Waiting for me? How
would you know that?”

“She told me.”

“What?” Luria did not
understand. “What did you say?”

“I got her contact from
Noga. I called her, introduced myself, and we had a long talk over the phone. I
told her that you were still in love with her.”

“I cannot believe you
did that.” Luria was flabbergasted.

“You had better start
believing,” smiled Jeanne. “We, de Charneys, often come up with unexpected
twists. You should know that. After all, you are one of us. Besides, I did what
I had to do.”

“When did you speak with
her?”

“Yesterday.”

“And how did she
react?”

“She cried and I joined
her. It was wonderful. Two women crying over the man they love… it was so
romantic. There is nothing more liberating than two women weeping together,
especially when they are weeping out of happiness.”

She glimpsed at her
watch. “I think it is time to say good-bye."

She picked up her handbag,
and both rose to their feet. Near the entrance to the secured zone they embraced,
and she kissed him on his cheeks.

She presented her
passport and boarding pass and crossed the gate. He kept looking at her through
the glass.

What a woman.

She turned around,
smiled and blew him a kiss.

And then she was gone.