Tuesday The Rabbi Saw Red (20 page)

“Now. Sergeant.” Ames cautioned, “that’s only legal pyrotechnics. If he were a good man and knew his business, I’d know he was telling the truth even while I was making hash out of him.”

Schroeder was thoroughly confused. “Then is he mistaken or isn’t he?”

Ames began to stride about the room as he tried to organize his thoughts. “That’s a problem. Sergeant. Because if the medical examiner is right, we’ve got to find another reason besides the explosion for that statue falling. I suppose there could be reverberations from a passing truck or sonic boom of a passing jet – but surely those have happened before and the statue hasn’t fallen. No, the only possibility that seems to make sense to me is that someone pulled it down. Deliberately, and that would be murder, not felony murder, not an accident occuring during the commission of a felony: but out-and-out murder.”

“We could backtrack Hendryx on the chance that someone might have wanted him dead.” suggested the sergeant.

Ames nodded vigorously. “Yes, do that. By all means. I’d question everyone who was in the building that afternoon. I’d also question the people in his department. I’d especially want to know why he didn’t have a desk in the English office along with the rest of the department.”

“All right, sir, I’ll get on with it.”

Dean Hanbury sat placidly knitting as she answered the sergeant’s questions. “Let’s see…between two and three I was here of course, awaiting the student committee. President Macomber might have been in his office, but my own secretary leaves at noon on Friday, and then there was Rabbi Small and his class.”

“He saw you close your door.”

She laughed. “Oh, did he see me? I am sorry. I’m afraid it was not very nice of me, he’s a dear man, but so serious about his course. Every Friday he stops by to tell me how few students have shown up for class, that afternoon, what with the student committee and a rather hectic morning. I just didn’t want to see anyone.”

“Can you tell me anything about Professor Hendryx?”

“Like what. Sergeant?”

“Well, his personal life, his friends, his close associates –”

She shook her head regretfully. “He came from my hometown originally; from Barnard’s Crossing. I actually knew him when I was a little girl, he was much older that I, of course, but in a small town everyone knows everyone else. When we hired him, we went into his academic qualifications quite thoroughly, but that’s all, he has family out West somewhere, as a bachelor, he had no ties here.”

In response to a cheery “Come in.” Sergeant Schroeder entered President Macomber’s office to find him stroking a golf ball across the carpet toward a drinking glass lying on its side at the far end of the room, the president looked up. “Oh, it’s you,” he said. “I thought it was my daughter. What can I do for you?”

“We’re just tying up some loose ends, checking on everyone who was in the building, say, between two and three.”

“Well, I was here, all right. Must have left around half-past two, a few minutes before or after.”

He picked up the glass and emptied the golf ball into his hand, he was about to return the glass to the carpet but thought better of it and set it on his desk. Sliding the ball into his pocket, he sat down, still holding the putter. “A most unfortunate business. Sergeant. You know. Dean Hanbury had been after me for quite a while to appoint Hendryx permanent head of the English department, he was only acting head, well, that very morning I notified her I was going to make the appointment. It goes to show you – man proposes, and all that sort of thing.”

Sergeant Schroeder remarked that Dean Hanbury hadn’t mentioned it to him.

“Well, of course. Under the circumstances, where no public announcement had been made, she wouldn’t be likely to. Besides, she’d feel it ought to come from me.”

“I suppose so.” said the sergeant. “Now, is there anything you can tell me about Professor Hendryx’s personal life, his relations with other members of the faculty, with the students, women students particularly, after all, he was a bachelor and living alone –”

“I can answer that. Sergeant.” It was Betty Macomber, she had entered the office and overheard his question. “Professor Hendryx had no relations, not the kind you hinted at, with any of his women students. I knew him very well and saw a great deal of him. You see, we were going to be married.”

Mary Barton, soon to be Dr. Barton, was plain as an old shoe, she prattled on without guile and without restraint. “Oh, I liked him, but he wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, he was inclined to be sharp and sarcastic, given to making snide little remarks that annoyed people. It didn’t bother me any. In fact, I rather enjoyed them. College professors tend to be pompous and our English department is no exception, so I didn’t mind hearing him prick their little vanities…. No. I can’t say that anyone actually hated him, but when he announced that he was moving out of the office. I don’t remember anyone urging him to stay…. Like what? Oh, like when Professor Hallett remarked that he’d like a vacation and Hendryx said. ‘I’m sure your students would profit from it.’ That kind of thing, and he’d make little sly digs about Jews, like once when he was going to lecture on The Merchant of Venice, he said. ‘I’m sure I’ll get some interesting reactions from The Chosen on this lecture.’ We have two or three Jews among the younger members of the department.” She laughed. “You know, when I came here in the fifties, it was the policy not to hire Jews for the English Department. Math, the sciences, economics, that sort of thing. O.K., but not for English. I remember they turned down Albert Brodsky…. Oh, he’s the one who did that marvelous book on linguistics…. Professor Brodsky of Princeton? You never heard of him? Well, believe me, he’s tops, absolutely tops, and they could have had him here, but then he probably wouldn’t have stayed anyway…. Oh, yes! Well, what I was going to say is that they’d naturally be a little embarrassed, but they’d just pretend they hadn’t heard, all except Roger Fine, he’d stand up to him, and more. I once heard him say he’d ram his stick down his throat if he didn’t shut up, he’s a little lame and walks with a cane…. I’m sure it was about some remark that Fine considered anti-Semitic. I suspect he was oversensitive, but then I suppose I shouldn’t say since I’m not one, a Jew, I mean, or maybe I should say; Jewess. I mean. I might feel differently if I were. I remember asking Rabbi Small if he considered Hendryx, anti-Semitic, and he said no. Of course, it was after Hendryx’s death and the rabbi might have felt De mortuis…. It was just before the memorial service they were having for Hendryx…. Oh, I thought you’d know it; it’s a common expression. It’s Latin, De Mortuis nil nisi bonum. It means you say nothing but good concerning the dead.”

“Hey; did the cops come to see any of you guys?” Mazelman called out to the class. “This guy, a sergeant yet, turns up to the house and starts to grill me –”

“What do you mean?”

“Like who was in class Friday, you know, the Friday Hendryx got his? Did I see anybody in the building? Well, then it turns out he’s specially interested in the time from two to three o’clock. So I tell him how by two o’clock I’m already at the airport because the rabbi walked out of class. Boy, was he surprised.”

“Asshole!”

Mazelman colored. “What’s with you. Luftig?”

“What did you have to tell him that for?”

“Why not? It’s a secret?”

“I don’t see why we should wash our dirty linen in public.” maintained Luftig.

“Well, it just came out. Besides, since when are you so buddy-buddy with the rabbi? You’re always fighting with him.”

“So what? That doesn’t mean I got to throw him to the wolves.”

“Who’s throwing him to the wolves? Anyway:” said Mazelman. “don’t worry about the rabbi, a smart cookie like that can take care of himself.”

“You start digging and you find things.” said Sergeant Schroeder with grim satisfaction as Bradford Ames finished reading his progress report. “For instance, why didn’t the dean tell us about Hendryx getting appointed head of the department?”

“Because when you first questioned her she didn’t think it germane, I suppose, and the reason President Macomber gave is probably correct.”

“I don’t get it, a man’s been killed.”

“They’ll have to appoint somebody to the job, won’t they?” said Ames. “Why tell him he was just second choice?”

“Well…” The sergeant was not convinced. “Of course, I’ve still got more to question.”

“Yes, you said you’d speak to the cleaning woman again.”

“You wanted to be in on that one, sir.”

“That’s right. I certainly do, anything on the missing student, this Ekko?”

Schroeder smiled complacently. “I think we’ve got a lead on him. Late Friday afternoon a young fellow hops the bus to Albany, he sits down next to a man who turns out to have a barber shop in Springfield, well, it seems the barber was telling one of his customers about this young fellow, how he was bulling him and how he puts him in his place by spotting that he was wearing a wig and a phony moustache. Just our good luck, this customer happened to be a plainclothesman with the Springfield police and he’d seen our flyer on this Ekko, who’s bald as an egg. So the plainclothesman had their artist add some hair and a moustache to the picture on the flyer and got a positive ident from the barber. I expect we’ll be picking him up in a couple of days.”

“That’s good work.” said Ames. “Are you about through at the college?”

“All except this Professor. Fine and the remainder of the rabbi’s class and the rabbi, of course. I figure I’m going to have to bear down on him a little.”

“Bear down? On the rabbi?” Ames looked up in surprise.

“You bet, that man has a lot of explaining to do. I told you about the first time I called him and he wouldn’t talk to me on his Sabbath, well then, when I finally did get to talk to him, not a word about walking out of his class right after it started.”

“And what significance do you attach to that?” asked Ames.

“Well, think about it, sir. If he left his class a few minutes after one and didn’t leave the school until after two, then he was with Hendryx for an hour or more. Now what were they doing there together?”

“What anyone would do. I suppose – talking.”

“Right!” said Schroeder, as if this was conclusive. “But remember what this Barton woman said about Hendryx being anti-Semitic.”

“What are you suggesting, Sergeant?”

“Well, if the rabbi admits he left around ten past two, and the M.E, puts the time of death at between two-ten and two-forty, and the rabbi was alone with Hendryx right up to that time, and with Hendryx a known anti-Semite and the rabbi a rabbi and all. Suppose they argue. Suppose the M.E.‘s a little off – the ten, fifteen minutes you yourself mentioned, sir – only it’s earlier not later, the point is, sir, if it’s easy, if it involves no planning, just a spur-of-the-moment thing…”

Bradford Ames stared at the officer as though he were seeing him for the first time, the man obviously was still aggrieved at the rabbi’s refusal to talk to him when he first called.

“And how does he go about pulling the statue down. Sergeant?” Ames asked gently. “Have you thought of that?”

“Yup, I have,” Schroeder said smugly. “There’s old books and papers on those shelves. Suppose the rabbi spots a book he wants to read or just look at. Now if it was on the top shelf the only way is to climb up and get it. So he climbs up right next to the statue, then all he’s got to do is give a little shove. Or maybe it was really an accident.” A sudden thought occurred to him. “That may be what he wanted to see the dean about, to tell her there was an accident and to call a doctor, but the door shuts, he’d be all in a stew, not thinking clearly. Now I put it to you, would a man who’d just been through an experience like that go right home?” He shook his head. “No, sir, he’d ride around for a while, trying to make up his mind what to do, that’s why he got home late, and then when I call up, he’d heard about the bombing. Naturally he wouldn’t want to talk to me until he’d figured out what line to take.”

“But –”

The sergeant leaned forward for emphasis. “Here’s the clincher,” he said. “You remember how we wondered how the killer could enter the office without Hendryx getting up to open the door for him? Well, there’s one person who could, and that’s the rabbi. Because he had his own key\ Oh, I’ve got a lot of questions to ask that rabbi –”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, Sergeant. I’ll talk to him myself.”

It wasn’t a party; a few of the Selzers’ closest friends just decided to drop in to congratulate them on the release of their son. Now they listened to him with rapt attention.

“So the rabbi comes in and I offer him a cup of coffee. Not that I was particularly interested in entertaining visitors at that time, you understand, but if I told the Boss Lady the rabbi was here and I didn’t give him something, well. I’d sure hear about it.” He glanced affectionately at his wife beside him on the sofa and she patted his hand.

“But he says he’s in a hurry, he can’t stay, and then he says: ‘I think it would be a good idea if you speak to Mr. Goodman. Tell him to file a motion for your son’s release on his own recognizance or on reasonable bail.’ Just like that!

“Well, you know, ever since it happened I’ve been getting advice from people – not only from friends and acquaintances but from people I hardly know, even perfect strangers. One calls me to tell me I should get this lawyer that’s been in the newspapers, how he always gets his clients off, another one calls to suggest I ought to write a letter to all the papers and start a publicity campaign, then there are some real crackpot calls to say how if I surrender to Jesus, he’ll handle it. Believe me, and one guy actually came to see me and he said I could get Abner home tomorrow if I just concentrated certain vibrations in my own head, which would link up with the same type vibrations in the head of the judge or the D.A, and tell them they had to release Abner and send him home. Honest to God, he was dead serious and he spoke like a college professor. Listening to him, you’d swear it was legit, like making a telephone call.”