“No, thank you, Mr. Lieber. Do you want some tea?”
“No, I don’t want anything right now.” He looked at his son-in-law. “Jonathan, get the man some tea.”
“Really, I’m-” Decker stopped himself. “Yes, of course. Thank you.”
“While you’re up, get some for Papa,” Raisie chimed in.
“I don’t want any-”
“Papa, you must drink!”
“I’ll have only if you’ll have,” Decker proposed.
The old man nodded.
Jonathan sighed heavily and went to the kitchen for tea.
The old man leaned forward. “You will forgive Chaim’s manners. He is under terrible, terrible stress.”
“Of course, Mr. Lieber. I’m sure my presence has added to it. I just wanted to pay my respects to you. Then I’ll go.”
“He expects miracles. For that, he must pray to the Abishter.”
“ ‘It is better to take refuge in Hashem than to rely on man,’ ” Decker quoted from the Hallel service.
“Yes, exactly.” Lieber’s eyes watered. “It’s so terrible.”
“Yes, it is. I’m so sorry.”
“Horrible.” Lieber wiped his eyes. “And you are leaving tomorrow?”
“Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes.”
Donatti had told him to wait for his call, but how long could Decker be patient?
“At the hespid yesterday, I spoke to people who worked with Ephraim. I also spoke with others who knew your son. Ephraim seemed like a man who was full of heart.”
“Who did you speak to?” Chaim challenged.
“A woman named Luisa-”
“Ephraim gave her money,” Chaim sneered. “Of course she liked him.”
“And since when is tzedaka considered a bad thing?” Raisie asked him.
“Charity begins at home,” Chaim said.
“Don’t fight,” another sister castigated. “Don’t we have enough to deal with?”
Raisie regarded Decker, then pointed to her sisters. “This is Esther; this is Malka.”
Decker offered his condolences to them.
“And who were the others who knew Ephraim?” Mr. Lieber wanted to know.
“I spoke to a man who met Ephraim in an organization called Emek Refa’im.”
“Yes, yes,” Mr. Lieber said. “The counseling place.”
“A place for drug addicts, Papa,” Chaim stated.
“A place to help them,” Mr. Lieber insisted. “He was doing so well, Lieutenant. Ephraim was.”
“So I understand.”
The old man sighed. “So well.” Tears in his eyes. “In the business, too.”
“How long had he been working with you and Chaim?”
Lieber didn’t answer.
“Two years,” Chaim said dully.
“Two years,” the old man repeated. “He enjoyed it. I could tell he liked the business.”
Chaim rolled his eyes, but the old man didn’t see it.
“I’m sure he loved being part of the business,” Decker said. “What was his job there?”
“What difference does it make now?” Chaim snapped.
“The man wants to know,” Mr. Lieber said. “He was a jack of all boxes-”
“Jack of all trades,” Chaim corrected.
“He’d work the register, stock the shelves, take inventory in the stores and in the warehouse, fill in if people didn’t show up.”
“Assuming he’d show up,” Chaim said.
“Chaim!” Raisie chastised. “Please!”
Chaim rubbed his face. “I’m sorry.”
Jonathan returned with the tea. He handed a glass to his father, then one to Decker. “Thanks, Jon.”
Chaim said, “I’m going upstairs for a moment, Papa. I’ll be back.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jonathan said.
“Sure. Come on.”
The two men trudged through the crowds, standing close to each other, an unspoken message between them.
Sitting on something.
Did the girl bolt? Had she made contact with them? Last night, she had been petrified to have anything to do with any of her kinsmen, but a new dawn often brought a new perspective. Maybe she had decided that the safest place was home.
Or maybe he was reading too much into the camaraderie. Maybe they both wanted to get away from the crowd-which was certainly understandable.
Mr. Lieber sipped his tea. “I thought things were working out.”
Decker returned his concentration to the old man. “I’m sure they were working out.”
“Then why? Why?” Watery, rainbow-colored eyes took in Decker’s face. “The police said that it was drugs. Why was he with the drugs?”
Decker didn’t answer, masking his silence by drinking the diluted brew.
Mr. Lieber shook his head. “The flesh is weak.”
“Mr. Lieber,” Decker whispered, “maybe it wasn’t drugs. Can you think of anyone who might want to hurt him?”
“No! No one!”
“I hate to ask you this, sir. But maybe you or your son have made someone angry?”
“Me?” The old man shrugged. “I make all my customers angry. Jews are impossible people to work with. Everyone wants a bargain. You don’t give them what they want, they complain. But no one would get mad enough to hurt me.”
“Can I ask you another personal-”
“Ask, ask.” Lieber put the tea glass down on the floor and took Decker’s free hand. “Ask.”
“Did you owe anyone money?”
“Just the bank… business loans. Nothing that would require Citibank to strong-arm me or my sons.”
“No individual loans?”
“None. I have money in a business account, money in a savings account. Nothing too big: Business hasn’t been so hot lately. My suppliers go under, lots of theft… always happens when times are tough. But not tough enough that I have to borrow from the loan sharks, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Yes.” Decker placed his empty glass by his chair. “That’s what I was asking.” He formulated his thoughts. “What about employees? Any problems with any specific individual?”
“Not that I know of. Most have been with me forever. The part-timers… that’s Chaim’s job. Hiring and firing. We get some turnover with the shleppers, the men who load and unload the heavy boxes at the warehouse. You hire who you can get at minimum wage. Sometimes it’s recent aliens with green cards, sometimes it’s high-school dropouts, sometimes students looking for a summer job.”
“Whoever’s available.”
“Yes. If you have some questions about them, ask Chaim.”
“I would if he’d talk to me. And if he doesn’t want to, it’s understandable.”
“Yes, it is,” the old man agreed. “Maybe another time.”
“Maybe.”
Decker could see that others wanted to draw close to Mr. Lieber, to participate in the mitzvah of comforting the mourner-menachem avel. He got up and uttered the customary Hebrew words of comfort to Raisie and her sisters, then to Mr. Lieber. He nudged his way through the crowd to the back of the room.
Chaim and Jonathan weren’t visible anywhere. So be it. Without fanfare, Decker left. As soon as he was outside, he let go with a deep exhalation. It had been so stifling in there, he hadn’t realized how much his chest had been hurting. Walking down the pathway, breathing a bit easier, he heard a car screech as it pulled up to the curb.
Minda Lieber rushed out of the dented van, slamming the door behind her. Completely disheveled, she had improperly paired the buttons of her dress with the corresponding buttonholes. Her wig was messy and askew. She was flapping her hands and weeping hysterically. Decker grabbed her.
“What’s wrong?”
She tried to break free of his hold, screaming how dare he touch her-a married woman. But Decker only held on tighter.
“Minda. What… is… wrong?”
The woman broke into high-pitched screams. “They found her! She’s dead! Oh God, she’s dead. She’s dead-”