The Bar Mitzvah Murder (4 page)

6

I have never been a shopper for luxury goods. Having been a nun in my twenties and having lived at St. Stephen's for fifteen years, I learned frugality young and have never been able to give it up. Not that I think giving it up is a good thing to do. Jack had told me before we left the States that I should loosen up a bit, buy myself something wonderful, and consider it a gift from him. I'm sure he knows me well enough to realize I could never do that without his being right beside me and pushing me hard.

But looking in the shops at Nachalat Shiva with Mel, who had been taken there a few days ago by a relative, was a pleasure. There were shops filled with ceramics by Israeli artists and jewelry stores with beautiful silver chains of varying lengths. Some were machine-made and some handmade, which the prices and designs reflected.

After we visited several stores, Mel guided me through a narrow alley between two buildings, up some stone stairs, and into a shop filled with earrings, pins, and necklaces made from beads of semiprecious stones. Each one seemed to be more beautiful or more interesting than the last. Mel walked around collecting the ones she liked, occasionally replacing one that no longer enchanted her. The beads were of different sizes and shapes in colors that really grabbed me: purple, green, turquoise, black, white, and almost everything I've left out. There were bits of silver and gold interspersed, lengths that went from choker to halfway down my blouse.

“Mel, this was very unkind of you,” I said. “There are so many and I like them all.”

“So do I. Shall we fight over them?”

I laughed. “No, you take them all. I'll enjoy seeing them on you.”

“You're not getting away that easy, lady. I was there when your wonderful husband ordered you to buy yourself a present.”

“It wasn't exactly an order,” I said, gulping.

She gave me her great grin. “I'm taking this one. I never thought of lavender and green together, but I love it. Hal will love it, too. Excuse me.” She turned to the woman sitting at the desk near the door. “Can I look at earrings?”

I had a great time watching this play out. There were drawers and drawers of earrings, a dizzying number. Mel had told me once that Jerusalem was the jewelry capital of the world—her mother had been here a few times—and she and Hal had saved their pennies to spend during the trip. I could see why. I had my eye on a necklace of blue and green beads, but I thought I would rather come back a second time to make a final decision.

“Are they gorgeous?” Mel said, holding her beads up to the light.

“They are. And those earrings, too. Mel, you'll have to go somewhere very special to wear them.”

“You bet.” She took her bounty to the desk and I walked around the room again by myself, thinking it had been a long time since I last indulged myself.

A few minutes later, we walked down the stone steps, Mel's boxes securely in her bag. She was glowing and I think I was, too. We found the car, settled up, and Mel guided us back to her hotel.

There was a small police car parked near the entrance and Mel said, “Uh-oh,” as we got out of the car. She had asked me to come in while she looked for Lenny, the doctor who had tried to revive Gabe. Now she started running toward the entrance. I followed her into the lobby, where she grabbed a house phone and asked the operator for Marnie's room.

It wasn't a long conversation, but when Mel hung up she leaned against the shelf where the phones were, her forehead in her hand.

“What is it?” I said.

She took a breath that was half a sob, turned to me, and said, “They found him. Gabe. He's dead.”

There were two policemen in Marnie's room and they would never have let us in except that one of them was Joshua Davidson.

“Mrs. Brooks,” he said. “You've heard?”

“This is my friend Melanie Gross. She just talked to Mrs. Marnie Gross.”

“Come with me, ladies.”

We followed him past Marnie, who was crying on the sofa, the other policeman on a chair near her, to the large bedroom, and we sat in the small sitting area at one end.

Joshua spoke softly: “We received a call a little while ago, a body found in East Jerusalem. From Mrs. Gross's description of what her husband was wearing, it appears to be Gabriel Gross.”

“Then he never went to a hospital,” Mel said.

“Apparently not.”

“We checked them out this morning. Marnie looked at every paramedic but couldn't identify the one she saw at the party yesterday.”

“We don't know who picked him up and we don't know where he was taken before his body was disposed of, but we'll find out.”

“I have some information you may want to read,” I said, looking in my bag for my notebook. “I talked to Marnie Gross this morning and we visited the hotel where the party took place and talked to several people, including the manager.”

“You did?” He seemed surprised.

“She's very good at this,” Mel said, promoting my accomplishments. “Don't give him your notes,” she said to me. “You'll never get them back. Let's get them Xeroxed and you can give him the copy.”

Officer Davidson's eyes widened. He smiled and looked as though he didn't know what to say.

“That's a good idea,” I said. “We'll find someone downstairs to copy them and we'll come back with the notes.”

“Uh, thank you.”

“Has the body been officially identified?”

“Not yet. Mrs. Gross will have to do that.”

“Not alone,” Mel said firmly. “Someone in the family must go with her. That's a terrible ordeal.”

“I understand. We'll find a relative here in the hotel.”

We went down to the first floor and got my notes copied. The copies weren't terribly clear, but I thought Mel was right, that if I gave away the original, I'd never get it back. When we were done, I said, “Maybe that doctor cousin could go with Marnie to identify the body. And maybe we could talk to him first.”

“I'll call,” Mel said.

When she got off the phone we took the elevator upstairs and found Cousin Lenny waiting for us at the bank of elevators. I was starting to think of Mel and Hal's relatives as mine and I was glad to find that Lenny was as kind and forthcoming as the cousins I had come to know and love in Oakwood.

“You're Chris,” he said, giving me a firm handshake. “Come to my room. We can talk. I assume there's news.”

Mel delivered it quickly, then suddenly began to cry. Being stalwart had served her well today, but this was a terrible turn of events. I put my arm around her and held her.

“It's so awful,” she said. “How could this have happened?”

“We'll find out,” Lenny said. “You gonna be all right?”

“Yes. But it won't be easy.”

“That's our Mel. We'll have to help Marnie out all we can. I assume they'll take her somewhere to identify Gabe.”

“They will.”

“I'll go with her.”

“She's talking to the police now,” I said. “We can go down in a minute. I just want you to tell me what you observed yesterday at the party.”

“Ah, you're the friend that solves the murders. Glad you're here now, Chris. The police have been no help whatever these last twenty-four hours. Maybe your input will move things along. Let's see. I heard Marnie scream. That must have been the first I knew something was wrong. I went along with the crowd and found Gabe lying around a corner from where we all were at our tables and on the patio dance floor. I found a pulse, but it was weak. I assumed it was a heart attack and began to give him CPR—”

“You asked to have an ambulance called,” I interrupted.

“Yes. Probably when I saw him or when I got to him. It didn't take long for them to come. I had hardly begun the CPR when two attendants dashed over with a gurney.”

“Did they seem to know what they were doing?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because they didn't come from a hospital in Jerusalem. They were never called by anyone in the hotel that we could find, although I have to admit we haven't talked to the guests yet.”

“I doubt one of the guests called. They'd need to know the number. They would have had to get help from the hotel staff inside. What you're saying is, you don't think anyone called an ambulance.”

“That's right. But one showed up. Did you notice anything unusual about Gabe?”

“I didn't spend much time looking. He had a weak pulse and his breathing was shallow. I was trying to resuscitate him. I don't believe I did.”

“Did you offer to go to the hospital with him?”

“Yes, but Marnie said she'd go in the ambulance. My wife and I were going for our car when I realized I didn't know where the ambulance was going. And no one else seemed to know, either. We dashed back to find out, but the ambulance was gone.”

“Did he say anything, Lenny?” I asked. “Did you talk to him?”

“I talked to him, but he never responded. I told him who I was and assured him he'd be taken care of. You never know what the patient can hear and I wanted him to feel that he was going to be OK.”

“Did you see the ambulance?”

“I walked over to it with the attendants. I saw it from behind. I never saw the inside of it. They had backed up so when they took off all you could see was the back, and I never walked around to the side. Where are you going with this?” He looked at both of us.

Mel answered, “I think we think Gabe may have been murdered.”

“Quite an elaborate murder, if you're right. You gals have any idea what the motive would be?”

“I don't,” I said, “but I didn't know him.”

“I don't, either,” Mel said, “and I
did
know him. All I can think of is that he had a nasty divorce.”

“That was years ago, Mel. And Debby is well taken care of. I know there was a lot of animosity, but that's history.”

“I wonder,” I said. I looked at my watch. “I have to pick up my husband in a while and I want to give Officer Davidson these notes we copied. Let's go down to Marnie's room.”

I gave Joshua the notes when we saw him, and he told us he was about ready to take Marnie to look at the body. Marnie was white as a ghost and unsteady on her feet. Lenny went over to help her and she grabbed him and cried and he tried to comfort her. I asked Joshua to route me to the police station where Jack was working, and he showed me on my map.

“We'll talk later,” I said to Mel. I thanked Lenny and was on my way.

7

Jack walked outside a moment after I pulled up at the police station. I switched to the passenger seat with some relief and he got in and we took off.

“Pretty bad news,” he said.

“Yes.”

“What did you find out?”

I went over it briefly, my talk with Marnie and our trip to the hospitals.

“That was a good idea, checking out the paramedics before she forgot what the guy looked like.”

“As it turns out, the police probably realized when they found the body that Gabe hadn't been taken anywhere legitimate.”

“No matter. You got there at the right time. This is very nasty. Sure looks like a homicide to me.”

“I hope it looks that way to the Jerusalem police.”

“It does. Don't worry. They're on it now. You can probably step back and have a good time.”

I smiled. A good time sounded like a very good idea. “Tell me about your day.”

“Well, we're building a database and I'm learning a lot about international criminals. One PP called me three times this afternoon,” he said, referring to his office at New York Police Headquarters. “I hope they don't expect me to stick around an extra six or seven hours till they go home so they can call me.”

“I'm sure they don't.”

“Don't be so sure.” He gave me a squeeze. “I'm looking forward to seeing our son again. Hope he recognizes us with all the brainwashing my folks are giving him. We'll probably have to buy him back. Speaking of which, have you and Mel had time to look at the shops? Joshua said there are great jewelry stores in Jerusalem.”

“We did, and Mel bought herself a fabulous necklace of semiprecious stones.”

“And what about Christine Bennett Brooks? Did she manage to find a little something for herself?”

“Oh, Jack, you know how I am about spending money.”

“Get something for yourself. It's an order. I'm going to be busy all day every day at this job or I'd try to sneak out and give you some moral support. I thought Mel would do that.”

“She did, but . . . Well, I'll go back and look again.”

There was a message from Jack's mother when we got to our hotel. They had found a restaurant they thought we would all enjoy. We joined them there and found Eddie excited to see us. He was wearing a rather fantastic hat his grandparents had bought him, one with a small solar panel on top of the head that powered a fan in the brim. It didn't work at night or in the dim light of the restaurant, but in the sun it was quite an attraction.

“This is a nice city,” he said. “We went on a bus and saw everything.”

“Did you get out and walk?” I asked.

“Uh-huh. We walked a lot.”

“Well, you're very lucky your grandma and grandpa are here. You'll have a lot to tell your kindergarten when you get back.”

“I took pictures, too.” He had taken along a disposable camera.

“Pictures,” I said. “I hope I get a chance to take some myself.”

After we said good night, Jack and I went back to our hotel and sat on the patio with after-dinner drinks. He seemed as content as I had seen him, enthusiastic about what he was doing and where we were. It made me feel very good. I had watched him change from a detective sergeant with unruly hair to a better-dressed and more serious lieutenant with a law degree. This trip, this job, were the culmination of years of work, study, late nights, and doing two important things at one time and doing them well. I was truly proud of him.

“What are you thinking about?”

“How lucky we are to be here. You've really made it, Jack Brooks.”

“Couldn't have done it without you, honey. Oh, I almost forgot. Joshua's wife knows a registered tour guide who's a Christian Arab. He can take you around the Old City.”

“A private tour?”

“Ask Mel if she wants to join you, but yes, a private tour. I think you should do it. He'll show you all the sights and take you to some churches you might not see otherwise.”

“It's the Holy Sepulchre I want to see most.”

“I know. It's on his list. I talked to Rachel Davidson. Can I call her and say yes?”

“Sure. Is it very expensive?”

“Chris.”

I laughed. “Yes, thank you. I'll do it.”

“You know what I've been thinking? Are we the last Americans who don't own a computer?”

I put my glass of sherry down, startled by the question. “I didn't think we needed one. Arnold gave me the word processor so I could do his jobs. I didn't see why—”

“Well, I can give you a hundred reasons why. Eddie's turning five. I don't want him to be the only kid in the class that doesn't have access to a computer. And you know what? I have buddies I haven't seen for a long time that I could stay in touch with via e-mail. I bet you do, too.”

“Then let's do it.”

“Glad you agree.” He took a last sip of his brandy and called the waiter over for the check. “Nice night,” he said.

“It's beautiful.”

“Let's go upstairs and make it even nicer.”

There was a message from Mel. I called her back and talked to Hal for a few minutes. He had taken the kids to a lot of places and come home to hear Mel's story of our day.

“It's like a bad dream,” he said.

I agreed.

“Gabe was the most generous, the kindest guy in the world.”

“We'll figure it out, Hal.”

“Here's Mel, wearing the greatest necklace I've ever seen.”

I smiled. Mel and I were both lucky to have generous husbands.

“Chris. I did some sleuthing on my own. I hope you don't mind.”

“I don't mind at all. I can't even imagine what you've done.”

“Well, I had an idea. I decided to call some hotels and make some inquiries and I hit pay dirt. Gabe's daughter is in Jerusalem.”

“What?”

“I tried our hotel first, although I didn't think either of his kids would be likely to stay here. They weren't. Then I called the hotel where the party was yesterday. There's a Judith Silverman registered. That's Judy's married name. She was married last June, but she's registered in her name only. How does that grab you?”

“It's making me dizzy. I'll see to it that Officer Davidson gets the word.”

In the morning I drove Jack to the police station and took the car. He promised to call Mrs. Davidson to arrange for the tour of the Old City and to tell Joshua what Mel had learned. After I left Jack off, I drove to the hotel where the party had taken place on Sunday. I used the house phone to call Judith Silverman, and while she was reticent, she agreed to talk to me in her room.

I had spoken to Mel and told her Judy might be more open with someone who wasn't a relative of her father, and Mel said she would wait in her room for my call after the interview. She also said she would love a tour for two through the Old City. I was delighted to have company.

Judy Silverman was in her twenties, dark-haired and dark-eyed, slim, and expensively dressed. I am never expensively dressed, but I have learned to tell the difference.

“Who exactly are you?” she asked as I walked in.

“Chris Bennett. I'm a friend of Melanie Gross.”

“Hal's wife.”

“Yes. We live on the same block in Oakwood and we've been friends for several years, since I moved into the house I inherited from my aunt.”

“Go on.” She seemed very serious, unsmiling. On her left hand was a large diamond ring and a slim white gold band. Her pantsuit was black, with a pale pink blouse showing in the vee of the collar. I couldn't tell whether the seriousness was her usual demeanor or I was making her nervous.

“Do you know that your father was taken ill on Sunday during the party?”

“I'm aware, yes.”

“Were you at that party?”

“I chose not to go.”

“Do you know what happened to your father after he was taken ill?”

“I don't follow you.”

“Do you know how his illness turned out?”

“No. I don't have much to do with my father.”

“Did he know you were here?”

She took a moment before she answered, as though she was composing her response. “I doubt it. It's a coincidence that I'm here at the same time. I had nothing to do with my father's party.”

“Your father disappeared for about twenty-four hours,” I said.

“Really. Perhaps he's tired of his present wife and he was looking for a little fun. I'm sure if you know where to look, you can find that kind of fun in Jerusalem.”

I was taken aback by the tone of her voice, its cold harshness. “Your father's body was discovered yesterday afternoon in another part of the city.”

She stared at me. “Are you telling me he's dead?”

“He's dead, yes. Your father is dead.”

“I—I can't believe it. He was in very good health.”

“He may have been. It appears to be a case of murder.”

“That seems—it's hard to believe.” She pressed a hand against her breast. “I'm sure there are lots more people in the States who'd like to kill him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“My father is a cutthroat businessman. People like that have enemies. Miss Bennett, why are you telling me this? What are you doing here? Why should I believe anything you say?”

“I'm a friend of Melanie Gross.”

“You told me that. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Mel called me when your father disappeared on Sunday. I got the message when my husband and I arrived in Israel. My husband is a New York City police lieutenant. I've done some amateur sleuthing in the last few years and turned up some killers. Mel asked me to see what I could find out about your father's death.”

“You think he was murdered.”

“It would appear he was.”

“My God.”

“Are any other members of your family here with you? Your mother or your brother?”

“No. I'm joining my husband in London in a few days. I came here alone.” She said it almost without thinking, as though her mind was elsewhere, but she sounded sincere. She looked up at me, as if recalling that I was there. “How did you find me? How did you know I was here?”

It was a question I would have preferred not to answer. “We started looking for Gabe's immediate family when we heard he was dead, just calling around to see if one of you might be in Jerusalem.” I didn't want to say that Mel had done it. “We found you registered here.”

The look she gave me showed she wasn't accepting what I said as the whole truth, although it was very close to that. “Does my mother know about my father?”

“Only if someone has called her. I don't even know where she lives.”

“He's really dead?” she said.

“That's what the police said.”

“It's funny, isn't it? We were so angry at him for what he did to my mother. I must have wished him dead a hundred times. Now you tell me it's happened and I feel— I don't know how I feel. Certainly not happy.”

“I'm sure it'll take some time for you to accept that it's happened. You can call the police and talk to them. Marnie went to identify him yesterday. I haven't seen her since.” I stopped, and then, before she could say anything, I said, “Mrs. Silverman, why are you in Jerusalem now?”

“I—I wanted . . .” It was clear she had no answer. “If you want to know the truth, I wanted to see the party without being part of it. They're all my family. I just couldn't bring myself to be a guest.”

Something about what she said and the way she said it had the ring of truth. “I can understand that,” I said sympathetically.

“Well. Thank you for coming.” Her voice had become brisk. She stood and offered her hand. “I'm sorry I wasn't very helpful. This is quite a shock. I'll have to make some phone calls now, if you don't mind.”

“I understand.” I shook her hand and went to the door. I could hear her bolt it as I stepped into the hallway.