seemed as though he felt he was being watched, and he sat down and covered his face with his hands. After that he stood up again and paced the room as though taking exercise.
“There’s something going on,” Tzilla told Lillian. “They phoned from the scene of the murder, in the middle of interrogating Benny Meyuhas. They’re on their way here right now, and they’re asking for you to get him to talk about the business with Sroul by the time they arrive.”
Lillian returned to the office, closed the door very quietly, and took her seat, expecting Rubin to do the same. But Rubin was not eager to sit down. “I asked to see Benny,” he said, his voice threatening. “I don’t understand—is he being detained without rights? What is this here, how can you forbid me from—”
“Not now,” Lillian said. “First we’ll finish what we started: this hour and a half, of which you sat with the mother of the Palestinian boy from Umm-Thuba for about ten minutes and then disappeared.
Doesn’t anybody, like, know where you were?”
“Like? Like? Or really?” Rubin asked, mocking her openly. He sat down and said, “I’m really interested in knowing what you’re thinking.”
When Lillian spoke next, her expression had totally changed; the false sweetness and artificial affability made way for a no-nonsense austerity she had developed over years of working with drug dealers. “Tell me,” she hurled at him, bringing their banter to an end, “how is it that you never mentioned the ultra-Orthodox guy with the burns, the one who visited Zadik? How is it that you never told us he was your friend Sroul?”
Rubin looked at her without blinking. “I did not know that that was Sroul. As far as I know, he’s in America. I for one have not seen him here in Israel.”
“What about the police composite we’ve been passing around?”
Lillian persisted. “You could certainly have known from that. Even just a word, you could have said something. Anything. I mean, if a composite like that is so very similar to someone’s childhood friend, a person so dear to him that he keeps a picture of that person in his office, the person Tirzah went to visit before—”
“Who says?” Rubin interjected. “Who says she went to visit him?
She went to the U.S. on business. Maybe she saw him there as well, and I’ve already told you people, I told Ohayon earlier—don’t you people cross-check your information? Don’t you update each other?—I told him that she wanted to raise more money for producing Iddo and Eynam. But that’s none of your concern.”
“Everything,” Lillian said, “but every little thing, as you have already been told, is now our concern. What I am asking you is, how is it that you did not tell us that the person in the composite was your own friend Sroul?”
“Believe me,” Rubin entreated her, “it never entered my mind. It’s that simple… . You know how it is when you just don’t think about something? It simply wasn’t in my head. I’ve been so confused lately, and worried about Benny. And don’t forget, my wife’s body was—”
“Your ex-wife’s body,” Lillian corrected him. “And as far as work is concerned, you seem really quite clear- headed to me.”
“Work is something else entirely,” Rubin said, leaning forward. He looked intently into her eyes. “Believe me,” he said, “I had no idea he was in Israel. Even now I’m not entirely certain it’s Sroul. Just let me speak with Benny, and perhaps—”
“So where were you during that hour and a half ? On your way back to the television station from Umm- Thuba?” Lillian asked. She maintained an impenetrable expression, careful not to give herself away.
“I’ve already told you,” Rubin said in exasperation, “I was in the village with the mother of that boy. Do you have any idea what they did to him?” he asked with dramatic restraint. “Maybe if I tell you a little bit, you’ll understand why I had to sit with the family in private. What would you say if I told you they stuck a pole in his rectum? Do you think the family would be willing to discuss that sort of thing in front of a television camera?”
“So what you’re telling me is that for the entire hour and a half that you were missing, you were in the village?” Lillian asked. She riffled through the papers in front of her as though she did not know what her next question would be.
“Yes, that’s what I’m telling you,” Rubin said, calmer now. He leaned back in his chair like a person who has done his job.
“If that’s the case,” Lillian said, “how do explain that you were seen at the Oranim gas station?”
“Ahhhh,” Rubin said with a smile, “now you expect me to report every time I fill my tank with gas? The tank was low, and I—”
“No, no, no,” Lillian said, cutting him off, “I’m not just talking about the gas. First of all, since when does it take an hour and a half to fill your tank? And second, we know for a fact that you didn’t fill your tank up. Don’t forget, your face is known all over the country. People recognize you. According to our information, you were seen in the vicinity of the Oranim gas station, and you stopped at an auto supply shop to pick up a flashlight. It was already dark by then, and rainy, no?
Do you remember now? It wasn’t all that long ago,” she said, glancing at her watch, “just seven hours ago. I’m sure you remember stopping there to buy a big flashlight. Where is it now?”
“Yes, that’s right, I’d forgotten,” Rubin muttered. “I bought a flashlight, I needed to check the …” He fell silent.
“How long did it take?” she asked, staring intently at him. “How long did it take you to buy that flashlight?”
Rubin shrugged. “I have no idea,” he said. Then after a long pause, he added, “It took as long as it took.”
“And after that did you come straight back to the television station?”
“Absolutely, yes,” Rubin said, blinking several times. “If you’d like to know what I needed a flashlight for, well, I should tell you I’ve needed one for weeks now, and suddenly I found myself passing by—”
“Suddenly passing by?” Lillian exclaimed. “On the day that Zadik was murdered? And Benny Meyuhas was arrested? And Sroul’s picture was plastered everywhere? Just then you needed to buy a flashlight?
Please forgive me if I’m just the slightest bit skeptical about all this.”
Rubin studied her closely and frowned. A moment later he said,
“What does it matter now what I say and what you find skeptical?
Believe me, it doesn’t interest me in the least. That’s how it was, pure and simple. What are you trying to do here, frame me?”
“No,” Lillian said sedately. “I am not trying to frame you, please believe me. I simply wish you would tell me what you were doing in the Mekor Haim area of Jerusalem in an apartment that belongs to Sroul’s sister. Here’s what I would like to happen: you’ll tell me all on your own, without me having to milk you for every bit of information.
So perhaps now, after all this is finally becoming clear, you’re prepared to explain what you were doing there?”
Rubin folded his arms over his chest and ran his tongue over his chapped lips. For a long moment he sat looking at her and finally said,
“Don’t forget that in my line of work I often find myself in situations
such as these, on the other side of the table—where you’re sitting—
and I know all the tricks of the trade. What I’m saying, my dear,” he said, unfolding his arms and placing his hands on the desk, then leaning toward her, “is that I know this gimmick you’re using, so I can tell you with absolute certainty that nobody saw me in Mekor Haim in an apartment owned by Sroul’s sister. You know why nobody saw me there? I’ll tell you,” he said, speaking slowly and emphasizing every word. “For the simple reason that I was not there. Do you understand?
It’s quite simple: I was not there. Not today. Not yesterday. Not the day before that. In fact, it seems to me that I’ve only ever been there once before, about ten years ago perhaps. So no one could have said a word to the contrary to you. That’s all I wanted to explain to you. And now I have no intention of speaking with you any longer until I am taken to see Benny Meyuhas. I want to talk to him. I have the feeling that without me around, they’ll harass him until he says something … never mind, I demand to see him right now, and I will accept no excuses.
Either that, or you’ll be hearing from me in the future. I’m sorry I have to resort to such threats, but there is a limit to the foolishness I am willing to endure. At the end of the day, we live in a democracy, not under Saddam Hussein!”
