Friday The Rabbi Slept Late

'Ever talk to her?'

Stanley drew a dirty handkerchief from a pocket of his dungarees and began to mop his forehead.

'What's the matter, feeling warm?'

Stanley exploded. 'Goddammit, Hugh, you're trying to get me tied up in this. Sure I talked to her. I'm standing around and a young chick comes along with a couple of kids in tow and one of them starts pulling at the shrubbery, naturally I'm going to speak up.'

'Naturally.'

'But I never went out with her or anything.'

'Never showed her that little pigpen you've got down in the basement?'

'Just, Hello or It's a nice morning, isn't it?' said Stanley doggedly. 'And half the time, she never even answered.'

'I can imagine. All right, how did you know the kids were Italian?'

'Because I seen them with their father, Serafino, and I knew him because I once did some work on his house '

'When was this?'

'When did I see him? A couple or three days ago maybe. He drove up in his convertible and he sees the girl and the kids and he asks do they want their daddy should get them some ice cream. Then they all pile into the front seat, the girl and then the kids fighting about who was going to sit next to the door, and the girl wiggling over to make room and the old man kind of arsing her. Disgusting.'

'Disgusting because it wasn't you?'

'Well, at least I'm free and not a married man with a couple of kids.'

10

It had been a hectic morning for the Serafinos. Although Mrs. Serafino went to bed early on Thursday nights, she did not usually rise much before ten on Fridays. But this morning she had been awakened by the children, who, having pounded on Elspeth's door to no effect, burst into her bedroom demanding to be dressed.

Angry at the girl for oversleeping, she wrapped a robe about her and went down to wake her up. She pounded on the door and called her name. When the girl failed to respond, it occurred to her that Elspeth might not be in her room, and that could only mean she had not come home at all last night. For a live-in maid, this was a cardinal offense punishable by immediate dismissal. She was about to run outside to peer through the window and confirm her suspicions when the front doorbell rang.

She was so certain it was Elspeth, probably with some cock-and-bull story about having lost her key, that she raced down the hall and flung open the front door. It was a uniformed policeman. Her robe had fallen open, and for a moment she just stood there staring at him stupidly. His blush of embarrassment suddenly made her realize that she was exposed, and she hastily gathered the garment about her.

There followed a nightmare of a morning. Other policemen came, in and out of uniform. The telephone rang incessantly, all police business. She was told to get her husband up and dressed so that he could accompany one of the officers to make formal identification of the body. 'Couldn't I identify her?' she asked. 'My husband needs his sleep.'

'He's a good man if he can sleep through all this,' said the officer, and then not unkindly, 'Believe me, lady, you better have him do it. She's not very pretty.'

Somehow the children managed to get fed and dressed, and she even prepared a breakfast of sorts for herself. And all the time she was eating there were questions: formal interrogations with one officer sitting across the table and another taking notes; questions while they were measuring and photographing the girl's room; questions asked abruptly as if to take her by surprise.

After a while they left. The children were out in the backyard for the moment, and she had decided to lie down on the couch for a few minutes of relaxation, when the doorbell rang once again. It was Joe.

She scanned his face anxiously. 'Was it the girl?'

'Sure it was the girl. Who else would it be? You think the cops didn't know who it was before I identified her?'

'Then why did they need you?'

'Because it's the law, that's why. It's like a routine you got to go through.'

'Did they ask you any questions, Joe?'

'Cops always ask questions.'

'Like what? What did they ask you?'

'Like did she have any enemies? What was the name of her boyfriend? Who were her friends? Was she upset lately? When was the last time I saw her?'

'And what did you tell them?'

'What do you think I told them? I told them I didn't know of no boyfriend, that this girl Celia who works for the Hoskins is the only girlfriend she's got I know of, that she looked ail right to me and I didn't see no signs of her being upset.'

'And did you tell them when was the last time you saw her?'

'Sure, it was around one-two o'clock yesterday. Jesus, what's all this questioning? I get it from the cops and then I come home and get it from you. And all morning, I haven't even had a cup of coffee yet?'

'I'll get you some coffee, Joe. Would you like some toast with it? Eggs? Cereal?'

'No, just coffee. I'm all wound up-my stomach it's all tied up in knots.'

She went about heating the coffee. Without turning she asked, 'Which was it, one or two-o'clock, that you last saw her, Joe?'

He canted his head at the ceiling. 'Let's see, I came down and had my breakfast-around noon, wasn't it? I saw her then. I guess I did-' uncertainly. 'Anyway, I heard her giving the kids their lunch and then getting them ready for their nap. Then I went up to get dressed and by the time I came back she was already gone.'

'You didn't see her after that?'

'What do you mean? What the hell are you driving at?'

'Well, you were going to give her a ride in to Lynn, remember?'

'So?'

'So I wondered, did you meet her before she caught the bus? Or maybe, did you bump into her in Lynn?'

A tinge of red crept into his swarthy face. He rose slowly from the kitchen table. 'All right, come on. Let's have it. What are you hinting at?'

She was a little frightened now, but she had gone too far to stop. 'Don't you think I've seen the looks you've given her? How do I know you weren't seeing her on her day off? Or maybe right here when I wasn't around?'

'So that's it! I look at a babe and that means I'm sleeping with her. And when I get tired of her, I kill her. Is that what you're trying to say? And I suppose, like a good citizen, you're going to tell the cops.'

'You know I wouldn't do that, Joe. I'm just thinking maybe somebody saw you, and if they did I could say like she was going on an errand for me, to cover you.'

'I ought to break this over your face,' he said, picking up the sugar bowl.

'Oh, yes? Well, don't you go acting innocent with me, Joe Serafino,' she shouted. 'Don't tell me you wouldn't make a pass at a girl living right here in the same house. I've seen you when you gave the girl and the kids a ride and how you'd brush up against her when you were helping her out of the car. How come you never have to help me out of the car? I saw you right here through the kitchen window. And how about the other girl, Gladys? Don't try to tell me there was nothing between you and her, with her walking around practically mother-naked in her room while you were sitting here in the kitchen and the door half open. And how many's the time-'

The doorbell rang. It was Hugh Lanigan.

'Mrs. Serafino? I want to ask you some questions.'