'Hajab, Zia.' The watchman avoided eye contact and looked out at a distant point over Daniel's left shoulder. Running a thick hand over crew-cut hair the color and texture of iron filings, he tapped his foot impatiently. His mustache was a charcoal patch of stubble, the lips below, thin and pale. Daniel noticed that his fingers were horned with callus, the fingernails broken and rimmed with grime.
'Are you from Jerusalem, Mr. Hajab?'
'Ramallah.' The watchman drew himself up with regional pride. The hubris of a poor man from a rich city.
'I'd like to ask you some questions.'
Hajab shrugged resignedly, continued to look away. 'Ask, but I know nothing about it.'
'About what?'
'Your police matters.' Hajab sucked in his breath and began working on the beads with both hands.
'What time did you come on duty this morning, Mr. Hajab?'
'Six-thirty.'
'Is that when you usually begin working?'
'Not usually. Always.'
'And which road did you take from Ramallah?'
'None.'
'Pardon?'
'No road. I live here.'
'Here at the hospital?'
'Yes.'
'Is that arrangement part of your job?'
'I maintain a beautiful home in Ramallah,' said the watchman defensively. 'A large garden, fig trees, and vines. But my skills must be easily available, so the hospital has provided me with a room. Lovely, clean, freshly painted, and well furnished.'
'It's a lovely hospital,' said Daniel. 'Well built.'
'Yes.' Hajab was solemn.
'When is your custom to awaken?'
'Six.'
'And your routine upon rising?'
'Ablutions, the morning prayers, a light breakfast, and straight to my post.'
'How long have you lived here at the hospital, Mr. Hajab?'
'Thirteen months.'
'And before that?'
'Before that, I lived in Ramallah. As I told you.' Exasperated.
'Were you a sentry in Ramallah as well?'
'No.' Hajab paused, massaged his beads. His brow had glossed with perspiration and he used one hand to wipe it.
'In Ramallah, I was an? automotive engineer.'
Daniel wrote 'mechanic' next to Hajab's name.
'What caused you to change occupations?'
Hajab's meaty face darkened with anger. 'The station that employed me was sold. The new owner gave my job to his son-in-law.' He looked at his beads, coughed, and cursed in Arabic under his breath: 'Zaiyel te'ban.' Like a snake.
He coughed again, licked his lips and gazed longingly at the tamarindy.
'Please,' said Daniel, indicating the drink, but the watchman shook his head.
'Go on with your questions,' he said.
'Do you understand why I'm asking these questions?'
'An incident,' said Hajab with forced disinterest.
Daniel waited for more and, when it didn't come, asked, 'Do you have any knowledge of this incident?'
'As I told you, I know nothing of police matters.'
'But you knew there had been an incident.'
'I saw the barriers and the cars and assumed there was an incident.' Hajab smiled mirthlessly. 'I thought nothing of it. There are always incidents, always questions.'
'Up here at the hospital?'
