'Diesel or petrol?'
'Diesel.' From between clenched jaws.
'Where do you park it?'
'In the back. With everyone else's.'
'Did you drive it last night?'
'I didn't go out last night.'
'You were here all night.'
'Correct.'
'Doing what?'
'Studying, going about my business.'
'Studying for what?'
Al Biyadi tossed him a patronizing look. 'Unlike the less educated occupations, the field of medicine is complex, always changing. One needs constantly to study.'
A woman in her late twenties came into the dining room. She saw Al Biyadi, walked over to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
'Good morning, Hassan,' she said brightly, in heavily accented Arabic.
Al Biyadi mumbled a reply.
'Any more questions?' he asked Daniel.
The woman looked puzzled. She was plain, with a flat, pleasant face, snub-featured and freckled, devoid of makeup. She wore a sleeveless white stretch top over blue jeans, and low-heeled sandals. Her hair was thin, straight, medium-brown. It hung to her shoulders and was pulled back behind her ears with white barrettes. Her eyes were large and round and matched her hair in hue. They glided inquisitively over Daniel's face, then clouded in confusion at the sight of his kipah.
'Police,' said Al Biyadi. 'There's been some sort of crime and I'm being interrogated like a common criminal.'
The woman absorbed his hostility, as if by osmosis. Imitated his crossed-arms posture and glared at Daniel as if to say Now you've upset him. I hope you're happy.
'Miss Cassidy?'
'That's right.'
'I'm Chief Inspector Sharavi. Please sit down. You, Doctor, are free to go.'
Being dismissed so quickly seemed to anger Al Biyadi as much as had being detained. He bounded out of his chair and stamped out of the room.
'You people,' said Peggy Cassidy. 'You think you can push everyone around.'
'By people, you mean??'
The young woman smiled enigmatically.
'Please sit,' Daniel repeated.
She stared at him, then lowered herself into the chair.
'Would you like some coffee, Miss Cassidy?'
'No, and can we get on with whatever it is you want?'
'What I want,' said Daniel, 'is to know if you heard or saw anything unusual last night, or during the early hours of the morning.'
'No. Should I have?'
'A crime was committed just up the road. I'm searching for witnesses.'
'Or scapegoats.'
'Oh?'
'We know how you feel about us, about those who want to help the Palestinian people.'
'This isn't a political matter,' said Daniel.
Peggy Cassidy laughed. 'Everything's political.'
Daniel took a few moments to write in his pad.
'Where in the States are you from, Miss Cassidy?'
'Huntington Beach, California.'
'How long have you lived in Israel?'
'A year.'
'And how long in Detroit?'
The question surprised her, but only for a moment. The look she gave Daniel bore the scorn reserved for a
