'Thank you,' Daniel pulled out his note pad. Schlesinger's eyes followed him, stopped, focused on the back of his hand. Stared at the scar tissue. An observant one, thought Daniel.
'Tell me about your patrol,' he said.
Schlesinger shrugged. 'What's there to tell? I walk up and down the road five times a night, scaring away jack-rabbits.'
'How long have you been with Hagah?'
'Fourteen years, first spring out of the reserves. Patrolled Rehavya for thirteen of them, past the Prime Minister's house. A year ago I bought a flat in the towers on French Hill-near your headquarters-and the wife insisted I take something closer to home.'
'What's your schedule?'
'Midnight to sunrise, Monday through Saturday. Five passes from Old Hadassah to the Ben Adayah intersection and back.'
'Fifteen kilometers a night,' said Daniel.
'Closer to twenty if you include curves in the road.'
'A lot of walking, adoni.'
'For an old fart?'
'For anyone.'
Schlesinger laughd dryly.
'The brass at the Civil Guard thought so too. They worried I'd drop dead and they'd be sued. Tried to talk me into doing half a shift, but I convinced them to give me a tryout.' He patted his midsection. 'Three years later and still breathing. Legs like iron. Active metabolism.'
Daniel nodded appreciatively. 'How long does each pass take you?' he asked.
'Fifty minutes to an hour. Twice I stop to smoke, once a shift I take a leak.'
'Any other interruptions?'
'None,' said Schlesinger. 'You can set your watch by me.'
'What time did you find the girl?'
'Five forty-seven.'
'That's very precise.'
'I checked my watch,' said Schlesinger, but he looked uneasy.
'Something the matter?'
The old man glanced around, as if searching for eavesdroppers. Touched the barrel of the M-l and gnawed on his mustache.
'If you're not certain of the precise time, an estimate will do,' said Daniel.
'No, no. Five forty-seven. Precisely.'
Daniel wrote it down. The act seemed to increase Schlesinger's uneasiness.
'Actually,' he said, lowering his voice, 'that's the time I called in. Not when I found her.'
Daniel looked up. 'Was there much of a time lapse between the two?'
Schlesinger avoided Daniel's eyes.
'I? when I saw her I became sick. Tossed my dinner into the bushes.'
'An understandable reaction, adoni.'
The old man ignored the empathy. 'Point is, I was out of it for a while. Dizzy and faint. Can't be certain how much time went by before my head cleared.'
'Did it seem more than a few minutes?'
'No, but I can't be certain.'
'When did you last pass by the spot where you found her?'
'On the way up from the fourth trip. About an hour before.'
'Four-thirty?'
'Approximately.'
'And you saw nothing.'
'There was nothing,' said Schlesinger adamantly. 'I make it a point to check the gully carefully. It's a good place for someone to hide.'
'So,' said Daniel, writing again, 'as far as you could tell, she was brought there between four-thirty and five forty-seven.'
'Absolutely.'
'During that time, did you see or hear any cars?'
