"To catch a killer, you often need to know the victim. In this case, there were two victims, but one of them was a baby and unlikely to be the main target. Esther is a different story. Someone might have targeted her. To have an idea of who that might be, I need to know more about her, who she was, what her life was like, and so on. I need to talk to people who knew her, people from the Irgun."
Mira nodded thoughtfully. "There weren't many. I can connect you to them. But I doubt they would be able to tell you much."
"We'll see. What're their names?"
"There was the couple with whom Esther and Willie stayed for a few weeks until we arranged papers and an apartment for them. Their name is Klinger. Moshe and Yael. They had a baby of about the same age as Willie, so we figured they'd have clothes and diapers for him. The other person you can talk to is Michael Shamir. After the raid, he and I drove Esther and Willie to the Klingers, and he brought them their false papers when they were ready."
"Will they talk to me?"
"I'll write you notes of introduction."
From a cabinet by the south window, Mira took out a pen and paper and proceeded to write me two notes. She handed them to me and sat, crossing her legs. I took the same spot on the couch as during our previous meeting. I read both notes, searching for code words. I found none. The notes simply stated that I was all right to talk to about the
"Adam, these notes will only get them to speak to you about matters pertaining to Esther and Willie. Other Irgun business is off-limits. All right?"
"I'm not interested in anything but the murders," I said.
Mira handed me another piece of paper. On it she'd jotted two addresses, a Tel Aviv address for Michael Shamir, and one in Netanya for the Klingers.
"This is where you took them that night? To Netanya?"
"No. The Klingers lived in Haifa at the time. They moved to Netanya a while back. I haven't spoken to them in ages. They were what you would call distant supporters of Irgun. Neither ever took part in military actions, but they contributed money and sheltered a number of immigrants over the years."
"And Michael Shamir?"
"Michael is a different story. He's a fighter through and through. One of the best we've ever had. The sort who is totally dedicated. The sort who leads others. The sort who is willing to sacrifice his career, family, even his life for the greater cause. I wish we'd had more like him."
Her voice had taken on a note of adoration when she spoke about Michael Shamir. I was embarrassed to feel a stab of jealousy deep in my gut. Was she infatuated with Michael Shamir? And what did I care if she was?
I pushed the thought away. "Did you have any contact with Esther and Willie after the night of the raid?"
"Yes. I visited them at the Klingers' seven or eight times."
"Quite a lot."
She nodded. "I took it upon myself to help Esther settle into local society. She spoke Hebrew, which was a big advantage, and I taught her some of the local history and geography, told her where she could buy this and that, how to travel, how not to seem out of place. That sort of thing."
"What was she like?"
Mira placed both hands on her knee, drumming with two fingers of her left hand on the back of her right as she pondered how to begin.
"I'm not sure what to say," she said at length. "I can tell you that Esther was intelligent, curious, a quick study, had a sense of humor…" Her voice broke, and she put a hand over her face. When she brought her hand down, her eyes were sparkling with unshed tears. "Above all, she was excited to finally be in the Land of Israel. It had been her dream to live here since she was a child. But I can't see how any of that relates to her death."
"Any plans for the future? Any aspirations?"
Again she took a few seconds to form her answer. "The usual stuff. She wanted to settle in, find work, and begin her new life. I'm not sure she thought much more ahead than the next year or so."
"How about finding a husband? Starting a family?"
"I'm sure Esther would have found someone eventually, with how beautiful and smart she was, but I don't recall her ever talking about it. As for family, she had Willie. I think she thought of him as her family. I remember thinking how hard it would be for Esther when Willie's mother arrived to take him back."
That brought the conversation to a halt. Mira looked down at her hands. She was probably recalling her time with Esther. I was thinking about Henrietta and wondered how many pieces she'd fall into when I told her what had happened to her son.
"She had no other family here? No friends?" I asked, after a minute.
Mira raised her eyes and shook her head. "None. Esther had no one here when she arrived."
"How about people from the
