"If you say so. I don't know what I can tell you. I cannot imagine who might have killed her. I certainly didn't, if you're entertaining any such notion."
"I know you didn't," I said. "I read the police report. You were away."
"Yes. In Cairo. A conference. A very boring conference. But I did get to see the pyramids, which I doubt most Israelis would ever have the chance to see. When I returned, I learned Esther and her child were dead."
"How well did you know Esther?"
"As well as one can, professionally. As you said, we worked in the same firm. I was a young associate. She was a secretary."
"Was she a good secretary?"
"Excellent. Very bright and orderly. The best secretary I've ever worked with."
"And how was the other one?"
"The other one?"
"Leah Benowitz."
A short pause. "Not as good as Esther," Levine said, measuring his words.
"Can you tell me why Becker & Strauss would need two secretaries, when today there's only one?"
"Is there just one? I haven't been at the old place or spoken to anyone there in ages."
His tone was casual, but I felt that he was straining to keep it so. There was an undercurrent of tension at the bottom of every word, as if he were walking a tightrope as he spoke. In particular, the term "old place" rang false to me, like giving a term of endearment to someone you're known to dislike.
"Only one," I said. "A very young and pretty one, actually."
Another pause. This one had weight to it. "Why are you telling me this, Mr. Lapid?"
"Because I was wondering if that was unusual, or if all of Mr. Strauss's secretaries are young and pretty."
"I don't really know what you mean," he said, trying very hard to sound sincerely perplexed and utterly failing at it.
I ran a hand over my face. I was tired, and the lump behind my ear was radiating pain all over my scalp. "Mr. Levine, may I be frank? Over the past few days, while I've been investigating these murders, I have been lied to more times than I can count, I've had information withheld from me for no apparent good reason, and I've run across people that one would be fortunate to never meet in his life. All the while, somewhere, the killer of a woman and a child is roaming free. I'm fresh out of patience. Do you understand me? I want answers."
"I've given you answers. I've answered each and every one of your questions."
"Yes. In a lawyerly way. You skirted or weaseled your way around giving me straight answers. Or you pretended not to know what I was talking about."
He put on an indignant tone. "I don't know where you get off speaking to me this way. I'm not sure I wish to continue talking to you at all, Mr. Lapid. Now—"
"You'd better talk to me, because I'm sitting here by the bus terminal in Tel Aviv. The bus to Haifa leaves in twenty minutes. I can be on it and at your firm in three hours. If you're not there, I'll return tomorrow and the next day after that. I promise you I will make some noise."
"Are you threatening me? I'll call the police on you."
"Fine. We'll have a party. Your colleagues will talk about it for months. Especially when I start yammering about the young woman who worked with you and was murdered with her child. I know you didn't do it, but I doubt any of them will take the time to read the police report. They'll always wonder if there's any chance that you had something to do with it. That should do wonders for your career and social life."
Levine was silent for a long moment. His breathing sounded fast and shallow over the line. At length he said, "I don't want trouble."
"Me either."
"It's not my colleagues I'm worried about."
"Who, then? Strauss?"
He didn't answer.
"If he asks, you can tell him I called you and you told me to get lost. I'm not going to tell him different. The man practically threw me out of his office."
"Well, Mr. Lapid, I can see how one might tire of your presence."
He said this in a tone so dry and free of inflection that I burst out laughing. After a second, Levine joined in the laughter. I didn't hear a crack, but just like that the barrier between us had crumbled.
"Call me Adam, all right?" I said.
"And I'm Itamar. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time. At least now I know why Strauss has been looking for me."
"He called you?"
"At the firm. Twice. Once yesterday and once today. Urgent business, he said. I've been putting off getting back to him for as long as I can."
"He'll tell you not to talk to me."
He sighed loudly. "Which is all the reason I need to do just that. Go ahead; ask me what you want."
I drank some more soda and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
I said, "Did Mr. Strauss hire Esther because of her looks?"
"I'm sure that was one of his considerations. Perhaps the primary one. But as I said, she was very good at her job. She had to be. Leah was so lousy at it."
"And Strauss kept Leah on because…"
"Because she was his mistress. Because it was easier to give her money that way without his wife finding out. He paid her much more than any secretary ought to get."
