‘After I found out what happened to Adam,’ she resumed, ‘I remembered seeing his birthmarks once, when Stefa was getting him dressed for school. To think that my father might have been responsible… A black terror took hold of me.’
Ewa gazed down into her guilt. ‘On the morning of Stefa’s funeral, I finally confronted my father. At first he lied and said he hadn’t spoken to your nephew, but then, when I threatened that he’d never see Helena again if he didn’t tell me the truth, he admitted that he’d suggested to Adam that he go visit the photographer on Krakowskie Przedmieście – but only when he was still under the belief that his friend was innocent. Papa promised me he’d never tell another child about the photographs – and that he’d never speak to his friend again. That’s why I didn’t go to you or the police. I should have. I know that now. I’m sorry, Dr Cohen.’ She turned to Ziv and squeezed his hand. ‘And I’m sorry for risking your life,’ she told him. ‘It’s my fault that you were almost killed.’
‘It’s all right,’ Ziv told her. ‘I’m fine now. And you were just trying to protect Helena and your father.’
Ewa shook her head as if he was too kind to her. Turning back to me, she said, ‘After Stefa died, I couldn’t face you. I’m sorry. And Papa… I couldn’t entirely trust him, so I told him I no longer wanted his help in getting insulin. But it was hard to find another regular supplier, and Helena went into shock and nearly died. So Papa began helping me again – though he promised he wouldn’t get insulin from his friend any more. He has another source now – a good, reliable source.’
‘No, that can’t be true,’ I told her. ‘And I think your father has lied to you all along.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Another boy was murdered more recently,’ I told her coldly, wishing she’d come to me sooner. ‘He was murdered after Stefa’s death, and skin around his hip was sliced away.’
She shook her head disbelievingly. ‘Which boy was killed?’
I held up the Virgin Mary pendant. ‘The owner of this,’ I told her. ‘His name was Georg – Rowy or Ziv must have recruited him for the chorus. He juggled socks and sang old Yiddish songs.’
‘It wasn’t me,’ Ziv told me urgently. ‘Dr Cohen, you have to believe me. Rowy must have found him.’
‘I believe you,’ I replied. ‘I’m sorry for ever doubting you. And I should never have put you through this.’
‘It’s all right, I understand,’ he said, smiling sweetly.
I’d nearly killed him, and he smiled at me as if our friendship was stronger than ever.
‘Ewa, your father must have decided that he couldn’t risk Helena going into diabetic shock again. He’s still sending kids to his photographer friend.’
‘No, he swore to me he wouldn’t do that!’ she replied, moaning.
‘There are other things you should know about your father,’ I told her bitterly. ‘He must have realized I was close to learning what he’d done, so he paid someone to shoot me. But he didn’t know that new tenants were sleeping in my room. So the killer shot the wrong man.’
‘It doesn’t seem-’
‘Possible?’ I cut in harshly. ‘Don’t you see? He’ll do anything to keep Helena and you alive – and to keep from being caught. He’s even tried to frame Rowy and Ziv – he didn’t care which one. He left Georg’s pendant here, and I’ll bet he left Anna’s pearl earrings with Rowy. Ziv says he noticed the Virgin Mary pendant two days ago, which means your father has known for at least that long who my main suspects were. Though I don’t know how.’
‘Maybe I let something slip at Stefa’s funeral,’ Izzy observed apologetically.
‘It could just as easily have been me,’ I told him. ‘And just before we came here, your father brought me a note – a threat that he said he’d received. The note said that if he ever revealed anything about the murderer, he’d never see Helena again. That was part of his plan to shift the blame. He even implied that he was being followed by the same man who had tried to shoot me.’
‘I don’t understand,’ she replied. ‘Who was the note from?’
‘He led us to believe that it was from Rowy, but it wasn’t. Your father wrote it himself.’ I turned to Ziv. ‘Once he realized I suspected you as well as Rowy, he cleverly revealed that you’d told him you needed extra money to send to your mother outside the Łodz´ ghetto. He let that slip as though he didn’t understand the implication. The perfect touch was letting Izzy and me jump to the obvious conclusion about you.’
‘So you thought I needed a lot of extra cash,’ Ziv observed.
‘Yes, and that you had a contact outside the ghetto helping you get it to your mother.’
‘Which is why we came here,’ Izzy told him. ‘To search for evidence of who you were working with outside the ghetto.’
‘But my mother died a month before I came to Warsaw,’ the boy insisted, as if righting an injustice. ‘I never told Dr Tengmann that she was alive. I promise.’
‘So she’s not hiding in Łodź?’
‘If she had found a place to hide, why wouldn’t I be with her? Or at least be hiding elsewhere in Łodź, where I could be nearer to her.’
