Fire in a Haystack: A Thrilling Novel

by Erez Aharoni

  “I hope I’m wrong, but that’s what Igor is saying. Because he’s so successful, there are always people out to get him. No matter what he’s doing, even when he is trying to do good.”

  I wonder what he’s doing when he is not “trying to do good,” thought Gali. She examined her surroundings. The huge, dark house was beckoning her. She asked Ina where the restroom was and went inside, following her instructions, walking slowly between the dark, soft leather sofas. Statues of black panthers, ready to lunge at their prey, stood in the corners of the large guest room, Persian silk carpets beneath their feet.

  She saw that the door of Igor’s study was open. Without hesitating, she went inside. A large ring binder was on the table. Cyrillic letters were written on its cover. Gali felt sorry she had not studied Russian and could not decipher the writing. She picked up the binder and leafed through it. She was happy to discover the colorful dividers were labeled with Latin letters: TAX, INTERNATIONAL, BANKS. She opened the banks divider. It contained documents. She ran through them quickly.

  A particular page caught her eye. She read the recent bank activities and found a transfer for a hundred thousand dollars. Must be the payment for the association, she thought. She also saw a hundred thousand dollar cash withdrawal. She closed the binder, put it back in its place and exited the study. She found the bathroom and went inside. Next time, I need to think of a different excuse.

  When she returned to the deck, she exchanged a few more pleasantries with Ina, who complained about how difficult life was in Israel. Gali looked around her and found it hard to see the difficulties the girl was talking about. “Sorry, but I need to get going,” she said and parted from the young woman whose pale face and puffed up eyes had touched her heart.

  “We need to get going soon as well. We have a funeral to attend,” Ina announced.

  “What happened? Who died?” asked Gali and raised her eyebrows.

  “A girl who used to work for us once. Her name is Natalia Schulvitz. She emigrated from Russia as well. She’s from my city. We arranged a temporary job for her. She was murdered.”

  A great sadness filled Ina’s face and Gali felt she was about to burst out into tears as well. “How did it happen?”

  “They broke into her apartment, in Holon. They abused and murdered her. Just like gangsters. Who would think people could act like this in Israel?”

  Gali couldn’t think of anything to say.

  “She was a scientist. She learned genetic engineering in Russia. She immigrated to Israel and was willing to work as a chambermaid in a hotel to start with. Can you believe it?”

  “Where’s the funeral and when?”

  “At the Yarkon Cemetery, today. Perhaps they’ll allow Igor to attend,” said Ina.

  “Can I come with you?” Gali asked in a spur-of-the-moment decision. She had to meet Igor. Gali was certain that with his analytical thinking he would be able to advance the association’s interests. She had many things to tell him about, such as what she had taken out of the factory’s sewage system and what she had found in the laboratory during the frozen night she endured. She also intended to ask him difficult questions to try to understand who had shot him or them and why.

  “Yes, sure. Thank you. It’ll be very helpful.” Ina wiped her tears.

  Chapter 27

  “Police. Police. Come on, open up.”

  Ofer was afraid that the violent knocking would crush his ancient apartment door. He peeked through the peephole, even though he had already recognized the voice of the person shouting at him from the hallway.

  He opened the door and recoiled.

  Officer Nir Alush, armed with his freckles and his whistling S, broke inside joyfully, as if he had just caught a criminal mastermind.

  “What’s up, Angel?” Alush found his good manners again, once the door was open.

  “Everything is good, really. Thanks. How about yourself?”

  “Praise the lord.”

  “Nice of you to drop by from time to time. Did you really come here in the middle of the night just to see how I was doing?”

  “You’d be surprised. Yes, but not only to see how you were doing. Come on, get dressed, you’re coming with me to the station.”

  “Why? Did I forget something there?”

  “Perhaps you’ve already forgotten, but you slipped through our fingers, remember? We still have a few things to discuss about past events. Besides, in the meantime, new events have taken place and there are new questions to ask.”

  “The first time, you detained me without a reason, now you are repeating the same mistake. You know the rules as well as I do. I insist that you tell me what you want from me. Besides, I’m not moving an inch before you let me call my lawyer. You managed to pull this trick once but not again.”

  Ofer did not hesitate, despite the late hour. Geller had given him permission to call at any time. He called the lawyer’s cell phone. There was no answer. He quickly wrote a text message, “Geller, the police are arresting me again. I have no idea why. I need your help urgently,” and then sent it.

  Then he slowly got dressed. Jeans and a dark T-shirt. The circumstances didn’t really call for fancy clothes.

  “Take a towel and toiletries as well,” said Alush. Ofer obeyed and decided not to ask any unnecessary questions because he understood where he was going to spend the night.

  There was a feeling of déjà vu in the stuffy air of Alush’s unmarked car. The city was deserted at this time of night. Few people were seen roaming between the houses.

  “You’re arresting me only because… I left the hospital without permission?” Ofer asked Alush.

  “No. Not at all. We understood from the hospital that you are at risk because of your proximity to Rodety. The moment we discovered you both drank from the same flask, we decided you were not a suspect and wanted to wish you well, but apparently you have a limitless capacity for self-destruction.”

  “What have I done now?”

  Alush didn’t answer. They reached police headquarters on Salame Street, and Alush led him to the same small interrogation room with the British Mandate furniture. Ofer almost felt right at home.

  Officer Dadon was nowhere to be seen. At least we won’t be playing any games, he comforted himself.

  He concentrated on the process he was already familiar with—how to respond to the questions that would soon be bombarding him like a volley of bullets. He decided to keep quiet. Silence had begun to look like the preferable option.

  Alush was as alert as if sleep were hazardous to his health. “Angel, let’s cut to the chase. You know you have been legally warned and that everything you say can and will be used against you?”

  Ofer nodded. This was the second time they had undergone the process this week, there was no point in pretending.

  “Tell me, do you have any explanation why four paper cups that vodka was drunk from were found in Natalia Schulvitz’s living room?” Alush struck below the belt.

  Ofer was surprised. He didn’t think that was the direction the interrogation would take.

  “Me and the old man times two,” he said without hesitation.

  That was a bold toss of the dice. It was obvious that Alush had counted the cups and checked their contents as well. The Keglevich-loving man had begun to sing? A partial truth seemed a good course of action in order to avoid a more thorough investigation.

  Alush gazed at him with wondering eyes. “You’ve become a drinker? That’s why you stink of alcohol to high heaven?” he asked.

  “Not because of that. But it’s true, I’ve been drinking tonight. If you’d like, I’m more than willing to raise a toast with you as well. Is that against the law?”

  “Angel, tell me what you were doing there and what you know. Try, please try,” said Alush with half a malicious smile on his freckled face, “to stick to the truth this time.”

  “Tell you what?”

  “How did you get into the apartment?”

  “Through the d
oor.”

  “Tell me, the front door of Schulvitz’s apartment was open? Are you sure it wasn’t forcefully opened?”

  “I have no idea. Maybe it was forced open before I got there,” answered Ofer.

  “Maybe, maybe. Our investigation indicated that the door was broken by a hard blow. Are you sure you weren’t the one who broke it? Even though by the looks of you, I’d place my bet on the door.”

  “Yes, I’m sure.” At least he didn’t lie about that.

  “Why didn’t you report this to the police?”

  “Of course I did.”

  “Why didn’t you report this clearly and directly? Why didn’t you call me and say, ‘Mr. Alush, I’m in Natalia Schulvitz’s apartment, the chambermaid who disappeared from the Dan Panorama Hotel, I’m afraid someone has given her a deadly haircut’?”

  “How would I have found you? And in all honesty, I didn’t really miss you.”

  “So perhaps you can tell me what you were doing there and what exactly happened?”

  There was no point in continuing to be clever. “I’ll try,” said Ofer. “I went to speak with her, with Natalia. I wanted to know why she disappeared. I was bothered by the fact she had gotten me into trouble. There was no one in her apartment. The door was open. The next-door neighbor saw exactly when I came and everything that took place. Ask him. I went inside and discovered the body tied and rolled up inside a carpet. I untied the ropes and saw what you have apparently seen as well… I wrapped the body and rolled up the carpet.”

  Alush’s eyes became scary. A freezing chill blew out of them, but Ofer remained calm. “Say, Angel, why didn’t you report the theft of an expensive carpet from your apartment?”

  Ofer was surprised. “How do you know my carpet had been stolen?” he asked coolly and narrowed his eyes.

  Alush pulled an insulted face.

  “And let’s say I did report it. Would the police have taken care of such a negligible complaint?” Ofer hurried to offer an unconvincing explanation.

  “Should I explain the rules to you again? I’m the one asking the questions and you’re the one giving the answers.” Apparently Alush was a police officer who stuck to the procedures.

  “That’s right. A carpet was stolen from my apartment, and I would like to register an official complaint about the theft. Please, write it down,” said Ofer.

  “Say, Angel, can it be that the carpet stolen from your apartment is the same one Natalia was found rolled into?”

  “Yes. It could be. What makes you think that?”

  “I’ll make an exception and answer your question. We checked the carpet. It was too clean. Which means it had been recently cleaned. A short visit to the carpet cleaning businesses in the Tel Aviv area brought up your name as the client who brought it to be cleaned. You could have guessed that we’d get to it, couldn’t you?”

  “Yes, I could have.”

  “So now, it’s your turn to answer two questions. The first one is—How did the late Natalia manage to get rolled into your carpet? The second one—Who do you think did it? And why?”

  “That’s three questions.”

  “So answer all three.”

  “I haven’t the faintest idea.”

  “I thought as much,” sighed Alush, and a slight tone of desperation snuck into his voice.

  “Anyway, you don’t think I was the one who did it?” Ofer asked, his voice trembling a bit.

  “We know it wasn’t you. We checked the fingerprints in the Dan Panorama Hotel room and the ones in the deceased’s apartment. We found your fingerprints in both places.”

  “So… what does it say…? I admit to being in both places. You don’t need to be a genius to discover that. But as usual, you concentrate on the unimportant things. You still don’t know who committed these crimes?” he asked.

  “We know for a fact that you were there. The interesting question is—Who else was there? It looks like the same guy was in both places. A guy that, as you well know, has an anti-social tendency to leave dead bodies behind him.”

  Ofer was silent. He had nothing to add to Alush’s analysis. A terrifying thought pecked at his mind: had he been in his apartment at the time of the break-in, he might have been the one rolled up in the Caucasian carpet, even though he had no braid.

  “What else was stolen from your apartment?” Alush continued.

  “All sorts of unimportant things. And an office laptop.”

  “Any idea what they were looking for?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t a clue.”

  “I think they were looking for something that has to do with you. And I really hope that I’m wrong. I also hope that you don’t know the answer. I don’t want to think you’re hiding it from me.”

  “And why would I?” Ofer answered.

  “Listen, Angel, I called you not only because of the investigation. Truth is, I’d like to warn you. The puzzle we’re piecing together tells us that you’re in danger. We don’t really know why and you’re not helping any, but there’s a good chance you’re next in line. Is this obvious to you, or am I singing an entirely new song here?”

  “It’s obvious to me as well. And it scares me. Even terrifies me. I have no idea how I’ve gotten myself into this mess.” Besides, the virus incubating in his body could finish the job within just a few days without the aid of an unknown external enemy.

  Alush went out of the room and left him by himself. The stomachache and dizziness had returned. Ofer didn’t know if they were caused by last night’s drinking binge, lack of sleep or his worsening medical condition. He decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get some more sleep. He quickly sank into a slumber, in spite of the uncomfortable chair he was sitting in.

  About twenty minutes passed. The door abruptly opened and Ofer woke up with a start.

  The first guest to enter the room was entirely to be expected. Benny Dadon stepped inside, wearing the same clothes that Ofer had seen him wearing the previous time.

  Alush, as the second guest, was quite expected as well.

  The third one was really a surprise. Morris was cuffed to Alush’s wrist and was dragged inside after him.

  As could be expected of Morris, a man who had lived a life of crime since he was nine, his face remained sealed when he saw Ofer Angel sitting on the small bench in the middle of the room.

  “Come on,” said Alush, “you two know each other?”

  There was no point denying it. “Yes,” Ofer answered first, “we shared the same jail cell… a few days ago.” It was difficult for him to remember when exactly.

  “And besides? Where else have you been hanging around together?”

  Morris was silent. It was clear that the values he had upheld since childhood, and that had brought him this far, did not allow him to speak under such circumstances.

  “When was the last time you two were in Holon?”

  They both kept quiet.

  “Natalia. Natalia Schulvitz. You know her?”

  Alush fished out a photo of Natalia and waved it in front of both their faces. Her cut up face was clearly seen in the photo, colorful and horrifying. Ofer noticed that someone had taken care to remove the braid from her mouth before photographing her.

  The thoughts ran through his head. They’re onto the fact that we’ve been to her apartment together. They must have found fingerprints. What an idiot I am. Morris’ and Ijou’s prints were on the cups. Undoubtedly, the fingerprints of gentlemen with such prestigious criminal records such as Morris and Ijou were in the police database. Or perhaps someone had talked. Maybe Ijou? Where was he, come to think of it? Licking honey in a cave somewhere?

  All deliberations were wiped out of his mind in an instant as Dadon approached Morris, and without any introduction or explanation, began to punch him. His interrogation method was very direct and didn’t waste too many words.

  Morris did not resist, neither did he utter a word of protest. It was as if he had expected such treatment. When the barrage of fists
did not prove useful, Dadon changed his method of interrogation.

  He drew a broomstick from next to the door and moved on to a verbal interrogation. He screamed, “I’ll break every bone in your body until you talk. Get it?” Ofer recalled how Dadon had broken a similar stick in his previous interrogation.

  When Morris didn’t answer, the verbal interrogation was over. Officer Dadon’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He continued to beat Morris with his fists. On the third or fourth blow, the stick snapped on Morris’ back. Even so, Morris did not utter a sound.

  Ofer’s hands began to tremble. His lips became pale and not because it was cold. He could imagine the broomstick breaking into two halves on his own back. “It wasn’t us,” shouted Ofer. “You can’t beat him like that. I’m warning you, I’m going to complain. I’ll be a lawyer soon.”

  Dadon’s face became pleasant and innocent. “That’s the way I like you. Direct, firm and justice loving,” His tone of voice became velvety, “I’ll go and have some coffee now. I’ll leave you two alone so you can make up your minds about who will be the first to sing solo. Or would you rather do a duet? This lady’s funeral is taking place at the Yarkon Cemetery today. Till then, we intend to find out who was the hairdresser who gave her the new haircut. Got it? I’ll be back here in a few minutes, and then we’ll hear the whole story right from the start.”

  He rose from his seat and before going out the door turned around and said, “We have an unlimited supply of broomsticks, just in case you were wondering.”

  Chapter 28

  Morris and Ofer remained by themselves in the small room whose walls were bereft of any picture or decoration to please the eye or the heart.

  “So what do you think? Should we tell them?” Ofer said to Morris in a whisper.

  “What are you talking about, you son of a bitch? What do we have to tell them? Are you trying to frame me?” Ofer didn’t have a chance to understand what had made Morris so upset, because the latter stormed him furiously.

  His head slammed into Ofer’s chest with the force of a bulldozer. Ofer flew out of his chair, trying to protect his head with both hands to prevent it from being slammed against the floor. Even with his attempt to protect himself, his back banged on the floor, followed by his head. He thought he was about to faint.