by Paul Usiskin
‘As I recall it you were so anxious about him you carried on with the scandal investigation, so don’t…’
Dov had determined that resolving the Defense Ministry scandal would reveal who’d abducted Yaniv. What else could he have done? And now? He let a little more time pass before nodding to Aviel and handing him the memory stick and pointing at his laptop. He watched Aviel watch himself and Yardena. Maybe it was the early evening light in the room, the too perfect blue sky beginning to darken through the window, but Aviel seemed to pale at Yardena’s “No! No! Not now!”
‘What do you think?’ Aviel asked tightly.
‘I think there’s room for doubt.’
‘Against me?’
‘No. It’s to do with why that was recorded, and how. We don’t see her face to see if she’s resisting you. Maybe she found a way to dub on what she shouted. Do you remember her shouting those words?’
‘I remember the event, but not her protest. We’d been working late, fine tuning a request to extend the level of cooperation beyond NYPD.’
‘You mean for other US police forces to have liaison offices in Israel like NYPD does in Kfar Saba?’ Dov wanted substance from Aviel so he could thoroughly reject Yardena’s evidence. Aviel wasn’t focusing on evidence trails so it was up to the arch inquisitor to do it for him.
‘Yes exactly. So, it was late. We’d relaxed and shared some whisky and it went from there.’
‘How much?’
Aviel had to think, then said, ‘it’s all to do with what you’re used to, so I guess we shared about half a bottle.’
‘Half a bottle?’
‘Yeah, well diplomatic staff you know, cut price alcohol?’
‘What do you call cut price?’
‘$200 instead of $300.’
Dov opened his mouth and closed it again. ‘I know you liked lethal cocktails back in your night clubbing days. What whisky was it?’
‘Max Walker.’
‘What?’
‘It’s also known as Johnnie Walker Blue Label.’
‘What strength?’
‘80-86 proof.’
‘Half a bottle?’
‘Yes something like that.’
‘Who drank the most?’
‘Me I guess, by one glass or was it two, I’m not sure.’
‘And that didn’t get in the way of your performance?’
‘Oh no. I can tolerate a lot more with no effects on my erection.’
‘Was this pre or post your relationship with Nili?’
‘Just before we got together.’
Dov left the timeline question on ice.
‘And Yardena, her ability wasn’t inhibited by that much whisky?’
‘Once Yardena gets physical, she’s like a runaway train, hard to keep up with, impossible to stop.’
‘And you don’t remember her words.’
‘You don’t remember anything like that with her. Except her own little catch phrase.’
‘Which was?’
‘Melt my gold.’
‘What?’
‘She used to whisper it when I’d go down...it was the color of her…’
‘Too much information Aviel.’
He gave Dov a long look, then, ‘There was something. She messed around with her phone a couple of times, just before we…’
‘Who was she calling?”
‘She didn’t seem to be calling anyone. Said something about she didn’t want the phone to ring, but it wouldn’t switch off.’
‘What’s so important about that?’
‘Nothing on the face of it. But there are cell apps for operating all sorts of devices via Bluetooth.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah and maybe…’
‘OK. I’ll check with Embassy security to see if any of the internal surveillance systems picked anything up. And I’ll ask for a check of her bank records for recent purchases.’ Aviel nodded his satisfaction.
‘She said you were voracious, couldn’t get enough of her.’
‘It was mutual.’
‘OK. Let’s talk motive.’
They reviewed Aviel’s time with Yardena, looking for more clues to her destructive allegation other than rejecting commitment to her, assuming analysis of the video would confirm Dov’s instinct that she was setting Aviel up.
Aviel said there were people who wouldn’t like him as Police Commissioner, because of what he knew about them, especially in his time as Hassid’s special advisor.
‘The internal dynamics at the top of the force are working to make me a leading contender,’ he said obliquely. ‘I could be in that hot seat at any moment, you know, the current incumbent forced to quit, revelations about misappropriation of funds, or a sex scandal, or the Minister reshuffles the candidates’ pack. Sometimes we look like a cross between a banana republic and an African dictatorship.’
Dov glared. ‘There’s nothing African about it, it’s very typical of how most hierarchies operate. Who else could be in the mix? ’
‘Well there are a couple of outfield possibilities. But that’s not it. Yardena’s as manipulative as they come, and as vengeful, but I can’t work out what would make her go to such extremes, to make out I raped her? That’s pretty big even for her.’
‘Go on.’
‘I don’t have any solid evidence. But my memory’s good and I remember exactly what went on when I was Hassid’s advisor, it felt like someone else was pulling his strings and then he pulled mine.’
‘Who?’
‘There was one possibility, that tycoon, Barry Hareven, the guy you were closing in on when Yaniv was taken. Hareven had access to everyone at the top. They all knew I suspected him of manipulating Ministers for his own projects and that you did too.’
Dov had met Hareven once at the Defense Minister’s private retreat, Maoz Yam a one time luxury hotel by the sea. Hareven hadn’t spoken to Dov but he was like a raptor, his eyes never leaving any potential prey, and Dov had been it. The Defense Minister had a nervous breakdown. It was brought on by revelations of his involvement in a volatile mix of corrupt politics and money. The tycoon had invested in Israel’s huge new sub-marine natural gas fields and the Defense Minister used army resources to create gas storage facilities for Hareven and planned to pocket a share of the profits after foreign sales, predicted to be huge. Dov also had evidence that both Hareven and the Minister were involved in shaping the scandal, aiming to bring down the Chief of Staff and replace him with another candidate who would be more malleable on a number of issues, making the IDF more religious and attacking Iran at the top of the list. The incumbent Chief of Staff had won out, thanks to Dov. With the Defense Minister’s demise, Hareven had simply sailed away on his white super yacht.
‘That dog don’t hunt,’ Dov asserted. Aviel grinned quickly at the folksy Americanism. Dov continued, ‘that’s a pretty wild out pitch even by Hareven’s standards, using Yardena to bring you down for vague suspicions that you know stuff about him he doesn’t want shared? You’re being paranoid about skeletons in cupboards. Any contender for public office knows where they are.’
‘I still think Hareven was influencing Hassid. Call it Weiss instinct.’ He smiled, paused to brush off imaginary lint from his trousers, hoping he didn’t sound naive.
‘So Yardena’s his first strike at you?’ asked Dov with a shrug. ‘What about me?’
‘This isn’t about you Dov!’
‘No I didn’t mean it like that. But look, Yardena’s somehow accessed my personal file and that’s a breach of Embassy security, then there’s the call telling me not to analyze that memory stick. And if you’re a target with what you know, why aren’t I? After all it’s me who effectively brought down the Defense Minister last year; he was a big asset for Hareven.’
‘You’re not a priority Dov, you�
�re all nicely boxed away investigating police crimes.’
‘Except that the alleged criminal I’m investigating is you. I’ll stay boxed away until I trip over someone’s red line I didn’t know about. Rescuing Freund may have been that.’
‘OK, so if that’s the case we should lull Yardena into believing she’s winning. Parade me through Ben Gurion airport like an escaped criminal, brought home for justice.’
‘What if the video analysis proves you did rape her.’
‘I didn’t,’ he insisted. ‘But if the analysis leaves a shadow of doubt in anyone’s mind, I’m fucked. What if it exonerates me?’
‘Then Yardena’s finished in the diplomatic corps.’
‘And Hareven has to think again, and we’ll be ready for him. No more surprises.’
‘What’s with the we?’
Aviel laughed drily. ‘I’ll arrange to be on your flights home. See you in the morning.’
‘OK, but no discussing this with anyone. I’ll email Hassid and he’ll square it with the Ambassador.’
‘What’re your plans for what’s left of your day?’
‘Some shopping and maybe a visit to Daniel Freund.’
‘There’s a Macy’s about ten minutes walk from here, or I can drop you off. They give a foreign visitors’ discount. I checked with the hospital and Freund’s still recovering from the anesthetic, and even if he were fully conscious he can’t talk yet. Going to see him makes you a target.’
‘But this is the land of the free and the home of the brave and I’m both, so don’t worry. I’ll walk to Macy’s.’
Embassy security called; there were no video recordings from Aviel’s office. That meant Yardena had placed her own camera there. He texted this to Aviel on his way to Macy’s.
His foot had improved and he wanted the walk. He knew he was being tailed as he turned onto 11th Street. There were two possibilities: his anonymous caller or someone from Embassy security Aviel had arranged. Paranoid? Me?
He went up to Macy’s Visitor Center for his visitor discount card. The tail waited for him, a squat guy in a dark zip jacket and a cell-phone remote in his left ear. He looked like the android symbol minus the antennae. Dov texted Aviel, ‘Is the android ours?’
With Aviel’s, ‘Absolutely,’ Dov commenced his first American shopping experience and enjoyed it. He bought Lana a silk blouse and a leather belt with a diamanté buckle. It was over the top but very chic. In men’s he chose a button down shirt, and on impulse added a bottle of men’s scent and asked the android to hold his packages as he went to try on jeans. Where else do you buy jeans, if not in the USA? he asked, but the android remained blank.
Dov’s threat analysis was that the Freund attack and the anonymous call were linked; that it might be Hareven related; that the Yardena Rotem case might be too; that he was relatively safe from assault with the android hovering close by, carrying his purchases as Dov went to a Barnes and Noble for Yakub’s book. He bought two, one about Columbus, and a recent reprint of a book by an Israeli artist about early Tel Aviv for Daniel Freund.
‘Could you deliver this when you’re off duty? Dov asked the android as the book was being gift wrapped.
‘Never off duty,’ was the reply.
‘OK. Thanks. It can wait ‘til tomorrow when I’m on the plane, OK?’
The android nodded once.
Dov ate a room service supper, caught up on e-mails and went to sleep early.
In the morning the android waited until Dov got into the Embassy vehicle then disappeared with Freund’s gift tucked under a bulky arm.
Earlier that morning Aviel lay in Nili’s arms. She’d wanted to make love once more before his return home. He wanted comfort. He’d told her what was happening and she promised not to discuss it with anyone. His trust in her was implicit. He hadn’t hidden his affair with Yardena and Nili had been generous with her understanding. He was still a typical Israeli macho and had his own quirks. She knew what lay beneath, a clever organizer, a man who’d learned how to be a leader so it looked natural, someone who wanted to be liked but kept the right distance. She loved him, it had been immediate, and he’d responded easily, showing her what she’d guessed was behind his facades. They’d talked about his relationship with Dov and that had been difficult. Macho and guilt don’t go well together, but revealing his guilt made her love him even more.
He described the twists and turns of the first murder he’d worked on with Dov. It had been a learning curve. The murderer was a Russian merchant banker who’d become jealous when the bar girl he was dating had gone off for a weekend with an American tourist. He’d slit the tourist’s throat and sliced off his genitals as a trophy and kept them in his refrigerator. Dov was multi-faceted but not arrogant about it, not a team player, but a superbly intuitive investigator with undoubted instincts that rarely failed. He’d understood that the perpetrator was psychotic; when they tracked him down he’d attacked them both and Dov had calmly shot him in the leg. The Russian admitted that in addition to the bar girl, he’d also been paying for sex with a series of call-girls a distant cousin of his ran in Tel Aviv. Dov’s quiet persistence impressed Aviel and he’d been keen to learn more from him.
He described how after the Rabin assassination, Dov had been traumatized enough that days after he couldn’t function during their next case.
‘I ran that investigation for him,’ Aviel said. ‘But only so far. I decided Dov needed a good kicking to get back on track. I was subtle about it,’ Aviel continued, beaming at Nili’s incredulous look. ‘Yeah, honestly, I do subtlety. It paid off and I thought I’d made a friend out of Dov, as far as that’s possible.’
Nili saw that he was in awe of Dov. When Dov made mistakes, which was seldom, he was the first to admit it, at least to Aviel and that made him more human, though there’d been one later episode where Dov hadn’t seen he’d done anything wrong.
‘So then he was given TPI– Techno Pornography Investigations – to run, it was a low level war against the porn industry, basically a one man and his dog unit, Dov and me. It began to go sour, mostly because of pressure from his boss for an instant success, so Dov tried to run the whole thing alone and made a fatal error which cost a vital witness her life. That was the later episode. I lost my temper and shouted at him.’ His précis avoided the honey-trap that contributed mightily to that error. His version of the fall out from it, the end of TPI and his reassignment to a training unit in the Negev were similarly bare of details. But not his sense of personal injustice.
Aviel had waited for Dov to get his. It didn’t happen.
‘They put Dov on gardening leave, then dismissed him minus pension rights. By then his wife Liora had thrown him out.’
Nili stroked Aviel’s cheek as she took this all in.
‘I wanted him to face a public cashiering, a Dreyfus type humiliation; he deserved it. It didn’t happen. Later I heard that he was living in his car, looking and smelling like a vagrant, and I thought good.’ Nili gave him a look of disdain.
‘Look it’s how I felt OK? But it wasn’t the end, for either of us. I got a prison commando project, creating an elite unit to take down Palestinian prisoners suspected of nurturing Jihadist terror cadres, grabbing Palestinian demo organizers at protests against settlers.’ He couldn’t and wouldn’t tell Nili that with his guidance, a series of black sites, high security detention facilities not on any map, were created, and in one of them Yaniv Chizzik had been held.
‘I wouldn’t help Dov, tell him where his son was, and that’s what I can’t forgive myself for. Don’t ask why I did as was told, I never saw myself as a yes man or a jobsworth. Dov’d let himself down and because I looked up to him, he let me down. I was angry and I let my animosity guide me.’
‘Dov somehow made a come-back and led the investigation into the Defense Ministry scandal last year.’ It was still fresh in her mind, when the Defens
e Minister and the Chief of Staff went to war with each other. ‘It was rare for the police to take on such a case.’
‘National security was compromised. The Justice Minister needed someone to keep track of Dov, and by wonderful coincidence, Dov asked for me as his number two. Perfect for Hassid and not bad for me. I didn’t want to work with Dov. But this was as big as it gets, and if I managed to help resolve it, it would stand me in good stead for promotion, so I agreed. It worked out well but I’ve been haunted by the thing with Yaniv ever since. And guess what? Dov got away with murder...’ Nili’s eyebrows went into orbit.
‘Don’t ask,’ Aviel told her. ‘He was appointed head of PID when the heat and dust settled.’
‘Is it over then, your need for vengeance?’
‘Pretty much. Getting to be Police Commissioner would be the final act. Dov’s wife had always wanted that for him.’
‘And now a twist of fate’s created a situation where you need Dov.’
‘Yeah, fate’s a cruel devil,’ Aviel conceded.
Someone knew Aviel was going home. A late model silver Sebring waited on the street when Aviel exited his apartment for the black Embassy SUV driven by Yossi. No one in the Embassy knew, except the Ambassador; Yossi was instructed to drive Aviel and Dov to the airport and not divulge it. A big splash was planned for Ben Gurion airport, news of Aviel’s return and its reason would only be released an hour before he landed. The Sebring stayed three vehicles back from the Embassy SUV. Yossi announced, ‘There’s like an extra tail,’ he meant in addition to the Embassy security Merc behind them, ‘I don’t recognize the plate or the occupants.’
As he had wheeled his cabin bag to the SUV, Dov noted that this time Yossi was dressed in a smart black suit, crisp white shirt and polished Oxfords. Police Brigadiers General clearly deserved the number one outfit, over Obama loving PID chief snoops.
On a long bend Dov looked back. ‘I think I know them.’
‘What was that?’ Yossi asked.
‘The Sebring, he says he thinks he knows them,’ Aviel said.
