The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives

by Otto Penzler

  I thought about that for a while. Since I enjoyed reading novels that took me into other worlds, I figured that there had to be readers out there who would enjoy learning about religious Jews. There had been some precedent for Jews starring in novels. For me, Chaim Potok was a tremendous source of inspiration. The Chosen had been one of the most successful novels of its day because it provided a peek into an ultra-religious life.

  But Potok wasn't a crime fiction writer.

  Harry Kemelman had penned a very successful mystery series centered on a crime-solving rabbi. The books were informative, but they were also as much about temple politics as they were about murder. The series was far from the crime novels that I had found so compelling.

  I narrowed down my definitions. I wanted to write about a Jewish woman in a religious enclave but somehow integrate this into the style of an LA crime novel. That meant darker, deeper suspense fiction. Would it make sense for my religious Jewish woman to run around exposing herself to danger and mayhem to solve a crime? Would it be too artificial to have her chasing clues and outsmarting the police? Might it be better if she was involved in the crime in some way but left the actual nuts and bolts of solving the crime to someone else?

  Enter the professional.

  To do the grunt work, I needed a police detective or a private eye. I chose the former because it was easier and faster to get a police detective involved in a capital crime. Private eyes have to be solicited, whereas the police are the first line of attack when trying to solve a homicide. I could have included a female detective, but I chose a male for contrast. And as long as I had a man and woman, well, what can I say? I'm a sucker for romance. (Which is why Peter was divorced and Rina was a widow.) You have to remember that I had no idea that this was going to be the first novel in a series. I was trying to throw in as much as I could to maybe attract an editor.

  This is how Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus first made their public appearance. But to truly understand them, let's look into their backgrounds.

  My characters talk, and I transcribe what they say. I actually hear dialogue as conversation in my head. When I don't get the words down correctly, my characters correct me. They repeat their conversation to make sure I heard it right. It's as if I have a tape recording of what they say, and when I make a mistake, I put the tape recorder on rewind and listen again.

  "I would never say that," Decker tells me more often than not. "You're translating my words like a woman. Understand that I am a six-foot-four, 220-pound man. Write it over."

  "You're swearing," Rina tells me all the time. "I don't swear, and even on the rare occasions that I might use foul language, I wouldn't use those words in that situation."

  I met Rina before Peter because we had the most in common, specifically our Judaism. By way of introduction, she said to me, "I am Rina Lazarus and I know you very well. Probably a lot better than you know me."

  I told her to go on.

  She said, "I know you like reading novels that introduce you to all sorts of people and places. For those two or three hours, you like to be whisked away into an alternate universe involving people of different religions and ethnicities--Catholic priests, American Indians--on the racetracks, in the heart of the Deep South. I bet there are people out there who might enjoy reading and learning about our customs and religion as much as you like reading and learning about other customs and religions. Although we're not exactly alike, we have much in common. Why don't you write a story that includes me?"

  "Who are you?" I asked her.

  "Write me into a story and I'll let you know."

  I agreed. When Rina first started talking to me, I felt that although she was smart and pretty, she was overly analytical and a little bossy. But that was before I got to know her well. So I decided that it wasn't enough for Rina to tell me who she was going to be in my story, she also had to let me know who she was before I met her.

  Rina Miriam Elias, born Regina Elias, is a child of Holocaust survivors. Her parents, Magda Laslow and Stefan Elias, were born in Budapest, Hungary, and were transported to Birkenau-Auschwitz in 1943, roughly a year and a half before the end of the war in Europe. They knew each other very briefly before the war, and they met again in the camps. Magda worked in the kitchen and helped her husband-to-be survive by stealing food and sneaking it to him. It was a very big risk. Had she had been caught, she would have been put to death immediately.

  After the war, Magda and Stefan were sent to a DP camp in Cyprus. They married there and emigrated to the United States two years later, sponsored by Magda's uncle. Eventually, they settled in Southern California and went about the business of making a living and raising a family. Stefan went into the "schmata" business, manufacturing clothing for Sears, Penney's, and later for Target. He did very well, allowing him to send his three children to private religious school. Rina's older brother, David, is an ophthalmologist and lives back east with his wife and their children. Her middle brother, nee Scott now Shlomo, lives in a religious area of Tel Aviv, Israel, and he and his wife have seven children.

  Rina was the youngest child and only daughter, a beautiful little girl with thick black hair and bright blue eyes, just like her mother. She was a daddy's girl with an impish sense of humor, but she was always a bit on the serious side. She grew up in a Conservative home, she was a spiritual girl, and was greatly influenced by her religious day school training. When she was only eighteen, she married, even though her parents were very disapproving at her taking such a permanent step at such a young age.

  But at least they liked the boy.

  Yitzchak Lazarus was smart, handsome, and very idealistic. Within a year of their marriage and at Rina's urging, the couple packed up their belongings and moved to a religious outpost in Kiryat Arba in the Judean and Samarian area of Israel. Within two years, they had two sons, Shmuel and Yaakov. Life was not only hard on an outpost of civilization, it was dangerous. The area was surrounded by enemies. To prevent the infiltration of suicide bombers, the vast acreage was enclosed with barbed wire, and when the men of the community weren't learning Talmud, they were doing guard duty. Just a simple trip into Jerusalem to buy food and supplies was a perilous trek. The rigors of life finally began to take a toll, and a few years later, Yitzchak and Rina moved back to the States.

  Yitzchak and Rina were still committed to an ultra-religious Jewish life. Since Yitzchak was from New York, they debated moving to the East Coast, where he could study at any one of the many fine established yeshivot, or seminaries. But then Yitzchak heard of a new yeshiva called Ohavei Torah in the North San Fernando Valley in California. It was headed by Rabbi Aaron Schulman, who was not only a renowned scholar but also a dynamic human being. The community was built in the middle of a large area of undeveloped land and bordered by mountains. The rural setting appealed to Yitzchak. He had grown up in Brooklyn and after two years in the wilderness of Israel, he wasn't anxious to go back to city living. He was also very considerate of his young wife. He thought it might help her if she was a little closer to her parents.

  About a year into his studies, Yitzchak began to get headaches. Rina pressed him to go to a doctor, and when he did, the news was devastating. He had an inoperable brain tumor. Within a few years he passed on, and at the age of twenty-four, Rina was a widow with two young sons to care for.

  There is no role or place for a single woman in the community of a yeshiva, which is essentially a men's college of Torah learning. Rina had made friends with some of the married women, but now that she was single, she was the odd one out. Although couples continued to be polite, most social interaction revolved around Rina inviting people to her home for one of the two main Sabbath meals or someone inviting her to eat with them. She had a few girlfriends, but without Yitzchak, she felt awkward and alone. She knew she didn't belong, but with no college education and no real skills, she had nowhere else to go--except back home with her parents. It was a move she considered until Rabbi Schulman insisted that she stay at the yeshiva
in order to regain her equilibrium.

  The kindly rabbi, or rav, told her to remain in her house on the premises for as long as she wanted. This way, while she was formulating a life plan, her children could continue to go to school at the yeshiva. In exchange for room and board, Rina would help with day care of the younger children and she could also run the yeshiva's ritual bath, or mikvah.

  For the next two years, she settled down into a bland, monotonous, loveless life. Though many couples tried to set her up with other religious men, nothing clicked. After a year of shidduch dating--matchmaking--she gave up altogether and went about the business of raising her sons without a father.

  Then one night while Rina was working in the mikvah, the unthinkable happened. A woman walking back to her house was abducted into the thick brush surrounding the yeshiva and raped. The unfortunate woman, Libba Sarah, was traumatized but managed to escape with her life. When Rina found her, she was dazed. Rina took her back into the mikvah and immediately called her husband, Zvi, who wasn't home. The second call Rina made was to Rabbi Schulman, who was teaching a class. The third call was to the police.

  Enter Detective Peter Decker.

  An oldest child in every sense of the word, Decker was a natural leader. With his can-do, take-charge attitude combined with his obsessive nature, he could have been a CEO for any major corporation. He could have been a high-priced attorney raking in the big bucks. Instead he went into police work.

  Adopted in infancy by Lyle and Ida Decker, salt-of-the-earth Baptists, Decker grew up in Gainesville, Florida, a university town near a lot of wide open space. When the boy turned four, the Deckers adopted a second son named Randall. The two boys were close and had a typical sibling relationship. The elder bossed around the younger, and the younger idolized the elder.

  The Deckers had their roots in Kentucky and Tennessee, and Peter's upbringing was decidedly homespun and miles away from the glittering Miami coastline. He was a tall and muscular kid with an easy personality that garnered him many friends--boys and girls. But he was also book smart and quick witted, and that made him a favorite with his teachers. He played football, he souped up engines on cars and raced them, he rode horses at his uncle's ranch, and he excelled at shop classes. He probably would have gone to a local community college if it hadn't been for the Vietnam War. It was never in Decker's plans to volunteer for the war, but when he was called up--saddled with a low lottery number--it never occurred to him to try to get out of military duty.

  Two years in Southeast Asia, working as a medic on the front lines, changed him markedly. He grew from a lanky, carefree teen to a troubled man who had witnessed the worst of humanity. Two years later, at the end of his tour and at the age of twenty, he came back to civilization without a clue as to where he was going.

  He could have gone back to college--he certainly wasn't much older than the average college freshman--but academics no longer interested him. Studies seemed sterile and pointless. Plus, the average student held little sympathy for veterans, calling them a variety of nasty epithets. He wasn't exactly a flag waver, but he had grown up with a sense of duty and loyalty and he couldn't understand why students were so angry with army vets even when they personally didn't believe in the war. It was a case of shooting the messenger.

  Within weeks, Decker grew restless with people, and he suspected why this was so. Having lived through two years of horror and panic, he had gotten used to the adrenaline rush. After experiencing years of crises and stress, his heartbeat had gotten used to an accelerated pace. If an event didn't cause a rise in his blood pressure, it wasn't worth anything.

  He thought about flight school. He had keen vision and good coordination, but flight school cost money, and there were loads of trained pilots coming out of the military. He considered racing cars, but the job market for professional drivers was very small. For lack of anything more attractive, he signed up with the police academy. It was a paramilitary organization--he was used to that--and at times, it was exciting. He had a keen sense of justice, so he figured why not put bad people behind bars? Six months later, he was a uniformed officer for the Gainesville Police Department.

  The decision pleased his father but didn't sit too well with his mother, who felt her elder son had the capability to achieve much more, especially in the way of education. But that was Decker's decision, and he was not about to be swayed. As a concession to his mother, he agreed to take night classes at the local college and pursue an Associate of Arts degree.

  The police in Gainesville had a full-time job on their hands. Although the university wasn't a hotbed of protest, in the late '60s and early '70s all universities had their elements of agitating students. One warm day near the start of the spring session, a particular sit-in became a raucous event that bordered on a riot. Arrests were made, including a California girl named Jan Cohen. She was outspoken and fiery in temperament and she told Peter Decker, her arresting officer, just what she thought of him and the Gainesville Police Department: the words were X-rated. Her lawyer father, Jack, quickly posted her bail and told her it was time for her to come back home to Los Angeles, wanting to keep an eye on his headstrong daughter.

  Eventually Jan did return home, but not as her parents had envisioned. She brought with her a husband and a newborn who was the living embodiment of the statement that opposites attract, although the magnetism was all physical.

  Jan and Peter had crossed paths in a local bar a few weeks after her arrest, but this time Decker was wearing civilian clothing. Both quickly decided that there were no hard feelings between them, and they struck up a conversation. Decker thought she was cute, and Jan was surprised that Decker wasn't a cretin. Neither thought that the relationship would ever progress beyond a couple of quick romps, but God had other plans. Jan became pregnant. Though distressed and conflicted, she opted for abortion. She made an appointment unbeknownst to anyone. This was her problem and she'd take care of it by herself.

  A few days before the procedure, she ran into Decker by chance. To this day, she still can't recall why, but she told him about her plans. Jan expected Decker to support her, to be relieved that this was her decision. After all, they were both kids and they had very little in common. But Decker was raised in a pro-life household and though he didn't have a problem with abortion in general, he had a big problem with abortion of his child. He implored her not to act rashly, and immediately offered to marry her.

  She refused, but at least agreed to think about it for another week... which turned into two weeks. She knew she was on the fence with her own feelings, and his passionate pleas gave her pause. By the time she started her second trimester, Jan couldn't bring herself to get rid of something with a beating heart. She finished out her term at Gainesville, had her baby six months later, and then the trio moved to Los Angeles.

  They had no money, but Decker did have job experience. Since the times were turbulent and the police were considered the enemy, the LAPD was not inundated with applications. Decker quickly got a job in the North Valley, and he and Jan lived just a half hour away from Jan's parents. His mother-in-law was nice but reserved, and Decker's father-in-law turned out to be a terrific guy. The two of them hit it off immediately. Jack Cohen recognized Decker's innate intelligence and suggested that he go to college and law school at night to further his economic potential. When he offered to pick up the tab, Decker couldn't refuse. Jan and her mother seconded the motion. Being a lawyer's wife was much more appealing to Jan than being a cop's wife. Coming from a white-collar home, Jan was quick to remind Decker of everything they could have if he made more money.

  Decker enrolled in Cal State Northridge and went on to take courses at a very expensive and non-accredited law school. It was then that Jan realized you should be careful what you wish for.

  As a full-time police officer and a part-time student, Decker was always busy. With hours alone, Jan embraced motherhood and went about raising their daughter, Cynthia, an alert and active baby with a wide smile. In t
his way, Jan was able to stave off loneliness. And it worked until two years later, when Decker was upgraded to detective. Jan didn't think it was possible, but her husband's hours became even longer.

  The two never saw each other. It seemed to Jan that Decker cared a lot more about police work than about being a lawyer, but she pushed those thoughts from her mind. Jan kept quiet and accepted her lot because she was waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel: the time that Decker would graduate law school, pass the bar, and become a lawyer. It was lucky for Jan that Decker was a good test taker. He passed the bar, albeit on his second try, and finally the couple celebrated with a champagne dinner--paid for by Jack Cohen. Of course it was decided that Decker would work in Jack's firm, doing estates and trusts. The work was clean and it had regular hours.

  For Jan, her husband's new job was a blessing. Decker was actually able to make it home before Cindy went to bed, and for the first time, they could enjoy things as a family. His increase in salary allowed them to buy a house--Jack helping with the down payment--and the family quickly settled into life in suburbia.

  Jan was happy, but Decker was not. Being a lawyer--especially an estate lawyer--bored him to tears. He toughed it out for a year or so, then abruptly announced that he was quitting the firm. He had decided to look for a job in the district attorney's office. Jan was not happy with the decision, but it was tolerable. Yes, there would be a decrease in salary, but an ambitious deputy DA could go on to become a private defense attorney. Some of those wound up printing money. Plus, Decker's experience as a cop would probably give him a leg up in understanding what went on in criminal justice.

  There were no immediate spots available in the downtown division of the DA's office. Jan thought that Decker would work with her father until a spot opened up. Instead, he did the unthinkable.

  He rejoined the LAPD.