Sacred and Profane

“Don’t worry about it,” she said calmly. “I really wish you’d go to the hospital.”

“I’m all right.” He hugged her as tight as he could. “I feel better already. Thanks.”

“Peter, how did it happen?”

“I don’t want to get into it, honey.”

“Okay,” she said. “I won’t meddle.”

“You’re not meddling. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I just don’t want to talk about it.”

She kissed his cheek. “You’d better get going.”

He kissed her back and left without another word, sucking in mouthfuls of air. Although his balance was unsteady, his pace was good. He had no intention of sitting through a lesson he didn’t understand, so he entered the main yeshiva building and headed for a small classroom in the basement. It was his favorite learning spot, and he’d hidden all the English translations of the holy books there. Taking out his chumash, he began to learn, trying to concentrate on the text instead of his pain.

Soon he became absorbed in the material, looking up references, checking sources, attempting to translate and understand the Hebrew which still eluded him.

It seemed he’d only been at it for minutes when he found himself squinting. The daylight had turned to dusk and it wouldn’t be long before the unlit room turned pitch black. He leaned back in his chair and inhaled deeply, enjoying the solitude, feeling very calm. His arm felt much better; Rina had done an excellent job. She never ceased to surprise him-so utterly feminine yet so competent. He saw firsthand how she handled crises, and her strength and willpower were scary. Maybe it was the religion; the women in the Bible were not known for their passivity-Judith lopping off the head of Holofernes, Yael driving a tent peg through Sisera’s temples. He could picture Rina doing that. After all, didn’t she buy a gun?

He heard footsteps and saw Rabbi Schulman dressed in his formal Shabbos silks. Decker started to rise, but the old man motioned him to remain seated.

“How’s your arm?” the old man asked.

“She told you?”

“You should have gone to a hospital. Shabbos should not be preserved at risk to human life.” He sat down. “Pekuah nefesh-your life is more important. Halachically, you should have gone.”

“Let me ask you this, Rabbi Schulman. If it had been you, what would you have gone?”

The Rosh Yeshiva sighed.

“Halacha is halacha. If I were convinced it was life-threatening, I would have gone.”

“You’re hedging.”

“What you did was unwise, Peter.” The old man smiled dryly. “And on top of that, you missed my lecture.”

“What language did you give it in this time?” Decker asked gri

“Hebrew and Yiddish. But you’re a bright man. You would have picked up something.”

Schulman raised his eyebrows.

“You looked tired at shacharis this morning. A blind person could see your exhaustion, now. Go to my house and rest.”

“I want to go to mincha,” Decker said.

The old man nodded.

“All right. Come with me. I won’t waste an old man’s breath to try to dissuade you.”

The men rose and Decker tensed his bicep. The joint was still stiff, but there was some limited motion-progress.

It was Sammy’s and Jacob’s turn to hold the havdalah candle. They stood on top of chairs flanking Decker, at the side of the dais, and lifted the silver candle holder high in the air. The Rosh Yeshiva struck the match and held it to the wicks, and soon the multicolored strands of braided wax were aglow with bright orange flames. The light flickered over the boys’ faces, and for a moment Decker flashed to the bonfires in Hotel Hell. The faces of the young squatters had been masks of death, but these boys were vibrant with life. Decker wrapped his fingers over their hands to protect them from the hot wax drippings and Sammy smiled at him. It warmed his heart.

Rav Schulman raised the silver goblet of wine and began, intoning a mellow singsong:

“Baruch atah Adonai Elohenu, Melach Haolam borei pre hagofen.”

Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has created the fruit of the vine.

The congregation responded with a resonant “Amen.”

The rabbi put down the wine cup and lifted a two-foot sculptured tower of silver. Its roof was peaked and topped by a gilt flag; gilt bells dangled from the edge of the eaves. Three of the tower’s sides were embossed with Hebrew letters, the fourth held a miniature door. Inside were spices-cloves, frankincense, allspice, whole chunks of ci

“Amen.”

The rabbi put down the spicebox and blessed God, the creator of light, by holding his fingernails close to the flame of the candle. He then recited the rest of the havdalah, the prayer marking the conclusion of Sabbath. Soon the new secular work week would start and God’s holy day of rest would officially be over.

Mellifluously, Schulman recited the last blessing and took a sip of wine. He poured the remaining wine into a silver dish, took the candle, and quenched the flame in it. The fire crackled and sparked until it was reduced to a stream of smoke.

“Baruch atah Adonai hamavdil beyn kodesh lechol.”

Blessed art Thou, Oh Lord, who hast made a distinction between sacred and profane.

10

The first snapshot was a white anus being penetrated by a black penis. Decker tossed it aside, but Hollander picked it up for a second look. He was a bald man with a fringe of brown hair, a large walrus mustache, and an overhang of belly. He was smiling this morning. He liked this assignment.

“Do you think this is a boy ass or a girl ass?” he asked Decker, puffing on his meerschaum. “From this angle, I can’t tell.”

Decker snatched the photo out of his hands and gave him a sour look.

“Mike,” he said, “we’re supposed to be looking at faces, not asses.” He held up several snapshots of Lindsey Bates. “This girl, Mike. We’re looking for this girl.”

The detective grunted unappreciatively and sucked in his gut.

“And put out the pipe,” Decker snarled. “This room is cramped enough without you smogging it up.”

Hollander killed the embers.

“What’s eating your ass, Rabbi? Have a bad weekend at the Holyland?”

“I had too good a weekend,” Decker complained. “I’m not ready to come back to this shit.”

“Pete, there are at least a dozen guys out there just waiting for this assignment.”

“And I’d be glad to give it to the drooling bastards, but the case is mine, Michael.”

“All I’m sayin’ is if this is gettin’ to you, you’ve got lots of backup.”

Decker picked up another photo. A blonde girl was fellating a fat man with a wart on his penis. Decker studied her face and then rejected it.

“Shit, Pete, get a load of the size of this-”

“I’m not interested.”

A moment later, Marge walked in.

“You know, MacPherson offered to trade Easter weekend with me if I’d give him this assignment.” She was incredulous. “Those boys are the horniest bunch of schmucks I’ve ever seen.”

“You don’t understand the male species, Marjorie,” Hollander said.

“You’ll explain it to me someday, Michael.”

He gri

“Tell you what,” she said. “We’ll break in the twenty-first century together.”

Hollander was silent and appeared to be concentrating.

“Thirteen years from now, Mike,” Decker said.

Marge laughed. “Have a snapshot of Lindsey to refresh my memory?” she asked Decker.

He handed her one of their working pictures. It was Lindsey’s junior high school graduation photo-a head shot of an even-featured teenager ripening to womanhood-a flirtatious smile, a gleam in the eye. There was nothing stiff and frozen about the picture. Lindsey had presence. Marge made a face.