He said, “Just because we couldn’t find their names doesn’t mean they didn’t leave the country. They could have taken a domestic carrier to some other location and left through another city.”

Marge said, “Peter, even if you’re right, it won’t help us. Think of all the permutations we could have. All the different domestic airlines that fly into cities that have international flights to Israel. It will take weeks, even months, to go through the rosters. At this point, we’d be better off looking for bodies.”

Decker said, “So let’s start looking.”

Marge let out an incredulous laugh. “You say the most outlandish things so casually.”

“What’s outlandish about looking for bodies?”

Marge glared at him. “Where do we start, Peter?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Near their house, I guess. It’s not far from the mountain passes. Lots of dumping grounds. How about if you and I meet tomorrow morning before work and do a little hiking?”

“You’re serious?”

“Absolutely,” Decker said. “I’ll bring Ginger. She’s not a scent hound but she’s got a good nose.”

Marge clucked her tongue. “What the hell? I suppose I can use a little exercise. Because that’s all we’re going to get out of this excursion.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“What time did you have in mind?”

“Around six.”

“Peter-”

“I walk Ginger around six. She’s very alert in the early morning.”

“But I’m not.”

“Margie, combing the hillside means we’re working real low to the ground. Ginger’s real good at that.”

“All right.” Marge blew her bangs off her forehead. “Pisser that we don’t have the time to do both. That we have to do this with our own dogs, on our own time.” In a mocking voice she said, “Because Tug can’t justify department hours.”

Decker didn’t respond.

“You’re not pissed?” she asked.

“Nah.”

Marge watched as Decker smiled cryptically. She studied his face. “It’s a game with you, isn’t it?”

“Homicide is never a game.”

“Bullshit, Peter. You want to do this on your own time. You’re dying to prove the bastard wrong.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Marge thought a moment. “Nothing.”

Decker finally pulled into his driveway a little after eleven. He was surprised to find Rina not only waiting up for him but still in her street clothes. He asked her if everything was all right.

“Fine,” she answered. “We missed you.”

“I missed you, too. Everyone okay?”

“Dandy. Was it a fruitful night for you?”

“Not great. We’ve got one lead, Rina. A phone call made by one of the teenaged boys.”

“But that’s a lot, Peter. At least you know the boy is still alive.”

Decker didn’t answer. In fact, he didn’t know if Dov was alive or dead. Dov had made a phone call three days ago. “Why are you still up? You need your sleep.”

“I thought we might go out for a walk.”

Decker looked out his living-room picture window. It was pouring. “I think the weather’s a tad nasty.”

“Not up for a romantic walk in the rain?”

“What’s on your mind, darlin’?”

Rina did a quick glance over her shoulder, her eyes brushing across the closed door to the guest room. She whispered, “How about we talk in the barn? Just you and me and the horses.”

Decker was tired. His head and neck ached, his shoulders were stiff and his old bullet wound throbbed. Weather like this sure didn’t help. But he tried to mask his weariness. “Sure, let’s go check on the horses and you tell me what’s on your mind.”

Rina put on her slicker. Decker hadn’t even taken his off. He slipped his arm around his wife, guided her through the kitchen, then opened the back door and a big, black umbrella. Huddled under a waterproof canopy with Ginger at their heels, they ran for the barn, their shoes muddied in the process. But once inside, the barn was warm and dry and smelled sweet from recently pitched hay. Decker turned on a hanging electric lantern which illuminated the ground with a halo of soft light. The horses were prone, surprised by the intrusion but not disturbed by it. Decker’s favorite mare, Beatrice, whinnied softly, the stray cats purred. Ginger nestled next to the tabbies and lowered her head to the ground. Decker folded the umbrella and pointed to a clean pile of hay.

“After you, madam.”

Rina took off her coat and plunked down into the hay. Decker sat next to her. “Well, it’s different.”

“I think it’s kind of romantic.”

“Ye olde variation of a roll in the hay,” Decker grinned. “What is it you don’t want Honey Klein to hear?”

“How did you know I wanted to talk about Honey?”

“Just call me Sherlock.” Decker pulled her down, then fell on top of her. “The barn does have its merits, don’t you think?”

Rina drew him into a kiss. “The hay is scratchy.”

“No prob, sugar, you can climb on top.”

Rina punched him lightly. Decker rolled her over until she was on top of his stomach and brought her into his arms. She was tense. He eased his hold.

“Rina, I don’t expect us to engage in fiery passion in a pile of hay. So just relax, okay? Tell me about Honey.”

A clap of thunder cracked through the sky. Rina startled, then cuddled deep into Peter’s broad chest. At this moment, it was wonderful to be with someone so big and protective.

Decker held his wife, kissed her forehead. “I hope Hannah doesn’t wake up. Did you bring the intercom?”

“Oh, yeah.” Rina dragged her wet slicker forward, fished through the pockets and pulled out a hand-held intercom. She turned it on. “So far so good. All quiet.”

“Tell me about Honey.”

“She finally convinced her kids to go to the zoo with her this afternoon. Convinced Minda and Mendel mainly. Mendel didn’t want to leave his sepharim, Minda didn’t want to leave the TV.”

“Aren’t most game shows over by the afternoon?”

“Minda discovered the Home Shopping Network.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Anyway, Honey did finally round them all up. I begged off, saying I wanted to watch Hannah because she just had her shots. It was the truth.”

“Go on.”

“I got through to Honey’s village. It took me a while to get hold of the Rebbe because the only number I had was for the local bakery. The village doesn’t have a lot of phones.”

“The Rebbe actually talked to you?”

“I claimed it was an emergency. And yes, he spoke with me. He took his time, too. He’s very…otherworldly. As I spoke with him, I felt I was talking to someone who had a direct line to the heavens. I can understand why he has so many devotees. He’s very charismatic.”

“What did he say about Honey?”

Rina looked pained.

“That bad?” Decker sat up, keeping Rina on his lap. “What?”

“According to the Rebbe, Honey’s assessment of her life was pretty accurate. Gershon was always a…different type of man. Very devout. The type of guy who refused to sit during any portion of davening. You know how long the Sabbath prayers can be.”

He did know. Even for the most no-nonsense of minyans-prayer gatherings-it would take at least an hour, hour and a quarter to say all the required verses. If someone wanted to add cantorial singing, the service could easily be stretched to two or more hours.

He said, “She isn’t running away from a guy because of that, is she?”

“No. I’m just trying to give you some background.”

“Go on.”

Rina cleared her throat. “Now I’ve known people who stand during the entire service. But Gershon went beyond that. On Shabbos, for instance, he’d attend both the early minyan and the regular minyan. And he’d stand through both of them.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. There is certainly no halachic basis for it. You don’t get brownie points for saying the same prayers twice.”

“So the guy’s a fanatic. Some people would call us fanatical.”

“There’s more, Peter. About a year and a half ago, something very traumatic must have happened to Gershon. Like Honey said, he won’t speak about it, but it must have been pretty bad. Because he changed drastically. He was never a friendly sort of guy, but he’d say hello or shalom aleichem. He was polite. Abruptly, he stopped talking to people, Peter. He stopped caring about his appearance. He stopped bathing-”