Rina smiled. “I think that can be arranged.”

“Thanks.” He slid off the chair, went out to his brother and returned a minute later. “Shmueli isn’t hungry. Can I have the bowl and the spoon?”

Rina gave him the cookware coated with chocolate batter. The little boy scooped up the bowl and utensils in his arms and returned to his television program. Just when the cupcakes had cooled sufficiently for packing, the doorbell rang. Sammy answered it.

Rina was taken aback by Peter’s appearance. Her image of him until now had been that of a “professional detective” in a shirt, slacks, and tie. This afternoon he wore a white T-shirt, sloppy cut-off shorts and sneakers, and a baseball cap perched atop his thick patch of orange-red hair. He looked so all-American, so working class. So goyish. With him were two teenagers. The girl was attractive, but too gangly to be beautiful. She had her father’s hair, cut short, big brown eyes, and an open, toothy smile. She was dressed in short shorts, a midriff tank top, and sandals. The boy was surfer blond and slightly taller than the girl, with meat on his bones. His dress was identical to the girl’s. They had their arms looped around each other.

Immediately, Rina wondered if she hadn’t erred in her judgment. Although she couldn’t shelter her kids forever, perhaps it would have been wiser to expose them to the goyim at a less impressionable age. She had definite misgivings, but it was too late to back down now.

“Thanks for taking them,” Rina said.

“My pleasure.”

Something was bothering her, and Decker knew instantly what it was. Their dress was too secular. The kids were showing affection publicly. She was sorry she’d agreed to this, leaving her sons in the hands of a goy. He had almost told her about his adoption and origins that night. They had achieved a certain intimacy, and he’d wanted to be open with her. But something stopped him. Years of silence on the subject had put his lost identity in cold storage. To reveal himself to her would have opened a Pandora’s box that he wasn’t prepared to deal with. Not with a job to do, a rapist on the loose.

“This is my daughter, Cindy, and her boyfriend, Eric,” Decker introduced. “Kids, this is Rina Lazarus and her sons, Sammy and Jake.”

The teenagers smiled and tightened their grip on one another.

“What do you think?” Decker asked, cradling his daughter’s face in his hands. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

Rina smiled. “Gorgeous.”

“Dad!” Cindy whispered, embarrassed.

“I do this to her every time.” He grinned, then threw his arm around Sammy and touched the glove. “You’re coming prepared.”

Sammy shrugged sheepishly.

“Ready?”

The boys nodded.

“Peter, this is their food.” Rina handed him a double bag. “They can have Cokes or Seven-ups, but nothing else. No hot dogs, ice-cream, french fries, nachos, potato chips-”

“What if it has hashgacha?” Jake asked.

“Yonkie, I packed more than enough goodies for you guys.” She turned back to Peter. “Only drinks. Here’s a five-dollar bill-”

“What are you giving me?” Decker laughed. “Even a cop can afford to buy a round of Cokes. And calm down. I’ll bring ’em back in one piece. And they’ll still be Jewish.”

She took a deep breath and let it out.

“I trust you.”

“Cynthia, why don’t you and Eric walk the boys to the car. I want to talk to Rina for a minute.”

“Sure,” the girl answered. “Nice meeting you.”

“Same here. Enjoy the game.” Rina started to plant kisses on her sons. “Have a wonderful time, and listen to Detective Decker.”

Sammy squirmed out from her grip and walked out the door with the teenagers. Jake stayed behind an extra moment to get another hug, then quickly caught up with the others.

“We hit paydirt with Shlomo Stein,” Decker said when they were alone. “Guy’s got a past. Indicted for two counts of possession of cocaine with intent to sell, one count of racketeering, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. None of the charges stuck except the assault, and in that case, he beat the rap. Hired himself a hotshot lawyer named MacGregor Dayton. I’ve heard of the man. He was defending heavy-duty dealers back when I was still a boy in Florida. And they say he only got sharper over time.”

He paused.

“In his secular days old Shlomo Stein was known as Scotty Stevens. I’d like to know what the hell he’s doing here.”

“Finding meaning, I guess.”

“Yeah, well I’m cynical enough to think that major personality changes don’t take place overnight.”

“He’s not the rapist, Peter.”

“No, the guy is perfect now that he prays all the time.”

“I didn’t say that,” she answered, defensively. “Granted, he’s a weirdo. But he was in class with twenty other men at the time of the rape.”

“How do you know?”

“I was one step ahead of you.”

“What did you do, Rina?”

“I asked around-”

“Damn!” Decker interrupted. “Rina, you gave the guy a chance to set up an alibi.”

“We are very protective of one another, but nobody here would cover up to protect a rapist. I asked a few trustworthy people-like Zvi. Now would Zvi protect a man who raped his wife?”

“Who the hell knows? I have trouble understanding this place’s mentality.”

“Peter, I’m not a character reference for Shlomo Stein. I’m just telling you that he didn’t do it.”

“Did you know about his former criminal activities at the time you went out with him?”

“Of course not! I wouldn’t have gone out with him had I known. It wasn’t until later that I found out he’d had some problems. Apparently, he was brought up Orthodox, strayed, and now has returned like the prodigal son, lehavdil. Rav Aaron let him stay after he found out, even though he wasn’t happy about it. He doesn’t want this place to be a refuge for weirdos and misfits. But a community can’t turn its back on members who’ve made mistakes in the past.”

“But you knew he had a record when I talked to you.”

“No, I didn’t.” She looked down. “I knew he’d been in some sort of trouble. I thought it was drugs.”

“Why didn’t you mention it to me?”

“I knew you’d find out.”

“But why didn’t you tell me your suspicions?”

She said nothing.

“You’d rather protect your own, even if he’s a criminal, than trust an outsider who happens to be a cop and, more important, a human being who’s very concerned about your welfare.”

“Peter, it’s not that.”

His eyes bore into her.

“I do trust you,” she said, earnestly. “I didn’t want to cast doubt on him just because he’d had a checkered past. I didn’t know what he was. Let the investigation come from the officials. Let it come from you.”

“I’m beginning to wonder about this place. I have a mind to conduct a complete investigation-”

“Peter, this place houses sixty families, two hundred college-age boys, and another one hundred high school kids. The boys graduate and leave, others take their places. Some kids come here mid-semester. There’s a constant turnover of students, not to mention visiting rabbis and scholars who learn at the yeshiva for a year or so. With that many people coming and going, you’re bound to come across a few oddballs.”

“You’ve got a gangster and a psycho-”

“Moshe is harmless.”

Decker said nothing.

“You must have had him checked out,” Rina said.

“He’s clean.”

“Of course he’s clean.”

A beeper went off. Decker unhooked the portable radio from his belt loop and listened to a number being mumbled over a lot of static.

“I need to borrow your phone for a moment.”

“Sure.”

He made his call, gave a few instructions, and hung up the receiver.

“Anything important?” Rina asked.

“Not really. With this Foothill bastard on the loose, I like to be as accessible as possible.”

“It must be hard on you.”

“At least it saves on gas. I’m always taking the unmarked to be near the radio. I don’t think I’ve driven my personal car in three months.” He looked at his watch. “I have to go.”