“He asked for my forgiveness,” she said. “Begged for it. I said everything would be all right, he would be okay, but he needed to go to the police, right now! Whatever he did, he should go to the police. Then we could help him.” She began to cry. “That was the wrong thing to say. He hung up. I should have told him I love him. I should have told him how much we miss him and how much his parents love him. I should have told him that no matter what, he was forgiven. I should have told him a dozen things…and now it’s too late. I’m such an idiot—”

Decker said, “It took you by surprise. You did great.”

“I didn’t—”

“You did,” Decker assured her. He heard her sniff over the line. “You did great.”

“He was talking so fast,” she said. “And I was so confused….”

“Miriam, did Noam mention any names of people? Any streets, establishments, landmarks?”

“Just the bar.”

“He told you he picked up the homosexual in a bar?”

“Yes.”

“Did he tell you the name of the bar?”

“No.”

Decker asked, “Did he call the bar just a bar? Or did he call it a queer bar or a gay bar? Or a lounge? Did he mention eating there?”

“He just called it a bar,” Miriam said. “He was talking so fast. Just that he picked up a…queer…I hate that word. Why do the kids use it?”

Because kids can be little bastards, Decker thought. He said, “How did he know the man was gay?”

“I don’t know,” Miriam said.

“Okay,” Decker said. “When he called, did you hear any background noises?”

“Uh, maybe there were some,” Miriam said. “I wasn’t really paying attention to any other noises.”

“That’s normal,” Decker said. “Let me ask you this. Could you hear his voice very clearly? As clear as my voice, for instance.”

“Your voice is clearer,” she said. “Maybe I’m more awake.” She paused. “You know, he might have been calling from a phone booth. When I think about it, it sounded like a phone-booth line. There was traffic in the background. You know, the sound of cars passing by.”

“A lot of traffic? A little?”

“Medium.”

“Whooshing sort of sounds?”

“Exactly.”

“Did you hear any sort of a siren?” Decker asked.

“No.”

“The traffic sounds you heard,” Decker said. “Any of the sounds rumble, seem to shake up the line?”

A long pause. “Yes,” Miriam said.

She sounded impressed.

“Good,” Decker said. “How many times, Miriam?”

“Um…maybe three or four times.”

“And how long did you talk to Noam?”

“About two minutes.”