“Probably dynamite,” Hollander answered, “I mean, the man had to be hooked on something else besides God, right?”

“Mind you the only thing I did was superimpose the X rays of the skull over the painted boy’s face,” Hennon said over the phone. “But as an off-the-cuff opinion, I’d say the boy in the film matches the skull you dug up.”

“Thanks for doing this on your weekend, Annie.”

“I’m still waiting for a dinner, big man.”

“How about tonight?”

There was silence over the line.

“You’re serious?” she asked.

“If you are.”

“You’re on,” Hennon said. “Anywhere specific you want to go?”

“You choose. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Great.”

She gave him her address in Santa Monica and Decker hung up the phone. He turned around and saw Marge.

“Eavesdropping on me?”

“I just came in to use the phone,” she said.

“It’s all yours.”

She looked down and kicked the floor absently.

“Of course I couldn’t help but overhear a little.”

“Hennon says the skull that we dug up in the mountains matches the painted man in the snuff film.”

“Just as you figured.”

“Yup.”

“So who’s the painted boy?”

“The Blade,” Decker answered. “Whoever he is. Find out what happened to Clementine?”

“No.”

“Damn. I’m so pissed at myself. I should have pulled him for a composite when I had the chance.”

“He’ll show up eventually unless he’s running from something.”

“My informants tell me no one is after him as far as they know,” he said.

“Then he’ll turn up.” Marge paused, then asked: “What happened with Rina?”

“Cultural differences,” he said.

“I thought you liked being Jewish?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time. I wasn’t aware of how involved it got. Now I am. Judaism is a hands-on religion. It takes over your life. There are dietary restrictions, sexual restrictions, drinking restrictions, clothing restrictions…You know you’re not even allowed to wear a garment made of wool and linen.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. No one does. It’s just a law.”

He paused a moment, then said, “Over there, I’m an alien. But I’ve been a stranger in a strange land before, and I consider myself very adaptable. But adaptation is empty unless you believe in what you’re doing. I know that and so does Rina.”

“I think about God once in a while,” Marge said.

“You do?”

“Yeah, I think about the size of His penis.”

Decker burst into laughter.

“Must be a humdinger, don’t you think?” she said.

“That’s blasphemous.”