Schulman paused. “I don’t think so. If only because Manhattan police have been investigating the village extensively, have been knocking on doors and questioning the people. Yet you bring up a very important question. If they are hiding for fear of their lives, and they couldn’t go home, where would they go?”

“Well, she took them here,” Rina said. “Maybe it wasn’t far enough away. Maybe she took the plunge and went to Israel.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“But what if the Rebbe’s wrong, Rav Schulman. What if they’re waiting for somebody to save them? I can’t get the faces of the children out of my mind.”

Schulman looked pained. “Yes, the children come first. As this is not a halachic issue, I am no maven. So I suggest we apprise Akiva of the situation, of our concern for Honey and her family, and let the expert decide.”

“Shit!” Decker rubbed his face with scratchy palms. “I forgot to call Manhattan. God, at forty-three, I’m going senile.”

“It’s called preoccupation with a double homicide,” Rina said.

Decker sank down on the guest bed. It was after eleven and the rest of the household was asleep. He was weary, hungry, and mad at himself for not calling New York earlier. Both cases were weighing heavily on his mind, because both cases involved missing kids. He wondered if, by working the two cases simultaneously, he was doing justice to either case. Probably not.

Rina bit her nail. “Can’t you call New York now? Police stations are open all the time.”

“Not the Detective Bureau. Everyone wants a gold shield because the hours are good.”

“Maybe someone’s working overtime, Peter. Maybe someone out there is as dedicated as you.”

“Yeah, that’s me. Supercop.” He rubbed his eyes. “What the hey. I’ll give it a whirl.”

He picked up the phone and punched in the numbers. The phone rang and rang and rang and finally the line was answered by a man calling himself Romero. Decker introduced himself officially and asked for a Detective Dintz.

“Dintz went home hours ago. You know what time it is here?”

“Close to two in the morning.”

“The man can add. Nah, nobody’s here except me. That’s because I just got divorced and I’m drowning my sorrows in my job.”

“It doesn’t work.”

“You’re right about that. It only makes you more pissed at her. Whatdaya want with Dintz?”

Decker updated Romero.

“Yeah, Klein’s the diamond dealer. I know the case.”

“What’s the scoop?”

“Nuttin’ so far. But Klein was in a high-cash business. Plus, he was also a member of that weird cult.”

“By cult you mean the Leibbener Rebbe?”

“Yeah, that weird place upstate—Leibbentown. You ever been there?”

“Nope.”

“You ever been to Plymouth Rock, how the guides dress up like Pilgrims and act like they was on the Mayflower?”

“Haven’t had the pleasure,” Decker said.