Rina exhaled forcefully. “I think that if he died during the procedure, it was not considered murder. It was considered the ultimate liberation of his yaitzer harah. The man has seen reason through death. His wife was free.”

“Are you saying if he consistently refused, he was beaten to death?”

“You should ask Rabbi Schulman—”

“To the best of your knowledge, darlin’.”

“I think he could be beaten to the point of death. If he was that desperate or vengeful to hold on to his wife, he was possessed.”

“So this whole ritual is kind of like an exorcism?”

“Peter, I don’t want to misrepresent the law. Ask Rabbi Schulman.”

Decker reflected upon her words as the Subaru continued its upward path to Jerusalem. The whole approach to divorce seemed not only arcane and unnecessary, but dangerous. A frustrated woman, a vindictive man, and no way out. Decker cleared his throat. “Does it have to be beating or starving the man?”

“What do you mean?”

“Suppose the rabbis…” Again, Decker cleared his throat. “Can they exorcise the demons by drowning instead?”

“Gershon was shot, Peter.”

“But he died from drowning, Rina. And it makes sense, doesn’t it? Because if anyone was possessed, it was Gershon Klein. It wasn’t his fault per se, just his yaitzir harah acting up—”

“You’re making fun of me.”

“I’m trying to make sense out of something that’s irrational to me. I’m trying to think like Honey’s Rebbe, putting myself in his position. Because that’s who she’d run to. The Rebbe probably figured what would it hurt to give him a few minor dunkings. It’s better than a beating because it doesn’t leave marks—”

“Peter, the main objective of the process wasn’t to kill anyone. It was to bring the man to reason.”

“But what if the man is simply incapable of reason, Rina?” Decker heard another honk. Instead of pulling over, he pressed the pedal to the metal. The car bucked, then flew upward, jolting them back in their seats.

“What are you doing?” Rina cried out.

Decker said, “Car doesn’t accelerate too well, does it? You like my theory?”

“No.”

“Why? Because you don’t want to picture a bunch of holy rabbis methodically drowning a crazy man?”

“Even if you’re right, even if they were trying to bring Gershon to reason, I’m sure they didn’t mean to kill him.”

“But Gershon’s still dead all the same. No wonder the great Rebbe didn’t want me on the case. He wasn’t protecting Honey. He was trying to save his own hide.”

“Maybe he was doing both.”

“One thing is for certain. He was being obstructionist for his own gain. Because he couldn’t see beyond the absurdity of what he was doing. Talk about blindly following the letter of the law.”