“Tell that to Davidson. You believe that son of a bitch giving me a hard time about my expense account? Asking me about all those phone calls to New York? I brought in Honey Klein. What’s the asshole going on about?”

“He’s an asshole, Pete. But you did make a few personal calls.”

“I talked to my half brother, Marge, but that was strictly business. I had to explain to him why Rina wasn’t coming out.”

Marge smiled. “Not that I care but you talked to him for two hours.”

“I’m meticulous.” Decker swung his feet to the floor and sat up. “If he doesn’t like it, fuck him!”

Marge said, “I got a call from the DA’s office. The office is prepared to go ahead and indict Milligan on two counts of first degree murder based on the evidence—the statement of the Yalom boys, the papers in Yalom’s box, and lastly, evidence pulled by the Israeli police. Do you know what that’s referring to?”

“Yes, I do. They got some statements from some Hebron residents. They also did some hunting and searching. They found receipts made out to Milligan for tools, parts, and chemicals that could have been used in the making of plastiques.”

“She kept receipts?”

“She was a businesswoman. They were deductible.”

Marge broke into laughter.

“Along the way, they found one real damning piece of paper. A written statement attributed to a guy named Mohammed Husseini, a former bigwig in the PLO. The note expressed sorrow over the terrible tragedy in the Bursa and condemned all acts of violence. It went on to suggest that the Arabs and Jews work together to build a bigger and more comprehensive diamond exchange in the new state of Palestine. One that would be internationally recognized as the top in the field of diamonds.”

Marge laughed incredulously. “I can’t believe such…oh God, I know I’m going to pronounce this wrong…chutzpah?”

“Very good,” Decker said. “Incidentally, the statement was not only written in English—Husseini speaks only Arabic—but was in Milligan’s handwriting.”

Marge stopped talking for a moment. “Wonder who actually pulled the trigger on the parents?”

“We asked the boys about that,” Decker said. “They seem certain it was Milligan’s doing. Gil told us that his father and Milligan often had secret meetings.”

“Then what lured Dalia to the mountains?”

“Gil thought that maybe his mother went willingly to get the gunmen away from their house. Because she knew her sons would soon be coming home from school.”

“She was protecting her offspring.”