“It was years ago.”

“About three years ago,” Decker corrected. “And it did have reverberations in the communities. So what do you think?”

“If I’m correct about this, you’re deducing that Chaim got some money by being a courier of ecstasy.”

“Actually, I’m thinking out loud.”

“Then let me think along with you. Wouldn’t being a courier imply that Chaim had made frequent trips to Israel or to Europe where the drug was manufactured and then back?”

Decker didn’t answer. He knew what was coming.

Jonathan said, “I don’t think Chaim’s left New York for the last ten years.”

“Maybe he didn’t do it bit by bit—or trip by trip. Maybe he did it in one big trip with one big score. You wouldn’t know if he took a quick trip or not, would you?”

“No.”

“I think the only way to know about his travels would be to check his passport.” Decker smiled. “Now there’s an idea.”

“Forget it, Akiva.”

“What would it hurt?”

“You want me to go over to Chaim while he’s sitting shiva for his slain daughter and brother and ask him about his passport?”

“Maybe not.”

“Definitely not!”

“You’re right,” Decker said.

They crawled along the parkway in silence, both of them wolfing down the homemade lunch. When the van finally left the city limits—heading upstate via the Saw Mill Parkway—traffic eased, and the wheels began turning at a nice clip. Feeling better with food in his stomach, Jonathan resumed the conversation.

“Do you have anything else to say, Akiva?”

Decker spoke carefully. “Just that maybe Ephraim found out about Chaim’s drug dealing and considered telling your father-in-law.”

“Ephraim wouldn’t… tattle on Chaim—especially if it were a one-shot done deal. What would be the point? To give an old man heartbreak? Besides, if Chaim did score big—one time—it would have been at least six months ago, after Chaim told me that the business was looking up. So how would that fit in with Ephraim’s so-called ongoing business conflicts with Chaim?”

A good point. “Maybe he scored more than once.”

“Then he would have made frequent trips abroad. I’ve already told you that he didn’t. We’re back to where we started.”

“Well, maybe he was debating another big score, but this time Ephraim found out.”

“And how would Ephraim have found out? Frankly put, the two men didn’t like each other. They rarely talked and only to keep peace in the family. Ephraim thought that Chaim was a self-righteous prig, and Chaim thought Ephraim was an irresponsible jerk. They kept their personal business very separate from one another.”

“But they did intersect in some capacity.”

“In some limited capacity, yes.”

“In business specifically,” Decker said.

“Yes.”

Inventory, Decker thought. Ephraim was in charge of inventory. “Hey, how about this, Jonathan? Maybe Chaim didn’t make frequent trips abroad. But maybe his products did. What about the merchandise? Did he import stock from Europe or Israel?”

“The family operates on high volume, low price. They buy cheaper wares that come from Asia, lots of Korean-made—”