“You worked with him before?”

“I borrowed some money from him, yes. But I paid it back. I wouldn’t have done it.” Again a look at Decker. “But Merrin found out that I was…I was doing things.”

Slowly, Donatti grinned. “I thought you looked familiar. Course all you kikes look alike when you’re naked.”

The videotapes from the whorehouse. Decker raised his eyes. Jen had told him she didn’t know Chaim Lieber. And maybe she hadn’t known him. Maybe he had come under an alias. Or, just as likely, Donatti instructed her to deny knowing him. And, of course, she’d follow orders. Stupid of him to believe anything she told him. She’d said it herself. She was a user, too.

“Merrin offered you an opportunity, then,” Donatti said.

Chaim nodded. “He told me it would be just a couple of times. But then… the money… the money was good.”

A quick glimpse at Decker.

“It’s not like you think. I didn’t squander the money… yes, a few massages—but mostly, I used it for business. For my business. I used it to feed my large family. I used it to take care of my elderly father. I used it for the local schools and synagogues. Why should I care if I take from the pockets of thugs who crash cars, have sex like animals, and spit when they see you walking down the street? Why should I care if they blow their brains out on drugs? And why should a self-righteous prick like my brother ruin everything for me? Him…the moral do-gooder who has been on and off drugs for ten years. Who borrowed money from me and from my father without ever paying any of it back. Who never raised a finger to help out with my father or help out with the business because he was too stoned to get out of bed. Who had the nerve to tell me how to raise my children when he has never accepted responsibility for anything in his life!”

Indignation gave him a certain amount of ill-placed dignity, except that Decker had heard it all before—the self-rationalization and situational ethics to help defend evil actions. “So you gave Ephraim over to Merrin and his goons because you were resentful?”

“Not to kill!” Chaim spat out. “Just to talk some sense into him.” In a quieter voice. “And if they scared him a little, so be it.”

“They did more than scare him,” Decker said softly.

“I wouldn’t know… .” Chaim looked away. “Something went wrong.”

“A bit of an understatement,” Decker said.

“And who gave you the right to be my judge and jury?” Chaim snarled.

Donatti said, “What happened with your daughter? Did you set her up, too?”

“I didn’t set anyone up!” Abruptly, Chaim’s eyes watered. “Especially my daughter. I loved Shayndaleh! She was my own flesh and blood. It wasn’t… She wasn’t supposed to be there. I don’t know what happened!”

“What happened was they killed her.”

“It was an accident!” Chaim cried out. “They claimed they knew where she was. They were supposed to bring her back to me. She resisted. A gun went off—”