Her son, alerted by his mother's tears, began whining. Shulamit said a few reassuring words to him, went into the kitchen, and returned with two cookies. The smile she had on her face as she handed the cookies to her child looked forced, but the boy did not seem to notice. He quieted down, happy with his treat. She returned to her seat opposite me.

She said, "I fell in love with Alon. Or at least I thought I did. He told me he loved me, said he would leave his wife for me, but he always had reasons and excuses why now was not a good time for him to divorce her—usually something along the lines that she was not well or in an emotional state, that he felt sorry for her. Things like that. I foolishly believed every word of it."

"So you kept seeing him."

She nodded. "I couldn't be without him. That's how it felt, anyway. Eventually, I got tired of waiting. I told Ethan I had met another man, that I wanted a divorce. When I told Alon about it, I thought he would be happy, that it would prod him to break up with his wife. Instead he got very angry. He shouted, he raved, he called me names. He…" She paused and a haunted look came into her eyes.

"He hit you?" I asked.

A jerky nod. "Slapped me. Twice. When I began crying and accusing him of lying to me. The first slap might have been to quiet me down, but the second one…I think he enjoyed that one." She took another sip then set her glass down on the coffee table. I did the same. "He said he wanted nothing to do with me, that he didn't love me. He said I was stupid, that he would never leave his wife. Then, when I threatened to tell her everything, he gave me the coldest of stares. 'Better not do anything foolish, Shulamit,' he said, 'or you might not live long to regret it.' I remember those words perfectly and how he sounded when he said them. I kept hearing them in my dreams for months after."

"You think he was serious?"

She rubbed her arms as if a chill had settled on her skin. "I think so, yes."

"Is that why you weren't shocked when I raised the possibility of him being a murderer?"

"I suppose so. Although…I can see Alon hurting me or another woman, but you said a baby was also killed."

"Yes."

"I can't see Alon harming a child. Or maybe I just don't want to believe I was intimate with such a man."

"Davidson said you were with him the night of August 26, 1939."

"He might have been, but I can't swear to a specific night. Not after ten years. I'm sorry, Mr. Lapid."