I said, "You're just making this up on the fly, hoping I'll let you live to see morning. If I hadn't shown you the picture, you'd still be denying ever hearing of Esther. Not that it matters. You're a killer. You came to kill me, and you killed Esther and the baby. You must have great faith in your buddy Strauss, don't you? You figure he'll work his connections and get you off with a light sentence. He won't get the chance."

I slackened the belt and pulled it off his leg. The blood started pumping from his wound. I put the gun away.

He protested, pleaded with me, and reiterated his ludicrous claims in ever more desperate tones. When he saw I was unmoved, he cursed me and then began shouting for help. I crouched beside him, slapped one hand over his mouth, and held him down. He thrashed, but he was weak from blood loss. It took less than three minutes for him to bleed to death.

The casing of the bullet I'd fired had landed beside the kerosene lamp. I bent down, picked it up, and put it in my pocket. I inspected my clothes for blood and found none. I hung the lamp back on its peg and used my handkerchief to wipe the lamp, door, and door handle. I took a final look around, saw nothing amiss, darkened the lamp, and exited the shed.

There was no one outside. Music floated from the cafés and dance clubs facing the beach a few hundred meters away. I walked south along the water's edge where it was darkest for half a kilometer before cutting east across the beach and into the city streets. I tossed the casing into a sewer grate. Then I went home.

31

About eight the next morning I went to the hair salon. Mira wasn't there.

"She starts at ten," said the hairdresser on duty. "It's a slow morning."

I walked to the corner of Frishman and Sirkin, ascended the stairs, and knocked on her door. When she opened it, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment that I had completed the task she had given me.

Mira had on a sky-blue shirt with a high collar and a cotton white skirt that went to the middle of her shins. Her hair hung loose and tousled, as if she'd just gotten out of bed. It made her face look softer. Her lips hung slightly open and I caught sight of the tip of her tongue resting on her lower teeth.

"Can I come in?" I said, and Mira nodded, saying that of course I could. She led the way to her living room.

"Anything to drink?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Not just yet. Maybe in a little while. I have some news, but first I want some answers."

"To what questions?"

"Just one, really: Was Esther sleeping with Inspector John Clapper because she was an Irgun agent?"