“Yes, it is! I should have said something! I should have done something! I didn’t know!”

Decker watched him gulp in big, breathless, heart-wrenching sobs. Seconds passed, then minutes. Finally, Karl was controlled enough to speak. “It started out as a school project—the family tree.” A big sniff. “When this came up…and Dad wigged…Ernie knew that he’d hit something awful. I told him to drop it with a capital D! What’s done is done, you know. Grandpa was dead, the Holocaust is more than a half-century old, and stirring stuff up wasn’t going to bring back any lives. He wouldn’t listen.”

“You must have been frustrated—”

“More like angry. Ernie was acting like this…like…a possessed person!”

Decker nodded encouragement. “What did he do?”

“He wanted to find out who Grandpa really was. He wrote to Argentina, he wrote to Berlin, he wrote everywhere. He went nuts with the idea of who Grandpa was…and his Nazi origins. He started talking to some real strange people. I should have told Dad. I should have told Dr. Dahl. She would have done something smart. But then the temple vandalism went down. And Ernie went into therapy. So I kept my mouth shut and decided to let the experts handle it.”

“You did the right thing—”

“No, I didn’t,” the boy broke in. “Ernie’s dead! I didn’t do the right thing!”

“Yes, you did,” Decker said. “You have to believe me on this, Karl.”

The boy didn’t believe him. But he didn’t refute him, either.

“Are you scared, Karl?” Decker asked. “Do you think you need protection?”

“I don’t know!” The boy’s lower lip trembled. “I don’t know!”

“Do you have any names?”

“No, goddamn it! I wish to God I did, but I don’t, sir. I swear I don’t.”

“I believe you.”

Karl said, “The whole synagogue thing was…I had no idea that Ernesto had gotten involved so deeply! I thought he was making the whole thing up just to look like a badass to his girlfriend.”

“Ruby Ranger.”

“Queen Goth. If anyone was behind this, it would be her! She’s crazy and mean!” He looked up at Decker. “I’m not the only one who feels that way. Your stepson hates her, too, you know.”

Decker knew.

Karl looked away. “I probably shouldn’t have mentioned him.”

“No, it’s fine. Several people, including Jacob, had told me that Ruby and Ernesto were an item.”

“You should arrest her!” Karl looked at Decker. “You are gonna talk to her, right?”

“Last we heard, she had left town right after the vandalism. When was the last time Ernesto saw her?”

“I don’t know.”

“So you don’t know if she and Ernesto had maintained contact after the vandalism?”