Miles To Go (Mo Gold And Birdie Mysteries Book 2) - W.L. Liberman

A Canadian Hard-Boiled Mystery Novel

Miles To Go (Mo Gold And Birdie Mysteries Book 2) by W.L. Liberman

Book excerpt

I always thought of Avrom as an angry person. The source of this anger, I really couldn’t fathom. But it lay there in his throat choking his being, flooding his soul with rage. I didn’t know why but he hated me with limitless energy. I fed it and didn’t help myself by deliberately needling him at every opportunity. I supposed his enmity had to do with Miryam, as he saw our connection as a dangerous affront to everything he believed and all he stood for. I’m sure he loved Miryam in his own way but he’d been brought up to believe that women were chattel and they needed to conform to the teachings of traditional orthodox Jewish roles. Miryam had the misfortune to end up in the wrong family. She also had the misfortune of meeting me. Meeting her seemed a blessing, or so I thought at the age of seventeen. I hadn’t received many blessings until then.

Avrom sat in the interview room drumming his fingers on the scarred tabletop. He’d removed his broad-brimmed hat, having set it before him. He wore a kippa attached to his black hair by a bobby pin. The birthmark on his forehead seemed to pulsate. The tape machine sat passively in front of him. It wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to smash it with his fists. Callaway stood at the door, poised to enter.

“Are we ready for this?” he asked me.

“Sure,” I replied. “Keep your raincoat handy.”

Birdie smiled and nodded impassively.

Callaway sighed. He opened the door. Avrom glanced up. Eyes blazed when he saw me.

“Good morning. Thank you for coming in and for your cooperation. Your assistance to the police in this matter will be very useful. I’m sure we all want the perpetrator of this heinous crime brought to justice. Let’s begin, shall we?”

Avrom swallowed hard but didn’t say anything. Birdie stood in the corner, his usual perch. Callaway and I sat opposite in rickety metal-framed chairs designed for maximum discomfort. Callaway switched on the tape, identified himself, Birdie and I and Avrom along with the time and the date. Sitting opposite Miryam’s brother, I could feel the heat of his contempt radiating out from his skin, like it was the fifth person in the room.

Callaway took the lead. “Avrom, let’s begin by having you list your movements the day of the murder. Be as detailed as possible please.”

“Of course, Inspector. I woke up at six a.m., as is my custom. I wrapped tefillin and prayed…”

Callaway broke in, “Sorry…wrapped what?”

“Tefillin,” I said, “are…” Avrom glared at me and I smiled angelically back. The thought of me explaining religious Jewish ritual to a non-believer stuck in his craw. Anything to get a reaction. “…little black boxes that contain Scriptures and have straps attached to them, one for the arm and one for the head. Men wear them during weekdays, wrap the straps, that is, while saying prayers.”

Avrom continued to glare. “As I was saying, I wrapped tefillin and prayed. This took about 30 minutes. I dressed and checked on Gittel, my sister. She is handicapped. Gittel was still asleep. A woman from across the street comes and stays with her in the morning until Miryam, my other sister, comes over. As you know, she lives next door.”

“So, the woman comes in around 7 am?” Callaway asked.

“That is correct,” Avrom replied. “Miryam comes over around 8:30 or 9 and looks after Gittel, the rest of the day.”

“What’s the name of the woman who comes over for Gittel?” I asked. Avrom looked away.

“He’s allowed to ask questions,” Callaway said. “So please answer.”

“Her name is Mrs. Mandelbaum, Shirley Mandelbaum. A kind, generous soul.”

“Address?” I asked.

“She lives at number 89, right across the street from us. We are 90 and she is 89. I hope that is clear.”

Callaway gestured. “Please continue. Mrs. Mandelbaum arrived…”

Avrom cleared his throat, of bile, so it seemed to me. “I finished breakfast about 7:15, then left for morning service at 7:30, at the schul on Baldwin Street.”

Callaway looked at me. “I know it,” I replied. “The rabbi’s name is Benjamin Baruch. He is well-respected.”

“How long is the service?” Callaway asked.

“That morning, I left at 8:30,” Avrom said. “From there I went to my office.”

“Did Mendel Black also go to that schul?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Was he there that morning?”

Avrom nodded and it looked as if his eyes misted slightly. “Yes, he was.”

“You didn’t walk together?”

Avrom shook his head. “No. Mendel usually leaves earlier. Like I said, I had to wait for Mrs. Mandelbaum. I saw Mendel at schul.”

“You sit together?” I asked.

“Usually.”

“But not on that day?”

“There were no seats near to him. It is a small schul and fills up quickly. You have to go early,” Avrom said.

“Did you speak with Mendel during or after the service?”

Avrom shrugged. “I might have said hello. I left before him and went to the office. I anticipated a busy day ahead.”

Birdie spoke up, his voice booming in the enclosed space. “Did you speak to Mendel during the day or see him at all after the service?”

Avrom shook his head and looked down at the floor. “No. The next time I saw Mendel, he was lying on his kitchen floor and he was dead.”

“Can you account for all of your movements during the day, Avrom?”

“Yes. I can have my associate draw up my schedule, if you like?”

“If you wouldn’t mind,” Callaway said. “And what sort of work do you do?”

“Property management,” Avrom replied. “We have buildings all over the city. Some of the tenants are very demanding.”

“You arrived home, what time?” I asked.

“Just before six o’clock. Gittel was napping and Miryam was about to return home. She’d left a pot of soup simmering on the stove, I believe.”

“And then…?” I prompted.

“Miryam left. Within a few minutes she came rushing back. She was frantic, hysterical. I asked her what was wrong but she couldn’t speak. She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me across to her house and showed me the kitchen. That’s when I saw…saw…Mendel…lying on the floor…blood everywhere. Then Miryam called the police.”

“How much time passed between your sister returning to your house, you going with her and calling the police?” Callaway asked.

“I couldn’t say for sure, two, maybe three minutes? Something like that. You have to understand this was a terrible shock. Mendel…he was my best friend. I’d known him since childhood.” Only friend, I thought to myself.

“Did you leave the office at all during the day?” I asked.

“Yes, I had a number of appointments. I often have to go to the buildings to inspect, when problems are reported.”

“You will also be able to provide us with a list of your appointments on that day?” Callaway asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“Thank you. As soon as you can if you don’t mind.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Callaway spoke his name into the tape and recorded the time, then snapped the switch off. “Thank you for your cooperation. I think we have all the information we need for now.”

Avrom stood up replacing his hat on his head. Again, he glared in my direction. “Stay away from my sister.”

“I don’t know Gittel particularly well,” I replied.

“You know what I mean, Gold. You will stay away from her.”

“This is a murder investigation, and I will speak to anyone I please, your sister included. Wherever and whenever I choose.”

“This isn’t over,” he spat. “Don’t you think that it is.”

“And where were you in the War, Avrom? Not helping to save the Jews, that’s for damn sure.”

He went to launch himself at me but Birdie had placed an enormous hand on his chest. Avrom squeezed a semi-hysterical laugh out of his pale face. “Once again, it is the schvartze who saves you.”

“Let him go,” I said to Birdie. “Let him go and we’ll see who saves who.”

“All right, enough of that,” Callaway snapped. “You may leave, but we may wish to speak to you again. Go now.”

Birdie stepped aside. Avrom brushed past never taking his burning eyes off me, then plowed out of the room. After he’d gone, Callaway turned to me. “Jesus Christ, you know how to make long-lasting friendships, don’t you?”

“It’s a special talent of mine.”

Callaway corralled a pair of rookie detectives and assigned them to check out Avrom’s story with the neighbor, at the schul and verify his work appointments during the day Mendel died. Birdie and I headed for the door.

“Where are you two stooges going?” Callaway asked.

“Lunch,” I replied. “Actually, to check out a lead. We’ll let you know if it pans out.”

“Okay, get outta here,” he said and waved a ham fist at us. “Try not to antagonize anyone else, if that’s possible.” Birdie snorted.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said.

Book Details

AUTHOR NAME: W.L. Liberman

BOOK TITLE: Miles To Go (Mo Gold And Birdie Mysteries Book 2)

GENRE: Crime & Mystery

PAGE COUNT: 436

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