The Butcher's Theatre Read Free

specialized in Major Crimes, which, in Jerusalem, rarely referred to the kind of thing that had brought him to Scopus this morning.
    He walked toward the activity. The transport attendants sat in their van. The uniformed policemen were talking to an older man in a Civil Guard uniform. Daniel gave him a second look: late sixties to early seventies, thin but powerfully built,
    with close-cropped white hair and a bristly white mustache. He seemed to be lecturing the policemen, pointing toward a gully off the west side of the road, gesticulating with his hands, moving his lips rapidly.
    Laufer stood several yards away, seemingly oblivious to the lecture, smoking and checking his watch. The deputy commander wore a black knit shirt and gray slacks, as if he’d lacked the time to don his uniform. In civilian clothes, bereft of ribbons, he looked pudgier, definitely less impressive. When he saw Daniel approaching, he dropped his cigarette and ground it out in the dirt, then said something to the driver, who walked away. Not waiting for Daniel to reach him, he moved forward, paunch first, in short, brisk steps.
    They met midway and shared a minimal handshake.
    “Horrible,” said Laufer. “Butchery.” When he spoke his jowls quivered like empty water bladders. His eyes, Daniel noticed, looked more tired than usual.
    Laufer’s hand fumbled in his shirt pocket and drew out a pack of cigarettes. English Ovals. Souvenirs from the latest London trip, no doubt. He lit a cigarette and blew the smoke out of his nose in twin drafts.
    “Butchery,” he said again.
    Daniel cocked his head toward the Hagah man.
    “He the one who found it?”
    Laufer nodded. “Schlesinger, Yaakov.”
    “This part of his regular patrol?”
    “Yes. From Old Hadassah, around the university, down past the Amelia Catherine, and back. Back and forth, five times a night, six nights a week.”
    “A lot of walking for someone his age.”
    “He’s a tough one. Former palmahi. Claims he doesn’t need much sleep.”
    “How many times had he been through when he discovered it?”
    “Four. This was the last pass. Back up the road and then he picks up his car on Sderot Churchill and drives home. To French Hill.”
    “Does he log?”
    “At the end, in the car. Unless he finds something out of the ordinary.” Laufer smiled bitterly.
    “So we may be able to pinpoint when it was dumped.”
    “Depending on how seriously you take him.”
    “Any reason not to?”
    “At his age?” said Laufer. “He says he’s certain it wasn’t there before, but who knows? He may be trying to avoid looking sloppy.”
    Daniel looked a the old man. He’d stopped lecturing and stood ruler-straight between the policemen. Wearing the M-l as if it were part of him. Uniform pressedaand creased. The old-guard type. Nothing sloppy about him.
    Turning back to Laufer, he lifted his note pad with his bad hand, flipped it open, and pulled out his pen.
    “What time does he say he found it?” he asked.
    “Five forty-five.”
    A full hour before he’d been called. He lowered the pen, looked at Laufer questioningly.
    “I wanted things quiet,” said the deputy commander matter-of-factly. Without apology. “At least until we can put this in context. No press, no statements, a minimum of personnel. And no needless chatter with any personnel not on the investigating team.”
    “I see,” said Daniel. “Dr. Levi’s been here?”
    “Been and gone. He’ll do the necropsy this afternoon and call you.”
    The deputy commander took a deep drag on his cigarette, got a shred of tobacco on his lip and spat it out.
    “Do you think he’s back?” he asked. “Our gray friend?”
    It was a premature question, thought Daniel. Even for one who had made his mark in administration.
    “Does the evidence fit?” he asked.
    Laufer’s expression made light of the question. “The site fits, doesn’t it? Weren’t the others found right around here?”
    “One of them—Marcovici. Farther down. In the