Read Online Asylum City by Liad Shoham - Free Book Online

cheek with his finger. “I could see right away that he was a thug.”
    Anat glanced at her watch. It was a quarter to three in the afternoon.
    â€œWhen did this happen?”
    â€œTwo and a half hours ago, more or less.”
    That was also problematic. Of course, she’d have to wait for the autopsy, but in her estimation Michal Poleg had been dead for more than two and a half hours. Five or six was more like it, maybe even longer.
    â€œDo you happen to know where she worked?” she asked.
    â€œWhere? At some aid organization for Africans, where else? She was one of those idiots who want to turn our country into a national home for the blacks, as if we don’t have enough troubles of our own. The guy must have attacked her before she left for work.”
    Eyal came back and gestured for her to follow him out into the hallway.
    She had a feeling she knew what was coming.
    â€œYou can call David and tell him he won. I just spoke to my boss. The case is staying in the district,” he announced smugly.
    â€œReally? What a surprise,” is what she wanted to say, but she just smiled politely and said, “I’ll let him know.”
    â€œGood luck,” Eyal called over his shoulder as he scampered down the stairs and fled the scene. She stood there watching him leave. The minute Shmuel Gonen uttered the word “African,” she knew Eyal would be out of here. There’d be a lot of press, all right, but not the good kind. There’d be pressure from the public, and the brass would demand results, and fast. And she’d have that slimy politician, Ehud Regev, on her back. Lately he was on television all the time, wagging his finger and warning against the illegal aliens and all the diseases and violence they brought with them. In every interview she’d seen, as soon as he got through ranting about the Africans, he started in on the cops. He held them accountable for the whole situation.
    Everyone would want to know why it was taking them so long to catch the perp when they had an eye witness. Try explaining that if an African decides to disappear, it’s almost impossible to find him.

Chapter 11
    YARIV was sitting in his office staring at the e-mail he’d gotten from State Attorney Doron Aloni summoning him to a meeting on a private matter the day after tomorrow. It wasn’t unusual for him to be called into Aloni’s office, but it was generally to discuss a case, not a personal issue.
    Ever since he’d been transferred to the illegal alien division, he’d been in Aloni’s bad books. His boss didn’t like his association with Ehud Regev. He’d tried to talk him around, but Aloni kept saying he had to choose sides. It wasn’t a tough decision to make. Aloni was finished. He’d be gone within six months. Regev, on the other hand, was very well positioned in the Knesset. With his connections, he was on his way up.
    What did Aloni want from him? Was it the fucking complaint Michal filed? Not likely. If that’s what it was, he would have asked for his written response, not summoned him to a private meeting. He wasn’t the first attorney to have a complaint filed against him. There were procedures for dealing with it.
    No, something else was going on. Michal probably reported how he’d showed up at her house last night shouting drunken obscenities at her. She’d milk it for all it was worth just to get back at him.
    What could he tell Aloni? What kind of excuse could he offer? After what he did, even Regev would have a hard time defending him. He might not even want to. Regev was obsessed with the illegals. He saw it as his mission in life. However much respect the politician might have for him, he could very well decide to withdraw his support from a man who couldn’t control himself, a man who got plastered and then went and banged on a woman’s door in the middle of the night, even if the woman in question was