Read Online The Bar Mitzvah Murder by Lee Harris - Free Book Online

company.
    Judy Silverman was in her twenties, dark-haired and dark-eyed, slim, and expensively dressed. I am never expensively dressed, but I have learned to tell the difference.
    â€œWho exactly are you?” she asked as I walked in.
    â€œChris Bennett. I’m a friend of Melanie Gross.”
    â€œHal’s wife.”
    â€œYes. We live on the same block in Oakwood and we’ve been friends for several years, since I moved into the house I inherited from my aunt.”
    â€œGo on.” She seemed very serious, unsmiling. On her left hand was a large diamond ring and a slim white gold band. Her pantsuit was black, with a pale pink blouse showing in the vee of the collar. I couldn’t tell whether the seriousness was her usual demeanor or I was making her nervous.
    â€œDo you know that your father was taken ill on Sunday during the party?”
    â€œI’m aware, yes.”
    â€œWere you at that party?”
    â€œI chose not to go.”
    â€œDo you know what happened to your father after he was taken ill?”
    â€œI don’t follow you.”
    â€œDo you know how his illness turned out?”
    â€œNo. I don’t have much to do with my father.”
    â€œDid he know you were here?”
    She took a moment before she answered, as though she was composing her response. “I doubt it. It’s a coincidence that I’m here at the same time. I had nothing to do with my father’s party.”
    â€œYour father disappeared for about twenty-four hours,” I said.
    â€œReally. Perhaps he’s tired of his present wife and he was looking for a little fun. I’m sure if you know where to look, you can find that kind of fun in Jerusalem.”
    I was taken aback by the tone of her voice, its cold harshness. “Your father’s body was discovered yesterday afternoon in another part of the city.”
    She stared at me. “Are you telling me he’s dead?”
    â€œHe’s dead, yes. Your father is dead.”
    â€œI—I can’t believe it. He was in very good health.”
    â€œHe may have been. It appears to be a case of murder.”
    â€œThat seems—it’s hard to believe.” She pressed a hand against her breast. “I’m sure there are lots more people in the States who’d like to kill him.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?”
    â€œMy father is a cutthroat businessman. People like that have enemies. Miss Bennett, why are you telling me this? What are you doing here? Why should I believe anything you say?”
    â€œI’m a friend of Melanie Gross.”
    â€œYou told me that. What does that have to do with anything?”
    â€œMel called me when your father disappeared on Sunday. I got the message when my husband and I arrived in Israel. My husband is a New York City police lieutenant. I’ve done some amateur sleuthing in the last few years and turned up some killers. Mel asked me to see what I could find out about your father’s death.”
    â€œYou think he was murdered.”
    â€œIt would appear he was.”
    â€œMy God.”
    â€œAre any other members of your family here with you? Your mother or your brother?”
    â€œNo. I’m joining my husband in London in a few days. I came here alone.” She said it almost without thinking, as though her mind was elsewhere, but she sounded sincere. She looked up at me, as if recalling that I was there. “How did you find me? How did you know I was here?”
    It was a question I would have preferred not to answer. “We started looking for Gabe’s immediate family when we heard he was dead, just calling around to see if one of you might be in Jerusalem.” I didn’t want to say that Mel had done it. “We found you registered here.”
    The look she gave me showed she wasn’t accepting what I said as the whole truth, although it was very close to that. “Does my mother know about my