CHAPTER 75

 

The tapes covering her eyes and mouth were ripped away, and Miryam was blinded by brilliant light.

“How ya doing? Need some water? A bathroom?” a man’s voice said.

“Who are you people? What do you want?”

“Last chance, princess. Water and a bathroom, or back into the dark and piss your pants. Your choice.”

Miryam looked around, still half-blinded by what she saw now was a floodlight, considering her answer for a long moment. “Water, please, then the bathroom.”

A hand appeared at the side of her head, holding a cup. Miryam sipped a little. It tasted fine, just water. She drained the cup.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’d like the bathroom now, please.”

“Yeah, there’s lots of things I’d like, too. You can use the bathroom later. First, you need to answer some questions.”

“If I can.”

“Did your uncle, your great-uncle Shemuel, ever mention the name ‘Ephraim Tabbash,’ or either of those names, by itself?”

“Not that I remember. He never spoke about his business.”

“Do you know what his business was?”

“I think he was a partner in several neighborhood shops. But I don’t know which ones. Or what they did. He never told me anything.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”

“How long have you lived in his house?”

“My parents disappeared in 1995; I stayed there until I went to Israel for college. I came back a few days before he died. Please, what is it that you want?”

“We want you to answer our questions.”

“I really need to use the bathroom.”

“Put a cork in it. You start being helpful, you’ll get your bathroom.”

“Then ask me something I know about.”

“Why did your uncle Shemuel kill Ephraim Tabbash? What did he do with his body? Is it in your house?”

Miryam began weep. “I just need to use the bathroom,” she said.

Hands came out of the darkness to cover her mouth and eyes with tape. The light winked out. She heard the footsteps of two people receding. A door slammed behind her.