“Of course he wouldn’t mind.” Sandra followed her into the kitchen. As soon as she stepped into the warm, humid space, the old woman relaxed. “Just point me in the right direction.”
Rina gave her salad vegetables, a big bowl, and a knife. Sandra washed her hands meticulously and began slicing vegetables. They worked a few moments without speaking. Then Sandra said, “I’m so sorry to be barging in on you like this.”
“Please. My house is a bus station,” Rina said. “People in and out. They follow the food.”
“Yes, wherever there is family, there’s a meal.” The old woman sliced and diced the tomatoes with practiced skill. “Please understand my husband’s frankness. He isn’t used to fast food. I love to cook and I cook for him. And he is right. Everything does smell very good.”
“Thank you.”
“What are you making?”
“Well, this here is called a kugel, which is just a Yiddish word for pudding. Yiddish is the language that the Jews spoke in Europe. I made two kinds of kugel tonight-a sweet noodle pudding and a potato pudding.”
“Oh, it all looks so wonderful.”
“And this big pot here is a stew for tomorrow’s lunch. It’s called chulent. Jews aren’t allowed to cook on Saturday, but if we start the dish on Friday, then we can eat it hot on Saturday.”
“That’s interesting. What’s in it?”
“Meat, potatoes, beans, barley…but really you can put whatever you want in it.”
“So your husband doesn’t eat it?”
“No, Peter eats chulent. He loves chulent.”
“But how does he eat it if he’s a vegetarian?”
Uh-oh. Rina smiled. “He isn’t really a vegetarian, Mrs. Devargas. We’re kosher. We can’t eat meat unless it has been ritually slaughtered according to our laws. So he tells people he’s a vegetarian whenever he’s in a bind and doesn’t want to insult anyone.”
“Oh…oh, I see.” Sandra nodded. “Well, it was nice of him to tell me that, then.”
“He told me that the food you served him was absolutely fantastic. Now that you’re here, I’ll ask you for the recipes.”
“It was just simple cooking.”
“That’s the best kind.”
Sandra smiled and blushed. “Slow cooking. We do a lot of slow cooking, too, especially on Feast Day. For the Santa Clara Indians, it’s August twelfth. If you’re ever in Santa Fe at that time, you must come and eat with us so we can return the favor.” She paused. “I’ll make sure that there will be lots of vegetarian dishes that you can eat.”
“That would be great. What do you cook?”
“So many dishes you can’t even imagine. The dancing goes on from dawn to dusk. The climax is a beautiful corn dance. My daughters…” Sandra looked the other way. “My daughters are very good dancers.”
“Do you dance?”
A hint of a smile. “Sometimes. Do you?”
“I kick up a storm at weddings.”
“Best time to dance.”
“Absolutely.”
Sandra finished the tomatoes and went on to the cucumbers. “It’s nice of you not to ask why we’re here.”
Rina said, “I try not to get involved in my husband’s business.”
“But you know who we are.”
“Yes. The case made headlines and Peter…Lieutenant Decker was very involved.”
“He helped us so much…with the situation.”
“Thank you, I’m sure he’ll appreciate hearing that.”
“Yes, I don’t think I ever thanked him properly.”
“That isn’t what I meant at all,” Rina said. “I’m sure you thanked him profusely, but you just don’t remember.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Sandra put down the knife. “But we didn’t come here to thank him, Mrs. Decker. We came because…” A sigh. “We need his help.” Sandra looked at Rina. “Maybe you can help. I have to say that it’s easier for me to talk to a woman than a man…even your husband. So if you don’t mind, maybe I can talk to you.”
“I don’t mind at all.”
Sandra set her shoulders square and began to talk. “This is the situation. As you know, my daughter, Beth, was murdered. There’s no debate on that. The problem seems to be who did it. The case never even got to trial. Belize Hernandez pleaded guilty to a lot of lesser charges and he is serving some time in prison…not as much as he would have if he had been convicted of murder, though.”
“It must be so painful for you.”
“God will take care of him and those who deserve to be punished. I firmly believe that even if my husband doesn’t.”
“Faith is a wonderful thing.”
“It is, isn’t it? But that’s not the problem we have, Mrs. Decker. Last week, we received a phone call from the state police in Nevada that a group of hikers in the Mohave Desert found some bones right around the same area where Belize Hernandez told authorities that he had buried his brother, Manny. I don’t know how the searchers missed it the first time. They must have gone over that spot fifty times. But maybe the recent rains washed the bones up or maybe an animal finally unearthed them. The desert is a very fluid thing. It gives and it takes. I suppose that’s life really.” She fluttered her hands. “I’m just talking silly.”
“Not at all.”
“I’m running off at the mouth because I’m nervous.”
“You’re perfectly articulate. Go on. I’m listening.”
“Thank you. You see we have Manny’s dental chart. The same dentist who kept Beth’s records kept Manny’s X-rays as well. It was a miracle that he had Manny’s because the boy only had one cavity his entire life. Good diet. Not a lot of sugar and lots of whole grains. Not like today’s diet, where everything is refined. But that’s an old lady talking.”
“I agree.”
“Anyway, we took the X-ray over to the police in Nevada. Right now they are trying to use it to positively identify the bones.”
“I see.” A kitchen timer went off. “Excuse me, one second.” Rina opened the oven door and took out two broccoli quiches. “Sorry about that.”
“Oh, please. I’m sorry for interrupting you.”
“It’s no problem. So what’s going to happen to the bones if they are Manny’s?”
“That’s the problem.” She sighed. “We are the closest of kin other than that person locked up in prison and his father, who doesn’t want anything to do with his dead son. It’s up to us to decide what to do with the remains.”
“Yes, that is a problem.”
“We can leave them with the police and let them keep them or dispose of them. That’s an option.” She paused. “But I seem to recall…that the last time we spoke to your husband, Lieutenant Decker seemed to be convinced that Manny didn’t do it…the murder.”
“Okay.”
“Do you think he was telling us the truth or was he just trying to make us feel better?”
“If Peter thinks Manny didn’t do it, then I would believe him.”
Sandra looked intently at Rina. “You said the case made the news. What do you think? Was your husband just being nice or do you think Manny was truly innocent of Beth’s murder?”
Rina gave the question some thought. She sat down at the kitchen table and so did Sandra. Finally, she said. “All right. This is what I think. Sometimes Lieutenant Decker does say things that may soften a blow. But in this case, everyone who knew Beth and Manny, everyone who Lieutenant Decker talked to, the former waitresses who worked with Beth, all the old church members who came out of the woodwork to give their opinion, they all remembered Beth and Manny as a very loving and spiritual couple. Maybe they smoked a little marijuana, maybe they had some unconventional ideas about God, but they were very sincere in their beliefs and in their love for each other. Manny seemed to take his job as church leader very seriously. And Beth was very keen on organic farming. For her, farming for wholesomeness and goodness was a religious thing.”