"Now that's a mistake. David." said Levy portentously. "We must never forget that while the rabbi serves the congregation, he serves them by leading them like the conductor of a great symphony orchestra, and just as the conductor controls the orchestra by having the first-desk men absolutely loyal to him, the rabbi has to have a hard core"—he made a fist to suggest the hard core—"of faithful friends among the leaders of the congregation, who will push his policies, further his plans and, yes, rally to his cause when he gets into trouble."
It crossed Rabbi Small's mind that Levy was quoting from a sermon, or perhaps from an address he had given to a group of rabbinical students. Or, he reflected, maybe his mind just works that way.
"I'll have to remember that. Reuben,” he said.
It was after midnight when the party broke up, and the Smalls made their way to their car for the long drive home to Barnard's Crossing. Rabbi Small fumbled with the lock and then handed the keys to his wife and said. "I think you had better drive. Miriam. I think I may have had a little more than I intended to."
"Are you all right, dear?" she asked anxiously.
"Oh, quite all right, but I expect I'll have a headache in the morning."
He did have a headache the next morning and woke up too late to attend the morning services. In fact, when Lanigan came by just before noon, he was still in bathrobe and slippers. Though quite recovered, he looked wan.
Lanigan surveyed him critically. "You got a touch of the grippe, or did you have a big night last night?"
"I'm afraid I celebrated my reunion with my old classmate a bit more than the occasion warranted. God, how do you Gentiles do it?"
"The first time?" asked Lanigan sympathetically.
"Well, no, not really. On Passover we are required to drink four cups of wine, and a couple of times it's got to me, and then on Simchas Torah, that's when we finish the reading of the Scroll and start all over again, there's a tendency to express our joy and happiness with strong drink, sometimes too enthusiastically. Oh yes, and on the Feast of Purim, excess is practically ordained."
"Isn't it terrible?" said Miriam.
Lanigan chuckled. "They say tomato juice is good for it. I dropped in to tell you how things are going. I felt you had a right to know, we took Gore into custody last night, and it made the news broadcast this morning. Did you hear it?"
The rabbi shook his head. "I slept until ten."
"I’ve no doubt." said Lanigan with a grin. "Well, all it said was that Lawrence Gore has been taken into custody in connection with the Jordon murder, we expect to have further information on the noon broadcast."
"How did he react when—"
"I led our little party myself. I didn't want any mistakes, you know, like forgetting to read him his rights, then I told him what we had on him, and do you know what he said? He said. 'That was pretty good shooting, wasn't it?' What do you think of that?"
"Well, I suppose there are all kinds of things people are proud of."
"He was quite open with us, seeing we had him dead to rights, he did get upset once though, over something Jennings said about Billy, he insisted that he'd never intended to make it appear that the boy had done it. Said it several times."
The rabbi nodded. "I imagine it bothered him, he must have been aware that it was likely. Did he say that he would have come forward and confessed if Billy had been charged?"
"I didn't ask."
"And Billy?"
"I went out to the island to see him this morning."
"To tell him he was free to leave?"
"Aw cummon. David, we never charged him, he was free to leave any time he wanted to."
"If he could swim the distance or hire a rowboat?"
Lanigan looked sheepish. "I'll admit there were impediments, you might say—"
"And how did he take the news about Gore?"
"Well, now, that's interesting, he said he wasn't surprised, he thought it must have been Gore who did it. Because when he went out the window. Gore was the only person there with the old man, and also because he was killed by a perfect shot right between the eyes. So I told him about the other shots and Gore's alibi, and all he said was. 'Oh, well.' as if none of it made any difference. What do you think of that?"
The rabbi smiled. "I suppose it shows that it takes age and experience and the wisdom of maturity to be fooled. What's he going to do now? Go back to New York?"
"No, he likes it on the island and wants to stay until Thanksgiving when the job will be about finished. His mother is due back about then, and he thought he'd wait until she got back to the States. By the way, he asked to he remembered to you, he's coming in with the Hegertys for the weekend and wondered if you'd be willing to see him."
"I'd like to very much, he's coming in Friday? Saturday?" "Friday afternoon, Tom Hegerty said."
"Maybe he'd like to come to Friday night dinner." suggested Miriam.
"I'm sure he'd enjoy that." said Lanigan. "I'll tell him."
"It was Ben Segal who put me on to him." said the rabbi. "How about inviting the Segals, too. Miriam?"
"Fine. I'll call them,” she said. "I'm sure they'd appreciate a home-cooked meal."
54
THE LETTER CAME IN TUESDAY'S MAIL, THE RABBI OPENED it and read "Dear Rabbi Smalclass="underline" This is to notify you that the board of directors have voted to renew—"
Miriam, having heard the postman's ring, came in from the kitchen. "Anything?" she asked.
"Nothing much." And he held the letter out to her.
She tried not to show her relief and pleasure as she read, she even managed to sound cross as she said. "They certainly took their time about it." Then she laughed. "Oh, David. I'm so glad."
He grinned at her. "See, and I didn't have to do a darn thing either."