Tuesday The Rabbi Saw Red

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

The story of the rabbi's part in releasing young Abner Selzer gained wide currency; the Selzers made no attempt to conceal it— quite the contrary. Reactions were mixed.

"I'm not so sure the rabbi did such a good thing, after all, the kids did bomb the place, didn't they? And for my money Jail is exactly the right place for them.

"Others were pleased. "Our rabbi, you got to hand it to him. I don't know how he does it, and I'm not sure he does either; it's like he's got a kind of sixth sense about these things. Remember that time with Hirsh, where everybody thought the guy was a suicide and made all this fuss about burying him in our cemetery, and then the rabbi found out the guy had been murdered so it was okay after all."

Some were inclined to minimize the rabbi's role. "You want to know what I think? I think the rabbi talked to Selzer, all right, and suggested he get him out on bail, like anyone might, then when it worked out. Selzer made a whole spiel because to the Selzers, especially Mrs. Selzer, the rabbi is God's gift to Barnard's Crossing. Mind you. I'm not saying anything against our rabbi, because personally, I'm strong for him— a little. Let's put it this way, if you were to split the congregation into pro-rabbi and anti-rabbi. I guess I'd line up with the pro-rabbi side. But there's no sense losing your sense of proportion. What's such a big deal?"

Paul Goodman, when asked directly by a friend, smiled and said enigmatically, "That's why they don't allow hearsay evidence in court."

"You mean he had nothing to do with it? But Selzer says—i"I'm not suggesting that," said Goodman. "Mr. Selzer did come to me and ask me to file a motion. But we were planning to do so anyway, as soon as the other boy was apprehended by the police. It all reminds me of something Doc Simons, the pediatrician, was telling me. Most of the time he finds it's the mother he has to treat, not the infant. It's the same way in criminal practice when your client is a minor. It's the parents you have to worry about, and when it's a Jewish parent...."Not surprisingly, those who were not his supporters downplayed the rabbi's contribution. While conceding he had brought it off, they thought the rabbi probably had got a hint from his friend Lanigan, the police chief, who had got it from the Boston police "because all these cops hang together.

" Lanigan met the rabbi a short time later. "Bradford Ames played that one pretty close to the chest," he said. "Even my friend Schroeder was surprised, he thinks the D.A, let the kids off because he figures he can make out a better case against this Ekko than against all five of them."

"They've found him then?" asked the rabbi. "I thought you knew. Yes, it was a bit of luck, according to Schroeder. You need luck, because nowadays you've got a regular underground with these young kids, any city you name, there's places they can go. In the old days, a hood on the run had it rough, the more heat there was, the rougher it was to find sanctuary. But with these kids, it works the other way, and if it's the police he's running from, instead of just his parents, then they're all the more eager to help him. It's become a little easier the last year or so because the Feds have infiltrated a lot of these groups, but still we don't find too many that don't want to be found, they all look alike— with the clothes and the beards and the hair, and the girls wear their hair down covering half their faces. Usually when we catch them it's because they got tired running."

"Did Schroeder say what the young man was charged with?" asked the rabbi. "My guess is that they won't press the felony murder charge; they'll just stick to arson because it's easier to get a conviction, and I wouldn't be surprised if nothing came of that, either, these college cases are tough, there's no push behind them because the public doesn't exert any pressure."

Lanigan shook his head. "You ought to hear the way some of the men on the force complain. To John Q. Public these kids may be mistaken or misguided, but criminals? Never! When a college kid steals, it's so he can give the money to the peace campaign or to promote ecology, they're a bunch of regular little Robin Hoods."

Lanigan ran his hand over his face in exasperation and his tone was bitter. "In the old days a hood stole to buy himself a new car, some flashy clothes. But these kids drive old jalopies and wear beat-up clothes. So that proves they're a bunch of idealists. Right? Wrong! The law enforcement people know that they're apt to have a couple thousand dollars worth of hi-fi stereophonic equipment and that they're supporting a dope habit that may run to a hundred bucks a day."

Lanigan had talked himself into a state of gloomy cynicism. "You mark my words. Rabbi, nothing will come of this case at your college. It wouldn't surprise me if the Commonwealth were to drop the charges because they know they won't get a conviction, and the police are left in the middle, unable to do a thing.

"But the next day, Roger Fine was arrested and charged with the murder of his acting department head. Professor John Hendryx.