Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home

Chapter Thirty-One

Sergeant Herder of the Boston Police Department was a man of infinite patience, and he found himself forced to use every bit of it as he dealt with the slattern before him. “Now, look, Madelaine, let’s see if we can get a little cooperation. Remember what I told you: That man knows you saw him leave the Wilcox place, and he might get worried about it and try to do something drastic. Do you understand?”

The woman, her eyes fixed on him as though hypnotized, nodded her head rapidly.

“What do you understand?”

“He might try to do something.”

“What?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Sergeant Herder got up and walked rapidly to the end of the room. He stood there for a moment, gazing at the wall. Then he came back slowly. “He might try to kill you,

Madelaine, the way he did Wilcox. That’s what he might try to do.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, sir, what?”

“He might try to kill me.”

“Fine. Just remember that. Just keep that in mind. So we’ve got to get him before he has the chance. And to get him, we have to know what he looks like. See?”

“I know what he looks like.”

“I know you do, but we don’t unless you tell us. Now what size man was he? Was he a big man or small?”

“Sort of middling.”

“What color hair did he have?”

“He had his hat on.”

“All right, what color hat was it?”

“Just a man’s hat.”

“Just a hat. Fine. Now Officer Donovan here is an artist. Madelaine. He draws pictures.”

“I know what an artist is.” she said with dignity.

“Sure you do. Now we’re getting somewhere. Officer Donovan is going to show you some outlines of faces, and I want you to tell him which one looks most like the man’s, the man we’re talking about, the man you saw. Understand?”

She nodded.

“Show her one with a hat. Donovan.”

She looked at the outline. “The hat was squashier.” she said.

“How about the outline of the face?”

“Yeah, that could be it.”

“Fine. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“Just a minute.” said Donovan. He sketched rapidly and presented another outline to her, quite different from the first. “How about this one?”

“Yeah, that could be it.”

“Maybe you ought to try her on the mug shots again.” suggested Donovan.

Herder shook his head in total frustration.

“I’m sure she’d know him if she saw him. She just can’t describe him.”

“By now, I’m not sure she even saw him.”

“It was the same wav with the other one, the football player, but she picked his picture out of the bunch we handed her.”

“Yeah,” He turned back to the woman. “Now, Madelaine, I’m going to show you a bunch of pictures and you tell me if you see him. All right?”

“Sure, Sergeant, anything you say.”