Thursday The Rabbi Walked Out

33

THE VOICE ON THE TELEPHONE WAS EXCITED AND IMPATIENT. "Rabbi Small? I'd like to see you about something. It's terribly important. Do you have office hours?"

"If it's terribly important, my office hours are twenty-four hours a day. Whom am I talking to?"

"You don't know me. My name is Segal. It's about—well, I'd rather not say over the phone. If you'd let me know when I can come—"

"I'm free for the evening. Mr. Segal. You can come over anytime. Right now, if you like."

"I'm on my way. Rabbi."

Twenty minutes later as they shook hands. Rabbi Small said. "Ive heard about you, Mr. Segal."

"Oh? You take a flyer in the stock market?" And as the rabbi smiled in obvious negation, "Oh, I know, the real estate man, Mr. Maltzman, spoke to you, he said he was going to, he hasn't got back to me yet. Is it all right?"

"I'm sure we'd all like to have you join our temple. Mr. Segal, there's no special ceremony necessary."

"But the Bar Mitzvah—"

"You were Bar Mitzvah when you reached the age of thirteen, whether you had a ceremony or didn't. It just means that by our law you are of age." He went on to explain the significance of the ceremony and how it had developed to its present proportion. Segal listened, but with no great interest.

"Good,” he said when the rabbi finished. "You know after I agreed to do it. I got to thinking about it. I was prepared to go through with it, but it occurred to me that it might be kind of embarrassing. I'm certainly glad I don't have to."

"Is that what you wanted to see me about. Mr. Segal?"

"Oh no, nothing to do with your temple. It's about this William Green who's involved in the murder. Have you been following it at all?"

"I read the local papers, and I listen to the news broadcasts."

"You see. Rabbi. I'm living in the hotel for the time being, and I take my meals there, too. You can't help overhearing conversation, and that's all they're talking about, the general consensus seems to be that this William Green did it. I gather that he's new in town and that he was just visiting with the man who was murdered, and there seems to be some suggestion that the young man is somewhat strange, that he has no friends and keeps to himself. I heard one man say that the proof he was guilty was that the police were keeping him under wraps. I guess there was some truth to that, because in one newspaper story, it said they were unable to contact him, and in the news broadcast this evening, it said he was unavailable for questioning by the reporter, then he went on to say he was the son of Hester Grimes, well-known nightclub and TV entertainer, that brought me up sharp. Rabbi, because I know Hester Grimes."

"And you mean he isn't her son?"

"Oh, I don't know about that. I mean. I don't know her that Well, What I'm trying to say— Look here. I get asked to serve on lots of committees for civic campaigns and charity drives, it isn't that I'm more charitable or civic-minded than the next fellow, but while the rationale is that I'm supposed to have proven administrative and executiva ability, the main reason is that it's presumed I'll make a large contribution to the cause and induce my wealthy friends to do the same, well, last year I was involved in a charity bazaar where we got a lot of show people to come—to do a benefit, and when they come, the members of the committee are expected to entertain them, take them to dinner, have them to the house, the works, because they're not getting paid, you see, although some of them do, anyway, I drew this Hester Grimes. I arranged to have her picked up at the airport and brought to our hotel, then we had dinner, and after her stint at the bazaar, we had her come back to our place, she is a delightful, charming woman, and we sat around and talked, and she told us quite a bit about herself. Grimes is her stage name. Rabbi, her real name is Green."

"Then that accounts for—"

"Her original name is Esther Green, she's a Jewish girl. Rabbi."

The rabbi pursed his lips and considered, he was silent for quite some time as Segal waited expectantly, then he said quietly, "What is it you would like me to do. Mr. Segal?"

"Well, Rabbi, here's this young man, just a kid, eighteen or nineteen years old, who is new in town, has no friends, and his mother is somewhere in Europe and probably doesn't know anything about this. Now I'm new here and I don't know this town, but I know how administrators work, they don't go looking for trouble, and when it comes, they try to get rid of it as soon as possible, the easiest way. I know if he's charged, he'll be represented by a lawyer, maybe one that the court appoints, but— look. I don't care how fair and decent the policemen or the town fathers are. I know that a young immature boy will not be treated like a grown man, and a friendless stranger won't get the same kind of treatment that a resident of the town with family and friends would get. I thought you, as rabbi of the community, and since it's a Jewish boy, you could claim some standing. I mean, even if I got him a lawyer, he couldn't just enter the case and say he's representing William Green where he hadn't asked for him. You see?"

"All right, all right. Mr. Segal. I'll arrange to see William Green and let him know, well, that he's not alone."