Fire in a Haystack: A Thrilling Novel (Legal Mystery Book Book 1) (11 page)

Morris had had enough of the old man’s slow pace. He knocked on the closed gray door. No answer was heard from within. Ijou couldn’t restrain himself. He hadn’t built his reputation on self-control. He went over to the door and leaned his entire body on it. Doors in buildings that were constructed more than thirty years ago were not designed to hold up against such a muscular mass.

The door shrieked, as if it were escaping out of panic into the apartment. Ijou was carried by its forward movement and disappeared inside.

Ofer wondered again what he must have been thinking when he decided to add such a crew to his mission. But it was too late. The old man realized that things were about to get out of hand. Without asking, he hastily filled up another glass from the vodka bottle and set it on the floor. Then he went back in his apartment, leaving the door open only a crack.

Ofer hurried to follow Ijou into Natalia’s dark apartment. He turned on the light in order to hurry and get him out. The scene that revealed itself to him was far from delightful. Clothes, magazines, and fast-food bags were scattered everywhere. The table was full of bread crumbs and unwashed dishes.

Morris did not wait for an invitation either. He went inside and walked about the apartment.

“Your girlfriend’s not here,” Morris announced decisively. Ofer accepted his conclusion.

Ijou, on the other hand, understood that Morris wasn’t happy about something, and his inner flame ignited. He walked with long strides into the center of the living room, slammed his hand with all his might on the side of the brown cabinet that stood along the long living room wall and barked with his rumbling voice, “Why not here? Why?”

The powerful blow shook the cabinet. Both its doors swung opened noisily, like saloon doors in the Wild West. Right after they opened, a large parcel rolled out of the cabinet and fell to the floor with a hollow thump. Morris and Ijou recoiled.

Ofer eyed the package. An irregular shape was wrapped with a carpet and tied with a thin, strong rope. He untied the rope and opened the carpet to reveal its contents.

Inside was a body. The three men jumped back in shock.

Ofer didn’t need more than a split second to identify Natalia.

Her hands were tied behind her back with the same rope that had secured the parcel. There was something different about her, though. She had short hair. Ofer understood why instantly. Her thick, beautiful yellow braid had been cut from the crown of her head and stuffed into her mouth.

Fresh bruises could be seen on her cheeks and forehead. Deep cuts. Cuts that had been made maliciously. Not scratches that were caused by chance or struggle. The bastard who had cut her hair had corrupted her beauty in a sick and vicious way. Or perhaps he’d done it to force her to open her mouth and reveal something she alone knew and then silenced her forever.

The braid was held in her mouth with duct tape. Ofer recognized in her eyes the same frozen stare he had seen in them when they had found Rodety’s body together at the hotel.

Morris and Ijou were petrified and did not utter a word. Even for these two rough characters, this was not an everyday sight, the body of a beautiful woman who’d been beaten and murdered. 

Ofer returned his focus to the body. He didn’t need to check for a pulse. No living creature could have survived being rolled up in a carpet inside that cabinet with a thick braid stuffed in its mouth, even if it had been alive when it was tied up.

Ijou left the body, returned to the outspread carpet and began to finger it attentively. Ofer looked at him. The carpet’s geometrical shapes captured his eye—deep orange and blue diamonds and triangles inside a large rectangle decorated on both sides with lions that stood on their hind legs.

He wondered if Ijou really knew something about the quality of Caucasian carpets, densely woven from fine wool, or if he was only enthusiastic about the colorful nature of the carpet. Ofer joined Ijou and felt the carpet with his own hands. A shiver passed through his spine. He was as excited as Ijou, if not more.

But it was not the quality or the deep colors of the carpet that put Ofer in such a state.

The terrifying question that filled him with unease was—How the hell did Natalia come to be rolled up in the Caucasian carpet his father, Mordechai Angel, may he rest in peace, had brought home from Turkey?

And the second question that immediately followed, like a Siamese twin—How did the carpet leave his apartment at the heart of Tel Aviv and end up in 27 Hamaapilim Street in Holon?

Or perhaps he was too hasty in his conclusion and it was not his carpet. 

Chapter 13

Fliegelman leaned over the book in front of him. A forty watt electric bulb dangled over his head and illuminated the small guard booth with a murky light. He read the thirteenth story in
Nabokov’s Dozen
. Even though he knew the stories by heart, he returned to read them again and again, like an addict.

From time to time, he lifted his head, looked at the column of cars that disappeared down the main street, then quickly returned to read another paragraph, before raising his head again.

In the next instant, a tall figure wearing dark clothes and a baseball cap emerged from the other side of the road, ran across the two asphalt driveways, crouched when it reached the concrete wall and neared the
booth.

Fliegelman tensed up. He closed the book and took out the gun from the leather holster attached to his belt.

The figure came closer to the booth, and for a moment it seemed it intended to sneak its way inside.

Fliegelman carefully raised his gun to his chest and focused his eyes. The door opened all at once.

“Shtop or I’ll shoot.”

“What’s wrong with you? It’s me,” said Gali Shviro and removed the hat from her head.

“Gali, you’re inshane. I almosht shot you.” Fliegelman was furious.

“But we scheduled to meet here,” Gali tried to explain.

“Exactly. We scheduled. Sho why are you shneaking in like a thief?” said Fliegelman. His nose became redder when he was angry the tiny, tangled capillaries became more noticeable.

“All right, sorry, I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself.”

“You have a great sense of humor, really. You think that if you’re wearing a hat and crouch while you run when everything is lit up all around you, you won’t draw attention to yourself?”     

“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to startle you. Say, what’s that large building with the hungry monsters graffiti on its walls? I passed it on the way here.”

“The one that’s next to the fence down the road? It was probably part of the factory but was abandoned. I don’t know why. They’ll probably demolish it soon. I pass by it during my patrols, but I have never actually been inside.”

“Got it. How are you? What have you got for me?”

“I’ve done what you asked me to do. I have the address. Cyrus Street in the Lod industrial area. They told me it’s right next to the large Aerospace Industries factory. There’s no number. Everybody knows where it is.”

“You’re wonderful! You’re on your way to getting another kiss tonight.”

Fliegelman blushed with embarrassment. “No need, really.”

“Tell me, Josh, where’s the entrance to the factory’s sewage system?”

“You never rest, do you? It’s a large system. I’m not sure where the entrance is and if it’s even possible to get inside. But if you want to start somewhere, the northern part of the factory includes a water purification system that has huge pipes coming out of it.” Fliegelman pointed his finger in the correct direction. “The main entrance is on the other side. We are on the back side. You can’t come inside from this entrance. You need to go straight ahead, close to the fence. You’ll see them. The pipes. They pass over the fence and go into the sewage system. It’s too dark now. I don’t know what you’ll be able to do there at night.” It was a long explanation and Fliegelman could see Gali flinch as he struggled to get the words out clearly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll manage. I’ll keep in touch with you.”

“Hold on. Hold on. The inner purification system hasn’t been working for a few weeks. That’s what I was told. Perhaps you should keep that in mind.”

“Again, thank you. Thank you so much!” said Gali and quickly went on her way, leaving Fliegelman disappointed that she did not fulfill her promise regarding the kiss.

She ran quickly to the edge of the high cement fence and passed the large building with the graffiti. The images that were drawn on its walls, wide-eyed with large, gaping mouths full of sharp teeth, appeared scary in the darkness.

To her great joy, the purification system was easy to spot. It was at the end of the factory yard, removed from the main complex, next to the fence, just like Fliegelman had told her. Should she climb the fence and enter the factory? It seemed too dangerous to her. And the purification system wasn’t working. Another solution must be found at this stage, outside the fence and not inside.

The large pipes of the sewage system were easy to spot as well. They passed beyond the high concrete fence and the barbed wire at its top. Black and thick they sprang towards the sky then descended to the depths of the earth. The street was dimly lit. Gali looked around and could see no one.

Gali shrugged off her backpack and took a small flashlight out of it. The light beam was strong and focused as it shone on the fence and the oversized pipes. They were swallowed inside the earth right after they descended above the fence. The system appeared to be hermetically sealed. For a moment, she thought about trying to climb the fence again to see if the purification system could be accessed, but she rejected the idea once more. The fence was high. Barbed wire curled at its top. Every way she considered it, the risk was too
high.

Gali examined the surrounding area again. The pipes must continue beneath the fence and beyond it and then connect to the central sewage system. She advanced north, and after about a hundred and fifty feet, beyond the factory fence, she found the drainage opening. She pointed the flashlight inside and saw a muddy liquid material. She bent and tried to slip her hand beneath the grille and reach the bottom, but the ditch was too deep, and there was no way of reaching it.

She straightened up and tried to think what to do next. Perhaps with a long instrument she could scratch off some of that muddy material. But she didn’t have any equipment. 

A vehicle approached from afar, driving slowly. Gali hurried and took off her hat.              The vehicle stopped. Gali identified the make—a Mazda 6. The man who came out of the car was about fifty. He wore stained coveralls, his face was dark and the look in his eyes did not inspire trust.

“Can I help you?” he asked kindly.

“Yes, sure.” Gali kept her cool. “I was toying with my ring while walking, and it fell inside the sewer,” she said.

“This is not the sort of place you should hang around in with jewelry. Come to think of it, this is not the sort of place for a young woman to hang around in anyway, especially at this time of night,” he said, and Gali was terrified for a moment and regretted the story she invented. 

“Come, I’ll help you,” continued the mysterious stranger whose intentions were still unclear to Gali.

Together, they grabbed the iron lattice and tried to lift it, unsuccessfully. “Wait a moment,” he said and went to his car, which was still running. “I’m a car mechanic,” he explained when he came back with a large iron bar, “you’ll never catch me unequipped.”

Gali took a pace back. One should be careful. It was nighttime. And an anonymous Good Samaritan with a metal bar could be dangerous, even if his intentions appeared to be positive.

He jammed the bar between the iron frame and the rail. “Give me a hand,” he said, “it won’t work without a joint effort.”

Gali hesitated before she gave him a hand. This time they managed to lift the grate.

Gali didn’t wait and sprang inside, holding the backpack with one hand. The sewage channel came up past her waistline. Gali turned on the flashlight and crawled on her knees. A sharp stench rose up her nose, and her eyes became teary. She tried to identify the smell but couldn’t. It was stinging and violent.

She became dizzy. She pinched her nose and advanced about ten feet forward. The flashlight cast strange shadows on the walls of the pipe. She held her breath.
I can stay like this for at least a minute, perhaps even ninety seconds.
With the flashlight between her teeth and her eyes watering, she saw from up close the liquid mud that filled the bottom of the channel.

Without thinking twice, she pushed one hand into the muck while maintaining her balance with the other one. She took a handful of the strange mud and dropped the sticky, smelly material into a plastic bag she had prepared in advance.

“What’s going on? Where are you?” the mechanic outside wanted to know. “Did you find it? Do you need help?” he sounded concerned.

“Yes, what luck,” called Gali when she reached the exit by crawling back.

Only now did she allow herself to breathe and filled her lungs with oxygen. She emerged from the channel with a wide smile on her face. She stood up and showed him the ring she had taken off her finger while crawling out of the sewage pipe.

The mechanic looked at her. Her clothes were filthy, her knees were black from mud, and so was the hand that held the small silver ring.

“What’s so important about this ring that you’d be willing to crawl down the sewer to get it back?” he asked.

“My boyfriend gave it to me,” she invented without any hesitation. “I would have done anything to find it.”

“What’s his name?” He was interested.

“Ofer,” she said, surprised that was the first name that came into her mind.

“Well done,” he said. “Look how dirty you are now. Want to come and clean your hands in my garage?”

“No, thank you. I appreciate it, but I have some wipes in my car. You really rescued me.”

Gali hurried to get away towards her vehicle, happy and proud that she had succeeded in her mission. She knew exactly what to do with the material she had shoved into the plastic bag.