A Hole In One, Paul Weininger [top novels to read txt] 📗

to give Whitaker the information regarding what the Weissmans had witnessed.

“Here’s a fact you can share with the mayor and he can release to the press. ‘Human remains of a body were found in Rabbi Bloom’s backyard. The Rabbi was arrested on suspicion of murder.’”

“Are you shitting me, Pratt? Are you sure enough of those facts?”

“Well, I told you I found a cremated body in his backyard, with a bullet hole in its head. I think that speaks for itself.”

The marshal called the mayor and gave him the unbelievable news that they arrested Rabbi Bloom for murder. “They found a dead body cremated in his backyard with a bullet to the head.”

“That doesn’t mean shit to me,” the mayor responded. “Anybody could have killed somebody, cremated them and then brought this mess to the Rabbi’s backyard. You had better be fucking sure of yourself before you make me lose the next election and you lose your job!”

The detectives were not able to hold Bloom for more than two days, thanks to the $100,000 bail money his congregation raised. Bloom obtained a lawyer to speed up his release. The lawyer’s name was Albert Jaxson, a criminal lawyer from Sedona.

Twenty-One

Neither Pratt nor Somerville could guess who the cadaver once was. Pratt had a theory that Bloom had killed Carol’s husband Jules in his backyard so that he could have Carol for himself. That would have been reckless, but easy to do if passion got the better of him. After the Rabbi’s arrest, Pratt became increasingly uneasy that the corpse had not yet been identified, so the following evening he drove to Carol and Jules’ home to confirm if Jules was still alive. Carol answered the door. When Pratt asked to speak with her husband, she informed him that he went skiing in Telluride and Vail, Colorado, and would not be reachable for the next few weeks. She didn’t know where he was.

“Seems somewhat odd for him not to tell you how you can get in touch with him. Cell phones work practically everywhere now. Why did he go so far to ski, when there are much closer ski areas at the Mormon Lake Ski Center or the Snowbowl near Flagstaff? It would be a lot closer, wouldn’t it?” he asked Carol.

“I have no idea why he does some of the things he does,” she replied. “Sometimes, since we’ve been arguing so much, he just seems to want to get away from it all. He just takes off for a while and doesn’t want to be bothered. That’s one reason he doesn’t take his cell phone with him. It doesn’t bother me because he comes back sooner or later.”

Pratt was surprised and immensely curious at Jules’ sudden ski trip. “Where exactly is he staying?” he asked her.

“I don’t know. He always rents different cabins up there that have no phones, TV or radio. He just wanted to get away from everything. Sometimes he meets up with some old buddies of his, but I never knew their names.”

“Did he go with any friends that you do know?”

“No, he went alone. Why are you asking me all this? Maybe he’s having an affair, for all I know, did you ever consider that, Detective Pratt?” she asked, with what sounded like hope in her voice.

“Frankly, I don’t give a damn if he is or isn’t, but it does bother me that you, as his wife, don’t know where he is.”

Carol glanced down at her hands and said nothing.

Pratt then took on a more serious and assertive face. “I came to inform you both in person that Rabbi Bloom was arrested last night at his home. We found a cremated body buried under a huge pile of leaves in his backyard, someone we believe the Rabbi murdered. He has therefore been placed under arrest. However, now that your husband has disappeared, I’m wondering if Bloom murdered him and cremated his body in the backyard. Are you sure you don’t have any phone numbers of anyone near him that can go and check on him? Can you call the mountain lodges and find out if he purchased any lift tickets?”

“I can try and call, but I really don’t have any idea where exactly he may be to take those calls. That seems to be the whole point of these trips,” she replied, before asking Johnny to leave her house.

As Pratt neared the front door to leave, he heard a large sob coming from the room he had just exited, along with something that sounded like muffled crying. He thought what Carol heard had really upset her or perhaps she was just acting for his benefit. He was also sure that Jules’ possible death didn’t seem to upset her as much as the Rabbi being arrested.

Pratt and Sommerville decided to check all the lodges and ski lifts in the two mountain ski resorts and then checked the motels. What they learned was, that if Jules was up there he must have paid cash for everything and not left any information containing his name and whereabouts.

A radio call came in to Pratt from the dispatcher after he left Carol’s house. “Hey, Johnny, there was some guy named Rabbi Isaac who called for you.”

“What did he want?”

“All he said was that you should call him at the number I just texted to your cell phone. He says he thinks he might have some information you may be interested in. As you can see from the area code, he called from Scottsdale.”

“Ten-four, I’ll follow up with him in a little while.”

Pratt drove home asking himself questions that he felt needed answers before he could hand the case over to D.A. Stanford for prosecution. She would have the final say on whether they have a case. The more he thought about it, the shakier his case seemed to be.

• Why were four men shot at, and yet none killed?

• Is the shooter extorting money from each of the four?

• Do the four golfers have