Vanished Without A Trace (20 page)

"Okay, so how did you come up with the conclusion that Julia was murdered? I do not understand," she interrupted.

"Wait a minute, Miss, I haven’t finished yet. You should be attentive to understand the hard and invested work we did." He released a proud smile revealed the slimness of his face and his cheekbones. "About the letter Julia left to Deborah, where Kowalski allegedly was not the grandfather..." Gideon crumpled his face, casting doubt about the letter. "It's not serious. No woman claims he is the grandfather and on the other hand leaves a letter claiming the other way. Something doesn’t seem right in the story. I checked it myself and found out Julia lived with Naor, Kowalski’s son, and Daniel’s alleged father, for two years. She was his housekeeper, so, the probability that Naor is his father and Kowalski is his grandfather is very high. It’s true only tests can confirm this, but streams flow down to the sea."

Karina smiled. "So, Kowalski is really the grandfather ..."

"I don’t know. It's really a mystery. I wish I could test it scientifically. Too bad you did not come to me when Daniel was still five years old."

"Well, I have not yet received an answer to my earlier question. How did you come to the conclusion Julia was murdered?"

"Yes, yes. Be patient."

Karina decided not to interrupt him with questions anymore until he was finished.

"It was hard for us to believe a mother, no matter where she lives, would not bother to locate her son. While it is certainly possible, therefore, there are two possibilities, it’s either she lives somewhere or she's dead somewhere. And you won’t believe what we found… a body that matches the exact profile of Daniel’s mother exact profile, buried around the time she left him."

"If she was buried..." Karina found herself interfering again, although she had promised herself not to, but Gideon nodded understandingly, "Exactly, if someone bothered to bury her, it means they had something to hide, the body could lead to him. Other than that, up to now, no one has claimed the body."

"Good, then is it possible to do DNA tests to make sure she is really Daniel's mother?"

Gideon twisted his mouth. "The problem is we don’t have the body. Someone apparently dissolved the case, and the body was taken to some unknown grave."

Karina grinned, "So we're not sure Kowalski is his grandfather and now we can’t even be sure it was Julia?"

Gideon took a deep breath. "You're right about the grandfather, all evidence is circumstantial, but there's something about Julia. I hope that Daniel’s memory can help us. They found a ring on her right foot. Do you think Daniel would remember if his mother was wearing rings on her feet?" Karina recalled the happiest day in her life, when Daniel was stroking her leg and said that she reminded him of his mother, who was groomed like her, and also used to put rings on her feet. She was so absorbed with the memories that Gideon had to call her name to get her attention.

"Sorry," she whispered, "But I remember Daniel told me that his mother used to wear rings on her feet."

Gideon smiled. But Karina remained frozen.

"Well," Gideon continued, "We are left to check who gained from her death. I think I even know the answer." He looked down at the floor. He did not want to meet Karina’s eyes in such a revelation as this. She took out her Checkbook from her handbag, but Gideon stopped her.

"You’ve got your answers. You paid enough for it. You don’t owe us anything."

"I want to know who killed Julia," she broke in a sharp voice.

"Karina, it’s a lot of money, it may be worth spending it, but I am very doubtful if we will be able to find the killer."

"How much?" she interrupted.

He defined a high amount. She transcribed a double amount and handed him the check, looking at his shocked eyes. She sipped from the glass of water, thinking about all the mistakes that she was making for Daniel’s sake.

Gideon noticed the sadness that suddenly fell over her face and tried to cheer her up. "Are you and Daniel a couple?" Gideon didn’t know he was digging in a very painful place.

"Business partners," she replied.

Gideon sensed it was about an unrequited love. He looked at her and felt sorry for his question, but every man who came close to Karina would be confused, even him. He apologized for being nosy. Then he stood up reluctantly. "Well, I'm going. I have lots of work to do."

He took out money from his pocket, but she stopped him, "It's mine."

He refused her offer. "I am kind of primitive in these matters. I insist you let me pay otherwise it will hurt my ego." Gideon left a big tip on the table, shook her hand and left. Karina continued to sit in the restaurant and asked for dessert to have a reason to continue sitting there. At that same moment she noticed Odi entering the restaurant with two businessmen. It was too late to cancel the order or to sneak away from the restaurant. She did not want to meet him, especially now that Daniel entered into her life again. She saw his gaze pass around and stop at her with great joy.

"Come, join us," he said.

"No, thanks, I just finished eating and I need to get back to the office," she tried her luck to avoid him.

"I'll drop by your office after I finish here, okay?"

She nodded. Her office was just a few yards from the restaurant therefore there was no way to refuse. An hour later he came to her office waving two plane tickets. "How about a flight to Amsterdam?"

"I asked for two weeks’ time Odi, please respect it."

"Okay, but a week had already passed and the tickets are due in another week, what's wrong here? You won’t get Daniel even if you ask for a twenty years break from me. Get over it."

Karina did not care she was so transparent, Odi could see she was broken to pieces because of Daniel, she was in love with him body and soul. It bothered her more he was abusing her.

"I'm surprised at you," Odi continued, "The guy is younger than you by almost a decade. You are nothing to him. You're just torturing yourself. Look at me. I'm willing to marry you despite everything. I understand you completely and I’m ready to absorb the circumstances because I know it will change. If Daniel were to meet a young girl, he would marry her and everything will be over."

She felt involuntary tears. His words hurt her so much and almost caused her to throw him out, but she admitted to herself that he was right.

"I suggest we both go for a short vacation to Holland. You’ll see it will do you good. It’s the month of May, it’s a nice time to be in Holland. It’s not so cold. Be optimistic. Come with good intentions towards me. After all, we lived quite well together until the day you met Daniel again. There's no reason we can’t carry on the life we had and start all over again from where we stopped.”

Karina thought if she wouldn’t marry Daniel, any guy could be a match to this target, including Odi.

They stayed at the Marriott hotel in Amsterdam and went down to the cafe. There was an atmosphere of peace and calmness around, something was detached from reality. People talked quietly, as if they were afraid to break the silence. A couple was sitting in the corner, away from the rest. There was a loving look in the eyes of the girl. She gave her boyfriend a long kiss, forgetting she was not alone. He couldn’t stop touching her on the forehead with his forefinger. They look at Karina, and saw her looking at them. She immediately turned awayand was sure she will never know what true love is. That was how it was with her first husband and that’s how it will be with Odi. Emotions, apparently, lead us to the twilight zone, to hallucinations and lack of logic. Every step she had made with Daniel was illogical.

On the third day, they moved to a small hotel in Volendam where there was a housing unit owned by Odi’s father. They enjoyed the pleasant weather. The forecast was calling for five sunny days. Karina loved Volendam, and the beautiful boat docks where colorful shops were surrounding them, offering a variety of souvenirs for tourists. From Volendam they cruised to Marken, a small village stood apart from the two coffee houses; there was nothing there. They settled in one of them and Karina surrendered to the waiter’s encouragement to try their bitter chocolate cake, although there was no need for any extra bitterness. She looked at the woman sitting at the dock, fishing and giving the fish to the Pelican with injured legs that were standing next to her. After a while she noticed the woman's boyfriend, who joined the fishing task. They did not talk much. 'How much love there is between them, that they don’t need words,’ she thought. That’s how she felt when she was with Daniel. Daniel was not a big talker. She had so much love towards him. But on the contrary with the fisherman, Daniel didn’t love her.

In the evening, Odi went to the casino and Karina preferred to stay in the room to read a book. When he left, she closed her eyes and the thoughts of Daniel flooded her head . At two thirty in the morning she heard Odi come back.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"I lost a thousand euros."

"You should have stayed here," she said.

"I wanted to, but I preferred to give you a few hours of freedom from me."

How thoughtful of him, she thought. "You paid a lot for it."

"You're worth it."

A day before the flight back, Odi asked her if she had any plans, or a preference to go to a specific location. She replied she wanted to eat at Rembrandt Square. There was a restaurant where she and her husband often used to go. Karina loved their onion soup. It was worth flying to Holland just because of it. When they arrived, she was surprised to see the restaurant was empty except for some cooks and waitresses.

"I closed the place for us," Odi said.

Karina was familiar with the restaurant and knew it was usually packed at this hour. She wondered how he managed to close it. The food there was the best thing she knew, and Odi knew it. After dinner, he was on his knees. His hand was holding an open red box where a four karat diamond ring was seated. "Will you marry me, Karina?"

Karina looked at him. She did not like the idea he proposed marriage in a place where she used to spend time with her husband, but on second thought she saw as a kind of sign from her husband. A tear fell from her eyes. She knew her positive response was an admission that Daniel would never be hers. Odi interpreted the tear as excitement, and no one was happier than him when she let him put it on her finger.

29

Who killed Julia? Alon asked himself again and again. Was it a stranger she met during her stay in Israel, or was Kowalski involved in the murder? And why
would the killer bother to bury her? Pathological killers do not bury their victims or hide the body. Only people who might be suspected of doing so and only those who fear the body could link them, will conceal them. What’s the motive of the murder? How to start such an investigation?

He took the papers he received from Matthew and reviewed them again, trying to find a shred of a clue or any leads. He reviewed the connection between Naor’s company and the company that his wife’s father owned, a connection turned to a big telecommunication company in the United States. Could Naor’s illegitimate child have sabotaged the connection?

Alon stretched in his chair, considering again and again the possibility this was the reason. The more he thought about it, the more likely it would have served a good basis to develop hatred to the grandson and ignore him. But from hatred to the murder?

Alon felt he had to get advice from Gideon.

He knocked at the door of Gideon's office and opened it without waiting for an answer. There were clients. He apologized and closed the door, but Gideon called him in and introduced him to the clients and invited him to sit. Alon apologized he had to check something important for a client, and left again. He couldn’t contain anything other
than the murder case settled in his head. He returned to his office and sat down without doing anything, waiting for Gideon to finish the session with Dedre Company. When he heard them leaving, he intended to go to Gideon, who came to him instead.

"Has something happened?" Gideon
asked anxiously.

"Actually, I reviewed the papers Matthew gave me. I thought maybe we could find the answer we are looking for in there, but honestly I am locked up. My intelligence is not extensive enough. I'm pinned
.
I'm aiming just for one target, Kowalski. You know, the primary suspect. Every question I ask myself, I get the same answer, Kowalski. For example, I found out Naor’s company was connected to the company of his wife’s father and concluded right away they feared that Naor’s wife would come to know about Naor’s illegitimate child, and that’s why they hid him and murdered Julia." Alon exhaled. "It’s weak, very weak, to get involved in a murder just to hide an illegitimate child."

"Alon, it's not about hiding an illegitimate child. It’s about losing millions. If the company falls apart, do you know how much money the Kowalski family would lose?"

Alon scratched his jaw. "I don’t know." He handed the papers to Gideon. "Take this and read it. Maybe you'll find something I didn’t see."

Gideon took the papers from Alon, "I will review them this evening. I really wanted to ask you long ago to give me the papers for review in order to be familiar with the people involved, you know, to be a little more involved in the investigation."

Gideon was happy to discover his wife decided to go to the movies with her friends. He imagined himself sitting in the living room in front of the TV on low volume while reviewing the papers. "Take your time, you know, Cinema City is open until late hours. You can also do some shopping." He took out a thousand shekels in the hope it would keep her outside the house for a long time and allow him to concentrate on reading; not that she disturbs him, but she did not like when he brought his work home with him.

He showered, put on something casual and comfortable, made coffee and sat down with the papers. He passed through the first thirty pages at once and did not find anything unusual. Everything was a dull affair
.
He went on reading another twenty pages, and still couldn’t find anything would wake him up. He was disappointed and felt he was about to fall asleep. In the twilight he thought if he wanted to maintain his reputation in the office, he had to make Alon his partner, before he opens his own office. At the end, he apparently fell asleep completely. He heard the key in the lock. His wife walked in and her hands were loaded with her purchases. He glanced at the clock. It was three o'clock in the morning.