"Will you do it?" he asked. "Will you find out for me?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to. It's not the sort of case I investigate."
He nodded a couple of times, muttering, "Fine, fine, all right." Then a cunning light shone in his eyes; he produced a fat wallet and counted out a hundred and fifty liras. "For you. To not tell Baruch anything we talked about tonight, and to tell him you were wrong about me and Moria being lovers."
I shook my head.
He sighed. "How much? You need to be reasonable."
"You don't have to pay me anything to say nothing about tonight."
"So take the money and just clear up what you already said about me and Moria."
"No. Because I don't believe you. You're a liar, Mr. Harpaz. You use people to further your own ends, and you don't care what it costs them. I think you did have an affair with Moria, and I'm not going to betray my client and lie for you, understand?"
He stared at me incredulously. "Five hundred liras. That's my last offer, Mr. Lapid."
It was a good one. The sort of money that could tide me over for a long while. But I wasn't tempted. Not when it came from him.
"It doesn't matter how much you offer me. The answer would still be no."
He grabbed my coat. "You can't do this to me. Not to me."
"You did it to yourself." I pushed him off me and turned for the door. I was done here.
The shattering of glass alerted me to what was coming. I ducked and whirled, and the jagged bottle end streaked over my head. If Harpaz had been smarter, he would have hit me with the full bottle. Then he might have caught me by surprise.
I punched him hard. Right on the nose. There was a satisfying crunch, and then he was on the floor, moaning incoherently, blood streaming over his face.
I stood over him, breathing hard. "There's more where that came from if you ever try something like that again."
The door to the room smashed against a wall. There was the barkeep again, knife in hand. Behind him was the solitary customer, brawny and glowering.
"What the hell?" the barkeep growled.
"Mr. Harpaz attacked me and got more than he bargained for. He could use a doctor," I said. "I'll be heading off."
"Like hell you will. He's a valued customer; you, I never met before today."
"I'm just a guy who defended himself and now wants to leave. So step aside. I don't want any more trouble."
"You gonna let him talk to you that way, Mendel?" the customer said, clearly drunk beyond good sense. "In your own place?"
Mendel glared. "You make trouble in my place, you damage my reputation. You need to pay for that."
"Or else?"
"Or Mendel will cut you up some, and I'll help," said the customer, flashing crooked teeth. "And we'll take what's coming to us from your wallet, like it or not."
I nodded slowly. My fingers ached from slugging Harpaz. My ribs were full of stabbing pain from putting my body behind the punch. This had to end quickly and without more violence.
I pulled out the gun. Pointed it straight at Mendel's face. "Drop the knife and kick it here."
His face turned white, and he complied. I stepped on the blade and turned the gun on the equally stunned customer.
"You got something to say?"
He shook his head and raised his hands. Decent of him to stick them up without my asking.
"Step inside. Both of you. Go sit on those chairs there."
They obeyed. They looked like misbehaved pupils awaiting their headmaster's ruler.
Harpaz, his mouth ringed by a beard of red, raised himself on his elbows and gave me a look of abject hatred. "I'll get you for this, Lapid. I'll get you."
"You'll have to get in line," I said, not bothering to point the gun at him. To the other two, I added, "I'm going to walk out now. I'll close this door behind me. Count to five hundred and only then come out. And if I ever see either of you two again..."
I pulled the trigger.
The bullet blasted a chunk of floor near their feet. They both jumped with a yelp. The report echoed around the small room, and the air stank of spent gunpowder and blood.
I walked backward until I passed through the door and then slammed it shut. I hurried out. I didn't think they'd come after me, but you can never know with fools and drunks.
It was raining with rage, and I was glad. The heavy downpour had probably muffled most of the report.
