“Can you answer the question?”
“I’m doing business with my partner,” Gold said. “Real business.”
“You do business with Mr. Yalom at his house?”
“All the time. Like you saw—about two, three days a week.”
“Then why bother with the office?”
“For the clients.”
Gold’s face was unreadable. Decker didn’t buy his story. “Mrs. Yalom doesn’t get in your way?”
“Dalia works. Even if she’s home, I rarely see her. We go into Arik’s office, shut the door …” Gold shrugged. “Certain things are better discussed away from Yochevet.”
“You’re not worried about Dalia hearing things?”
Gold remained stone-faced. “No.”
Six years in the Israeli army. Guy’s a tough cookie. Decker said, “And you haven’t seen or heard from Mr. Yalom in the past two days?”
“Nothing. I’m very concerned. Maybe he got too reckless.” Gold took out a pack of cigarettes. “Do you mind?”
Decker shook his head.
“Yochie hates it.” Gold lit up. “Says I smell up the office. That girl has a big mouth.”
“Why do you keep her?”
“Because she’s good.”
Good in what capacity? Decker said, “Tell me about Mr. Yalom.”
“I told you all I know.”
“That Mr. Yalom is stingy. How stingy could he be, living in a house like that?”
“That’s for Dalia.” Gold blew out smoke. “The house was bought with her money.”
Decker perked up. “Dalia has money?”
Gold nodded. “Her father is a very wealthy diamond dealer in Israel. When she met Arik, he was nothing but a poor stonecutter.”
“I thought his family had money … jewels smuggled out from Europe.”
“Yes, the Yalom family owns a few nice pieces of jewelry. But nothing compared to Mr. Menkovitz.” Gold took a final puff of his smoke, then crushed the butt. “It was Dalia’s father who gave Arik money to invest in diamonds. She set him up.”
“Is it a sore spot with Mr. Yalom?” Decker asked. “His wife setting him up?”
“Mah pitom?” Gold said. “Why should it be a sore spot? Arik has done very well by himself.”
Decker said, “But Dalia still has independent wealth?”
Gold said, “Her father takes care of her.”
Decker now wondered if someone was out to get Dalia. Who would gain from her demise? First, Arik, then her sons. Maybe this was all some messy family affair. He said, “I heard Arik didn’t get along with his sons.”
Gold said, “Where’d you hear that?”
“Is it true?”
Gold rubbed his chin. “Does Arik fight with his boys? Of course he does. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love them.”
“What about Mrs. Yalom? Does she fight with the boys?”
“Dalia? No.” Gold’s face softened. “Dalia doesn’t fight with anyone. She is soft. Like her mother.”
“You know the family?”
“I knew them before Arik did. I’m old family friend. I grew up in the neighborhood. I baby-sat Dalia.”
“How’d she meet Arik?”
“Her father introduced them.”
“And you approved of the match?”
Gold studied Decker. “What does my opinion matter? The family approved. Dalia approved. They get married. End of story.”
“But you’re still in the picture.”
Gold smiled. “Arik invited me in the business. I take opportunity. That is all, Mr. Sergeant. That is all.”
Come back to that one, Decker thought. He said, “I heard Arik fought a lot with Dov.”
“He can be hard on him, yes.”
“What about the older son?” Decker asked. “How does Gil get along with his father?”
“Gil is easygoing. And he’s no student. He knows eventually he’ll have to come into the business. Arik knows it, too. He’s not concerned with Gil. Dov is another story … brighter. He has options. So he wants nothing to do with the business. That makes Arik feel bad. What does this have to do with the family missing?”
“I’m just wondering if the family didn’t have one bad fight and things got out of hand.”
Gold genuinely looked horrified. “You think one of the boys … not a chance in hell!”
Decker said nothing.
“I don’t care what you’ve seen in your America.” He pointed to himself. “I know Arik’s boys. They are good kids. It is impossible. Start thinking about other things because you are on the wrong side.”
The diamond dealer was vehement in his opinion. Was he doing it on purpose to bring attention to the boys? Take the search away from him? Decker started thinking. Who else might benefit from Yalom’s demise? Perhaps Gold himself.
“Orit last saw her brother around two-thirty Friday afternoon,” Decker said. “Did you see him after that?”
Gold thought a moment, then checked a desk calendar. “Two-thirty Friday, I was just finishing up business with a client.” His finger scanned down the calendar. “Last I saw Arik was maybe Friday morning around … ten.”
“You have no idea where the family might have gone?”
“None whatsoever. I don’t mind telling you I’m scared for the family. People think they have plenty of money just lying around the house. What we have is inventory and investments, but burglar doesn’t know that. He puts gun to your head anyway. Says open the vault. He doesn’t see cash, he sees stones that are hard to fence.”
“I take it you’ve checked the vault?”
“As soon as you called and told me about the family is gone, I checked the common vault. Nothing is missing.”
“Does Arik have his own private inventory?”
“I think no.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. We’re partners.”
Decker smiled. “You’ve never heard of partners cheating each other?”
Gold waved him off. “That is not a problem, I promise you.”
Decker paused. “You check up on him, don’t you, Mr. Gold.”
“Cheating is not a problem,” Gold stated once again.
“I’m just wondering if Mr. Yalom has diamonds that are not part of your business partnership. Maybe diamonds acquired from Mrs. Yalom’s wealth.”
Gold shrugged, then lit another cigarette. “Maybe. I never thought about that … but maybe.”
“The thought seems to bother you.”
Gold hid behind a cloud of nicotine. “What do I care what Arik does with his money?”
Decker waved the smoke away from his face but didn’t answer.