The Bar Mitzvah Murder Read Online Free PDF

most wonderful dishes on it, ice sculptures, the whole thing. And it was delicious. We stayed for a couple of hours. There was champagne, live music, everything.”
    â€œAnd then?”
    â€œIt was late afternoon when we broke up. Hal and I wanted to walk because we were so stuffed, so my in-laws took the kids back to the hotel and we just walked around. Jerusalem is closed up on Saturday, you know.”
    â€œIt’s the sabbath.”
    â€œAnd nothing’s open, just the hotels and maybe some little restaurants. But it’s not a shopping day. Even the supermarkets are closed. So we had the pleasure of walking on empty streets, looking in windows, that kind of thing.”
    â€œWhat happened to Gabe?”
    â€œI don’t really know. We hugged him and kissed him after the meal and said we’d see him the next day.”
    â€œSo the celebration continued for a second day,” I said.
    â€œRight. Gabe said he didn’t want to overdo it and have an evening out after a big day, so he scheduled the final party for Sunday afternoon.”
    â€œAnd where was that?”
    Mel had a map with her and she opened it on the table, folding it back to highlight a small portion. “We’re here.” She pointed. “The party was here somewhere.” She opened the map and circled an area with her finger. It didn’t mean much to me, as I had not yet come to terms with the geography of the city. “It’s a lovely place. We had a champagne lunch on the patio, dancing, and we did a lot of singing. The weather was gorgeous, so we were outside.”
    â€œAnything unusual happen?”
    â€œYou mean before Gabe—?”
    â€œBefore, yes.”
    â€œNothing.” She looked at me blankly. “Everything was normal. We were a bunch of friends and family having a good time.”
    â€œYou said last night that Gabe had an accident.”
    â€œThat’s what we thought it was. I mean, what else could it have been?”
    â€œHow did it happen?”
    â€œWe were all having a good time. I remember hearing someone say, ‘Where’s Gabe? He can tell you.’ But no alarms went off. I don’t always know where Hal is at a party. Then I heard Marnie—Gabe’s wife—say, ‘Gabe? Gabe, where are you?’ I remember I kind of looked around, but I didn’t see him. A minute or two later, I heard someone scream.”
    â€œWho was it?”
    â€œYou know, I’m not sure. I thought at first it must be Marnie, but it could have been another woman. It was just a scream. We all stopped talking and people started running.”
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œAround the back, behind the little band. When they saw us running, they stopped playing. I didn’t really see him at first. A lot of the others got to him before I did, but I could see his leg stretched out on the grass. Hal’s cousin Leonard—he’s an internist in New York—pushed through the crowd and dropped out of sight. I walked over and saw him leaning over Gabe, testing his pulse maybe. Gabe was lying flat on his back, eyes closed. There was a little bit of blood on his shirtsleeve, I think, so I assumed he’d cut himself or hurt himself on something. I really didn’t know what to think, it was so surreal. Here we were having a good time and suddenly something terrible happens. I didn’t really grasp it till later.”
    â€œWhat did the doctor do? What did he say?”
    â€œMaybe he was giving him CPR; I’m not sure. Then he shouted, ‘Get an ambulance.’ ”
    â€œWho called the ambulance?”
    Mel looked confused. “I don’t know, but I’m not sure anyone at the party did. It came so soon, someone in the hotel must have called.”
    â€œSo someone inside saw what happened.”
    â€œI’m sure a lot of people saw it. There were waiters bringing drinks and coffee and whatever.”
    â€œOK, so he got