Fire in a Haystack: A Thrilling Novel (Legal Mystery Book Book 1) by Erez Aharoni Page B
Authors: Erez Aharoni
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always looked, distant and immersed in his own world.
During the evening hours of the third day, his classmate Gali Shviro came to visit on her own. Ofer saw her coming inside, dark brown and tall, her head inclined with nobility. He didn’t need to get any closer to know what scent rose from her hair.
She shook Ofer’s mother’s hand, mumbled some condolences, sat on a white plastic chair next to Ofer and grew silent. Her head was downcast, her heels tapped lightly on the floor and her eyes counted the tiles with embarrassment.
Next to the dining table, which had been moved to the corner of the room, sat two representatives from Viromedical, the factory in which Ofer’s father had worked. They spoke in hushed voices with his mother. One of them took out a cardboard file folder, fished out some documents and showed them to his mother, who looked confused and disoriented.
Ofer’s curiosity grew. He lifted himself a bit on the tips of his toes and slowly turned the plastic chair towards them, moving away from Gali.
With some effort, he managed to focus and block out all other noises, until he could hear their low voices.
“It’s difficult for me to even utter the words, but… he committed actions which could only be defined as… criminal,” said the chubbier of the two. Ofer could see only his back and thick neck.
“The indictment would have been issued in any event,” said Yanovski, the accountant, who joined the conversation and stood next to the table. “Apparently he couldn’t escape it with such conclusive evidence,” he added after leafing through the documents. “I see wire transfers for large amounts of money and correspondences by Mordechai that look really bad. Even terrible… who would have thought Mordechai would cross the line…? I guess you can never know anything about anybody… He worked in Viromedical for so many years and he loved the place. But, if I can say something in his defense, you know his family desperately needed money…” he tried to explain to the two people who sat next to the table. They nodded with understanding.
Accountant Saul Yanovski had been a friend of his father’s ever since their days in the army. Ofer liked the guy. He had a large, symmetrical bald head, a wide smiley face and a kind and childlike expression.
His mother buried her head in her hands. She hadn’t slept for two nights, and her eyes were dim and grief stricken.
“I don’t think the kid should hear or know anything about all this,” said one of the two factory representatives and shifted in his chair with unease. Ofer suddenly recognized the man with the mustache who sat next to the table and continued to stuff his swollen cheeks with fresh pastries. Ofer turned his head but remained within hearing distance. He was happy to discover Gali was busy with her own growing embarrassment and did not hear the conversation.
“I can only guess why he did it,” said his mother softly. “We were close to bankruptcy. I’m ashamed to tell you. And the child’s medical treatments ruined us financially. He must have felt he had no choice.”
Ofer didn’t fully comprehend the meaning of the conversation. Terms such as “bribe money” and “selling commercial secrets” were thrown from clenched lips into the air, and he was not sure he understood their meaning. He didn’t want to listen to any more of it.
The possibility that his father had committed criminal acts that left them with the job of clearing the family name from the embarrassing stain and dealing with the situation by themselves caused him real physical pain. He felt that the words said about his father carried with them a filthy scent that would never leave him. Hatred flared up within him, even though he was ashamed to feel that way about his father.
The knowledge that his father committed criminal acts to pay for his own medical treatment was beyond what Ofer could endure. He had been treated for severe asthma
During the evening hours of the third day, his classmate Gali Shviro came to visit on her own. Ofer saw her coming inside, dark brown and tall, her head inclined with nobility. He didn’t need to get any closer to know what scent rose from her hair.
She shook Ofer’s mother’s hand, mumbled some condolences, sat on a white plastic chair next to Ofer and grew silent. Her head was downcast, her heels tapped lightly on the floor and her eyes counted the tiles with embarrassment.
Next to the dining table, which had been moved to the corner of the room, sat two representatives from Viromedical, the factory in which Ofer’s father had worked. They spoke in hushed voices with his mother. One of them took out a cardboard file folder, fished out some documents and showed them to his mother, who looked confused and disoriented.
Ofer’s curiosity grew. He lifted himself a bit on the tips of his toes and slowly turned the plastic chair towards them, moving away from Gali.
With some effort, he managed to focus and block out all other noises, until he could hear their low voices.
“It’s difficult for me to even utter the words, but… he committed actions which could only be defined as… criminal,” said the chubbier of the two. Ofer could see only his back and thick neck.
“The indictment would have been issued in any event,” said Yanovski, the accountant, who joined the conversation and stood next to the table. “Apparently he couldn’t escape it with such conclusive evidence,” he added after leafing through the documents. “I see wire transfers for large amounts of money and correspondences by Mordechai that look really bad. Even terrible… who would have thought Mordechai would cross the line…? I guess you can never know anything about anybody… He worked in Viromedical for so many years and he loved the place. But, if I can say something in his defense, you know his family desperately needed money…” he tried to explain to the two people who sat next to the table. They nodded with understanding.
Accountant Saul Yanovski had been a friend of his father’s ever since their days in the army. Ofer liked the guy. He had a large, symmetrical bald head, a wide smiley face and a kind and childlike expression.
His mother buried her head in her hands. She hadn’t slept for two nights, and her eyes were dim and grief stricken.
“I don’t think the kid should hear or know anything about all this,” said one of the two factory representatives and shifted in his chair with unease. Ofer suddenly recognized the man with the mustache who sat next to the table and continued to stuff his swollen cheeks with fresh pastries. Ofer turned his head but remained within hearing distance. He was happy to discover Gali was busy with her own growing embarrassment and did not hear the conversation.
“I can only guess why he did it,” said his mother softly. “We were close to bankruptcy. I’m ashamed to tell you. And the child’s medical treatments ruined us financially. He must have felt he had no choice.”
Ofer didn’t fully comprehend the meaning of the conversation. Terms such as “bribe money” and “selling commercial secrets” were thrown from clenched lips into the air, and he was not sure he understood their meaning. He didn’t want to listen to any more of it.
The possibility that his father had committed criminal acts that left them with the job of clearing the family name from the embarrassing stain and dealing with the situation by themselves caused him real physical pain. He felt that the words said about his father carried with them a filthy scent that would never leave him. Hatred flared up within him, even though he was ashamed to feel that way about his father.
The knowledge that his father committed criminal acts to pay for his own medical treatment was beyond what Ofer could endure. He had been treated for severe asthma
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