CHAPTER FOUR
Munch knocked on the door of the apartment where the Kohler family resided.
"Who is it?" a child's voice called.
"It's the police. Can we come in?" Munch responded.
The door, chain still in place, opened. A little girl, no older than seven, with curly hair and an angel's face, stood there. She wore a long skirt and looked just like Rivky. Fin knelt to her level.
"Can we talk to your parents, sweetheart?" he asked.
The girl nodded, closed the door, removed the chain, and let them inside. Munch touched part of the door and kissed his fingers. Fin awkwardly did the same, but apparently didn't do it right because Munch looked as though he were holding back some comment.
"Tateh! The police are here," called the little girl.
"What's your name?" Munch asked her.
"Zippy," she said.
A man came into the little room. He was a formidable man, but looked pale and sickly at the moment. He coughed a bit before greeting the detectives.
"What's this all about?" he asked.
Fin glanced at Munch. "You don't know what happened to your daughter this morning?"
"Something happened to my Devorah?" Mr. Kohler gasped.
"No, to Rivky," said Munch.
Mr. Kohler relaxed at once and his face became one of disdain. "More trouble at school, I assume?"
"Uh, more trouble?" asked Munch.
"Rivky is a troublemaker. Ever since my wife passed away, may she rest in peace, she's been acting out."
"How so?"
Mr. Kohler looked from the detectives to Zippy. "Zipporah, why don't you go and play in your room?"
"Why isn't she in school today?" asked Fin after Zippy left the room.
"She just got over a cold. It's freezing out and I didn't want her to catch it all over again."
"Okay. Let's talk about Rivky now," said Fin.
"Rivky used to be the perfect student. All of her teachers loved her, and she never crossed a fellow student…she'd never even had a detention. But when her mother died, she began to lash out. She stopped doing homework. She's been caught at least five times at school talking to boys. I've caught her many times trying to leave the house dressed untzniusly. She tried to sneak out in jeans once."
"Jeans cover the knees," Fin reasoned.
"Girls wear skirts," said Mr. Kohler firmly.
"Sir, Rivky was attacked last night and wasn't found until this morning," said Munch.
"She what?"
"Where were you last night?"
"Here with Zippy. Rivky went to pick up her notebook from school after dinner. I think that was around…six-thirty, I guess."
"You didn't worry when she didn't come home?"
"I didn't know. I was asleep. I've been very sick and the medicine I take makes me drowsy. I didn't wake up until nine this morning. I thought she'd gone to school without waking me."
Fin looked at Munch significantly. Munch got the message.
"Will you excuse us for a minute?" he asked. Mr. Kohler nodded and retreated into the kitchen.
"You notice he still hasn't asked what exactly happened to Rivky?" said Fin.
"Yeah," said Munch. "He just launched into the problem child routine."
"If wearing jeans makes someone a problem child, then what the hell was I growing up?"
"A demon seed. But some things never change."
