Sorry this took so long…I've had LOTS of rehearsals for "Noises Off" (I'm playing Dotty).
CHAPTER NINE

Olivia sat in the living room of the Levinson apartment. The place was very cheery and comfortable. Devorah glided into the room carrying a tea service.

"I hope you don't mind herbal tea," she said. "It's all I have."

"It's fine, of course," said Olivia, taking her cup. "Where are the girls?"

"They're still sleeping. I didn't want to bother them…it's been such a hard night."

Olivia took a thoughtful sip. "Devorah…did your father ever do to you or Rivky what he did to Zippy?"

"Well, not that exactly, but lots of things that were similar. Once, I burned the cooking, so he burned my hand. I still have the scars."

Devorah extended her hand towards Olivia, showing rough pink scars. Olivia flinched.

"Why didn't you ever report him?" Olivia whispered.

"I was told that it would mean we'd be taken away…and I didn't want to risk us all getting split up."

"I understand that."

"Dev?"

A small voice came from the other room. Olivia turned to see Rivky and Zippy standing there in their nightgowns, looking tired. Zippy's bruise was an ugly purple.

"Good morning, Olivia," said Rivky politely.

"Hey, Rivky! Hi, Zippy. How are you feeling?"

"Better," said Rivky.

The girls joined Devorah on the couch and snuggled up to her. It was a charming sight, seeing Devorah act as both sister and mother to the battered children.

"Olivia," said Rivky. "Devorah said that I have to go to your station and say what happened to me."

"Well, yes, that's true…you will have to tell us what you remember in an official statement."

"What about Zipporah?"

"Only if she feels well enough."

"I'll do it," said the little girl. "I'll say what happened."

"Are you sure, sweetheart?"

"Yes. Rivky said that if I tell, Tateh can't hurt me anymore."

Olivia's heart went out to these children. She had always assumed that people who lived under such traditional values could never possibly commit acts such as these, but seeing this now…it was very strange. She wondered how Munch was handling it.

"Why don't you two go and get washed up and dressed and then we can go with Olivia down to the station so you can talk to her, all right?" Devorah suggested.

Zipporah took Rivky's hand and they went back into the bedroom. Devorah turned back to Olivia, her eyes shining with tears and a loose curl falling from her headscarf.

"I wish I'd gotten married earlier," she said. "Then they wouldn't have had to stay there for so long."

"Did your mother know?" asked Olivia.

"No," said Devorah. "He made sure never to do anything if she was home or could see. Sometimes he'd wait an entire day before punishing us for something we'd done the night before. She never knew."

"How did she pass away?"

"She had cancer," said Devorah. "It was very sudden."

"I'm so sorry."

"Thank you. At least she didn't have to see anyone get hurt."

"So your father never hit your mom?"

"No."

There was a pause. Olivia sipped her tea.

"Excuse me for a moment…I'll go check on them."

Devorah left the room just as Olivia's cell phone rang. She picked it up and recognized the number on the caller ID as Elliot's.

"Hey, El, what is it?"

"We got the DNA results back."

"Oh, really? Good. So we can charge Kohler with rape, too."

"No, we can't. It wasn't him who raped her."

"What?"

"There weren't any fluids inside her, remember? But the ME found DNA under Rivky's nails…and they aren't from the same family. My best guess is that it was one of the teachers there at that meeting. We need to get a test from everyone who had contact with her that night."

"Elliot…this is insane."

"Yeah, it is. But isn't it always?"