Do or Die

by Barbara Fradkin

  “Evidence that Raquel’s ticket to Beirut was booked at six o’clock on the evening Blair was murdered, not several weeks in advance, as holidays usually are.”

  Haddad snorted. “So what?”

  “Evidence that Raquel was Blair’s girlfriend and his lover for at least two weeks before his death.”

  “I told you I never knew—”

  “Evidence that you had an argument with Raquel on the steps of the science building at four o’clock, just hours before Blair was murdered. An eyewitness identified you both.”

  For the first time, Haddad’s bluster faded. He glared at Green mutely.

  Green flipped a page. “Evidence that your sons Edward and Paul forcibly took Raquel away from Jonathan at six-thirty, half an hour after you’d booked her plane ticket. They were in the student coffee shop, your sons argued with Blair, and when he tried to help Raquel, they assaulted him. Another student witnessed the whole thing.”

  Haddad had turned from flushed to ashen. He seemed about to deny everything but checked himself. The silence lengthened, and Green let him stew. Finally, Haddad glowered.

  “Is it against the law to talk to your niece? For her family to take her away from a boy they do not like?”

  “Then you’re saying you knew about Jonathan Blair?”

  Haddad nodded impatiently. “Yes, all right! I knew about him. Raquel is young. Canadian girls—they have more freedom than Lebanese girls. They don’t listen to their family. Raquel wanted to be like a Canadian girl, too wild. It’s no good.”

  “So you forced her to go back to Lebanon?”

  “Forced? No. She listened to her family. She knows it is best for her.”

  “Mr. Haddad, she was screaming and crying. Your sons had to drag her away.”

  “It was because of him! Because he was trying to control her mind. Later, after she talked to me, she knew I was right. I don’t care if you don’t understand this, sir. Or if you agree or not. Your way is for you. For me and my family, this way is right.”

  “As simple as that? You talk to her and she forgets all about Jonathan Blair, her freedom, her future, her dreams?”

  “She remembered our ways.”

  “And just by chance, Jonathan Blair is stabbed to death a couple of hours later.”

  “That has nothing to do with it! I took Raquel away from him. End of story!”

  “We have a witness who saw your sons assault him. How do you know they didn’t return to finish the job?”

  “Because they are good boys! They go to college, Eddie is going to be a lawyer.”

  Reaching into the bag at his feet, Green withdrew the plastic bag containing a black shirt and laid it on the table between them. “Do you recognize this shirt, Mr. Haddad?”

  Haddad began to shake his head.

  “Check it very carefully, sir.”

  Haddad turned the bag over, held it up and checked the label. Again he shook his head. “Not my size or my taste.”

  “Your sons’, maybe?”

  A veil of inscrutability descended, and Haddad said nothing for several seconds. Green waited patiently.

  “My sons don’t wear such clothes.”

  Green laid down the bag with the knife. In the silence, Haddad sucked in his breath.

  “Do you recognize this knife?”

  “I saw knives like it, but not that one.”

  “Where did you see them?”

  Haddad recovered enough to snort with derision. “These knives are sold by the hundreds in the tourist shops in Beirut. Even here in Canada, in a Middle East bazaar.”

  “So it’s a Middle Eastern knife?”

  “Bedouin. Not real, of course. For show.”

  “Do you own one?”

  Haddad’s eyes met his coldly. “I do not own that one or any other one. What is this about?”

  “Your sons? Surely one of you owns one if they’re so common.”

  “Not in my family.”

  “This knife was found hidden in your garage. It has Jonathan Blair’s blood on it.”

  The fat man wheezed. “That…that’s not possible!”

  Green shook his head. “We searched your house this morning. These are what we found.”

  Haddad’s eyes darted back and forth between the knife and Green’s face. Green saw in them the dawning of panic.

  “It’s a trick!” Haddad hissed. “You put them there!”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Because you need somebody to arrest. Why not a Lebanese?”

  Green leaned back in his chair, quiet and firm. “I operate on facts, Mr. Haddad. Other people may get emotional and jump to conclusions, but I wait till all the facts are in. That’s what I’m doing here.” He held up his hand and began to check off on his fingers. “Fact one: this knife is the murder weapon. Fact two: it was found in your garage. I need an explanation.”

  Haddad ran his tongue over his trembling lips. “I don’t have to talk to you!”

  “That’s right, you don’t. However, if you’re innocent as you claim, what do you have to lose by explaining things? On the other hand, if you are not innocent, then I suggest you terminate this discussion right now and get yourself a good lawyer.”

  “You’re twisting things!” Haddad bellowed. “I’m a good Canadian! I obey the law, I teach my sons to obey the law. If the knife was in my house, someone put it there!”

  * * *

  The sons displayed none of the initial cool of their more worldly father. They had grown up soft and safe on Canadian soil, used to nothing more violent than the everyday rivalries of the schoolyard. Paul, the twenty-year old, made an initial stab at bravado, accusing Green of harassment and threatening the entire police force with a lawsuit. Green rolled his eyes.

  “Aw, shut up, Paulie. Do I look scared? We’re talking about a serious crime here.”

  “I don’t know anything, man!” Paul protested. “I don’t even know why you got me here.”

  “Well, I’m thinking of charging you with assault. You and Eddie. That charge is as good as in the bag. I’ve got witnesses, you’ve been ID’d. Six-thirty, student coffee shop. But I’m working on a bigger charge. Murder. And I don’t give a damn if you talk to me or not. I’m just being polite, giving you a chance to tell me your side of the story.”

  Paul was staring at him, jaw agape. His olive complexion lent a greenish tinge to his pallor and one eye twitched spasmodically. Green could almost see his thoughts racing for cover.

  “I—I demand to see a lawyer or talk to my father. You can’t do this. I don’t have to tell you anything!”

  “That’s right, you don’t. As I said, I’m just being polite. I mean, if you didn’t kill him, you might want to tell me about it.”

  “Tell you about what?”

  “About your shirt.” Green laid the black shirt on the table. “Funny place for it, hidden in the garage.”

  “That’s not my shirt!”

  “What do you take me for, stupid? Of course it’s yours. Just your size. Your taste, too.”

  “I never saw that shirt.”

  “So it’s your brother Eddie’s? Is that your story?”

  “No—no! Nobody has a shirt like that.”

  “You check everything your brother buys?”

  “Of course not! But black…I mean, Eddie would have a fight with mom over that. She wants us to look, like, geeky at college. To impress the profs.”

  “You were ID’d at the coffee shop wearing a Metallica T-shirt, so I guess you buy them anyway.”

  Paul’s face fell as he saw the trap. “Well, yeah, sometimes. We put them on when she’s not around.”

  “So Eddie might sneak it off before he gets home and hide it in the garage?”

  “Naw, naw! Are you kidding? Eddie’s not a wimp, he wouldn’t give a fuck what Mom thinks.”

  “You own a knife, Paulie?”

  The youth blinked in surprise. “Yeah?” he ventured warily.

  “What type?”

 
“Swiss army knife. Got it a couple of years back.”

  “What for?”

  Paul shrugged. “Nothing! For fun. Just to have a knife, you know.”

  “Your parents know about it?”

  “Naw. Dad would freak. Dad’s into all this non-violence shit.”

  “Eddie own a knife?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Sure you do. Every guy likes to boast. That’s why you got yours. Now what does Eddie’s look like?”

  Paul grew sulky. “He used to own a hunting knife, in a leather sheath. But I don’t know if he’s still got it.”

  “What about an Arab knife? They’re beautiful and part of your heritage.”

  “Yeah.” Paul’s expression darkened. “Eddie had one of those once, and Dad took it away. Threw an absolute shit fit.” He shook his head as if at the folly of the older generation.

  Green laid the bagged knife on the table. “This it?”

  Paul turned the knife over in his hand curiously. “Looks a bit like it. I can’t remember. Where’d this come from?”

  “It was hidden in the garage along with the shirt.”

  “Well then, maybe Eddie—” He froze. The knife fell with a clatter.

  “Maybe Eddie what?”

  “Nothing! You’re trying to trick me! You want me to finger my own brother! I’m not saying one more fucking word and if you—” He had turned purple, and tears threatened. “You can’t prove a fucking thing!”

  * * *

  Eddie, the older son, was a law student. From that, as well as from Paul’s account of him, Green expected a fight. Eddie was the last one to be picked up, because the police had trouble finding him. He did not show up for the afternoon shift at the construction site where he had a summer job, and the police had to stake it out. Eddie arrived late, dishevelled and out of breath, and nearly panicked at the sight of the squad car. Now he was falling all over himself to be helpful.

  “You guys have a tough job, I know that, sir,” he gushed even before Green had finished his caution. “Your hands are tied, the criminals get all the breaks. I really wanted to be a cop when I was a kid, but my father wanted me to go to college. He thinks I’m going to be a corporate lawyer and make lots of money, but actually I’m going to be a prosecutor. You guys work closely with the Crowns, right? Is it a good job? I mean, do they feel like they’re doing any good?”

  “It’s a busy job,” Green replied. “And so’s mine. Maybe when the case is over, you can come down, and I’ll introduce you to one of the Crown Attorneys. But for now, let’s try to get home some time today, okay? I’ll cut to the chase and save us some time. Tuesday evening, June 10. I know you and Paul had a fight with Jonathan Blair over your cousin Raquel. I know you assaulted him, I know you dragged your cousin away under protest. That was six-thirty. Can you give me an account of your actions from then on?”

  Eddie Haddad had grown ashen. His enthusiasm had fled along with his rosy vision of the future. He sat quite still as he regrouped his forces. Finally, he wet his lips. “Paul and I took Raquel to the house, then Dad drove us all to the airport. Afterwards, we went back home.”

  “How did Raquel react?”

  Eddie shook his head. “Mad. I was scared she’d cause a scene—she usually does—but she didn’t. Too scared of Dad, I guess. Of what he’d tell her father back in Beirut.”

  “Did you agree with sending her away to Beirut?”

  The young man looked up at him, the conflict between old and new clearly reflected in his face. He was the handsomer of the sons, with thick wavy black hair, rich eyes and a luxuriant mustache. He was recovering his composure and with it his charm. He’ll make a good lawyer, thought Green. Thinks on his feet.

  “Raquel was wild. Some things are good about the West, but not the freedom. It’s just an excuse to do whatever you want without caring about others or about the future. There has to be rules. There has to be respect. Everyone thinks Lebanon is just a crazy place where everyone kills each other, but even after all the civil war it’s still a beautiful country, the most progressive in all the Arabic world. We have universities and museums, the people are educated. And we have our values—family, loyalty, respect for your parents, respect for tradition. Raquel should have stayed in Beirut, but my Dad thought it was less dangerous over here. But he couldn’t make Canada like Lebanon. She was losing her Lebanese traditions and values. And once a woman starts losing her values, you can’t ever get her back.”

  Green leaned back in his chair. “You really believe that stuff?”

  “Absolutely,” Eddie replied. “Call me old-fashioned, but look where things are going. There can be only one boss in the family, and that’s the man. If the woman disagrees with the man, then pretty soon the kids don’t listen to him either and everybody fights and goes in different directions. There are divorces, the kids suffer, they grow up wild. It doesn’t work, you’ll see.” Eddie pointed to Green’s left hand. “You’re married. Does your wife do what you want?”

  Green smiled, deciding to play along. As in fishing, there were times to let the suspect run. “Not usually.”

  “You fight a lot?”

  “I guess so. But we usually reach a compromise.”

  “Compromise? What’s a compromise? Where neither of you gets what you want, right?”

  Green remembered Sharon’s face when he’d asked her to leave the house the day before. To be the boss, to be obeyed unquestioningly—how seductive! Yet how wrong!

  “But your way, Raquel doesn’t ever get what she wants.” Eddie grinned. “You think Lebanese women don’t know how to get what they want out of their husbands? Or any woman? They’re all the same, they all learn to play the game. And in return they get protection, security, the status of their husband.”

  “But Raquel obviously wanted something very different— a career, the right to make her own decisions.”

  “She could have a career. Lebanese women have good careers, the best in all the Arabic world.” Eddie shook his head in exasperation. “We don’t hide them behind veils in Lebanon, sir. At least not the Christians.”

  Watching the young man flush with excitement and pride, it occurred to Green that if Eddie Haddad had driven a stiletto into Blair’s ribs two days earlier, it was highly unlikely that he would be sitting in the interrogation room today debating the philosophical rights of women. Can anybody be that smooth? That much in control? And if so, how was he going to break him?

  “I don’t claim to be an expert, believe me,” Green began chattily. “But one thing I’ve learned about Middle Eastern traditions is that honour is very important.”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “The honour of the family has to be protected, and if damaged, it must be restored.” Green avoided the word “avenged”. He wanted to tiptoe quietly.

  “The honour of the family is what keeps society in check. Everybody belongs, everybody follows the rules. It stops lawbreaking, treachery, sexual promiscuity and other ills that would make society fall apart. So it must be upheld. It is just another way of enforcing the law.” Eddie waved an expansive hand. “In the United States, everyone is talking about the breakdown of the family and the spread of violence. Drugs, murder—they’re everywhere in the ghettoes.”

  “I know,” Green smiled sympathetically. “But don’t Middle Eastern cultures believe that if someone dishonours your family—kills one of you or even seduces your women—they must pay? And until they pay, the family lives in shame. Surely that encourages violence.”

  Eddie’s eyes flashed. “It also encourages women not to stray and men not to fool with them. It makes a man think twice before killing you.”

  “Ah yes, the deterrent factor.” Green smiled. “Doesn’t work very well. Humans are weak beings, prone to temptation. In the heat of passion, rules are hard to remember.”

  “You remember well enough if you’re going to get a knife in your gut!” Abruptly, Eddie paled. For a moment he cast about, trying to recover his vo
ice, then he forced a laugh. “You got me, Inspector. Just a philosophical debate, of course. In Canada we trust our laws, and we leave our knives on the shelf.”

  “Do you own a knife?”

  Again a forced laugh. “Just an expression. No, I don’t own a knife.”

  “Your brother said you had a Bedouin knife.”

  Eddie frowned. “My brother’s an idiot. I haven’t had that thing in years.”

  “What did it look like?”

  “I hardly remember. Silver, covered in fake jewels. Really gaudy. I bought it from a bazaar here in Ottawa, and Dad confiscated it.”

  Green laid the knife on the table. “Is this it?”

  Eddie was startled. He stared at it. “My God, is that the one—the murder…?”

  “Is that your knife?”

  “No.” Eddie pushed it away hastily. “I’m sure it’s not. Those tourist knives all look alike.”

  “It was found in your garage.”

  “Well I don’t—I didn’t—I don’t know what it was doing there. I haven’t seen mine in years!”

  “It was hidden along with your shirt.” Green laid the shirt on the table.

  “That’s not my shirt! Who the hell said it was my shirt!”

  “Are you denying it’s your shirt? Remember, all this is going down in your sworn statement, and I’ll find out the truth anyway. The lab is already running tests on the traces found on the shirt. We can determine incredible things these days. You’ve heard of DNA testing?”

  The charm had all but vanished behind the glassy eyes and ashen skin. The thick mustache he had probably grown to make himself look older quivered at the ends.

  “It’s not my shirt! I didn’t buy it, I didn’t hide it. I don’t know anything about the knife. I was at home when Blair was killed, and someone is trying to frame me!”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know.” He was near panic. “I don’t know! That’s your job, not mine. Find out!”

  * * *

  Reviewing the interviews with Green afterwards, Sullivan chuckled. “You had fun.”

  “Yeah, I opened up some chinks in their armour, but we still can’t place any of them at the scene. Besides, I’m not sure who to arrest.”