Read Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out for Free Online

on exhibit in the bank.”
    “A vinegar cruet, eh? Yeah, We’ve got about half a dozen so far, but if he has a real good one, I’d like to see it.”
    “I’ll get in touch with him, and Mrs. Gore called, she asked if she could have her check earlier this month, she’s going down to Florida to visit her brother. I said it would probably be all right.”
    He nodded curtly.
    “Nancy asked if she could have Friday off. I told her we’d be shorthanded because Pauline wasn’t due back until Monday.”
    “Quite right.”
    “She was a little put out.”
    “She’ll get over it, I expect.”
    She closed her notebook. “Henry Maltzman was in to make a deposit, and he asked me what action we were taking on his request for a loan.”
    “What did you tell him?” he asked quickly. “Just that I’d mention it to you.”
    He tapped the desktop with his fingers. “Graham says it’s out of line with his statement.”
    “Graham is a Scotchman,” she said scornfully. “He always says the loans are too big. If it depended entirely on him, we’d never make any.”
    He chuckled. “You’ve got a point there.”
    “And Henry Maltzman has been a good friend of the bank, he’s touted a lot of business our way;” she went on.
    “You’re right,” he said. “One hand washes the other. If he should come in again today, tell him you think it’s all right. Don’t tell him I said so, because I don’t want him to think it’s official just in case the loan committee takes the bit in its teeth and decides to overrule me. But you can kind of hint – well, you’ll know what to tell him.”
    “I’ll manage,” she said confidently.
    “I’m sure you will, and now is there anything else?”
    “You asked me to remind you of the Jordon report,” she said coldly.
    He noted the abrupt change in her manner and thought he knew the reason for it and was sympathetic. “Has he said anything – uh – nasty to you?”
    “Oh, it’s not what he says. It’s just that – he’s a dirty old man.”
    He was shocked. “You mean he – uh – made a pass at you?”
    “I mean he brushes up against me, touches me – accidentally on purpose. Is he very important to the bank?”
    “Just our biggest account and a director.”
    “Well, one day you’re going to lose him – or me.”
    “Maybe if I talked to him –”
    She laughed. “Don’t bother. I can take care of him. I stood for much worse when I was working in Boston and riding the subway every day.”
    He grinned. “I can imagine, well, try to stay out of his way, and now, how about the Cavendish report?”
    “I was planning on working on it all day tomorrow.”
    “Hm.” He drummed a rapid tattoo on the desktop with his fingertips. “He called earlier and said he was coming in around noon tomorrow and asked if he could go over it with me at lunch.”
    “I could take it home and work on it tonight,” she suggested.
    “Could you? Gee, that would be swell, You’re sure your husband wouldn’t mind? How is he, by the way?”
    “Herb’s fine, he won’t mind, he’s going to a meeting of the executive of the temple Brotherhood tonight anyway.” She laughed. “It’s my mother-in-law who might object.”
    “Really? Why should she object?”
    “Oh, she objects to anything I do,” she said lightly. “From her point of view, all my time outside of work belongs to her precious son, even if he’s not there.” She sat back and went on conversationally, “What really burns her up is seeing Herb setting the table and starting dinner. But he gets home from school at three o’clock, and I don’t get home until a couple of hours later, he doesn’t mind, but it burns her up.”
    “I suppose he has papers to correct, lessons to prepare?”
    “He does it all in his free periods and study periods. It will be all right.”
    “Well, I sure appreciate it, and look, you can take time off in exchange.”
    “Oh; there’s no need, really.” She hesitated. “But next Wednesday there is a