The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Landsman and Bina proceed to the Moriah Institute, where they find Buchbinder. Buchbinder initially denies that Litvak is with him, but when Bina presses him for the truth, Buchbinder admits that Litvak is in the penthouse of his unit. He leads them through the preserved displays he will use for his museum, including a model for the proposed Third Temple in Jerusalem.

Litvak is accompanied by the enforcers who chased Landsman down in Peril Strait. Bina intimidates them into letting her talk to Litvak. She then asks Litvak about Mendel Shpilman. Landsman adds that he should answer for Naomi as well. Litvak denies his role in Mendel’s murder. He starts his explanation by writing that messiahs fail once they seek redemption.

The novel flashes back to April when Mendel asks Buchbinder for help with his addiction recovery. Because Litvak’s usual pilot is busy ferrying their American liaison, Mr. Cashdollar, to secure the genetically engineered red heifer from Washington, Litvak hires Naomi, an outsider to their operation, to fly Mendel to Peril Strait. Dr. Roboy is scandalized by the prospect of a woman setting foot on Beth Tikkun. Litvak assures him of Naomi’s competence as they play a game of chess. Litvak also reminds Roboy that his job is simple: prepare Mendel for the restoration of Israel, which the Beth Tikkun operatives and the Verbovers will enforce.

Another flashback shows how Litvak developed his operation. Litvak involved Buchbinder and Roboy in his operation because they both helped him recover from the accident that caused his mutism and killed his wife. Heskel Shpilman was convinced to join them after assessing that the United States was sincere in its intention to place Jerusalem under Jewish sovereignty. He would rather order the Verbovers to die for the Zionist cause than scatter from Sitka once Reversion takes effect. He also understood that Litvak wanted to lead the operation not because he believed in the Zionist cause but simply because he enjoys being a general. However, Heskel’s only concern was that history would repeat itself with the Verbovers’ decimation at Jerusalem. To reassure him, Litvak offered the return of Mendel to Heskel’s custody. This promise motivates his plan to bring Mendel to Peril Strait.

Following his chess game with Roboy, Litvak is reminded by one of his enforcers that twilight is imminent. He goes to his room and takes out the candle he bought to commemorate the anniversary of his wife’s death. Instead of lighting it, Litvak merely imagines the candle being lit and melting down. He is about to consider lighting it when he realizes that his lighter is missing. He panics in search of something to light the candle, but then his enforcer informs him that Mendel has arrived.

Roboy and Litvak form Mendel’s welcoming committee. Mendel acts offended that they have brought out a wheelchair for him, a sentiment he conveys theatrically to Naomi. Repulsed by Mendel’s behavior, Litvak makes the effort to speak to him in greeting. This gives him the confidence to believe that Mendel will bring their plan to success. Mendel sits in the wheelchair, which Naomi pushes. In his bedroom, Mendel congratulates the group on the birth of the red heifer. This upsets Litvak, who intended to keep their plan hidden from Mendel until the time of its execution. He sends everyone away. Mendel pleads with him to dismiss his concerns and offers him a cigar to celebrate the heifer’s birth. To Litvak’s surprise, Mendel lights the cigar with Litvak’s missing lighter. Mendel then encourages Litvak to light his wife’s candle, which shocks Litvak since no one knows about his memorial ritual. Litvak refuses, slapping Mendel against a shelf and breaking the candle in the process.

In the present, Litvak finishes writing his account of Mendel. Berko arrives, fighting his way through Litvak’s bodyguards to reach the group. He has come to confront Litvak for causing the riot that killed his mother. Bina and Landsman implore Berko to stop for his family’s sake. Berko reminds Landsman that Litvak also killed Naomi, though Litvak denies this.

The group hears cheering in the next room, which echoes in the air over Sitka. They learn that Litvak’s operation has already begun with an initial attack on the Qubbat As-Sakhrah in Jerusalem. Though the three detectives are horrified, the image of the shrine’s destruction will be celebrated across all of Sitka. Bina orders the arrest of Litvak and his men. Litvak is already gone, however—unseen accomplices have smuggled him out during the celebration. A group of Americans, led by Cashdollar, who is the man in the penguin sweater, arrive and reveal that they are FBI agents.

Landsman is separated from Berko and Bina and placed in an interrogation room in the Federal Building. He is questioned by several American operatives about the attack on Jerusalem. Eventually, Cashdollar comes to speak with Landsman and tells him about his predecessor, a man who described their work as “storytelling.” Landsman interprets this to mean that they tell people whatever they need to hear to radicalize them. Cashdollar digresses by denying any involvement in Mendel’s death. He admits, however, that his predecessor was responsible for Naomi’s death.

Cashdollar shares his belief that the end times are imminent. Because he is a Christian, he acts according to biblical prophecy, which requires Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories. He instructs Landsman to stay quiet about what he knows until the Zionist operation is complete. Landsman tries to barter for his reinstatement and for Berko’s residency papers in exchange for his silence. He realizes that Cashdollar is armed and could kill him at any moment, but he also knows that Cashdollar would prefer not to.

Cashdollar threatens Berko’s family, which angers Landsman. Landsman asserts that he doesn’t care about biblical prophecy, and he insults Jesus out of spite for Cashdollar.

Landsman returns to the Zamenhof, where Tenenboym gives him letters informing him of his conduct hearing on the Zilberblat case and of his eviction from the hotel. Landsman also gets promotional mail from a gym, advertising the effect that exercise will have on him before and after membership. Tenenboym chats about the news, unsure about who attacked the shrine. The president of the United States has expressed the possibility of entering Jerusalem to begin an interventionist war in the Middle East.

Landsman returns to his room, where he falls asleep and dreams about chess. He wakes up the next morning and is late for his conduct hearing. He finds Bina, who has just been released from Cashdollar’s interrogation. She admits to confessing everything just so that she could support Landsman at his hearing. Consequently, she informs Landsman that his hearing was canceled just before it was scheduled to start. She reinstates Landsman to active duty, adding that this was a reward for sharing what she knew with Cashdollar and for keeping her silence afterward.

Bina expresses her disillusionment with the criminal justice system of Sitka, realizing that she has been working for the United States government all along. Landsman recalls the day Bina lost her pregnancy, which is revealed to have been an abortion. After the procedure, the doctor informed Landsman that the fetus did not possess any visible defects. Landsman never shared this information with Bina.

Bina believes that Cashdollar doesn’t know where Litvak is. Landsman decides that he wants to examine the Blackpool again for clues, this time focusing on the lower levels to search for tunnels.

Bina and Landsman enter the crawlspace in the Zamenhof basement. They find a ladder, which they descend to reach a tunnel. The tunnel connects to a larger network, which also goes under the Blackpool. Landsman realizes that the tunnel system was built by wartime refugees who distrusted the United States government and wanted to prepare for their eventual expulsion from Sitka. They find another tunnel that leads upward and try to ascend its ladder. The trapdoor has been sealed to prevent pursuit. However, Landsman discovers that the seal is secured by a piece of string.

Landsman and Bina travel to Verbov Island to confront Zimbalist. The neighborhood is full of signs celebrating the restoration of Israel. Bina intimidates Zimbalist’s assistant to let her and Landsman into the shop. Zimbalist sends his men away so he can talk to the detectives.

Landsman begins by asking Zimbalist about the tunnels that run under Sitka. Zimbalist admits that he possesses maps of the tunnel network. He denies that he has ever used them to sneak anyone in or out of the Blackpool. Bina asks Landsman about Mendel’s gunshot wound. He confirms that it wasn’t caused by an automatic weapon, which rules Litvak and his men out, as they only carry automatic weapons. Landsman adds that Litvak started to believe that Mendel was the Tzaddik Ha-Dor, which would have motivated him to protect Mendel for the sake of their mission.

The discussion of Mendel’s death causes Zimbalist to break down. Bina asks him to come to the station for further questioning, accusing him of smuggling Litvak out of the Blackpool. Zimbalist refuses, reminding her that this does nothing to solve the murder of Mendel. They then agree that the detectives will solve Mendel’s murder in exchange for Zimbalist’s cooperation as an informant on Litvak’s conspiracy. Landsman later learns that Bina is frustrated by this deal because it undermines her authority as a police officer. This drives her disillusionment with the law even further.

Before they leave Verbov Island, Landsman and Bina watch the Shpilmans leave their house to move to Jerusalem. Batsheva asks the detectives if they have caught Mendel’s killer yet. She refuses to leave Sitka until the case is solved. After Landsman gives her his assurance, he tells Bina that he is craving stuffed cabbage.

Landsman and Bina go to her family home to have sex, sneaking around like they used to early on in their relationship. Landsman admits that he hasn’t slept with anyone in the time since their divorce. Bina admits that she has slept with several men since then, but it never made her feel better about the divorce. After sex with Bina, Landsman doesn’t feel lonely or unsafe anymore.

Landsman stays over, not wanting to sneak out again. He cannot sleep, thinking about how he can be with Bina for the rest of his life as long as he chooses to obey Cashdollar’s demand for silence. He still can’t help feeling the need to expose Litvak’s conspiracy to the press. The opportunity to do this dampens the pleasure he feels from sleeping with Bina again. Landsman reconsiders the crime scene of Mendel’s murder, looking for a clue he missed. He remembers Mendel’s chessboard and tries to imagine how the game could have been resolved. He starts to realize that Mendel wasn’t playing a solitary game, but a game with someone else.

As he gets dressed, the gym membership ad falls out of his pocket. The ad’s slogan of “before” and “after” gives him a breakthrough. When Bina asks him what he’s realized, he tells her that he has figured out what kind of gun was used to kill Mendel. He explains that Mendel’s chessboard left the White player in a position where they would be forced to move into a worse position in order to win. The White player believed they needed to promote one of their pawns into a knight, but because Mendel’s chessboard already had two White knights deployed, it would require the player to substitute their pawn with another item. Landsman saw the “after” image of this exchange on another chessboard: The White player used a Vicks inhaler to represent his knight.

Hertz is recovering at Berko and Ester-Malke’s apartment. Landsman and Bina accuse him of killing Mendel. Hertz comments that it took Landsman so long to develop his chess skills because he didn’t hate losing enough. In his case, Hertz hated losing to Isidor and Litvak so much that it motivated him to improve his game.

Hertz admits that he met Mendel when he was still young. He didn’t recognize Mendel anymore when he started coming to the Einstein Chess Club to win games and support his drug addiction. Mendel invited Hertz to his room at the Zamenhof, asking him to bring the gun that killed Melekh Gaystik. When Hertz arrived, Mendel confessed everything about his role in Litvak’s conspiracy. He admitted that he didn’t know what else he could do, except to die. He organized the chess conundrum to show Hertz how he felt. Hertz still does not know how to resolve Mendel’s challenge. Landsman gives him the solution.

Hertz explains that Mendel turned to him because of his opposition to Litvak. He helped Mendel use heroin, then he shot him with Gaystik’s gun when Mendel could no longer feel anything. He was disappointed when Litvak moved forward with his plan after Mendel had already died. Bina places Hertz under arrest.

Ester-Malke observes that Landsman and Bina came and are leaving together. Landsman tries to dismiss her observation, but Ester-Malke argues that it is all she needs to comfort her in a world where people celebrate the murder of innocents. Landsman considers this, knowing there is a possibility that he got Bina pregnant again when they had sex.

Later, Bina observes that Landsman seems deeply hurt about something. Landsman admits that he still feels bad about the deal they made with Cashdollar. Bina justifies that they both made the deal for each other’s sake. Landsman doesn’t believe he was a worthwhile reason to justify Bina’s silence, largely because he failed her by convincing her to get an abortion. Bina is offended by this notion and reminds him of her agency. They made the choice together based on limited knowledge, which included the knowledge of what they couldn’t handle emotionally. Landsman is still remorseful, but Bina also reminds him that the choice ultimately wasn’t his.

Landsman calls Dennis Brennan with the intention of telling him about Hertz’s arrest. Bina confides that she is still there because she could see that Landsman had something to say when he was listening to Hertz’s confession. Landsman realizes that he has no other home than the life he shares with Bina. She tells him to say what he needs to say. Landsman tells Brennan that he has a story for him.