Y
es, I was sure Shuki regretted having taken the dreidel. The question was, how could he have done such a thing in the first place? And why? Was he really that anxious to join our club? After all, he had asked only once and hadn’t made a fuss about it, and anyway, he has his own friends.
I looked at the purple dreidel standing once again in its place, and suddenly I remembered that I had forgotten something else Shuki had said: “There’s a dreidel here that reminds me of one of my grandfather’s dreidels.”
Did he mean this dreidel? Perhaps he missed his grandfather so much, and was so disappointed at not being left anything from the collection now housed far away in Belgium that he couldn’t overcome the temptation to take the dreidel? Then afterward he realized what a terrible thing he had done, was sorry, and returned it. Great. All’s well that ends well.
Surely Shuki won’t come to the museum today; he must be terribly ashamed. That must be why he didn’t put the dreidel back yesterday during visiting hours, he was scared we might catch him in the act. He preferred to come afterward, when no one was here, and — just a moment. How exactly did he come afterward? How did he get in? I locked the door! I distinctly remember that! Yoel told me to stop daydreaming and lock the door already, and I did. The door was locked today when we arrived, and I opened it with my key. So…?
