The Book of Daniel

Several months later, Daniel and Phyllis are working to repair their broken relationship. They both agree that Daniel is the problem. He continues to work on his dissertation, and Phyllis visits him in the library. Daniel looks to his past, remembering a time when he returned home from a shopping trip with his mother and sister. He recalls seeing a crowd gathered in front of his father’s store to see “the first television set to come to 174th street” (125). While the crowd looked at the television, Paul told Rochelle that Mindish had been arrested. If anyone were to be arrested, Daniel remembers thinking, then the untrustworthy Mindish seemed the best option. He hated Mindish. The following day, the FBI visited the Isaacson home. The FBI agents asked Paul and Rochelle questions about their association with Mindish. Paul refused to answer their questions and, over the following days, became convinced that he was being watched. Often, Daniel saw the agents sitting in a car outside the home. The Isaacsons refused to leave their home. Everyone in their social circle was being arrested. There is a “chain action of arrests around the world” after atomic secrets are stolen (133).