"You should have made another trip, last year."

"I was busy."

"If you remember, Peter, I told you to go every year, for the next couple of years. Establish a pattern."

"I was busy. I had a child to raise."

"Well." She shook her head. "Now we're here."

I said, "What's the problem? They'll never figure it out."

That was when she really exploded. "Never figure it out? They've already figured it out. They already know, Peter. I'm sure they've already talked to Martinez or Hernandez or whoever that couple is."

"But they can't possibly - "

"For Christ's sake. How do you think somebody gets a job as Japanese liaison? How did you get the job, Peter?"

I frowned, thinking back. It was more than a year ago. "There was a posting of the job in the department. A list of candidates applied for it..."

"Yes. And then what?"

I hesitated. The truth was, I wasn't sure exactly what happened administratively. I had just applied for the job and had forgotten all about it, until it came through. I had been busy in those days. Working in the press section was a hectic job.

"I'll tell you what happens," Lauren said. "The chief of Special Services for the department makes a final determination of appropriate candidates, in consultation with members of the Asian community."

"Well, that's probably true, but I don't see - "

"And do you know how long the members of the Asian community take to review the list of candidates? Three months, Peter. That's long enough to learn everything about the people on that list. Everything. They know everything from the size of your shirt collar to your financial status. And believe me, they know about the allegations of child abuse. And your trip to Las Vegas. And they can put it together. Anybody can put it together."

I was going to protest, when I found myself remembering what Ron said earlier in the day: Now they watch the backhaul.

She said, "You're going to stand there and tell me you don't know how all this works? That you weren't paying attention to the process? Christ, Peter, come on. You understood what was involved in that liaison job: you wanted the money. Just like everybody else who has anything to do with the Japanese. You know how they make their deals. There's something for everyone. You get something. The department gets something. The chief gets something. Everybody gets taken care of. And in return they get to pick exactly the kind of person they want as a liaison. They know they have a handle on you going in. And now they have a handle on me, too. All because you didn't take your goddamn trip to Las Vegas last year and establish a pattern, the way I told you to."

"So now you think you have to get custody of Michelle?"

She sighed. "At this point, we're just playing out our roles."

She glanced at her watch, and looked toward the reporters. I saw that she was impatient to get on with it, to meet the press and make the speech she had already prepared for herself. Lauren had always had a strong sense of drama.

"Are you sure what your role is, Lauren? Because it's going to get very messy around here in the next few hours. You may not want to be involved."

"I am involved."

"No." I took the Polaroid out of my pocket and showed it to her.

"What's this?"

"That's a video frame from the Nakamoto security tapes, taken last night. At the time of the murder of Cheryl Austin."

She frowned at the picture. "You're kidding."

"No."

"You're going with this?"

"We have to."

"You're going to arrest Senator Morton? You're out of your fucking mind."

"Maybe."

"You'll never see daylight, Peter."

"Maybe."

"They'll bury you so fast and so deep you'll never know what hit you."

"Maybe."

"You can't make this work. You know you can't. In the end, it's only going to harm Michelle."

I didn't say anything to that. I found I liked her less all the time. We walked along, her spike heels clicking on the sidewalk.

Finally she said, "Peter, if you insist on following this reckless course of action, there's nothing I can do. As your friend, I advise you not to. But if you insist, there is nothing I can do to help you."

I didn't answer. I waited and watched her. In the hard sunlight, I saw she was starting to get wrinkles. I saw the dark roots of her hair. The fleck of lipstick on her tooth. She took off her sunglasses and glanced at me, her eyes worried. Then she turned away, looking toward the press. She tapped the sunglasses in the palm of her hand.

"If this is really what's happening, Peter, I think maybe I had better hold off a day and let events take their course."

"All right."

"You understand: I'm not dropping my concerns, Peter."

"I understand."

"But I don't think the question of Michelle's custody should be mixed up in some other, crazy controversy."

"Of course not."

She put her sunglasses back on. "I feel sorry for you, Peter. I really do. At one time you had a promising future in the department. I know you've been mentioned for a position under the chief. But nothing can save you if you do this."

I smiled. "Well."

"You have anything besides photographic evidence?"

"I don't know if I should give you too many details."

"Because if you only have photographic evidence, you have no case, Peter. The D.A. won't touch it. Photographic evidence doesn't fly anymore. It's too easily doctored. The courts know it. If all you have is a picture of this guy doing the crime, it won't wash."

"We'll see."

"Peter," she said. "You are going to lose everything. Your job, your career, your child, everything. Wake up. Don't do it."

She started back toward her car. I walked with her. We didn't say anything. I waited for her to ask how Michelle was, but she never did. It wasn't surprising. She had other things to think about. Finally we arrived at her car, and she went around to the driver's side to get in.

"Lauren."

She looked at me over the top of the car.

"Let's keep it clean for the next twenty-four hours, okay? No well-placed calls to anybody."

"Don't worry," she said. "I never heard any of this. Frankly, I wish I never heard of you."

And she got in the car and drove off. As I watched her go, I felt my shoulders drop, and a tension leave me. It was more than the fact that I'd done what I set out to do - I had talked her out of it, at least for a while. It was more than that. There was something else, finally gone.

Chapter 24

Connor and I went up the rear stairs of my apartment building, avoiding the press. I told him what had happened. He shrugged.

"This was a surprise to you? How the liaisons are chosen?"

"Yeah. I guess I never paid attention."

He nodded. "That's how it happens. The Japanese are very skilled at providing what they call incentives. Originally, the department had qualms about letting outsiders say anything about which officers would be chosen. But the Japanese said they simply wanted to be consulted. Their recommendations wouldn't be binding. And they pointed out that it made sense for them to have some input in the choice of liaisons."

"Uh-huh..."

"And just to show they were even-handed, they proposed a contribution to the officers' relief fund, to benefit the whole department."

"How much was that?"

"I think half a million. And the chief was asked to come to Tokyo and consult on criminal record-keeping systems. Three-week trip. One-week stopover in Hawaii. All first class. And lots of publicity, which the chief loves."

We got to the second-floor landing. Went up to the third.

"So," Connor said, "by the time it's all finished, it's rather difficult for the department to ignore the recommendations of the Asian community. Too much is at stake."

"I feel like quitting," I said.

"That's always an option," he said. "Anyway, you got your wife to back off?"

"My ex-wife. She got the point right away. She's a finely tuned political animal, Lauren is. But I had to tell her who the murderer was."

He shrugged. "There's not much she can do in the next couple of hours."

I said, "But what about these pictures? She says they won't stand up in court. And Sanders said the same thing: the day of photographic evidence is over. Do we have any other evidence?"

"I've been working on that," Connor said. "I think we're all right."

"How?"

Connor shrugged.

We came to the back entrance to my apartment. I unlocked the door, and we went into the kitchen. It was empty. I went down the corridor to the front hall. My apartment was quiet. The doors to the living room were closed. But there was the distinct smell of cigarette smoke.

Elaine, my housekeeper, was standing in the front hall, looking out the window at the reporters on the street below. She turned when she heard us. She looked frightened.

I said, "Is Michelle all right?"

"Yes."

"Where is she?"

"Playing in the living room."

"I want to see her."

Elaine said, "Lieutenant, there's something I have to tell you first."

"Never mind," Connor said. "We already know."

He threw open the door to the living room. And I had the biggest shock of my life.

Chapter 25

John Morton sat in the makeup chair at the television studio, a Kleenex tucked around his collar, while the girl powdered his forehead. Standing at his side, his aide Woodson said, "This is how they recommend you handle it." He handed a fax to Morton.

"The basic through-line," Woodson said, "is that foreign investment invigorates America. America is made stronger by the influx of foreign money. America has much to learn from Japan."

"And we aren't learning it," Morton said gloomily.

"Well, the argument can be made," Woodson said. "It's a viable position and as you can see, the way Marjorie shaped it, it doesn't read as a change of position so much as a refinement of your previous view. You can skate on this one, John. I don't think it is going to be an issue."

"Is the question even going to come up?"

"I think so. I've told the reporters you are prepared to discuss a modification of your position on MicroCon. How you now favor the sale."

"Who'll ask it?"

"Probably Frank Pierce of the Times."

Morton nodded. "He's okay."

"Yeah. Business orientation. Should be fine. You can talk about free markets, fair trade. Lack of national security issues on this sale. All that."

The makeup girl finished, and Morton stood up from the chair.

"Senator, I'm sorry to bother you, but could I have your autograph?"

"Sure," he said.

"It's for my son."

"Sure," he said.

Woodson said, "John, we have a rough assembly of the commercial if you want to see it. It's very rough, but you might like to give comments. I've set it up for you in the next room."

"How much time have I got?"

"Nine minutes to airtime."

"Fine."

He started out the door and saw us. "Good evening, gentlemen," he said. "You need me for anything?"

"Just a short conversation, Senator," Connor said.

"I've got to look at a tape," Morton said. "Then we can talk. But I've only got a couple of minutes..."

"That's all right," Connor said.

We followed him into another room, which overlooked the studio below. Down there, on a beige-colored set that said NEWSMAKERS, three reporters were shuffling through their notes and being fitted with microphones. Morton sat in front of a television set, and Woodson plugged in a cassette.

We saw the commercial that was shot earlier in the day. It had a timecode running at the bottom of the frame, and it opened with Senator Morton, looking determined, walking over the golf course.

The basic message was that America had lost its economic competitiveness, and that we had to get it back.

"It's time for all of us to pull together," Morton said, on the monitor. "Everyone from our politicians in Washington, to our leaders of business and labor, to our teachers and children, to all of us in our homes. We need to pay our bills as we go, and cut the government deficit. We need to increase savings. To improve our roads and education. We need a government policy of energy conservation - for our environment, for our children's lungs, and for our global competitiveness."

The camera moved close to the senator's face, for his closing remarks.

"There are some who say that we are entering a new era of global business," he said. "They say it no longer matters where companies are located, or where things are made. That ideas of national economies are old-fashioned and out of date. To those people, I say - Japan doesn't think so. Germany doesn't think so. The most successful countries in the world today maintain strong national policies for energy conservation, for the control of imports, for promotion of exports. They nourish their industries, protecting them against unfair competition from abroad. Business and government work together to look after their own people and their jobs. And those countries are doing better than America, because those economic policies reflect the real world. Their policies work. Ours don't. We do not live in an ideal world, and until we do, America had better face the truth. We had better build our own brand of hard-nosed economic nationalism. We had better take care of Americans. Because nobody else will.

"I want to make it clear: the industrial giants of Japan and Germany are not the cause of our problems. Those countries are challenging America with new realities - and it is up to us to face those realities, and meet their economic challenge head on. If we do so, our great country will enter an era of unparalleled prosperity. But if we continue as we are, mouthing the ancient platitudes of a free market economy, disaster awaits us. The choice is ours. Join me in choosing to meet the new realities - and to make a better economic future for the American people."