you anyway.”

He chuckled. “I thought your father would have a stroke. He

never did like me.”

“I like you. And that’s all that counts.”

He sighed and nestled his head against her shoulder while she

stroked his thinning hair. “You were always good for me. Perhaps

you’re right. We’ve both been working very hard for a long time.

And we’re not as young as we used to be. But still…”

“I know. You wanted to go out a winner. But it isn’t over yet.”

“By tomorrow, it probably will be. Watanabe will take me off the

case. He’ll probably turn it over to Sakahara. He’s young, he’s

bright, and he’s hungry.”

“And he’s inexperienced, ” said Keiko.

“There’s nothing like on-the-job training. This case will either

make him or break him. As it’s broken me.”

“Stop it! Stop it right now!”

She pushed him away and Akiro looked at her with surprise,

taken aback by her vehemence.

“I won’t have you sitting here and wallowing in self-pity, feeling

sorry for yourself!” she snapped. “Watanabe hasn’t taken you off

the case yet. And even if he does, that doesn’t mean you have to

drop it. You can ask for some time off. You’ve certainly got it

coming and if Watanabe takes you off the case, he’ll hardly be in a

position to deny you. It would be like kicking someone when he’s

down. You’ll be able to work on it on your own time, like you used

to do when you were young and hungry. You want to go out a

winner? Then get off your fat ass and do something about it! I

didn’t marry a quitter!”

He stared at her for a moment, a bit stunned by her outburst,

then he smiled. “I love you.”

She stared into his eyes. “You can do something about that, too.”

He gulped down the rest of his drink, took her by the hand, and

led her to the bedroom.

Don Ito Nishikawa did not like the young man sitting across the