When I got home I checked my coat for damage and found the tracker that had been slipped into my pocket, probably when I was being beaten up. Guess they'd been following me around town, hoping I'd lead them to Roy. I wondered if there even was a Louie's on Lincoln.

I called Clara to give my final report. I didn't think she should come to my office, and I figured I should steer clear of Grimaldi properties for a while, so I met her some place else.

"I haven't been back here for fourteen years. Why did you want to come here?"

"Thought it was appropriate. End of your five minutes and all."

"Wait...does that mean you found my father?"

"Yes. You sure you want to hear it?"

"I said before I would. Just tell me. Please."

So I told her. We sat in that diner with our coffee, and I told her how Roy Carver had gotten in with dangerous people and had to disappear. How he'd left his little girl behind, in a place where someone would eventually call the police or Child Services.

I told her how Roy Carver had become Francesco Grimaldi and worked his way into the italian mob. How he'd pushed himself and his luck like his life depended on it, and how it had actually worked, and got him high in the organization.

I told her how Frankie had bought up and supported businesses belonging to his former partners, trying to make amends for screwing up before. How he'd bought the apartment building that had unexpectedly had a cheap opening. That he'd bought the expensive restaurant that had a special menu just for her. That he'd probably gotten her her job at the newspaper. I told her that her father had done what he could to see she had money to spend, food to eat and a roof over her head.

I told her that, as of the night before, her father was dead.

Did I kill him by tracking him down? Did she kill him by hiring me? I don't know. But I wasn't a child, so I did know what it meant when the light went out of her eyes as she listened to me...that the sweetness factory had closed down, and all the stock that was left was what was on display.

She toyed with her coffee cup, then gave me the last smile, reached over and patted my hand, picked up her purse and stood up.

"I'm going to the ladies' room. I'll be back in five minutes."