"You mean . . . go public about the sword? The problem with that is . . ."
"Exactly. Everything's destroyed. So why not forget about the sword for a while? Whatever you know about it, at this point that's just your word against his. I mean we have to bring the whole thing down."
"Tam, we're talking billions of dollars. This could take a while. That number is a little hard to argue with."
"But what if that's both his strength and his weakness." She glanced over at me. "Look, I've been thinking about what we might try. Maybe there is a way."
"To assault him on the money front?"
"Right, but we'll need your friend Bill Henderson. Think he'd help?"
I nodded. "If you want him, I'll see that he pitches in."
"Good." She turned her eyes back to the road. "Matt, I'm
Fujiwara. Did I ever tell you that? And a Fujiwara's duty is to protect the emperor of Japan. For a thousand years it's been their job."
She'd cracked. Begun talking gibberish. "What's that got to do with—?"