Sarah and Pleione came to the door, and paused there, exchanging words that, again, Benicia could not understand. Pleione entered; Sarah did not. As Pleione closed the door behind herself, Benica glimpsed Pleione's mother, looking thoughtful and worried.

Pleione went to the chair the white-haired person had vacated, the same chair Benicia remembered sitting in for so long, the one before Sarah's desk, little more than an arm's length from the bed Benicia was in.

"I hope it's still Sunday," said Benicia.

"It is."

"Well, that's something, I suppose. Do you know why I passed out?"

Pleione tensed. "How much do you remember?"

"Plenty." Benicia recounted, in considerable detail. Pleione sat quiet through all of it. Finally Benicia asked, "Was it Sarah that did this to me?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"She doesn't really understand. She can put people to sleep, but this . . . " She trailed off. "You can read my thoughts."

"But it's work. I'd rather talk. So, you want to tell me where the Yount kids are hiding?"

"No. I don't know where they are. They were with some friends in Japan, but now . . ."

"Now?"

Pleione showed a bitter smile. "While you were . . . gone, about noon here, police raided their apartment. The police didn't find Tammy and Philip, but they arrested Auntie Makoto and our friends." Pleione shook her head. "I'm sure the police will find them soon. So your father didn't need send you here to spy on us after all."

"I thought the Japanese government wasn't cooperating. Isn't Ms. Hino's father some kind of big shot?"

"Not exactly," said Pleione. "But he has helped, of course. This had nothing to do with Tammy and Philip. One of our friends is the mistress of a wealthy man. Tax people thought she was helping him hide some of his money from them."

"So it was just bad luck?"

"Yes. Good luck for your father, I suppose."

"Yes, it was . . . Maybe more than luck."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe my father got to someone, and they decided to solve the problem this way. I mean, if the police just 'stumble' on the Yount children, they aren't responding to pressure from Americans nosing into Japanese affairs, are they? No one loses face, right?"

"Maybe." Pleione became silent again.

At length, Benicia said, "I am sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" asked Pleione.

"I'm sorry I hurt you."

After a few more moments, Pleione asked, "Are you going to tell your father everything?"

"I don't know. If I was sure you weren't going to hurt him, no." After thought, she added, "I'll have to warn him to stay away from Sarah and her mom." That lead to another important point. "How much do you know about my father from me?"

"I don't know. It's something bad, though. Sarah loves to gossip. She isn't talking, so it must be really bad. Is it?"

"Pretty bad. <Tell her?> Sucking in her breath, she did, rationalizing that she would know it soon enough from Sarah.

"How can you side with him?" asked Pleione.

"He's my father," said Benicia. "And I think he's probably right."

"So you really believe--"

"In the Word of God as revealed to the New Gospel Church? No," said Benicia. "But Mr. Alvarson made a good guess. My father is a prophet. He sees things, feels things. He doesn't understand everything, but he knows when something is about to happen a lot. He sees there is something important about the Yount children. He saw it a long time before you guys got caught up in that White House thing."

Benicia wasn't really trying to read Pleione at that moment, but she sensed a strong reaction, catching fleeting images, sounds, smells . . . But she did not probe further.

"So," Benicia continued, "Why are you still talking with me at all?"