It's when you don't need something that you tend to lose it. - Gabrielle Zevin

Why'd you give him all that stuff after he tried to rob me?"

"Because he was less fortunate than us, Natty. And Daddy always said that we have to be mindful of those who are less fortunate."

"But Daddy killed people, didn't he?"

"Yes," I admitted. "Daddy was complex.

CHIEF LAMBIASE IS a frequent visitor to the store, and to justify these visits, he buys books. Because Lambiase doesn't believe in wasting money, he reads the books, too. At first, he had mainly bought mass-market paperbacks — Jeffery Deaver and James Patterson (or whoever writes for James Patterson) — and then A.J. graduates him to trade paperbacks by Jo Nesbø and Elmore Leonard. Both authors are hits with Lambiase, so A.J. promotes him again to Walter Mosley and then Cormac McCarthy. A.J.'s most recent recommendation is Kate Atkinson's Case Histories.

If you are going to forgive a person, Liz decides, it is best to do it sooner rather than later. Later, Liz knows from experience, could be sooner than you thought.