Motherless Brooklyn

When Lionel gets into the Zendo, he finds the elusive and mysterious Gerard alone in an upstairs bedroom, sitting by candlelight, propped up on pillows, his legs crossed, “his posture calm” (228). Lionel confronts Gerard with his suspicions about his involvement in his own brother’s murder and his guesswork about the sinister underworld of Fujisaki Corporation itself. Gerard, smiling calmly, dismisses Lionel’s accusations and assures Lionel that Lionel knows little about who Frank really was: “The worse I attacked him,” Lionel admits, “the deeper his forgiveness and grace would be—that’s what the smile said” (232). Gerard cryptically tells Lionel only that Fujisaki is a ruthless and remorseless corporation and that to protect its investments its agents were willing to turn to violence. He cautions Lionel that Tony was quickly becoming a loose cannon and that he may draw the ire of the corporation. 

Lionel heads back to L&L. It is 2:30 in the morning, and, through the front window, he sees Tony and Danny inside. He decides to wait and watch from a stoop across the street. A car pulls up to the building, and Lionel is stunned to see the giant. The giant waits, also watching Tony and Danny. Freezing, Lionel moves to one of L&L’s parked cars, a Tracer, taking satisfaction in now being on a real stakeout. 

Typical in a narrative that lampoons detective fiction, Lionel promptly falls asleep. When he awakens at 4:30 in the morning, he impulsively calls L&L and tells Tony that he is in danger. Tony dismisses Lionel’s warning and heads out in one of the company’s cars, followed closely by the giant in his car. Lionel follows—the three head out of Brooklyn, out of New York, and toward Connecticut. They skirt around Boston and eventually drive all the way to southern Maine. On the way, munching through a bag of sandwiches, Lionel calls Kimmery and tells her that he thinks he is heading to Yoshii’s. He noted a brochure for the center in her apartment. Over the course of the long drive, he calls Kimmery repeatedly, confessing to her that she makes him feel different: “My life is organized around different compulsions. But it’s different with you. I feel different” (258). Reeling from a bad breakup, however, Kimmery says she needs space to figure out what—and who—she wants.

Lionel arrives at the tiny picturesque southern Maine town of Musconguspoint Station. He sees signs for Yoshii’s, apparently an emporium specializing in Japanese seafood cuisine. He pulls up to the restaurant. He sees no sign of Tony or the giant. The restaurant is closed. Lionel heads down to the pier. There, fishermen tell him about Yoshii’s and the Japanese who have invaded the town. He finds out that a Japanese corporation, he assumes Fujisaki, has taken over the town’s fishing operations to fish off the coast for uni, an exotic Japanese seafood delicacy. In Japan, the fishing of uni was tightly regulated by law. Because there were no restrictions in America, the enterprise was worth potentially millions. 

Lionel heads to Yoshii’s. He spots the cars of both Tony and the giant parked near the docks. At Yoshii’s, he is surprised to be greeted by Julia, sporting a close-chopped haircut, working as a hostess. Julia tries to get him to leave but before he can, six imposing Japanese men, “stoic and lipless” (275), enter and sit at a long table. It is, Lionel says, “a vision to break your heart” (274). The men, Lionel surmises, must be part of the Fujisaki Corporation. Lionel takes a seat and watches. Julia brings him a bowl of Thai chicken soup. When she leaves the bill, he finds a note from her telling him to meet her at the town’s lighthouse. 

As he leaves the restaurant, Lionel catches sight of the giant leaning next to Tony’s car, rifling through papers and then nonchalantly throwing a wallet (he assumes Tony’s) into the ocean. Lionel knows now that Tony is dead. He runs to the Tracer, but the giant follows. The cars collide in the parking lot. Desperate, with the giant momentarily stunned and slumped over on his car’s airbag, Lionel jumps into Tony’s car and heads to the lighthouse. On the way, he phones Matricardi back in Brooklyn. He reveals that Tony is dead and then tells him that Gerard Minna, the man responsible for Frank’s death, is living in the Zendo in Yorkville, thus sealing Gerard’s fate.