A silver and orange-trimmed Spyker C8 Double 12 with 620 horsepower. A bronze Bentley Azure Mulliner convertible - yours for $376,000. A Ferrari 575 Maranello - $215,000. A Porsche GT2. Two Lamborghini Murcielagos-yellow gold-$270,000 apiece, named, like all Lamborghinis, after a famous bull. A Hummer H1 - not as hot as the other cars, maybe, but nothing got in its way. The total value of the stolen cars was over three million; the sales came to a little under two. Which more than paid for the Sacher tortes flown all the way from Vienna. And besides, the Wolf was a fan of fast, beautiful cars... of fast, beautiful everything.

I FLEW BACK TO D.C. the next day and was home at six that night, finished with work for the day. At times like this, I almost felt that maybe I had my life back. Maybe I'd done the right thing by joining the Bureau. Maybe... As I climbed out of the ancient black Porsche, I saw Jannie on the front porch. She was practicing her violin, her "long bows." She wanted to be the next Midori. The playing was impressive - to me, anyway. When Jannie wanted something, she went after it. "Who's the beautiful young lady holding that Juzek so perfectly?" I called as I trudged up the lawn. Jannie glanced my way, said nothing, smiled knowingly, as if only she knew the secret. Nana and I were involved in her practices, which featured the Suzuki method of instruction. We modified the method slightly to include both of us. Parents were a part of practice, and it seemed to pay dividends. In the Suzuki way, great care was taken to avoid competition and its negative effects. Parents were told to listen to countless tapes and attend lessons. I had gone to many of the lessons myself. Nana covered the others. In that way, we assumed the dual role of "home teacher." "That's so beautiful. What a wonderful sound to come home to," I told Jannie. Her smile was worth everything I'd gone through at work that day. She finally spoke. "To soothe the savage beast," she said.