I crossed over the railroad tracks and continued beside the green lawns of the park. Traffic was light, and I jogged to the other side of Columbus to get to the Buckingham Fountain. Its water cannons had been stilled until morning. Beyond the fountain, the dark swath of Lake Michigan filled the horizon. I stood by the pond for a while, near the sculptures of the seahorses, and then I found a bench on the south side of the plaza to wait.

I wasn’t alone. I saw a homeless man wrapped in a blanket on one of the benches near me. From behind me, I heard the sultry breaths of a couple having sex in the shelter of the trees. Near the fountain, two silhouettes whispered to each other, and I saw something pass from one hand to another. Drugs.

Dr. Eve Brier arrived exactly on time. I checked my watch, and it was one in the morning on the dot. I saw her coming, still in black, with a dark trench coat waving like a cape behind her as the wind blew. I stood up as she approached, and she came up and put her arms around me, an oddly intimate gesture that took me aback. Her perfume rose off her skin like a bouquet of roses. To anyone watching us, we must have looked like two lovers meeting, but I felt her hands exploring my back and then my chest, patting me down.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“Making sure you’re not wearing a wire.”

“Why on earth would I do that?”

“I don’t know, Dylan, but none of this makes sense. I’d rather be careful.”

We sat down next to each other on the bench. I could feel an incredible tenseness radiating from her. She was scared of something. Her head swiveled, surveying the shadows to see if we were being watched.

“What was all that about in the ballroom?” she asked me.

“What do you mean?”

“Pretending not to know me.”

“I don’t know you.”

“Stop it, Dylan. You’re scaring me.”

“I’m serious,” I told her.

She studied my face carefully, as if looking for a lie. “Say the word,” she said finally.

“What word?”

“You know.”

“I don’t. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Infinite,” she said. “Say it.”

“Why?”

“Say it,” she repeated like an order.

I shrugged. “Infinite.”

Dr. Brier eased back on the bench. I didn’t know what she expected would happen, but nothing did. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, as if the lake breeze was making her cold.

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” I asked her.

“You seriously don’t remember me?”

“Dr. Brier, I already told you. We’ve never met. The first time I heard your name was when I saw the poster for your event at the hotel.”