“But her intention is not. I wish there were some other way to capture one unharmed…”

“There is not, Marty. We have discussed this thoroughly. A merfolk has never been caught in a trawler’s net the world over. You will not catch one in a net either, not even if you know precisely where to search. Do not lose your spine.”

“I’m not losing anything, Pip—spine, nerve, or otherwise.” He sighed. “I don’t believe I ever asked you: why did you become a scientist in the first place?”

“No, you have not asked me that, mon capitaine, and we have known each other for a long time now. I wonder where your head is sometimes. No, I know where it is. Do not answer that.” She paused. “Why did I become a scientist? Do you really want to know, or are you simply eating my brain?”

“Picking your brain. And I’d like nothing more than to know.”

“After I graduated university, I flew to Spain to visit my sister. She was teaching French there. Her contract had finished, and we made plans to travel Europe.”

“You stayed in hostels?”

“That is where poor backpackers stay, yes? We also took overnight trains and buses to save on that night’s accommodation. One overnight train to Austria was full, so we ended up getting seats in different carriages. I woke in the middle of the night to find an old man rubbing my feet on his crotch. I kicked him in the stomach and got away and found a conductor. I brought him back to my seat, but the pervert was gone—and he took my shoes and handbag with him.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because he was a pervert, Marty. That is what perverts do. Anyway, he must have gotten off at the next stop because I could not find him anywhere on the train. I could not find my sister either. It turned out the train had split during the night. The end my sister was in continued to Austria, while my end was en route to Slovakia.”

“With no money or shoes…”

“And no phone.”

“What did you do?”

“Walked barefoot through Bratislava until I found an internet café and begged the owner to let me send an email to my sister.”

“This is interesting, Pip, but what does it have to do with you becoming a scientist?”

“I was setting the scene, Marty. But I see that I am boring you, so I will give you the annotated version. Eventually my sister and I ended up in Israel. This was right when a mermaid craze swept the country. You know what I am talking about, yes?”

Marty nodded. In 2009 dozens of eyewitnesses reported seeing a mermaid in the Mediterranean Sea near Haifa. The local legend became an international phenomenon, and tourists began flocking to the beach where it was spotted to catch a glimpse of the creature, which supposedly looked like a cross between a little girl and a dolphin.