The North Tower loomed just a short distance away. At the top of that tower, on the 106th and 107th floors, was the Windows on the World restaurant. It was a splendid establishment, and the highest grossing restaurant in the USA. When friends from outside the city came to visit New York, he liked to take them there. He probably did this a couple of times a year. And he never tired of it. You could walk round the bar area and look out over Brooklyn on one side, New Jersey the other, north up the Hudson or south across the harbor. You could see for twenty miles. Sometimes, low clouds even passed below you, cutting off sections of the city like a thin veil. He smiled.

Doug hurried into the room, apologizing for keeping him waiting.

“I’ve got a bunch of stuff for you to look at,” he said with a grin. “Then I’ll tell you what I think you ought to do.”

“Great,” said Dr. Caruso as he sat down. “Let me make a suggestion. Why don’t you tell me what to do first? Then after I’ve got the diagnosis, I’ll look at the patient.”

“Sounds good to me.” And he launched into a quick appraisal of Caruso’s life expectancy, from an actuarial point of view, and what that meant for his future premiums. Then he launched into a disquisition about how Caruso could save money—in the long run.

He’d just got going with his proposal, when he started, glanced up at the North Tower and then stared.

“What the hell is that?” he said.

“Ms. O’Donnell’s office.”

“This is her husband. Is she there?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Master. She’s away at a meeting. You could try her cell, but she probably has it switched off just now. Is there a message?”

“Tell her I’ll call later. Actually, tell her that I decided not to go to Boston. She’ll understand.”

He hung up. And he was just wondering whether to walk a few blocks before heading back to his office, when an extraordinary sound caused him to look up. High in the World Trade Center’s North Tower, a huge fire had just broken out, and smoke was billowing from it.

“What happened?” he asked a man standing nearby.

“Looks like a bomb,” said the man.

“A plane went smack into it,” said a young woman. “I saw it. Must’ve gone out of control.”

“They say we have to evacuate,” said Doug. “I don’t know why. The fire’s in the other building.”

They went out toward the elevators. There was a crowd of people waiting by them already.

“Want to take the stairs?” asked Caruso.

“Twenty and some floors?” said Doug. “Not much.”

“I guess we’d better be patient then,” said Caruso. “Can we finish this meeting on the sidewalk?”