It is, they finally concede, anodisation of the pancreas - an impossible condition, yet no less terminal for all that, about which only a single and questionably scientific research paper has been published. Nevertheless, with boundless zeal, she traces its author and his collaborators, and one spring afternoon she meets the affable Bavarian himself, who quotes Shakespeare and claims that water and fresh air, as well as lots and lots of sunlight – these in particular, he emphasises - are the answer to all things. And very soon it becomes apparent that the man who single-handedly took a stand - with his collaborators – against the establishment, is more than the master of his subject, and indeed, even now, is finding out new paths and ways of seeing. Later she discovers by accident - that is to say, in an unpleasantly indirect way - that he has a significant attachment, and, without having any reason to do so, she notes the rain that has been falling steadily the past ten minutes. She also sees very clearly, for what feels like the first time, the neon of the shop sign before her; she has been watching it and reading it perfectly, even though half of it is concealed by the lintel, yet now she wonders if she has read it correctly at all. In front of her, a queue of young people are forming outside a pastry shop, and she wonders suddenly – she suddenly wonders - if young people will ever be any different, or will they always be young and hopeful and free, as they seem now from generation to generation, in exactly the same way?