"Excuse me?" "Where's Professor Boerhave's house?" " What d'you want him for?" "What did you say?" " What d'you want him for?" "I should discuss that with him." "Sounds logical." "I'm going that way." "Give me a lift and I'll show you the way." "Please don't smoke in the car." "I have valuable things with me." "What's up?" " I tore a muscle." "Oh dear." "Let me see." " No, no, here." "Sorry, sorry." "Put it here." "Where did this paper come from?" " Wrong house." "The neighbours..." "The paper boy is in love." "With you?" " No, with Mum." "What makes you think that?" "When you run, she dances naked." " You were asleep!" "I had to learn Darwin!" "Can you test me, Dad?" " Sure." "Boy aged 12 admitted to Oxford, maths prodigy Jan Prent." "It's a Dutch name." "Dad." "Darwin: the questions are at the back." "Good thing you were nearly back home." "I wasn't nearly home." "I had a lift from a young man looking for Professor Boerhave." "Where did you leave him?" "I said Boerhave never receives guests before 1 0 a. m." "So he's driving round the block." "Ouch!" "What's that for?" "Don't look at me." "Your pain must be punishment." "Rubbish:" "I was already in pain before I met him." "God used to punish after sin, but that didn't help so now he does it before." "Your logic is unique." "Can you put this in their letter box?" "You're passing." "Dad, Darwin..." "The questions are at the back, but are they the right questions?" "Take a look." "Darwin's Theory is always assumed to mean that the strong are always right." "But the fittest were never the strongest nor even the cleverest..." "The fittest" " Mum, can you do it later?" "...are the ones best adapted..." "They're often the least conspicuous." "The grey mouse..." "Who survived under Stalin?" "The colourless concièrge." "Who survived prehistory?" "Not the dinosaurs, they died out." "Bye, Dad." "You heard what I said?" "Yes, we're descended from mice, not apes." "Can the professor see me now?" " Come on in." "Thank you." "My name's Verkuil." " Are you one of my students?" "No, I'm a film conservator." "I have a few questions for the professor." "Oh, you're Professor Boerhave?" "Lecturer, not professor." " Never mind." "Your name was on the list." "Can this room be blacked out?" "It's a pre-war house, so I expect so." "What I have to show you is also pre-war." "My name's on a list?" " Invitees to the première." "He wants a black out." "No, the room!" "The General's off the wall." "Wait a second!" "I'm reconstructing a Polish avant-garde film from 1 937." "Only two lines of dialogue." "That's enough for a dialogue." " You do speak Polish?" "I understand it." "That's not the same." "One of them is the key to reconstructing the film." "The question is which?" "One more time." "Emit erom eno." "I beg your pardon?" "I spoke Backwards." "Sdrawkcab ekops I." "It all sounds like Frisian or Russian." "You want to hear it again?" " Please." "Esaelp." "The sky won't fall on you if you walk backwards." "No, the French "reculer" is more accurate:" "The sky won't fall on you if you walk ass first." "Oh Vera, sorry." "No." "The man took me by surprise." "I understand." "I understand." "It's nothing." "A dog in the garden." "Tuttel, you should stay out of seawater!" "Dirty doggy!" "Who led you astray?" "What's the meaning of driving my dog crazy like this?" "Throw that thing back in the sea." "What's that for?" "I threw a crab on your book." " But why?" "I thought you might think it nice, scary or cool..." "I wanted to see what you'd do." "I probably would have liked it if it wasn't a borrowed book." "But I wouldn't have thought it scary." "A dead person stinks more than a dead crab." "I hear they really stink, have you ever smelled one?" "No, never had the chance." "Even though my own father's dead." " And you couldn't sniff him?" "I think my mother might have let me but I hadn't been born yet." "My father has no legs." "Oh that's you, is it?" "That can be really boring." "Would you rather be dead or have no legs?" "Your father isn't a soccer player, is he?" " No." "So what's the problem?" "My heart's on the right side." " Mine too." "No. it can't be." "It's on the left." "Mine is, listen." "I can't hear anything." "That's because it's a very small heart." "Very small and on the right." "Mrs Koenen?" "Victoria?" "Victoria, it's me:" "Vera." "Hello?" "I told you!" "It's Vera." "Anne." "I just spoke to your mother." "What happened to her?" " A clot on the brain." "Oh, how awful." " Indeed." "Do you remember Marjolein?" "No, I don't think so." " I was Bernard's secretary." "You saw her at the funeral." "Was your husband the man we read about who died in an attack?" "Tim didn't die." "Oh but someone did die?" " Not my husband." "Mother wants to go." "She's always tired after confession." "You live here?" " For 2 years, you didn't know?" "Come round for coffee some time." " Great." "Bye." "Looking for me?" "No, sorry." "I want an answer to a mystery." "You know the church is to show mysteries and not to solve them." "Isn't there a confessional here?" "You want to confess?" " No thanks." "It's just how does someone confess if they can't talk?" "I can't tell you." " Confessional secret?" "You could use notes." " Did you find any?" "No, so you use notes." "Are you Catholic?" " No, just curious." "Is that a sin?" " No." "Show me your mysteries." "You'll find them in the chapel of the Madonna of Czestochowa." "Here you are." " Thank you." "You want some?" "Mr Manfred." " Mrs Gravesande." "Un blanc." " One moment." "Your husband is lunching in his room?" "You said?" "I understand him hiding himself away." "For security reasons." "They might come back any time." "I don't sleep a wink." "They won't come back for you." " No." "But I'm in the room next-door..." "to your husband." "Mum, can I leave the table?" " Yes, dear, go on." "I hear him scuttling round at night." "He has good reason to worry whether he taught his students the right things." "My husband teaches his students philosophy, not making bombs." "I didn't say that." "They learn complex things at university." "The simple ones are often forgotten." "Good manners... decency." "There are things you don't do." "Like sending mail bombs." " Yes, madam." "She says it's Dad own fault." " She's just incredibly dumb." "She says the culprits will come back." " She's talking rubbish." "It's possible." "What if they send a bomb?" "It was pure chance?" "You father didn't do anything, did he?" "I don't know." "Sometimes you read that stuffy fathers are spies or murderers." "Our family is really stuffy." "My brother's a murderer." " What did you say?" "He's the king of an African country, of Bunyoro." "Bunyoro?" "To be king there, you have to kill all your brothers." "And his father is your father?" "Does your mother know?" "She told me herself." "Aren't you afraid?" "Of a package from Africa one day?" "No, he won't send a bomb by post." "Maybe a royal strangler, or a poisonous snake or a curse." "Yes, they're really dangerous." "He sticks a nail in a doll and you feel it in your heart." "Oh sorry, your heart's wrong anyway." " Never mind." "Have you ever had a French kiss?" "No, but I know how to do it." "I put my tongue in your mouth so there's no room for yours and so you stick it my mouth." "And you have to hold your head askew, or your nose gets in the way." "Tim." "I almost knew." " What did you almost know?" "Your dinner was outside the door." " I'm not hungry." "Have something to eat." "Here you are." "You want your other leg too?" "No, I'll take this one off." "I practiced enough for today." "Poodle." "I saw Victoria." "She was in a wheelchair." "Victoria?" " Victoria Koenen." "Your first girlfriend's mother." "A coincidence." "She was your best friend, you were taken." "That's not the point?" "I'm trying to say someone we know has a stroke." "I fancied you but you fancied Bernard, so I dated your girlfriend Anne." "You keep on, don't you?" "You never change." "What do you want me to say?" "Victoria Koenen in a wheelchair!" "Great, so I'm not the only one." "Anyway, Victoria always had a poodle." "She had more than one." "What did Victoria say?" "Nothing." "She can't talk any more." "And she doesn't have the poodle." " That's why." "Are you all right?" " Sure." "Right..." "Bunyoro African neighbours." "Where you borrowed the paper from." " Yes." "And the paperboy Emma mentioned?" " Oh, Emma is kissing a boy downstairs." "Not the paperboy?" " No, not the paperboy." "What did he say to Emma." "Oh yes." "He said he was related to the king of Bunyoro." "A half brother." " Emma has a black boyfriend?" "I didn't say that." " No black boyfriend?" "You should go outside." "With all those shorts around?" "No way." "I can solve this without leaving my room." "I have everything I need here." "You'll have to come out sometime." "You could go the other way, Tim." "Away from the beach and bare knees." " Why should I want to?" "Why you should want to?" "I saw Victoria come out of a church, I went inside and in the church was a painting of your accident painted." "No!" " Yes." "Everything, the dog, the explosion..." " You're making it up." "I am?" "I know what I know." "Anyway..." "Here you are." "Eat." "Be careful." "Looking for something special?" "Apples are on offer." "I wanted to buy this paper, but don't have any money with me." "Professor Boerhave, I presume?" "My name is Van Spijk." "You can keep the paper." "Your photo was on all the front pages, even abroad." "It was sold out everyday." " Thank you." "Any news?" "I mean about the attack." " I only know what was in the paper." "It's not a poodle, it's a Portuguese water dog." "The ancestor of the poodle." "It's criminal to use them for kamikaze attacks." "Did no one claim responsibility for the attack?" "Not that I know." " Surely that's not logical?" "If an attack fails, claim it, or people won't know what you want to achieve." "Maybe it didn't fail." " You think so?" "So it comes down to that visitor Verkuil?" "What film did he show you?" "I don't remember anything about it." "If you hold your dog, I can go outside." "Carlos, in your basket." "Very good." "Carlos saved my life once." "I had my foot caught in a fishing net." "Well, that won't happen to me!" " What won't happen to you?" "Nice bike." "It doesn't sound very healthy?" " Spare parts are always a problem." "Which year?" " The year of my birth." "Russian." "Dnepr." "Rpend..." "Repent..." "Did you have a motorbike?" " Yes, a Harley." "From my birth-year too." "No thanks, I stopped." "Don't lead me into temptation." "You said Rpend?" " Dnepr spoken backwards." "You're not a Catholic." " No." "I'm a logical positivist." "I heard of that." "You said Logical...?" " ..." "Positivist." "That sounds positive!" " Yes." "You mean in a Christian sense?" " No, on the contrary." "It investigates whether one can sensibly discuss if God exists." "You do believe in the immortality of the soul?" "In a certain sense." "You could say my soul survived the death of my legs." "Sometimes I feel my legs, phantom pain." "Ah, a beautiful image..." "A dead person lives on as phantom pain in the relatives." "I know my legs are gone." "They found the bits and dissected them in the laboratory looking for splinters, chemical traces." "...samples were sent to other labs in Japan, Germany, the USA to compare them with remains of other victims." "There may be 1 000 bits of Boerhave scattered around the world like holy relics." "Logical Positivist, you said?" "Only the thinking part of Tim Boerhave." "Cogito ergo sum." "Touché." "Indeed." "I heard you have an interesting collection here." "Not relics, but we have a collection of unrecognised miracles." "I would love to see them." "Christ almighty!" "Sir?" "What's the matter?" "Can I help you?" "I have pain in my legs, but it will pass." "What do you want with that painting?" "I wanted to take it, steal it." "But the paint's still wet." "Why d'you want to steal it?" "I shouldn't be hanging there." "I wasn't saved." "You're still alive, aren't you?" "I wondered who the artist was." "I'll show you." "Look, this is him:" "Jona." "Here he painted his own ex voto." "That whale." "I saw it this morning in Van Spijk's store." "May I?" " Yes." "He also painted an ex-voto for me." "You have cramp again?" "No, it's all right." "Look." "I see a house with a hand." " That's my house." "And that hand?" "That was my profession." "Manicure?" "No chiromancy." "I used to read palms." "You predict the future?" "I should have met you before." "No, not the future." "People have a question and a secret wish." "They ask the question and I have to guess the wish." "Who's the man with the revolver?" "That's the father of my child." "Was he saved by a miracle?" " No. he's dead." "He was already old." "The miracle is that he fathered a baby." "Poodle, possibly water dog." "Victoria had a poodle or was it a water dog?" "Painting of the big bang." "Painter:" "Jona." "Who ordered it?" "The priest should know." "With his Dnepr." "Repent." "The miracle." "Tim?" "!" "Come in, Vera." "Are you going out?" " Yes." "Are you coming?" " No." "Oh, come on." "What did you do today?" "You were right about leaving my room." " Of course I was." "I met a master of a dog and a servant of God." "And dog is god backwards." "I get it, you went to the church." "I shouldn't hang there." "I wasn't saved." " I don't know why the painting's there." "A woman in the church thought I should hang there as a miracle." "Who was she?" " "You're alive, aren't you?"" "Yes, what else did she say?" "A miracle happened." "How shall I explain it." "No...?" " Yes." "In the church?" "Yes." " No." "What's the matter?" "What's up?" "What are you doing?" " Go on downstairs." "Why?" "Go on." "Will you come too?" "Go downstairs." " I asked you to come too." "I can imagine you bumping into someone here like a handsome man with two legs." "Is that what you want?" " In a manner of speaking." "If you weren't crippled, I'd knock you off the bed." "I mean it!" " Yes, I mean it too!" "If you go on like that, I'll do something to you." "Yes, I really will." "You think I can practice my profession?" " Not if you act so stupid." "Tango!" "1 , 2." "Jesus Christ!" " Holy Mary." "You're my salvation." "No, you saved me." "If you hadn't turned up, then" " Then you'd be lying in the water." "But if you hadn't braked in time, there'd be two victims." "You could look at it that way." "Your salvation has a name." "My name is Prudence." "I'm Tim." "Prudentia, Temperatia, Justitia." "Fortitu...!" "Jesus." "Looking for me?" "I almost dived after you." "People have a question and a secret wish, you said?" "They pose the question and I can guess the wish." "My first question after the explosion was:" "do I still exist?" "Or is there anything left of Tim Boerhave to pose that question?" "You know the answer." "The certainty of Descartes:" "I think therefore I am." "And the next?" "That's from Darwin:" "Can I still reproduce?" "That's a ridiculous question." "Why should I want to?" "Without the bomb, I'd never have even thought of that." "And the third question?" "Is there a third question?" "Yes." "Can I look at other people's legs without emotion?" "No, I can't." "Other people's legs make me angry, jealous they excite me they confuse me." "Then you know you exist, don't you?" "According to Descartes." "Darwin." "Prudence." "Oh darling, I have to dry myself." "Really?" " Yes." "I'm going to see Anne and Marjolein." "D'you feel like coming?" "No." "Did Dad go out with Anne?" " Oh, but that's a long time ago." "She's terrible." "She keeps interrogating you." "I'm going." "See you later." " Bye." "Tuttel..." "Tuttel, come here!" "Victoria, was it your dog that blew itself up?" "Your Diamond?" "Anne!" "Anne!" "Vera!" "?" "You're not leaving, are you?" " I'm not interrupting?" "No." "Didn't you bring Tim?" " No, I have flowers for you." "Here you are." "What a lovely garden you have." " Thank you." "What lovely photos." " Yes." "Weren't we young?" " Yes." "Funny idea." "If you'd stayed with Bernard, you would now be a widow." "And I'd have a legless husband." "Funny?" " No, not funny." "More a strange coincidence." "How's Vicky?" "I heard she was working in tropical agriculture?" "I don't know." "She's somewhere in the African bush, saving apes." "Don't you write?" " No." "The umbilical cord's been cut." "She didn't like my new marriage." "Marriage?" " Yes, to Marjolein." "I'd said such terrible things about her when she was Bernard's lover." "Terrible things about me?" " I didn't know the worst yet." "Isn't Victoria here?" " She's gone to church." "What exactly happened to her?" "She called that the dog had gone." "Vicky'd gone. "Come and fetch me."" "We drove over, she sat on the stairs and couldn't talk." "Did Vicky live with Victoria?" " Yes, didn't you know?" "Thanks." "I think you're telepathic, Vera." "Why?" " I wanted to ask you a question and you blushed before I spoke." "I know what she'll ask." " Don't." "If Captain Cassanova's tried to seduce you." "Captain Cassanova?" " Van Spijk." "You danced with him all night.." " That's right." "I danced with him." "Van Spijk seduces all the female tourists in his shop." "I haven't been in his shop." "If his shop door's locked, you know he has a woman in his bedroom." "That's right, isn't it Marjolein?" " A different one each time, Anne?" "Thank you." "Delicious marmalade." " From Van Spijk's shop." "Can you shop there without being seduced?" "Tim loves marmalade." " Oh, I'm so happy to hear that." "That vital functions carry on." " Sex." "Sorry?" " Keep out of it, Mar." "Sex." "And not the missionary position." " What d'you mean?" "See?" "She doesn't know." " Marjolein means..." "She may say it obscurely." "Tim's new form poses new demands." "The classic way of making love may not be the most functional." "I really don't want to talk to you about this." "You can trust us." "We're your friends." "It's hopeless, Anne." " Keep out of it." "She doesn't think we should." " Do what?" "I told you." " Tackle Tim with our expertise." "No." "She'd rather he wanked on the beach between the bodies." "It was lovely." "Thanks for the tea." "Hi Dad." "Can I have some money for an ice cream?" "How many is that?" " My first today." "Where's Mum?" "With that awful Anne, were you really in love with her?" "Well..." "You know, Dad?" "Jan's mother reads palms, she can see how long you'll live." "And if you're in love." "Has she looked at your hand?" " No way!" "Afraid she'll see something?" "No, Jan's in love, not me." "Thanks." "Yes, sir?" "I was talking to myself." "What are you reading?" "I nearly finished it." "They're detective stories about a priest." "I'd like to borrow it when you finish." "I started it once, but lost it halfway through." "The bomb." "You can buy it from me later." " I can what?" "Buy the book when I finish it." "Don't hurry for me." "I won't charge for the pages you already read." "That's nice of you." "What page was it?" "It was about leaves..." "Where would you hide a leaf?" "That was in The Sign of the Broken Sword." "Where would a wise man hide a leaf?" "And the other answered." " In the forest." "You were more than halfway." "Let me see, that'll be 2.58 euro." "That was quick." "You want to know how?" " Yes." "No, never mind." "2.58 euro." "You have change from ten?" "Yes, I'll change it in there." "Can I offer you a drink?" "Orange juice please." "Why no vodka?" "My father always ordered that, my mother says." "Time for your aperitif, professor?" "Jan is getting me a drink." "I wouldn't count on it." "I saw him walking off with your daughter." "You want a drink, Prudence?" "Oh, yes please." "White wine please." "A white wine and vodka ice." " Vodka ice..." "Jan said his father always drank that." "Yes..." "The mythology of the father." "You had to make up much?" "Jan always wanted to know everything." "He asked things about his father that I never wondered." "I saw his photo in the paper." "It was in all the papers when he died." "When he died?" "The general was famous." "I didn't know that." "When he came to me, I saw a nice, courteous desperate old man with an impossible question." "Could you help him?" "He said he was on his way to the airport with a gun and money for a ticket and a mission." "At the airport, he'd forgotten." "Forgotten what?" " Why he was there." "He didn't know his destination." "Then he drove back." "Not back home but the other way, to the coast." "Then he saw my sign and got out for a consultation." "He never left again." "Thanks." "Here's to you." "To the future." "To you." "Not to the future?" "I'll drink to you." "If I show you my hand am I an open book?" "Yes..." "You didn't even look." "Go on." "What can you see?" "A hand." "Prudence!" "What did you see?" "Something with water." "Look, my father." "And this is the king." "He only drinks milk." "Milk is filthy, yugh!" "These are his ministers." "Is that your half-brother who wants to kill you?" "No, he wasn't born yet." "Look, the king has a mask and a beard like my father." "Shut your eyes." "You can look." "Wow what a great thing." "It's really itchy." " Don't take it off." "Now dance a real jungle dance." "Not too tight?" "How can I make love to my husband?" "Hello?" "What are you doing?" "I jumped out of bed but forgot that I have no..." "They hung up." "How was your tea party?" "I don't want to talk about it." "It was awful." "Awful?" "Awful and I don't want to talk." " So you stole something..." "Vicky, Victoria and Diamond." "What're you doing?" " Looking at what you stole." "I didn't steal anything." " That photo." "Oh yes." "But I stole the photo before I found out it was awful." "I saw Victoria in the church with the priest." "That's normal, but the painter was there too." "I think Victoria had that painting made." "You recognise the dog?" "It looks like the one." "And like the dog in Van Spijk's store." "How can we find out?" "DNA" "Victoria's clothes are covered with dog, with Diamond." "Yes and Vicky lived with Victoria as a student." "There's someone else on the photo." "The photographer's shadow or a passer-by." "No, no look." "Look at Vicky's gaze." "She's in love and Victoria she doesn't like it a bit." "Victoria knows who took the photo." "And Vicky?" " Yes, Vicky too of course." "She's in Africa saving apes." "Something else..." "I remember that." "Portugal... grilled fish." "The smoke got in my eyes." "Yes, but take a good look." "Bernard was still alive." "No, that girl." "Yes, it's Vicky." "Doesn't she look like Emma?" "No, I can't see." "It must be the age." "Tim, are we sure that Bernard is Vicky's father?" "Calculated: birthday minus gestation." "No DNA test?" " There was no such thing then." "And Bernard recognised it, let's have dinner." "What, you want dinner?" "Yes, I'm hungry and they have wolf fish." "You're going downstairs?" " Yes." "Professor." "Is high water at ten tonight?" " I don't know, but I'll check." "What are you planning?" "Shall I test you?" "No, you can't test, you only give lectures." "Emma be nice to Dad, he meant well." "But if he tests me, I don't understand a word." "What can I get from the buffet?" " Don't eat too much." "He'll get too fat." "Let's get some dessert." "There's the dessert." " You have enough?" "Have some potatoes." " I'm full." "Hi Tim." "Are you going swimming tonight?" " I came to ask you that." "Hi Jan." "Can I come too?" "You know you can't go in the water." "Yes, but what if..." "What if I fall in the water?" "I won't know what to do." "You know what I think, professor?" "Mrs Gravesande." "I don't know what you think, but I can try to guess." "Maybe you want to give me a piece of your mind?" "I think they know who did it." "I don't know about that." " No, you know why?" "What do you think?" "You were punished for committing a terrible crime." "They're investigating that." "What crime?" " You should know that." "They told me it was a mistake, chance." " There's no such thing, professor." "God doesn't play dice." "You were punished by the Old Testament God." "An eye for an eye, a hand, a tooth, a foot..." "You can't say that, Mrs Gravesande." " Yes I can, it's the Bible." "But if I didn't take someone's legs, then I'm owed two." "And who's going to cough up?" "You, Mrs Gravesande?" "!" "You're pretty, Mum." " Don't talk rubbish." "No, I mean it." "Are you going out?" " No, not really." "Just pretending." "What are you going to do?" "Maybe that stupid assignment." "Very good." "Survival of the fittest." "CLOSED" "You locked the door?" " Yes." "Shouldn't I let that girl in?" " No." "No, she's my daughter." "She doesn't need anything." "You have a big daughter." "Sure, but she's still a little girl for me." "I made coffee, you want some?" " Please." "With milk?" " Yes." "Sugar, dash of brandy?" " Delicious, both." "Sometimes your shop's shut." "Then I hear you have a lady in your bedroom." "You shouldn't believe all people say." "But is it true?" "Not always." "Now the shop's shut, but there's no lady in my bedroom." "How very convenient." "Good." "Your order, Tim." "Orange juice, after all?" " It's too early for vodka." "I took one yesterday." "Why did you disappear?" "Yes..." "I wanted to tell you something, but had to tell Emma first." "You still want to tell me?" "Yes." "I told her I was in love with her." "Great." "What did she say?" "I wrote it down for her." "In a poem?" "I'm not a poet." "I worked out the shortest distance in the universe." "I know what the shortest time is too." "I called the smallest space unit Emma and the smallest time unit Jan." "She must have liked that!" "I haven't let her read it yet." "Why not?" "I thought it was too difficult and she has to resit Darwin." "Oh God, yes." "Do you see anything in Darwin, Tim?" "Imagine if everyone exploded when your bomb did." "Imagine the whole world population legless at once." "Would that be a comfort?" "Comfort?" "No." "I stand on exclusivity." "But it's an interesting thought." "The question is: when you enlarge the scale of a problem if the problem is the same?" " Yes." "Whether the bomb was for someone else is then solved." "Or not." "Whether they wanted me or someone else is pointless." "No." "Maybe the culprits did want to get one person." "What about the rest of the world?" "They were to stop you guessing who the one was." "There's another possibility." " What?" "Someone wanted to take your legs, not kill you." "Why in the name of God?" " Yes, that's the question." "I could study physics to find out if the smallest particles really exist." "You're going to study physics!" "But what you discover depends on your brain structure." "Don't make it too complicated." "I don't think I can cut someone open to look inside." "Why not?" "Everyone is disgusting under his skin." "All that blood, entrails and glands." "All those rampant cells." "Maybe you should study philosophy." "First a swim!" "Should you?" "Emma doesn't like reading, studying or thinking." "How can she love me?" "That's chemistry!" "Will you give this to Emma?" "Why don't you?" "You can read it too." "Euclid was an ass." "You wrote that for Emma?" "About how the world works." "Wait, if you talk to Emma about me being in love with her don't say I think everyone is dirty under the skin." "Jan, you can't go swimming!" "Jan!" "Jan, you can't go swimming!" "Tim, why don't you come inside?" "Where have you been?" "I bought some marmalade." "I want to come in." "Well, that's alright." "Christ, Tim, how did you get the chair this far?" "I couldn't save him, Vera." "No, but others were on the beach." "I was the only one who knew and saw it happen." "If I had legs..." " You could have saved him." "I think I need to get someone to help." "If I'm guilty and somehow deserve this punishment..." "Because you couldn't save the boy?" " Yes." "But you believe in cause and effect." " It tallies with your logic." "Punishment precedes sin." "Shall I fetch someone?" " No, wait a while." "Tim..." "Would it help if the culprit was found?" "Restoration of cause and effect." "You think they're hunting Vicky?" "I hope she rescues lots of apes, our ancestors." "You don't hope she's arrested?" "What if they find evidence with traces of culprit and victim?" "A DNA test is needed and they have me." "Are you afraid you're the father, despite the arithmetic?" "I dreamt it." "I'll go and fetch someone." "Okay?" "Won't be long." "You saw something in my hand." " It was impossible." "That's what you said." "What did you see?" "It's impossible, because the hand is a pretext." "They're only lines in the skin." "I talk and if someone reacts, I carry on." "Why shouldn't I react?" "That's a trade secret." "The contact is under the table, with the knees." "You don't have any knees." " I have phantom knees." "The nerves are exposed." "You should get signals that are 1 00 times stronger from my knees." "What did you see, Prudence?" "Jan knew his brother had found him." "You think so?" "He tried to flee to where his brother wouldn't find him." "The water." "But how did he know?" "From me." "How did you know?" " I didn't know." "I was sent, as an instrument." "A sign." "You, a sign?" "How?" "A truncated man." "Like cutting off and sending a finger or ear or a horse's head." "Yes..." "Your Polish general wanted to go back to Africa to kill the man threatening his last son 1 3 years ago." "But Jan wasn't born yet." "He couldn't remember his mission, because the crucial piece was missing." "He still had to meet you." "He never knew I had his son." "Without Jan, I'm as maimed as you, Tim." "Forgive my knees for their signals." "I want what your knees ask for too, Tim." "I want your child." "Welcome home." "I thought they'd be finished." " The house is finished." "The garden needs some work." "I don't like this at all." "Come on, let's look inside." "What film is it?" "It says Polish avant-garde." "Show me." "Dedicated to our conservator G.R. Verkuil who died tragically." "Shouldn't we go?" "I don't know why he came to see me for one Polish sentence." "Mum?" "Yes dear?" "I can't sleep." "Nor can we." "Can I come in there?" "What?" "Can I come in there?" "Come on in." "Come in here." "Why did he go alone?" "He never wanted to go in the water with me." "What did you say to him, Dad?" "He wanted to talk to the father of the girl he was in love with." "What did you say?" "I said:" "Why don't you study philosophy?" "He said:" "I'll go swimming first." "He could have gone with me, couldn't he?"