Katherine was lying on the lab sofa with her hands behind her head. The sofa was shabby and was alleged to have belonged at one time to a psychoanalyst. Its present function was to offer temporary rest to anyone working late in the lab. Today was Sunday and no undergraduates were there.
"What are you fiddling around with, Phil?" Katherine asked.
"The electron microscope," he said. Phil Kaufman was an assistant physics professor, short, bony and intense-looking, and at the moment he was engaged in extra-curricular research.
"You know, I bet this old chaise-longue could many a tale unfold," she said.
"Well, according to rumor, many have been unfolded on it."
"Professor, your mind wanders. I'm thinking of its previous condition of servitude. Think of the dreams it used to hear."
Phil Kaufman didn't answer. There was a pause and she said, "This afternoon you're working with the microscope, and last night it was the telescope. You were in the observatory until dawn."
"How did you find that out?"
"I have my methods, Watson. I don't see how you expect to keep going on no sleep at all. Russ is worried about you."