Paul was so engrossed in studying the current listings for mounted butterflies on Ebay that he didn’t really notice when April left for work. Cross referencing the auction offerings with information from a profusion of web sites such as ButterfliesandThings, Insect-Sale, and Ianni Butterfly Enterprises as well as his Collins Field Guide to the Butterflies of Africa, a battered copy he had found in the book shop near the hospital, required his complete concentration. It was only after he heard a car start that Paul realized April was gone. He went to the window, watched from above as she carefully edged the nose of her Toyota past the broad hedge blocking the view of oncoming traffic on the narrow road that swept along the hillside behind the apartment, then, after tensing momentarily as a lawn care van speed by while April waited, he saw her drive safely off and went back to his computer. The action on a Green-Veined Charaxes, though a specimen in only a very weak A- condition, looked particularly interesting.

April punched at the CD player looking for "Pass in Time" on "Central Reservation" by Beth Orton. She thought that whole butterfly thing that Paul was doing with those pins and the cotton and those nasty little boxes with the poor butterflies inside was so très creepy.