"Yeah." He stares into his glass for a long moment. "Funny thing was, I recognized her, you know?" He glances up, at Simon. "Not who or what she was, not right away, but it was like I'd known her for years."

His mouth twists upward. "Guess I have," he says, with wry black humor (if it can even be called humor), and he tosses back a good couple inches of his drink.