The stranger was tall and lean, with thinning blond hair and a creased face. He seemed to understand that some explanation might be warranted for his startling appearance directly in Laks’s path. "I saw you up there half an hour ago," he said, "silhouetted against the skyline, and it looked like the way down was tricky, so I decided to take a little break and just make sure you got down all right." He spoke with a crisp accent Laks couldn’t quite place.