Characters: STEVE: 30-ish, travelling businessman SIMON: early thirties, academic KATHRYN: university student on holiday LISA: university student on holiday HOSTESS: attractive, French A train carriage, rumbling along at night, empty except for four passengers: a pair of female university students, speaking to each other quietly; a professional-looking man in his early thirties, reading a packet of papers in the row ahead of them; and another man of about the same age, slouched in the seat facing him.