“Doug, my name is Sean Connor. Can I talk to you about something?”

It’s one of the other members of the amnesia recovery group, coming up to me after our meeting. I’ve seen him here a couple of times, but he’s been quiet.

I’m not thrilled with the request. I’m sort of talked out right now when it comes to memory loss, and I’m sure that’s what this is about. My hero status in the media has made me something of a celebrity in the group, when I’d much rather be anonymous. I’ve been thinking of bailing out of the group entirely; I feel worse when I leave a session than when I went in. I don’t think it’s supposed to work that way.

“You mean now?” I ask. “Because I really need to get home.”

“No, not now. There’s something I have to show you, and I don’t have it with me.”

“Okay. Maybe before the next meeting?”

“I was hoping that maybe we could meet somewhere away from here. It’s pretty important, and I want to keep it private.”

He seems nervous about making the request, and I’m feeling a little bad for him. “What’s it about, Sean?”

“I really can’t say right now; you need to see what I have. But I wouldn’t be asking unless…”

I finish the sentence for him. “… it was important.”

He smiles a nervous smile. “Yeah. I promise I’m not going to waste your time, although in a way I hope I am.”

That’s a little cryptic, but I don’t really want an explanation right now. “Okay, Sean, but I don’t know any more about this stuff than you do. I’m just taking it one day at a time, trying to figure it out.”

He shakes his head again. “It’s not about memory loss. Well, it is, in a way, but that’s not why I’m coming to you.” He pauses for a moment, as if trying to decide whether to go on. Finally, “I’m talking to you because you’re a police officer.”

I don’t feel like I should be asking more questions; it seems like he’s going to let the information dribble out when and where he wants to. I’m also not all that interested. “When would you like to talk, Sean?”

“I was thinking tomorrow, maybe eight in the morning?”

I tell him that’s fine with me, and we make a plan to meet at a small coffee shop that he says is near his house in Clifton. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this,” he says, “no matter how it turns out.”