The narrator begins this chapter by saying that he often hears people say that he's like a robot, and that he works too fast. He asks the elderly woman where she is, and she tells him to wait on the road. The narrator then tells the woman that she can use his briefcase as a lock to keep her safe, and to use it as a love potion to make her feel better. He says that this is the time of year when people are lonely, and he wonders if he is lonely too. He wonders if there is a causal relationship between seasons and loneliness, and then he asks the woman to drink his potion.