John Henderson is out for blood. At an annual mathematics conference, he watches the professor Miklos Czogloz present a paper. When he asks for questions, Henderson is ready. He points out a flaw in the work, and Czogloz cannot refute him. Afterward, Czogloz calls him and asks to meet. Half an hour later, they are in the hotel bar. The two have a long history; they first met as graduate students in Michigan. A few years later, the roommates' friendship ended when Henderson caught Marya Zilkowski, a flighty Polish graduate student and his girlfriend, cheating on him with Czogloz. All these years later, he is still bitter, and Marya is still with Czogloz. Therein lies the problem, Czogloz tells Henderson. Marya has "found religion," and she is trying to right all of her past wrongs. This includes the fact that she had Henderson provide the brilliant piece of insight that earned her a Ph.D.—Zilkowski's Theorem. She wants Henderson's consent to announce the truth in a national mathematics journal. Reluctantly, he agrees to meet them for dinner. A week later, the day arrives. Their conversation is strained yet polite. Henderson, however, becomes incensed as Marya talks, so he makes them a deal: he will give them his blessing to publish the retraction if the Red Sox win. Eleven innings later, they lose, but Henderson relents anyway. He'll let Marya come clean. Weeks later, Henderson feels depressed, forlorn, and lost. In his office and his car, he contemplates faith and his existence. But, this being life and not mathematics, no solution comes to him.