“…he showed little interest in the work Madame Curie was doing at the time. His attention was focused on the other side of the marital bed, so to speak. He was interested in Pierre Curie and his last project. Do you know how Pierre Curie died?”

“No…”

“He was run over by a carriage. On the 19th of April 1906, in the morning, as he crossed Rue Dauphine. At the time he and another scientist by the name of D’Arsonval were investigating the psychic forces manifested in mediumistic trances. The project was left unfinished, and shelved. It was never mentioned again; setting aside the circumstances, it was rather unorthodox, and bore no relation to Curie’s earlier work. Or perhaps it did, but that only made it more preposterous. His partner D’Arsonval vanished like a puff of smoke, never to be heard of again. After the absurd accident that cost Curie his life, D’Arsonval disappeared, just like that. Perhaps that was what piqued our friend’s curiosity…”

Roberto Bolaño, Monsieur Pain

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