they are old things , dead things , perhaps , but i ... '' he raised his hands in a kind of distracted gesture . `` she wanted to come with us , but of course we could n't let her do that . '' i scooted across the seat but he did n't crowd me , staying as far away from me as possible on the long seat . something was n't kosher when someone who looked twenty years old possessed the same social security number as a person born in 1925 . 