Michael is dressing for dinner at a friend's country house in Ireland As he descends the staircase, he spots a small painting of a landing with an old linen press and the white marble statue of an angel In the background is a woman clad in a dark green dress During dinner, Michael comments on the painting to his hosts but they say there is no woman in the picture When Michael goes up to bed later, he sees that they are correct This is only the first in a series of incidents that lead Michael to question his grip on reality