It was the same question I had, in good faith, when I read your comment. In fact, it over rode (in my mind) everything else you wrote - I kept asking myself, "Why was he waiting for it to come out? Did he discover it, and not tell other people? Was he wondering whether this existed, but had not found it? Did he have a colleague tell him they were onto something, and he was waiting for them to publish. Has he known all about this the entire time, and was waiting for the other shoe to drop?"
To some degree, that one sentence, by itself at the head of your comment, captured all of my attention.