“Mrs.

Vance,” she said, and her voice had softened into something careful, and pitying.

“I reviewed your airline itinerary, to see if I could help you rebook.” “So I missed the flight,” I said dully.

“No, ma’am,” she whispered.

“Your return ticket.

It was permanently canceled.

Yesterday afternoon.”

And that was the detail that transformed everything, that turned a nightmare into a revelation.