Under Items, the form said: unspecified. Under Value, the form said: unknown. Under Investigated By, the form said nothing at all, because nobody had investigated anything.

It had been entered into the system at 4:47 in the afternoon, from a workstation logged to an assistant in the executive suite.

My termination letter was generated at 9:12 the next morning.

Fourteen hours. That’s what it took.

I had spent two years imagining a conspiracy — Grant and Vance in a room somewhere, plotting me out of a job, spreadsheets and envelopes and effort.

What actually happened is that a man mentioned something to another man, and a form got typed, and by lunch the next day I was skipping meals so my son could eat.