She told me — kindly — that what I was doing was extremely common, that the human mind will do almost anything rather than accept a closed casket, and that I should be careful about spending money on investigators, because that’s a road with no end on it.

“She was right about the general case.

She was wrong about mine.

“In February, Desmond found a payment.

Adriana had a personal card, and in the four months before the crash there were three payments to a clinic in another state.

Cosmetic surgery.

Consultation, then a deposit, then a scheduling fee.

The procedure date on the file was six weeks after the accident.”