Chapter 7 - The Investigation
Zoe listened without interrupting. Marcus told her that he and Samuel had argued about the move for his new flying job. He told her he had been angry when her grandfather died, and that he’d spent years wishing he could take back his last words. Then he read part of Samuel’s letter aloud. Zoe reached for his hand. “Grandpa knew you loved him,” she said.
The next day, Lila asked if I would meet with two investigators from the airline. I chose to go in person. I wanted them to see me as more than the woman in the short clip. Marcus offered to come. I asked Dana instead. “You can drive me,” I told Marcus. “I’d like to speak for myself in the room.”
At the office, I sat with Lila and the investigators. They asked me to describe the exchange from the beginning. “I was sure of my seat,” I said. “She made me doubt whether proof would be enough.” “I showed the pass. She didn’t check it. She told me someone like me must be in the wrong place without using those exact words.” They asked about Marcus. I told them I was glad to see him, but that my ticket was valid before he stepped out of the cockpit. “That is what I need you to understand,” I said.
Outside, Dana handed me a bottle of water. “How did it go?” “I told them.” That evening, Marcus told me he had submitted a second report about what happened before departure. “Did they ask you whether she recognized me?” I asked. “Yes.” “What did you say?” “That she told me she didn’t know you were my mother. Then I told them what I said to her.”
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A few days passed. June arrived for a visit. That night, the four of us women sat around Dana’s kitchen table. Zoe asked June for stories about me when I was young. June told her I once refused to leave a library because a clerk said children from our neighborhood would lose the books. My phone rang. Lila’s name appeared. She said the investigation had found something in the records from the earlier flight, and she wanted to discuss it with me the next morning.
