“In fact,” said Rebecca Geary, “the police have not definitively said that case is closed. My sources tell me the investigation has been revived.”

Sandra did not like the look on Lisa Carver’s face. She hadn’t known the woman long, but Sandra believed, in another moment, the top of her head might blow off.

Lisa paused before answering. “I have no information to that effect.”

“This is a fucking disaster,” someone whispered into Sandra’s ear.

She turned. Albert Ruskin was huddled close to her. He did not look happy.

“She’s handling it,” Sandra said. “More or less.”

“Did you not tell these people what the purpose of this day was?” he said, his voice low but angry. She could feel the spittle hitting her ears.

“If you’re asking if I told them certain subjects were off-limits, the answer is no,” she whispered back. “My experience is, if you tell reporters not to ask something, that just makes them want to ask it more.”

Sandra knew, at that moment, that it wasn’t just Lisa Carver going down in flames. Sandra’s career as a public relations consultant was finished. But how could this have been avoided?

No, wait, it was too soon to put on the parachute. She needed to find a way to spin this, to turn things around, right fucking now.

Sandra tilted up her chin and shouted: “I have a question!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Ruskin whispered, but she ignored him, stepping away.

Lisa looked apprehensively in Sandra’s direction.

Sandra said, “An estimated forty thousand people die each year on American roads and highways. How much do you think that number could be reduced if everyone were traveling in an Arrival?”

Lisa smiled. “What a wonderful question. And it goes to the heart of what I’ve been trying to do since I started working in this industry. I want to save lives. There is no greater goal than reducing the carnage on the roads of this wonderful country. What’s at the root of so many fatal accidents? Reckless driving. Driver error. Texting. Well, when you’re in an Arrival, all of those factors are eliminated.”

She stayed on the topic for the better part of five minutes. Sandra could see the woman’s confidence coming back, the hard set of her jaw relaxing. When she was done with the question, she opted not to take any more and continued with the video presentation.

When that came to an end, there was scattered applause from the hall. Lisa backed away from the podium, and exited the stage through a back door.

“Let’s go,” Ruskin said, grabbing Sandra by the elbow.

She pulled her arm from his grasp, but followed him nonetheless. They left the gym, walked a short distance down the hall, then opened the door to a room behind the stage.