In September, 1986, John Wade and his wife, Kathy, retreat to a lakeside cabin after John suffers a terrible loss in a primary election for the U.S. Senate. There they hope to repair their relationship and plan their future. John, age 41, is devastated by his defeat, while his wife, Kathy, age 38, tries to focus on the future that they still have together. They try to cheer themselves up by imagining all sorts of impossibly wonderful futures, including trips to Verona, Italy, the purchase and decoration of a big Victorian house, and the naming of their unborn children.

Neither of them tells the other what they are really thinking: John certainly attempts to hide the extreme rage and sense of impotence he feels. Whatever reservations Kathy may have about her husband she keeps to herself.

Each evidence chapter consists of quotations from history books and psychology books, and war commentary, including court martial testimony and interviews. The interviews all take place in the future, as the third person narrator investigates John and Kathy’s lives in an attempt to explain what happened to them.

This chapter contains the missing person’s report for Kathy Wade, who was reported missing from Lake of the Woods on September 20, 1986.