"Sir, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"I clearly saw you board alone."
To prevent Melissa from changing her story again, I immediately smiled at her and made a request.
"Could I ask you a small favor?"
Melissa looked at me, puzzled. "What kind of favor?"
I pulled out my phone and said earnestly:
"Today's the first time I'm bringing my girlfriend home to meet my parents. I want to document this trip properly. Would you mind taking a photo with the two of us?"
"Just as a little keepsake."
Melissa nodded without hesitation.
"Of course."
Amy and I posed with Melissa, and the three of us took a photo together.
I saved the picture carefully, then turned my attention to the elderly man sitting closest to us across the aisle—Bertram James, who looked to be nearly seventy.
His seat was the nearest to ours. In my previous life, he'd been bumped by another passenger while looking for his seat and nearly fell. Amy had caught him just in time and helped him back into his seat. He'd thanked her over and over.
So when I'd gone around asking passengers if they'd seen Amy, he was the first person I'd approached.