In late May, Jack banged out a term paper on Hemingway that earned him a respectable B+. (Vanessa's paper had received an A-.) That meant that he had passed the class. So a celebration was decided upon, which would in fact commemorate three more or less simultaneous events: Jack's real diploma (to replace the illegitimate one awarded him twenty-three years ago), Vanessa's twenty-first birthday, and the graduation (cum laude) of Jack and Joanna's daughter Eileen.

A swank restaurant was chosen for the occasion, and Eileen was supposed to come to the house ahead of time. Vanessa thought it odd that she hadn't met Eileen yet, given that they were attending...