It was true of course. The private eye found evidence very quickly. Judith hadn’t worked very hard to keep it quiet. Casey looked at the pictures and receipts and felt very foolish.

“How long has this been going on?”

“We’re guessing that it only started a few months ago.”

“So they didn’t know each other before this project?”

“That seems unlikely.”

“Thank you.” Casey felt a strange mix of emotions. On the one hand he was enraged. How dare she do this to him! There was also shame. She had turned him into a giant fool and hadn’t even bothered to cover her tracks. Judith didn’t even respect him enough to hide it well.

Mostly he exhausted. He wanted to just go to bed and wake up and have it be over. It didn’t work that way, though. This type of problem only got worse if you left it alone.

What should he do? There was always confrontation. Casey could imagine him asking her leading questions until she was trapped by her own contradictions. Then she’d admit what she did, weeping and begging his forgiveness.

There was a worse possibility. What if she admitted it and then laughed in his face? She could tell him that she wasn’t sorry, she was proud of what she’d done. This scared Casey to his very core.

Early in the morning he could tell himself that it was unlikely that she’d do any such thing. His marriage with Judith was obviously in bad shape but she’d never been the type to want to hurt him. She’d probably be ashamed. At worst she’d ask for a divorce.

At nights his thoughts changed. They seemed to grow darker as the sun set and he faced many midnights with the dire certainty that she would cut him apart if she could. Ask for divorce? She would demand it. It would be public and he would be utterly humiliated.

Maybe he was going about this all the wrong way. What if he decided to get even? He could find some young thing and make himself happy. That would be just the thing!

He scheduled a business trip out to the coast. Once there he decided to go out on the town. There were two things that were certain to attract young women. They were confidence and money. Casey had both of them.

The trick was to show that you could buy the world without letting anyone suspect that you knew you could buy it. This was a trick that required practice but being rich was something he had lots of practice with. It had been awhile since he needed to use this type of bait but he found that his skills soon returned.

The next morning he woke with a woman’s head on his chest. She wasn’t his wife but she’d been his lover. He felt proud. He woke her and gently eased her out the door. Soon buyer’s remorse set in and he wished he could somehow undo the previous night.

This had been a failure.

The final idea had come together nicely. Everyone spoke of it as a cruel coincidence but Casey saw an upside. It paid to be positive, he guessed.

The basic framework was being put into place. The dome was partially constructed and it looked very beautiful. They’d gone with a combination of glass and other clear elements. The effect was of an immense crystal, perfectly round resting on top of the main building.

Judith and Brent had been up in the helicopter looking at the structure from the air and working on further recommendations. The weather had been fine, if a little windy. A problem came up with the engine and it stalled.

The copter dropped into the lake like a rock. The pilot was able to get out but the back doors appeared to have become stuck. At least they hadn’t been opened. There was suggestion that the impact had warped them, trapping the passengers in back as the water rushed in.

The pilot tried in vain to get them out, diving repeatedly to try and get them out but it had been no use. Casey rewarded him richly. True bravery and loyalty was rare and he wanted it to be recognized. A statue and plaque were built and placed on the shore to show eternal remembrance.

A period of mourning was called for at the construction site but the work went on. In fact, the death created a bit of a stir for the design crew. Judith’s body was placed below the dome, under the floor. A platform was raised over her so that the public could climb up and have the dome surround them. The effect was overpowering at first.

Casey had been at a loss trying to figure out what the Wonder was all about. At first he wanted something to uplift the poor. When that didn’t work he looked to the past for some grand theme. A dome was born entirely made of glass. Ice and snow were celebrated for their power and uniqueness.

Finally, out of tragedy came opportunity and Casey had grasped it. Right on schedule he opened up his Wonder, to huge public interest and attention. It was simply called the Winter Tomb.