The Lost Luggage Claim

NORTHERN SKIES AIRLINES. Baggage Services. Missing Bag Report, Form A. Date: Monday. Passenger: Leopold Marsh. Flight arrived from: Lisbon. Description of bag: Medium brown suitcase, leather handle, one wheel slightly loose. Contents: Clothes, shoes, a book. Reference number: NS-4471.

Form B: Update and Additional Details. Date: Wednesday. Please describe any items of special value. Answer: I'm afraid I wasn't completely honest on Monday. I was tired, and the young man at the desk was in a hurry, so I wrote "clothes, shoes, a book," which is true but leaves out the only thing that matters. At the bottom of the suitcase, wrapped in tissue paper, there is a wedding veil. My wife, Margarida, wore it when we were married in 1971. She died two years ago. On Saturday, our granddaughter is getting married here, and she asked if she could wear it. I flew all this way to bring it to her.

Form C: Compensation Claim. Date: Friday. Please state the value of the missing items so that compensation can be calculated. Answer: I have read your rules carefully. You pay a fixed amount per kilo, which seems fair for clothes and shoes. But the veil weighs almost nothing, so by your rules it is worth almost nothing, and I understand that. Had I known what would happen, I would have carried it in my hand. Your compensation is kind, but I don't want it. If the suitcase cannot be found, I would only ask you one thing: if it turns up one day, after the wedding, please send it to my granddaughter, not to me. She is the one who should have it.

From: Fiona Ashdown, Baggage Services. To: Leopold Marsh. Sent: Saturday, 7:12 a.m. Dear Mr. Marsh, I read your forms last night and spent most of it on the phone. Your suitcase never left Lisbon on Monday. On Tuesday it was put on a flight to Oslo by mistake, and it has been travelling ever since. It landed here at 6:40 this morning. I have attached a photo, taken five minutes ago. It shows the brown suitcase with the loose wheel, on the back seat of a taxi that is now on its way to the address of the church. With my warmest wishes to the bride, Fiona Ashdown.