You get one shot at making up a biiiiig story to your spouse to cover over your own screw-up, and you'd better make it count. As the man said: he chose . . . unwisely.

For him it must have been a long drive down to Chicago. You wonder if he had the plan in mind when he left, or spent hours staring out the windshield, telling himself think! Think! There has to be a way out of this!