Outside the curtain, Michael Helwart stared straight ahead, jaw clenched, and said nothing. But his pulse beat like war drums behind his ribs.

The chandelier cast a mellow glow over the private banquet hall, where clinking glasses and nostalgic chatter echoed with the careless joy of faded school days. Laughter mingled with mellow jazz, curling like cigarette smoke over linen-clothed tables. Alumni clustered in small islands of conversation, glasses in hand, catching up on old ...