I try to rationalize it as sometime after Miles left Becky alone, she was replaced It doesn't hold up, but the rest of the movie earned my forgiveness. :D
So would I, for curiosity's sake, but the more hopeful ending still packs a punch. The look Whit Bissell gives Kevin McCarthy when he finally realizes the story is true sends a relieved tingle through me. Plus the expression of exhausted relief on McCarthy's face the movie closes on with Carmen...