Possible Clues:

• If late, ref might give you hell?
• Quirk of fate taking a crashed flier to heaven
• Time following punishment can be purgatory for some
• Future existence following death
• Death or the world to come
• Seance attendee's belief
• Hoped-for future relief with fat dissolving
• Belief in most religions
• The following biography of Updike
• Presumably, this can't be a soulless place for those who arrive late