The offer was signed. The two weeks' notice at the old job was given. The new work laptop was picked up, which is a way of saying the candidate had already left one employer and was holding the equipment of the next one. The start date was the following Monday.
The rescission arrived on the Friday before it, which is the only piece of professional courtesy in the entire sequence. The position had been eliminated, apparently for budget reasons. None of the notice the candidate had extended to their previous employer was returned to them — the company that had demanded commitment gave back none of its own.
There is a particular arithmetic to a rescinded offer. The old job is gone, the new job is gone, and the only remaining object is a laptop that now belongs to no one. Companies will happily take your two weeks. The open question is whether they will ever give one back.