The first step was a global search for Sutton Montclair. The results came immediately, by the thousands. These were public people. There were as many articles online about the “incident,” as Ethan Montclair had referred to it, as there were reviews and stories about the baby’s death. There were a number of stories about Ethan Montclair and his stratospheric rise to the top of the literary world, and the subsequent disappointment of his canceled novel. The rise and fall of ages, the push and pull of celebrity; it was a fickle beast.

Holly chose to focus on Sutton’s fall from grace.

She pulled out her notes from the night before. In a nutshell, Sutton Montclair, historical fiction author, had received a one-star review on a popular review site and had gone ballistic. It started simply, asking for the review to be changed, arguing that the review had no merit, and then, when the reviewer went public, saying she felt like she was being threatened, that she didn’t feel safe and was scared, it all devolved. The attacks moved on to Montclair herself, who was disparaged in the most horrible ways. Her books were loaded up with one-star reviews, and she was forced to abandon all of her social media accounts. A trade magazine had done a huge piece on the situation, ascribing her actions to the phenomenon they called “Authors Behaving Badly.”

There was a single quote in the piece from Sutton Montclair, taken from the blog on her website. A paragraph of denial.

This entire incident is a sham. My accounts have been hacked. Nothing you’ve seen with my name on it in the past forty-eight hours came from me. I know that sounds like an excuse in the aftermath of bad publicity, but I assure you, I would never, and have never, threatened a reviewer for not liking my books. I fully encourage open and honest reviews, and have never tried to censor anyone’s opinion of my work, nor will I ever do so.

People hadn’t bought it. There were nearly five thousand comments, where the battle had raged on for weeks.

Holly clicked further. Found a magazine article that mocked Sutton Montclair as a lunatic who stalked her reviewer. The article claimed the reviewer had been forced to take out an order of protection against the author.

Bingo. Finally, something to go on. Something Ethan Montclair hadn’t mentioned.

Holly switched to her law enforcement database and began the search for the order of protection. It had been taken out in Kentucky, by a woman named Rosemary George. Holly found the order with ease on the first try. Reading it, she wondered again about Sutton Montclair’s state of mind following the death of her son.