“I was able to get the case file and I’ve spent the last couple of days reviewing it. It’s been quite a stroll down memory lane. I have to tell you, as I go back through the case and remember it more clearly, the evidence was overwhelming. Just being straight with you.”

“That’s all I’m asking for, Walt. I came to New York to learn more about the story of the medical examiner’s office discovering the remains of a 9/11 victim at the monumental moment of the twentieth anniversary. But I found something else entirely when I spoke with Victoria Ford’s sister. Emma Kind, as we discussed the other night, believes her sister is innocent. But it’s more than unconditional love and a sisterly bond that hardens her resolve. Victoria Ford called her sister on the morning of 9/11 and left a series of messages on her answering machine. Emma played them for me. The messages are harrowing, and were placed soon after the first plane struck the North Tower and trapped Victoria inside.”

Walt shook his head. “I can only imagine. Each year I relive some part of that day. Everyone does. But to have a loved one so closely tied to the tragedy, and to have a recording from that morning . . .”

“It’s more than that, though. On the recording Victoria tells her sister that she’s innocent and asks her to find a way to clear her name. Victoria swore that the evidence against her was tainted and couldn’t be accurate. She understood she would die that day, and her last words—at least the last ones recorded—were of Victoria Ford begging her sister to make her legacy something other than an accused murderess.”

“Her sister has all this on a recording?”

“Yes. Two messages. They’re heartbreaking. They’re also convincing as hell. So despite the evidence so clearly pointing to Victoria Ford’s guilt, she died clinging to her innocence. I at least owe it to Emma to review the case against her sister.”

Walt’s mind reached back across twenty years to when he was a young, inexperienced detective handpicked to run a high-profile homicide investigation. Things had bothered him back then about that promotion, and he was realizing that they still bothered him today.

“I’m not out to prove Victoria’s innocence to the world,” Avery said. “This many years later, I’m not sure that would be possible even if it were true. I have no plans to paint you or the BCI in a poor light. You conducted your investigation and everything you found pointed to Victoria Ford. Those are the facts. I’m simply asking to review all the evidence and hear about the investigation from start to finish. It will play a crucial role in the exposé I’m planning.”

“We can do that,” Walt said. “What do you have in mind?”