“My goal is to tell America the story of Victoria Ford. Her life, her flaws, and the tragic day she died along with three thousand other souls. And now, twenty years later, her remains have finally been identified. That she was involved in a sensational murder investigation is simply part of her life’s story. That she claimed, until the final moments of her life, to be innocent, is also one of the facts of the case. The recordings are there for everyone to hear, and they form an arc in this story—from the beginning to the very sad and tragic ending—that I want to share with my audience. You and your investigation are part of the story, so even if what you tell me contradicts what Emma Kind believes, I’m okay with that. Yours is a crucial part of the story and I need to hear and understand it all.”

“I can see why your show is so popular,” Walt said. “You take that approach with all your stories?”

“I do.”

“Okay. Let me walk through the case for you, start to finish.”

Throughout dinner, Walt covered his role in the Cameron Young investigation—from the moment he stepped foot onto the property of the Catskills mansion, to each bombshell he discovered during his investigation. He discussed the crime scene and finding Cameron Young hanging from the balcony. He covered the blood and urine recovered from the scene, and the fingerprints lifted from the wineglass—all of which matched Victoria Ford. He explained how a thumb drive found in the desk drawer of the office contained a homemade sex video that led him to Victoria Ford. He reviewed the autopsy findings that painted a vivid image of Cameron Young’s final moments. He discussed the grand jury that had been convened, the prosecution’s argument that Victoria Ford was a jilted lover who’d been coerced into having an abortion that left her unable to bear children, and the imminent indictment that was to come before the morning of September 11 brought a crashing end to the case.

He watched Avery while he spoke, as her fingers jotted notes onto page after page of a yellow legal pad. There was something elegant yet powerful about the way she scrawled her notes, and Walt found himself attracted to her in a way he hadn’t allowed himself to be for some time. The situation he found himself in tonight—dining with an intelligent, talented, and attractive woman—made him wonder if he had wasted the last three years on heartache when they might have been better conquered by facing life head-on and allowing the natural progression of time to wash his pain away.

The dinner plates were cleared. They turned down dessert, but each ordered a glass of port as they continued their discussion. Avery paged through her notes and asked follow-up questions until Walt sensed that she was satisfied with the information he had provided.