“I’m not sure what I believe at the moment. And you don’t want me to start a re-investigation of the case believing one thing or another. For me to do my job properly I have to stay neutral and unbiased. I have to collect all the information I can find, analyze it, and then come to my own conclusion. If there is anything that suggests Victoria is innocent, I’ll pursue it. I promise. But what I need to do first is learn all I can about your sister, and I need your help on that. I need to figure out who Victoria was so I can form an impression about her and better describe her to my audience. I’ve already talked with Natalie Ratcliff and she’s working on a chronology of her friendship with Victoria, starting with their college days. Together with your testimony, it will go a long way to showing the audience who Victoria was. But I was hoping to dig deeper, even before Victoria’s college days. I want to get into her childhood, start from the beginning.”

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know about our childhoods. And I have boxes and boxes of things in the attic that will help. Victoria’s baby albums, school photos, high school yearbooks, her wedding album. Lord, there’s so much up there. I packed it all away after she died and haven’t looked at any of it for years.”

“Would you share those things with me?”

“Of course. It’ll take me a little bit to find those boxes. I haven’t been up in the attic for some time.”

“I’m happy to help.”

An hour later, Avery set three old, dusty plastic bins into the cargo area of the Range Rover.

“When are you going to look through the case file?” Emma asked.

“Later today,” Avery said. “I’ve got the entire weekend reserved to review the case and find out as much about the investigation as I can. In my down time, I’ll look through all of this and start creating a full history on Victoria.”

“Will you keep me posted if you find anything when you review the case?”

“Of course,” Avery said as she closed the hatch on the Range Rover. “If I come across anything at all, I’ll call you.”

“Thank you.”

“Have a great Fourth of July, Emma.”

A few minutes later, Avery was headed back to the city with a trunk full of bins containing Victoria Ford’s childhood and history. Avery had no idea that they would create far more questions than answers.

CHAPTER 36 - Manhattan, NY Saturday, July 3, 2021

CHAPTER 36

Manhattan, NY Saturday, July 3, 2021