With confusion still clouding her thoughts, she turned on Forty-Second Street and came to the entrance of the Hyatt. She rode the elevator to the twentieth floor and knocked on number 2021. The door opened and Avery quickly forgot about Natalie Ratcliff and Victoria Ford, Peg Perugo and plagiarism. Walt was dressed in jeans and an untucked button-down shirt. Avery noticed a small nick on his freshly shaven right cheek, and for some insane reason had the urge to lick her thumb and press it against his cheek to wipe the mark away. The rational part of her mind intervened with a proverbial slap to the face before she could proceed.

“I think you and I are the only ones left in this city,” he said.

Avery pushed the thoughts away and smiled. “It’s eerie, isn’t it?”

“Very. Come on in.”

Avery walked through the doorway and into the one-bedroom suite. “Nice digs.”

“I got rid of my apartment a couple of years ago,” Walt said, closing the door. “Rent in Jamaica is next to nothing, so I’ve been sitting on a little nest egg. I didn’t know how long I was going to be here, so I splurged. When you and I are done with the Cameron Young case, I think I’m going to stick around and see my parents and brother. It’s been a while.

“The case is over on the desk,” he said, pointing to the corner where a cardboard box rested on the table by the window. “The hard evidence is still in storage, but this is everything else. The original documents have been digitized, scanned, and transferred to the BCI database. These are copies, but they represent almost all the documents that made up the case against Victoria Ford.”

“Almost?” Avery asked as she walked over to the desk and sat down.

“This is everything the Shandaken police had in storage. The Cameron Young investigation was run through their office as a way to keep the peace. The local departments didn’t love when the BCI took over a case from them, so as lead detective I allowed the Shandaken chief to be the face of the investigation. I’m still waiting for a call back from the district attorney’s office to see if they have any additional documents. Twenty years later, they may be long gone. But trust me”—Walt pointed at the box on the table—“this will keep us busy for a while.”

“Can you take me through some of this?”

Walt pulled a chair over and sat next to her. “Sure. We can go start to finish. How much do you know about the murder?”

“Everything you and I discussed last night, plus what Emma Kind told me originally about it. I’ve also talked with Roman Manchester, the attorney who was set to defend Victoria.”

“Sounds like you know a lot then. How much of this stuff do you want to see?”

“Everything.”