“I’m just giving you a hard time. But the camp really did have these great big, beautiful cabins. A dozen of them—real Northwood Wisconsin log cabins where all the students stayed. Six to a cabin. Some wild things happened in those cabins.”

“I can only imagine. Through high school you did this?”

“Through college, too. I went back as an instructor.”

“Do you still sail?”

“All the time. I have a small Catalina in LA. I try to get out on the water”—Avery’s voice trailed off as her mind flashed back to the crime scene photos—“once a week.”

“What’s wrong?” Walt asked.

Avery shook her head, put her burger down, and took a sip of beer. She pointed at Walt’s glass.

“Finish that up. We need to go back to your hotel. I need to look at the crime scene photos again.”

CHAPTER 39 - Manhattan, NY Saturday, July 3, 2021

CHAPTER 39

Manhattan, NY Saturday, July 3, 2021

THEY HURRIED BACK THROUGH THE EMPTY STREETS. AVERY WAS SILENT as she stood next to Walt in the elevator. When he opened the door to his suite, she walked over to the desk and sat down. She pulled the photos in front of her again and paged through them until she found the ones she needed, positioning them side by side on the surface of the desk.

“Look here.”

Walt leaned over her shoulder. “What am I looking at?”

“See this knot?” Avery asked, pointing to the knotted rope attached to the leg of the safe. “And these?” She pointed to the knots tied around Cameron Young’s wrists.

“Yes. The medical examiner made a note on those. Hold on.”

Walt sat down next to her and pulled the autopsy report from the box. He paged through it for a moment.

“Here.” Walt placed the report on the desk and pointed at the sentence where Dr. Lockard had made his remarks. “The medical examiner described the knots as alpine butterfly knots. He said they were commonly used in mountain climbing.”

“He’s wrong,” Avery said.

“About what?”

“They’re not mountain climbing knots, they’re sailing knots. I tie them nearly every weekend.”

“Sailing knots?”

“Yes. They’re bowline knots. I’m sure of it.” Avery looked up from the photos and spoke in a singsong voice. “Up through the rabbit hole, round the big tree; down through the rabbit hole and off goes he.”

Walt raised his eyebrows.

“It’s the jingle used to remember how to tie the knots. I learned it when I was a kid in Sister Bay. Telling you about sailing camp jogged my memory.”

“Okay,” Walt said, shrugging his shoulders. “So they’re sailing knots. What does that tell you?”

“It tells me that whoever tied them had to have used both hands.”