As they walked toward the door, Avery spoke. “I read that when you get to the end of each manuscript, you head to Greece for a month to finish it up.”

This bit of information had been provided by Christine in one of her many text messages. The sudden change in subject matter appeared to catch Natalie off guard, which was Avery’s point.

Natalie slowly nodded. “That’s been my routine for many years, yes.”

“How close are you now?”

“To what?”

“To finishing your latest manuscript?”

Natalie smiled and released what Avery interpreted to be a nervous laugh. “Not close enough.”

“But you’ll be going soon? To Greece?”

“I hope to, yes.”

“To Santorini, actually,” Avery said in a casual way meant to let Natalie know Avery had been doing some digging. Actually, it was Christine who’d done the digging.

“You have a villa on the small island of Santorini, don’t you?”

Natalie gave another nervous laugh. “I try not to talk too much about my private life, or about where I own homes. Some of my readers are . . . let’s just say they’re very interested in the specifics of my life and I try to stay as private as possible.”

Avery nodded. “Understood. I have viewers that are the same way. I’d never release any of that information about your home in Santorini. I was just curious for my own reasons, about whether you’ll be visiting there soon.”

Natalie smiled. “Yes. I’ll be going to Santorini to put the finishing touches on my latest manuscript.”

“Why Santorini?”

Avery saw that Natalie became even more uncomfortable now.

“I mean, I’m sure it’s beautiful. But so are Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe and a thousand other places. You know, to get away and write a book. Didn’t Stephen King finish The Shining at a hotel in Colorado?”

“I’m not sure where Stephen King does his writing.”

“I’m just wondering what’s so special about Santorini? It sounds so far away and so remote.”

Natalie shrugged. “It’s just where I’ve always gone. I wish there were a better story behind it.”

“Maybe your muse is there?” Avery asked in an offhanded way. She looked back down to the folder and the history Natalie had created about her relationship with Victoria. Eventually, Avery looked up and made eye contact with Natalie.

“Did you know that the medical examiner identified Victoria from a single tooth?”

Avery watched the shock register on Natalie’s face.

“Can you believe that?”

There was no answer.

“From the rubble of the Twin Towers, a single tooth was recovered. I didn’t believe such a thing could be possible at first, until the methodology was explained to me.”

Avery paused a moment but held Natalie’s gaze without blinking.