She knew what they meant, and had tried hard to ignore them. The federal agents who had asked Avery questions about her father’s whereabouts had it wrong. He was not in Mexico or South America. He hadn’t made it as far as Europe or Australia. He was right here in the United States, and Avery knew exactly where.

CHAPTER 12 - Manhattan, NY Tuesday, June 22, 2021

CHAPTER 12

Manhattan, NY Tuesday, June 22, 2021

EXHAUSTED FROM HER WEEK OF TRAVEL, AND DRAINED FROM THE emotional upheaval of seeing Connie Clarkson, Avery had taken the day to decompress. But now, feeling rejuvenated, she needed the distraction of her work to clear her mind. She came to New York to gather information. She came to chase a story. Her meeting tonight was meant to test the strength of that story. Avery believed that the identification of a 9/11 victim twenty years after the towers fell was fascinating. If the details turned out to be as interesting as they sounded, Avery would pitch the idea to her producers and get the network to greenlight formal recorded interviews for production in the fall to coincide with the twenty-year anniversary of 9/11.

In the evening, she took a long, hot shower, put herself together, and rode the elevator to the lobby where she hailed a cab to Kips Bay. The taxi crawled through Manhattan traffic until the driver pulled to the curb outside Cask Bar. Avery paid the fare, crossed the sidewalk, and entered the tavern. Inside, she took a seat at the long mahogany bar and ordered a Tito’s and soda. She checked her watch, 7:30 p.m., and kept an eye on the door. Halfway through her cocktail, Avery spotted a tall woman stride through the door and immediately recognized her.

Dr. Livia Cutty had completed her residency and fellowship in North Carolina before taking over the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in New York. Her time in North Carolina had been punctuated by her involvement in a disturbing case of missing women from bordering states, and the evidence she discovered that helped break the case. After she came to New York, she was linked to one of the most-watched true-crime documentaries in television history when her expertise in forensic pathology helped successfully solve the case of an American medical student who had been killed in the Caribbean. Her exposure in both cases attracted worldwide attention. Both criminal defense attorneys and prosecutors alike sought Livia Cutty’s expertise as a high-profile forensic pathologist. She was a medical consultant for NBC and HAP News, and Avery had worked with her on a number of occasions over the past few years when her true-crime specials required the knowledge of a leading pathologist. Avery had reached out to discuss the recent discovery her office had made—the first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years.

“Livia, thanks so much for this,” Avery said as Livia walked up to the bar.