Avery had sent her agent an e-mail detailing the salaries of newsmagazine hosts for the past twenty years, adjusted for inflation and according to ratings. The spreadsheet included the hosts of Dateline, 20/20, 48 Hours, and 60 Minutes coupled with the Nielsen ratings for each. According to the models Avery compiled, pitting her ratings against the competition, $750,000 per year would be grossly underpaying her.

“Avery,” Dwight said with more than a bit of skepticism in his voice. “Are you in New York taking meetings with other networks?”

“Hell no. I’d never take a meeting without my intimidating-as-hell six-foot-six agent, in his impeccable suit and with his flawlessly manicured nails, standing next to me. I’m starting to question your negotiating skills, but you still scare the hell out of most people. I’m in New York chasing a story, that’s all.”

“We need to talk about Germaine’s offer.”

“Not until he’s serious about what he’s offering. Listen, you told me to find you some content for next season. I’ve found it.”

“Okay,” Dwight said. There was a long pause before he spoke again in a dejected tone. “Give me the thirty-second recap of this story that sent you to New York. Go.”

“The remains of a 9/11 victim were recently identified using new DNA technology at the New York medical examiner’s office. I spoke with the ME, Dr. Livia Cutty, and she’s willing to give me an inside look into the new technique, which she feels is a significant breakthrough to IDing the twenty thousand unidentified 9/11 remains that are still stored in the crime lab.”

“Sounds interesting, and the timing works for this fall. But I’m not sure it’s feature-film interesting.”

“I’m just getting started. I tracked down Emma Kind, the sister of the woman who was just identified. I was looking for a personal side to the story. Something that had a chance to stand out this fall when everyone else will be doing stories about the twenty-year anniversary of 9/11. Then I learned that the identified remains belonged to a woman who happened to be facing indictment for murder. When she died, Victoria Ford was about to go on trial for the murder of her married lover—a wealthy novelist named Cameron Young.”

“Wait a minute,” Dwight said. “Why do I know that name?”

“Because in the nineties he wrote a string of best-selling thrillers. From the research I did over the weekend, he was very popular. His books were number one on all the lists and sold all over the world. Millions of copies. His death was a big story at the time. And then, just as this juicy murder investigation was becoming the focus of the nation, it got overshadowed.”

“By September eleventh.”

“Exactly. Most everyone forgot about Cameron Young and the mistress who killed him, and understandably turned their attention to the new and real threat of terrorism coming to our shores.”