Twenty Years Later

Avery goes through the items gathered from Emma’s home and finds a USB drive with a series of text documents on it that are approximately 400 pages each. The first document is titled Hot Mess, and, as Avery reads, she realizes that the text is familiar. Grabbing her copy of Baggage by Natalie Ratcliff, Avery confirms that Baggage is Victoria Ford’s novel Hot Mess.

Avery meets with Walt, and Walt comments that he only has what the Shandaken Police Department kept from 20 years prior, suggesting there are more files elsewhere. Walt walks Avery through the police’s version of Cameron’s death, in which Victoria and Cameron engaged in sex acts involving strangling. In this version, Cameron’s death is accidental, but Victoria gets more rope, cuts herself accidentally, and stages the scene to look like a suicide. Avery questions why Victoria would leave her blood, urine, and the knife at the scene, and Walt says that Victoria was likely panicking, forgetting to hide her involvement in the murder. Avery also questions how Victoria, being much smaller than Cameron, could have thrown his body over the balcony, and Walt suggests that it was through adrenaline. Avery suspects that Walt may not be telling her everything he knows about the case.

Avery and Walt take a break to get lunch, and Walt asks if Avery ever spent the summer in the city. She says she spent the summer either in Wisconsin at Sister Bay or at her parents’ house in the Hamptons. Avery becomes uncomfortable mixing her past and present identities, and Walt asks if her parents still have the house. Avery says the house is gone, but she notes to herself that she will not tell Walt how the house was a mansion seized by the government when her father was arrested. Walt asks about sailing camp in Wisconsin, and Avery says her summers were the best part of her childhood, reminiscing about friends and her brother, Christopher. Walt says he spent his summers playing baseball in Queens, and he does not think he would have liked going away to camp. Avery tells Walt about the cabins at camp, and she says she still has a sailboat in Los Angeles that she tries to sail once a week. Avery realizes something about the case, and she tells Walt that they need to review the crime scene photos again.

Avery notes that the knots used to tie Cameron’s hands are bowline knots used in sailing. She agrees that the knots require two hands, but she asks how Victoria, after having cut herself while splitting the rope, could have tied the knots without getting any blood on the rope. Walt is stunned, and Avery thinks such a glaring hole in the police report will convince her audience that the case is flawed.

Avery searches online for Tessa and Jasper, thinking that staying with Walt a bit longer might lead to romance. There is nothing interesting on Jasper’s social media. Tessa is remarried with a 20-year-old daughter attending college. Avery notes that Tessa is an avid sailor, and Walt reveals that both Tessa and Cameron owned and used sailboats. Avery concludes that Tessa may be a suspect in Cameron’s murder, and she suggests interviewing Tessa. Walt says it is a bad idea to confront Tessa with an accusation from a 20-year-old crime, but Avery says she needs to interview them for American Events. When Avery is about to leave, she and Walt kiss, which leads to them having sex.

Avery sneaks out of Walt’s hotel room, and she questions whether her fears of intimacy are justified. During the night, she texted Dr. Livia Cutty, and she meets Livia at the Medical Examiner’s office. Livia shows Avery how they identified Victoria’s remains, confirming that a direct DNA match is almost perfectly definitive. Livia reveals that the bone fragment identified as Victoria’s was a single tooth, and she comments on how many of the remains from 9/11 are single bones, often as small as individual teeth, resulting from massive sifting programs in the years following 9/11. Avery suspects that Victoria’s tooth is the only bone that will be tied to Victoria.

Walt uses James Oliver to locate more evidence from the Cameron Young case. The BCI has a box of evidence taken from Maggie Greenwald’s office during the investigation into Maggie’s misconduct. Arriving at the BCI headquarters, Walt spots Scott Sherwood, noting his frustration with Scott for revealing Walt’s contact information to James. Scott provides the box of evidence and Walt finds something problematic there, texting Avery to meet him.

Avery calls Christine Swanson and tells her about Victoria’s manuscripts, noting that she only has a few manuscripts from Victoria’s USB drive, while Natalie has published 15 novels. Avery says Victoria did not die on 9/11 and used the attack to disappear. Avery thinks Victoria planted her tooth to fake her death, then vanished, continuing to write Peg Perugo novels, which Natalie published.

Avery details how Roman Manchester survived the 9/11 attacks, which makes it likely that Victoria, who was with Roman when the plane hit, could have escaped. Only the tooth belonging to Victoria was identified, and no other remains are connected to Victoria. Avery proposes that Victoria might have been hurt in the attack on 9/11, losing a tooth, and she went to Natalie, who was a physician in 2001, for medical help. Victoria and Natalie could have concocted a plan to hide Victoria, and Victoria could have continued to write novels for Natalie to publish. The manuscripts from the USB drive are verbatim matches with five of Natalie Ratcliff’s novels, so it is likely that the remaining 10 books that Natalie has published are also authored by Victoria.

Walt arrives at Avery’s hotel feeling nervous. He plans to leave the recording device he got from James in Avery’s hotel room, but he thinks his behavior is unethical. He and Avery greet each other awkwardly, and Avery explains her fear of intimacy, and Walt expresses a similar feeling. Walt notes the multiple stacks of documents around Avery’s room, opening the box from Maggie’s office and pulling out a series of photos of Victoria. The photos show Victoria in various positions two days after the murder, and Walt explains that they are photos taken to record any suspicious wounds or marks. The photos show that Victoria did not have any wounds that would have led to the blood found at the scene.

Walt reveals to Avery that Maggie Greenwald was the prosecutor in Victoria Ford’s case, and he feels guilty that Maggie influenced the 2001 investigation. All of Maggie’s cases are under review, but Walt notes that, since Victoria was never convicted of the murder, there is no case to overturn. Both Avery and Walt are now inclined to believe in Victoria’s innocence, and Walt explains that he fears his promotion to the FBI was due to his compliance in Maggie’s manipulative efforts to convict Victoria. Walt pulls out another piece of evidence: the USB drive containing the video of Victoria and Cameron having sex.

Walt and Avery review the tape of Victoria and Cameron, and Avery notes that Victoria’s use of the whip is not congruent with the kind of violence needed to leave welts on Cameron’s body. After a few hits with the whip, Walt and Avery note that Cameron says “cinnamon,” and Victoria stops, asking Cameron if he is all right. Avery concludes that “cinnamon” is Victoria and Cameron’s safe word, meaning that the word “cinnamon” is used to end the sexual play. In the video, Victoria unties Cameron, and the two walk off screen. Avery notes that the camera is off-center, and Walt notices that the camera stops recording 60 seconds after Victoria and Cameron leave the room. These two details lead Walt and Avery to conclude that Victoria and Cameron did not know they were being recorded, and Avery seems inclined to think that Victoria did not whip Cameron before he died.

While Avery is in the bathroom, Walt recognizes his chance to plant the listening device. He feels that it is unethical to spy on Avery, reminding himself of the feeling of betrayal when he found out Meghan’s identity. He places the small box of listening devices on a coffee table and notices the postcard from Garth. He examines the postcard, not understanding the significance of the message or numbers, and he drops the postcard under the couch when he hears Avery returning from the bathroom. Avery suggests returning to the Rum House to eat, and Walt agrees, following her out the door. Walt realizes too late that he left the box of listening devices out on the table.

Walt thinks about his ethical position in relation to his personal and professional relationships with Avery. Walt is shocked when Avery proceeds to confess her entire past to Walt. She reveals that Garth is her father, that she started using the name Avery Mason shortly after graduating law school, and that she stumbled into hosting American Events. Avery is concerned that someday someone will recognize her as Claire Montgomery, and that her connection to Garth Montgomery, who Walt refers to as the Thief of Manhattan, will destroy her career. Walt advises Avery to go public with her connection to Garth, since hiding her past is more likely to draw interest than controlling the narrative herself.

Avery and Walt hold hands as they return to Avery’s hotel, and they see fireworks in the distance for the Fourth of July celebrations. At the hotel, Avery goes to the bathroom, and Walt decides not to plant a listening device, placing the box of devices back in his pocket. When Avery returns, Walt says that he is leaving, but, when Avery kisses him, he picks her up, bringing her to the bed.

Avery worries that her relationship with Walt is distracting her from her investigation, as well as from her obligation relating to André and the fake passport. While Avery waits for Walt, she remembers seeing two empty creamers in Walt’s hotel room, and she prepares his coffee with two creams. Walt is impressed, and they quickly get back to work. Avery notes that the biggest hole in the proposition of Victoria’s innocence is her blood at the crime scene, and Walt suggests meeting with an old friend of his who might be able to help them. They agree to meet later in the week after investigating leads of their own, and Avery heads back to her hotel room. As she waves goodbye to Walt, she feels that something is wrong.

Walt goes to Dr. Jarrod Lockard’s home. He points out that the medical reports on Victoria’s blood and urine at the scene have strange chemicals in them, including ammonia in her urine and styrene, chloroform, glyphosate, and triclosan. Jarrod reveals that ammonia in urine indicates that it was improperly stored for more than 24 hours, which conflicts with the timeline of Cameron’s death. He also notes that the chemicals in the blood are congruent with tampons, indicating that the blood was taken from a tampon, then planted at the crime scene.

Avery visits Natalie, and Natalie gives Avery the typed timeline of her friendship with Victoria. Avery asks about Santorini, noting that she heard Natalie goes to Santorini to finish her manuscripts. Natalie is uncomfortable divulging her properties, and Avery tells her that Victoria’s remains were only a single tooth found in the wreckage of the World Trade Center after 9/11. Natalie acts surprised, and Avery reveals that she acquired Victoria’s manuscripts from Emma’s home. Natalie, concerned, asks Avery if she read the manuscripts. Avery says she read every manuscript, and she notes that the writing was like Natalie’s.

Avery leaves her hotel in the morning to drive up to Lake Placid, New York. Avery remembers spending time as a child at Ma Bell’s cabin, which belongs to a distant relative, so it was not repossessed during the investigation into Garth’s fraud. The address of the cabin is 777, and Avery wants to see if the property is the same as she remembers it. Avery sees someone in the window of the cabin, and she decides to drive away.

Walt, following Avery to Lake Placid, pulls off the road when he sees Avery returning from the cabin. After she passes, he pulls up to the cabin to take pictures, and he notes the address, 777, connecting it to the postcard. Turning back, Walt continues to follow Avery.

Avery takes the subway to Brooklyn to meet with André. On the subway, a man sits next to her playing loud music in his headphones. After a couple of stops, the man tells her there has been a change of plans, and he leaves her an envelope before getting off the train. The envelope contains instructions to wait at the pool of the 9/11 memorial, so Avery exits the train at the next stop and goes there. At the pool, Avery finds Victoria’s name in the memorial, and a man tells her to order a Reuben with extra slaw from a specific vendor. Avery finds the vendor, orders the sandwich, and finds another note sending her to a church. At the church, Avery waits for half an hour before André arrives. He gives her an envelope and tells her that she does not owe him any money. Instead, he considers this a favor for their “mutual friend,” and he tells Avery to let the friend know that they are even. André also tells Avery that she is being followed, and both Avery and their friend need to complete their business quickly.

Avery rushes back to her hotel and locks the door behind her. Opening the envelope, she finds a realistic passport with the photo she gave André. The passport is for Aaron Holland. In the envelope with the passport are several photos of Walt, implying that Walt is the man following Avery.

The photos show Walt at the cemetery where Avery visited her family’s graves, at the brownstone where she met André, and at Ma Bell’s in Lake Placid. Avery is overcome with anxiety and disappointment when someone knocks on her door. Avery opens the door to find Natalie, who is upset that Avery might know Victoria’s secret. Avery tells Natalie what she knows: that Victoria is alive, that she is probably in Greece, and that Natalie most likely helped Victoria escape the country and fake her death. Natalie admits to it all, but she insists that Victoria did not kill Cameron Young. Avery explains that she, too, does not think Victoria is guilty, but she asks Natalie to explain how she got Victoria out of the country secretly. Natalie confirms Avery’s suspicions that it was through her husband’s cruise line, but she fears that Avery plans to expose Victoria’s escape. Avery explains that she wants to get someone out of the country secretly, much as Natalie did for Victoria.

Two agents, a man and a woman, trek around Lake Placid wearing conspicuously new hiking gear. The agents bicker, and the woman settles by the side of the lake, pulling out a long-range camera. The man stations himself next to her, taking out plain bird-watching binoculars. The woman uses much stronger binoculars to identify Ma Bell’s cabin. She snaps a series of images of the cabin that can be used to plan a tactical raid if the agents can secure a warrant. To get the warrant, they need to prove that Garth Montgomery is inside, and the agents move closer to the cabin to take more pictures.

Avery gets out of the shower, gets partially dressed, and starts doing her makeup. She hears a knock at the door and lets Walt into the room. In place of the documents on Victoria, the photos of Walt are out on the bed. Walt does not see the photos right away, and he starts telling Avery about the information he got from Jarrod proving that Victoria was framed. Avery restrains herself from responding until Walt sees the photos. Walt tells Avery that they need to talk, and Avery asks if Walt slept with her to get information about her father. Walt says he did not, and Avery stops him from continuing to explain. She tells him that, if everything he has told her is true, she needs his help with her father.