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“What do you mean identical?” she finally asked.
“I mean Victoria Ford’s manuscript became the first book Natalie Ratcliff published in the Peg Perugo series.”
Christine shook her head. “One hundred percent not following you.”
“Natalie Ratcliff was Victoria Ford’s best friend. They roomed together in college and stayed close after they graduated. Natalie went to medical school and practiced emergency medicine for eight years. Victoria entered the financial world and started her own career. The whole time, Victoria was writing books hoping someday to publish one of them.”
“Yeah, still not following you.”
“Victoria died in 2001. For the next four years, Natalie Ratcliff practiced emergency medicine until her first book was published. It took the world by storm and she retired from medicine. That was in 2005. She’s written fifteen novels in fifteen years. But here’s the problem,” Avery said, walking over to the bed where Victoria’s other manuscripts were stacked in neat batches, each with a Natalie Ratcliff paperback on top.
“Every one of these piles represents one of Victoria’s manuscripts—manuscripts that have sat untouched in Emma Kind’s attic for the past twenty years. Each one also happens to be published as a Natalie Ratcliff book.”
Christine squinted her eyes. “So you’re suggesting that Natalie Ratcliff got a hold of Victoria Ford’s manuscripts and plagiarized them, word for word, after Victoria died?”
“No, I don’t think so. Emma said Victoria was extremely protective of her work and didn’t let anyone read her manuscripts. Emma has never read any of them. Not even Jasper Ford, Victoria’s husband, was allowed to see them. Victoria was too insecure to let anyone read them.”
“Then how did her work end up in the pages of Natalie Ratcliff’s novels?”
“That’s where you’re going to think I’ve gone mad.”
“Too late,” Christine said. “Just spit it out at this point.”
“I’ve spent the weekend reviewing the case against Victoria Ford. It was flawed, no doubt. And I think I can poke some serious holes in it that will intrigue the American Events audience. I have more research to do on that front, and plan to go through the rest of the case later today. But despite whatever holes I’m able to find, at the time of the original investigation the hard evidence against Victoria was solid. DNA evidence put her at the scene. The media had all but convicted Victoria in the court of public opinion. There was no doubt that she would be indicted and arrested, and that a trial would follow. One that, based on the evidence Victoria knew about at the time, would have likely ended in her conviction.”
“Okay,” Christine said. “Again, what do these manuscripts have to do with it?”
“Victoria was in a dire situation. She knew the evidence pointed to her. And she knew, on the morning of September 11 when she met with her attorney, that it was only a matter of time before she was arrested. She knew that she would likely be convicted. According to my interview with Victoria’s attorney, he laid out the grim prognosis for her that morning. Then, in the middle of Victoria’s meeting with her attorney, the first plane struck the North Tower . . .”
Avery walked over to the desk where her laptop stood. She sat down in the chair and looked at Christine. “And with that plane, an opportunity presented itself.”
“An opportunity to do what?” Christine asked.
“To disappear.”
CHAPTER 44
Manhattan, NY Sunday, July 4, 2021
AVERY SPOKE THE WORDS WITH CONFIDENCE. SHE KNEW CHRISTINE wouldn’t believe that someone would fake their own death and disappear. But Avery had personal experience with someone disappearing to avoid indictment and prison, and she knew it was possible. Desperate people are capable of anything, and often find ways to convince the people who love them most to help.
“Disappear, meaning?” Christine asked.
“Meaning Victoria used 9/11 to solve all her problems.”
“You’re saying what, exactly, Ave?”
“What if Victoria Ford didn’t die that morning?”
“I’m sorry, Avery. I love you and we’ve been on some wild rides together, but this one might be too crazy for me to jump aboard.”
“Just hear me out. She was sitting in Roman Manchester’s office when the plane hit the tower. I know this from interviewing Manchester, who, along with twelve of his employees and two of his partners, made it safely out of the North Tower. He lived to tell his harrowing story of escaping the towers. Is it too far-fetched to believe the woman sitting across from him that morning also survived?”
Avery saw the first glimmer of conviction in Christine’s eyes, before she shook her head.
“But the medical examiner’s office identified Victoria’s remains. That’s what sent you to New York in the first place.”
“They identified a bone fragment that belonged to Victoria, yes. But I spoke with Livia Cutty this morning and we took a closer look into the discovery. The specimen used to make the identification was a tooth.”
