“If the blood at the crime scene belonged to Victoria Ford,” Walt said, “and we can forensically prove it did, why would she have all those chemicals in her system?”
“She didn’t,” Dr. Lockard said.
He stood up and walked to the kitchen nook to grab his laptop. He returned to the island, opened the computer, and began tapping on the keyboard. Walt looked at the monitor just as Dr. Lockard finished typing into the search engine. Walt saw the query:
Chemicals found in tampons
Dr. Lockard nodded, pointing at the monitor. “The styrene came from the plastic applicator of a tampon. The chloroform is an anesthetic because, you know, women push babies out of their bodies but corporations don’t believe they’re tough enough to handle a tampon. Glyphosate is a pesticide used in cotton crops that, sadly, finds its way into cotton tampons. And finally, the triclosan is used as a preservative to prevent contamination.”
Walt hesitated as he, too, stared at the monitor, trying to make sense of it.
Dr. Lockard turned from the screen and looked at Walt. “If I were involved with this case, more than simply performing the postmortem exam on the victim, the chemicals found in the crime scene blood, as well as the ammonia in the urine, would raise some serious red flags.”
“Red flags for what?”
“That the urine was badly preserved before being placed in the toilet, and that the blood had been harvested from a tampon and planted at the scene.”
CHAPTER 53
Manhattan, NY Monday, July 5, 2021
IT WAS APPROACHING 6:00 P.M. WHEN AVERY RODE THE ELEVATOR UP TO Natalie Ratcliff’s apartment and was again met by the author when the doors opened.
“Avery, good to see you again.”
“Hi,” Avery said. “I didn’t think you’d finish so fast.”
“I’ve been done for a day or two. Come on inside.”
Avery followed Natalie into the apartment. She had called Natalie after breakfast to ask if she had finished writing the chronology of her relationship with Victoria Ford.
“I wasn’t even sure you’d be in town. The city was eerily empty this past weekend,” Avery said.
“I know. I actually came back to the city from our Lake Norman house for that exact reason. I’m behind on a deadline and there are too many distractions there. The empty city was a godsend. It kept me focused on my manuscript all weekend because there was nothing else going on.”
“I hope my request didn’t put you more behind.”
“Not at all. I enjoyed putting it together. It was like taking a stroll down memory lane recounting my friendship with Victoria.”
Natalie walked through the French doors of her office. Avery again saw Natalie’s books arranged on the built-in shelves. Natalie came back out of the office and handed Avery a folder.
“That’s a point-by-point overview of my relationship with Victoria, ever since we first met as college freshmen. I hope it answers all your questions and provides some insight into who she was and what a dear friend she always was to me.”
Avery took the folder and opened it. Inside were several typed pages.
“Thank you for doing this. It will certainly go a long way to showing my audience who Victoria was. Together with everything Emma has provided, I should be able to paint a complete picture of her. In the fall, are you willing to give a full interview? My team would be with me then and we’d be recording and producing it for American Events.”
Natalie nodded. “For sure.”
“Excellent. I don’t want to take too much of your time,” Avery said. “So thank you again.”
“Of course.”
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?”