Twenty Years Later

Walt relocates to New York City, and he reflects on being a young detective in 2001. Cameron’s murder took place in Shandaken, in the Catskill Mountains, and the Shandaken Police Department requested the assistance of the New York Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). Though the police in Shandaken were wary of Walt’s youth, Walt gained favor by deferring to the Shandaken chief of police, Dale Richards, while working hard to gather evidence. When the media took interest in the investigation, Walt let Dale act as the spokesperson for the case. In the present, Walt drives back to Shandaken, meeting Dale outside the police station and noting how the other man has aged and gained weight. Dale greets Walt cheerfully, and brings him to the box of evidence from the Cameron Young case 20 years prior.

Walt reviews the case files, and the narrative shifts to the spring before Cameron’s death. Victoria and her husband, Jasper, meet with Cameron and his wife, Tessa. The four first met when Jasper acted as the real estate agent for Cameron’s purchase of the Catskills home, and they frequently go sailing together. Cameron is a wealthy novelist, and Tessa is a professor of literature at Columbia University. Victoria expresses an interest in publishing, but she will not let Jasper or Cameron read her manuscripts, which have been rejected by publishers.

Walt remembers entering the New York Medical Examiner’s Office in 2001 and meeting with Dr. Jarrod Lockard, nicknamed the Wizard. Jarrod explains that Cameron’s body shows signs of a “long drop” hanging, meaning the noose severed his spinal cord. However, Cameron’s body also shows signs of “short drop” hanging, meaning Cameron was strangled, or asphyxiated, before being dropped from the balcony. In addition, the cut in Cameron’s neck made by the long drop did not produce much blood, meaning he was dead before being dropped.

The welts on Cameron’s body are consistent with sexual bondage play, and Jarrod notes that Cameron’s genitals show evidence that someone performed oral sex on him shortly before his death. The fact that Cameron did not climax tells Jarrod that he likely died during the sex act. Jarrod reveals that the knots tying Cameron’s hands together are alpine butterfly knots, commonly used in mountain-climbing, and such knots could only have been tied by a second person. Walt suspects that his partner panicked when Cameron died during sex and threw Cameron’s body over the balcony to make it look like suicide.

Walt, still unnerved by Jarrod’s report, opens the transcripts from his first interview with Tessa, Cameron’s wife. The narrative transitions to the past, and Victoria, Jasper, Cameron, and Tessa lounge at the Youngs’ house. Victoria pulls Tessa aside and comments that Tessa is not drinking her wine. Tessa admits that she may be pregnant.

While Jasper is out and Tessa is asleep, Victoria confronts Cameron, with whom she is having an affair. She notes that Cameron told her that he was no longer sleeping with Tessa, and she is mad that Cameron had her get an abortion and is now trying to get Tessa pregnant. Cameron was supposed to leave Tessa, but he says now is a bad time to do it. The two kiss, and Victoria bites Cameron’s lip. When Tessa and Jasper enter, they notice that Cameron’s lip is bleeding, but Cameron says he bit it himself. Tessa seems suspicious.

Sipping rum, Walt continues to review the case files. In the past, Walt arrives at Tessa and Cameron’s apartment in Manhattan to interview Tessa. Tessa tells Walt to get a warrant if he wants to search her home, which Walt readily presents. Walt asks about Tessa and Cameron’s marriage, and Tessa reveals they shared a joint bank account, commenting that she would not kill Cameron for money. Tessa is pregnant; she and Cameron thought having a child would resolve the tension in their marriage. Tessa consents to give both fingerprints and saliva for testing, and she insists that she and Cameron never engaged in bondage play.

Ken Schuster, the lead crime scene technician, reveals that he found a USB drive containing a video of Cameron Young having sex with a young woman. Ken shows Walt the video, in which Cameron Young is bent over a table with his rear facing the camera. A woman dressed in a full leather outfit and carrying a large whip, approaches and whips Cameron on his rear. Walt and Ken are disturbed, but Walt recognizes the table and outfit from his research into sexual bondage. When the woman turns to face the camera, Ken identifies her as Victoria Ford.

Emma notes how the media swarmed to Victoria’s story, and how the video of Victoria and Cameron spread across the internet. She acknowledges that Victoria’s blood and urine were found at the scene of the crime, and that Victoria was in possession of the same kind of rope used to bind Cameron the night he died. Avery thinks about how headlines and news reports about the case would have drawn in large audiences and advertising revenue, noting that it will likely draw in an audience again. Emma brings out an old answering machine, telling Avery that Victoria called and left two messages on the machine on September 11, 2001, after the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

In the first message, Victoria tells Emma that she is trapped in the North Tower, and she and the other people in the tower are moving to the roof. Avery expresses her condolences, and Emma says that there is a second message that Avery needs to hear. In the second message, Victoria says survivors are trying to go down another stairwell. They hear the second plane hit the South Tower, and there is a long pause. Victoria’s voice returns, and she tells Emma that she did not kill Cameron Young. Victoria says she can’t get out of the North Tower, and she asks Emma to find a way to prove her innocence. Emma tells Avery that she believes Victoria was innocent, and she asks Avery to help her prove it. Avery is shocked that her 9/11 memorial story is becoming a murder mystery, but she agrees to help prove Victoria’s innocence, thinking of how she can use the story in her contract negotiations.