Twenty Years Later

Walt reflects on the discussion he had with Avery, in which they formulated a plan to handle Garth Montgomery and Victoria Ford. First, Walt meets Meghan Cobb, who is surprised to hear from him. Meeting for breakfast, Meghan suspects that Walt has a new woman in his life, but Walt says he called Meghan because he needs her help.

Avery calls Garth, who is glad to hear from her. Avery tells him that she will meet him at Ma Bell’s cabin on Sunday, and she stops Garth from saying anything further before hanging up. Walt records the conversation, and he and Avery reveal that they plan to bring the FBI’s focus to the cabin. They bring the listening device used to record the conversation to FBI headquarters.

Aaron Holland drives through the night to get to New Orleans. He leaves his car at a store parking lot near a cruise terminal, and he walks the rest of the way to the terminal. He hopes that Avery understands the gravity of the situation they are in.

The two FBI agents that surveilled Ma Bell’s cabin, Mary Sullivan and James Martin, present the evidence of their surveillance to Judge Marcus Harris, seeking a warrant to raid the cabin. They show Judge Harris the photos they took from around Lake Placid, but the judge is not convinced by the photos, which do not clearly show Garth Montgomery. The agents then explain how Avery gave James Oliver the postcard from Garth, and they play the recording of Avery and Garth’s conversation for the judge. Judge Harris grants them a warrant to raid the cabin.

Aaron waits in the cruise terminal, feeling overstimulated by the large amounts of caffeine he consumed on the drive to New Orleans. He notes that he only trusts a few people, but he now needs to place his faith in a woman he has never met. The cruise he needs to get on is about to board when a woman sits down at Aaron’s table. It is Meghan Cobb, and she says she does not think she was followed. The two hold hands and get in line to board the cruise.

James Oliver reflects on how Avery coming forward gave the FBI all the information they needed to confirm Garth’s location, and a SWAT team is waiting for the warrant to raid the cabin. The cabin is owned by Annabelle Gray, one of Garth’s cousins by marriage, who goes by Ma Bell. Agent Sullivan calls James and tells him that they secured the warrant, and James prepares to send a team on the four-hour journey up to Lake Placid. Agents placed around the cabin are ensuring that Garth does not leave, and they confirm that there is a single occupant inside the cabin.

Aaron fidgets in line to board The Emerald Lady. Meghan pulls back his hand to stop him, and Aaron thinks about how a tropical storm could hit the cruise and how he might be stopped for carrying a fake passport. When the time comes to scan their passports, Aaron and Meghan both smile, and Meghan hands over her documentation, which is real. Aaron trembles as he hands over his passport, but the scanner reveals that the fake is successful. The two board the ship and are led to their cabin.

James Oliver and the SWAT team arrive at Ma Bell’s cabin, heavily armed and with recording devices to ensure that all possible evidence is gathered during the raid. Pulling into the driveway, agents pour out of their vehicles and swarm the cabin.

On board The Emerald Lady, Aaron Holland plans to stay in the room as much as possible. He worries that any chance encounters on the cruise might become evidence or testimony later, and Meghan is there to make sure none of the crew realizes Aaron is missing from the room. Avery is going to do something to erase Aaron Holland from the ship’s records, and, by the time the cruise returns to the United States, Meghan should be listed as a solo passenger.

James and the SWAT team realize that Ma Bell’s cabin is empty, and James thinks about how this mistake may ruin his career. He knows that he did not have enough time to ensure that all aspects of the raid were correct, thinking that the photos provided by Mary Sullivan and James Martin were insufficient proof that Garth was in the cabin. One of the agents notes that someone is in the bathroom, and the agents can hear a shower running. The agents, including James, gather at the bathroom door and prepare to ram through it.

Aaron and Meghan separate their room into two halves with pillows separating their two sides of the bed. Aaron explains that he will stay in the cabin, only leaving when housekeeping cleans the rooms. He tells Meghan that he is leaving in two days, and Meghan says she intends to spend most of her time on the cruise getting a tan on the decks. She asks if Aaron is his real name, and he says it is not, but he recommends that she call him Aaron, anyway.

The agents break into the bathroom in Ma Bell’s cabin, and they pull out a man from the shower. James Oliver recognizes the man as Garth Montgomery, and he tells the man that Avery is the reason they found him.

The Emerald Lady docks in Jamaica, and Aaron says goodbye to Meghan. He leaves the cruise with the other passengers flocking into the port for tourist activities. Aaron notes that Avery needs to do something to prevent Aaron Holland’s absence from triggering an investigation. Aaron walks three miles into town, where he stops in a restaurant for a beer. After relaxing at the bar, he departs from the crowd of tourists, walking for one quarter of a mile until he finds a Jamaican man in a green Jeep. The man asks if he is Aaron Holland, and Aaron says that he is, getting into the Jeep with the man before they drive off.

Aaron Holland arrives at a home near the Hampden Estates rum distillery, and the man in the Jeep leaves him with a man named Jerome. Jerome gives Aaron some lunch and lends him his vehicle. Aaron begins his drive to Negril, where he will stay at Walt Jenkins’s home. Jerome tells him as he leaves to feed Walt’s dog, Bureau. On the road, the narration reveals that Aaron Holland is Christopher Montgomery, Avery’s brother who was presumed dead after his and Avery’s sailing accident. He fled the United States because he was also implicated in Garth’s crimes as a portfolio manager in Garth’s firm.

A sailboat leaves Wisconsin, heading through Chicago, down the Mississippi River, and around the tip of Florida. The boat heads for Jamaica. In Jamaica, Walt waits in Westmoreland for the sailboat to arrive, and, when it does, the captain of the boat covers all of the minor issues he noted with the boat before Walt drives him and the crew to Montego Bay for a plane back to the United States.

Avery arrives by plane in Montego Bay, where Walt picks her up to drive to Negril. Walt says that he missed Avery, and she reluctantly says that she missed him, too. They drive to Walt’s house in Negril, and Avery is excited to see Christopher, who is adjusting well to island life with Walt’s help. They pull up to Walt’s house, and Avery runs to greet Christopher in the doorway.

During his childhood, Avery bested Christopher in every field but math. Christopher is a math genius. After college, Christopher began working for Garth as an analyst. Eventually, Christopher found out about his father’s fraud, but he worried that he would be implicated in any legal action. A friend of his uncovered the FBI operation House of Cards, which investigated Garth Montgomery, and Christopher decided to fake his own death. He told Avery about the fraud and convinced her to help him fake his death by sinking her sailboat, the Claire-Voyance. Avery agreed, and, during the storm that sank the sailboat, Christopher returned to shore in a dingy, then he drove to Wisconsin. For three years, Christopher lived in cabin 12 of Connie’s sailing camp.

Avery, Walt, and Christopher head to the marina where Christopher’s sailboat, the Claire-Voyance II, is docked after arriving from Wisconsin. Christopher is going to take the name Aaron Holland, sailing around the Caribbean and docking in Jamaica every few months to work at the Hamden Estates-run distillery. Avery is officially the host of American Events for the next five years, as she signed a contract paying her $3 million per year, with a signing bonus of an additional $3 million. The special on Victoria Ford drew a huge audience, solidifying Avery’s fame and importance to American Events, and a second special on Garth Montgomery revealed her past as Claire Montgomery, as well as the crimes committed by her father and her role in the investigation. As promised, the special on Victoria Ford cast doubt on Victoria’s involvement in Cameron Young’s death, which led to the case being reopened, and Avery did not disclose the fact that Victoria is likely still alive. Using the signing bonus from her new contract, Avery purchased the Claire-Voyance II and created an account with $100,000 in Aaron Holland’s name.

Christopher says goodbye to Walt and Avery, taking the sailboat out of the marina. Walt tells Avery that he wants to move back to the United States, and, when Avery notes that Walt hates New York, Walt says he wants to move to California, where Avery lives.

Connie Clarkson receives a UPS envelope with a note from Avery and Christopher. In the note they thank Connie for helping them and say they want to give back what Connie lost. Included in the envelope is a check for $2 million, the same amount that Connie invested with Garth Montgomery.

Natalie meets Victoria on the island of Santorini. For 15 years, they have arranged manuscripts in the Peg Perugo series through email and meetings in Santorini, and they are preparing to finish the 16th novel, but they are behind on the deadline, and they disagree on how it should be written. While Natalie wants to stick with the same formula that they used in the previous novels, Victoria is leaning into a darker, more thrilling style. Natalie is concerned, but she can see that Victoria is invigorated. Victoria decides that Peg will get something wrong in the investigation in this novel, and Natalie agrees that it will help characterization, but she does not like the dark tone of the writing. Victoria tells Natalie that she already sent the manuscript to the publisher, making further discussion pointless, and they drink wine together.

Walt visits Avery in Santa Monica, where he stays often, though he has not officially moved to California. Avery is excited to visit Jamaica soon to see Christopher. After a late dinner, Walt and Avery return to Avery’s home, where Walt watches a baseball game and Avery reads the latest Peg Perugo novel. Walt goes to bed, and Avery stays up to finish the novel. She notices that the novel is darker than the previous novels, and she is shocked that Peg Perugo seems to be making a mistake. The twist at the end of the novel is that the killer planted their own blood at the crime scene to mislead detectives and remove suspicion. The title of the novel is The Perfect Murder.

Victoria seduces Cameron, tying his wrists to the posts of his bed at his Catskills home. She notes that she is using the whip harder than usual today, specifically to contradict the playfulness of their sex acts in the recording Victoria secretly made. After slipping a rope around Cameron’s neck, Victoria performs oral sex on him, and, before completing the sex act, Victoria tightens the rope, strangling Cameron. Once he is dead, she plants the stored urine and blood, noting that the blood is the result of the abortion she had at Cameron’s insistence. She plants the USB drive of their sex video in Tessa’s desk, and she ties Cameron’s hands using the bowline knot that she knows will lead investigators to Tessa. The planted evidence, Victoria expects, will first lead investigators to Victoria, but, when it becomes clear that the evidence is faked, they will likely turn to Tessa, suspecting that she killed Cameron after discovering his affair with Victoria. Finally, Victoria ties the rope to the safe and drops Cameron’s body over the balcony.