Twenty Years Later

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s treatment of terrorism and mass murder, infertility, death by suicide, alcohol addiction, and sexual acts and bondage play.

A detective approaches a mansion in the Catskills in New York State, finding a naked male body hanging from the second story. It appears that the body was bound or died by suicide. His hands are tied, and his mouth gagged. The detective notes bruising on the man’s buttocks and upper thigh, and the photographer with him suspects bondage-related sexual activity.

The detective finds the rope used to hang the man tied to a giant safe in the bedroom closet. He finds a knife with blood on it, and a glass of wine with lipstick on the rim. There is urine and toilet paper in the toilet. The detective speculates that the victim was a wealthy man, killed by a woman. Victoria Ford becomes the main suspect, but the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 on 9/11 derails the detective’s investigation.