The real clue came the day before the third recount results came in when she called upon Rossi to "accept the result of the
third count" (emphasis mine). That same day Paul Berendt claimed he had inside information that Gregoire would end up with an eight-vote lead. She ended up with a ten-vote lead.
That was before the 723 illegitimate (meaning, previously rejected) ballots were recanvassed and thrown into the mix.