The area was blocked off, so Devine joined a group of other gawkers in front of the house. A black van waited, presumably for the body. Police were everywhere, keeping people away and securing the crime scene.
A sedan pulled up, and Ekman and Shoemaker climbed out. Devine ran over to them. “I saw them pulling a body out of the pool when we passed by on the train. Is it . . . is it . . . ?”
His phone dinged. He looked down as every bit of breath in his body left him.
Sorry, I was asleep and didn’t hear the phone. Everything okay?
It was from Montgomery. She was alive.
He looked up at the detectives.
“Come with us, Devine,” said Shoemaker.
They led him through the perimeter by flashing their badges.
People were gathered around the pool surround, where a body lay under a sheet. Activity was swirling everywhere as police personnel looked for clues and collected evidence.
The NYPD detectives and Devine stopped in front of a plain-clothes man from the county.
“Figured you guys needed to know because of the connection,” the man said.
“Let’s see it,” said Ekman.
The sheet was lifted, and Devine found himself looking down at a very drowned and very dead Christian Chilton.