“Mommy,” a tiny voice reached me through my weeping, “are you crying because of sissy?” I turned toward Eliot’s voice. His hand touched mine. I felt his yearning for me, warm in his palm. His face was at my hip, distorted through my tears.

Oliver knelt down to speak to his son. “Hey, buddy. Mommy’s just having a hard day. But you don’t need to worry about any of this stuff, okay?”

Eliot wrapped his pudgy arms around his daddy’s neck, then recited the same words Oliver spoke to him too many times to count: “It will be okay.”

“You know, you’re exactly right,” Oliver agreed, squeezing Eliot until he popped out a laugh. “Why don’t we let Pappy Joe and Nana give you a treat and let Mommy rest a bit.”

While Oliver led Eliot back into the living room to taste test cookies—one of the rare things Eliot would eat—that Debra had brought for dessert, I found a breath. Found my voice. Found a million questions I needed answered. I speared Detective Montgomery with the first one that came out. “Be honest with me. Do you think it’s Vera?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I wish I could answer that, but until the coroner comes back with a DNA workup and the autopsy report, we have nothing concrete.”

“How long will that take?”

“Since the body was found outside of our jurisdiction, it’s in the hands of the city police department. But we’re offering our resources to help speed things up, and they’re keeping me in the loop with their investigation. At this point, let’s not assume the worst. We have nothing that shows it’s Vera. Nothing.”

“What about the clothes? Were there any on the…” I couldn’t say body. The word refused to drop from my tongue.

“No, nothing identifiable. But—” Her tone resonated with something bad.

“But what?”

Her eyes grazed Oliver as he returned to the kitchen. “We think the body has been in the water for a while. Around six months or so, based on the level of decomposition.”

“So it could be Vera.” There it was. I said it. The worst-case scenario, out in the open.

“Let’s not go there just yet. There’s still a lot of information that’s missing. I’ll be back with an update as soon as I have one, but it could be a while before I hear anything. I’ll keep in touch. Stay strong for your family, okay?”

“Okay.” I hesitated a moment, then blurted out something I instantly regretted. “Are you sure you’re doing everything you can? I mean, you are awfully young. Maybe there should be someone a little more…seasoned on the case.”