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boomed in Magozzi’s head like a pile driver.
    There was a uniform at the water’s edge, standing watch, preserving the scene, trying not to look at the thing that didn’t belong in the water.
    The body was face down in the shallows, wearing a white formal gown that moved gracefully in the current as if the body inside were dancing. The scene sent creepy-crawlies up Gino’s spine as he tried to quell images of his wife, Angela, walking down a church aisle toward him all those years ago. “Oh, man,” he said quietly. “Is that a wedding dress?”
    “That’s what it looked like to me,” the uniform said, “but you have to think someone would miss a bride.”
    Not if the groom is somewhere else in this river, Magozzi thought. “You found her?”
    “Yes, sir. Officer Tomlinson. The river walk is on my regular patrol.”
    The kid was doing a pretty good job of putting on the tough cop face, but that face was unlined and the troubled blue eyes didn’t have the flat look of a seasoned patrol yet. Magozzi figured he was about three days out of the academy. “You’re a little off the walk here.”
    “The white caught my eye through the trees, so I came down.
    Thought maybe it was a heron, something like that . . .” He stopped and swallowed, then took a breath. “Anyway, the ME’s on his way; my sergeant took six other officers to start the canvass, but if this is where she went in, the cover’s pretty dense.”
    Magozzi nodded. “We could use some more tape up top, Tomlinson, and wider on both sides. The lunch walkers are going to be out soon. Can you handle that?”
    “Yes, sir, thank you, sir.” He made double time up the slope.
    Gino shoved his hands in his pockets and tipped his head at Magozzi. “That was uncommonly kind of you.”
    “He’s just a kid. He’s been here alone for a while.”
    The hand on Magozzi’s shoulder was gentle. He felt himself take a deep, cleansing breath before he turned around and smiled at the medical examiner. It didn’t surprise him that Dr. Anantanand Rambachan had simply appeared behind him without sound, without disruption of the environment. The man moved through the world like silk on water, disturbing nothing, taking his place like sunlight.
    “Good morning, Detectives,” he greeted them with a warm smile and handshakes. Anant still loved the Western handshake. Even after all his years in this country, the ritual never failed to tickle him. Touch is everything, Detective Magozzi, he’d said once. The Americans understand this, when many cultures do not. Touch is connection. “You are both looking very well indeed. It’s as if no time has passed since our last meeting.”
    “Same with you, Doc,” Gino said. “You still playing hoops?”
    “Hoops?”
    “Basketball.”
    “Ah, yes, of course, basketball. I find I am enjoying the sport a great deal, especially now that my boys are old enough to join me. Perhaps I might have a second career after all.” His mouth didn’t smile, but his dark eyes certainly did.
    “Well, you just let us know if you ever want to pick up a game with our department squad—we could use the height.”
    “That is a kind offer, and I thank you. And I am hoping that both of you and your loved ones are quite well?”
    And so it went for a few minutes—the small talk before attending to the unpleasant business at hand was a ritual Magozzi figured all doctors learned their first year of med school. Hello, Mr. Jones. How are you today? How’s the family? You’re looking good, have you been working out? Remember those tests we ran last week? Well, they didn’t turn out so well.
    Finally, Dr. Rambachan stood on one leg while he removed a shoe and pulled on a rubber wading boot. Gino watched in amazement as he repeated the process with the second boot. “Jeez, Doc, how the hell did you do that? You looked like a flamingo standing there, didn’t even wobble. I gotta sit down to put on my socks or I keel over like a bowling