CHAPTER 71
Lake Placid, NY Sunday, July 11, 2021
THE BATHROOM DOOR DISINTEGRATED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE battering ram, and agents poured into the room. Steam wafted from the door frame and fogged their face shields, which they quickly lifted out of the way.
“Federal agents!” they shouted. “Put your hands in the air. Hands in the air!”
Oliver caught glimpses through the bodies and the steam as he stepped into the room. A man stood naked in the shower. He did not put up a fight, or any resistance at all. He simply raised his hands in a frightened and defeated manner. Two agents manhandled the naked figure out of the shower and forced him to the ground, where they cuffed his hands behind his back.
“Clear,” another agent yelled before shutting off the shower.
The agents took the man by the elbows and lifted him to his feet. Naked and dripping wet, he looked pathetic. It would have been appropriate, since he put up no resistance, to offer the man a towel to cover himself. But Jim Oliver had no intention of lessening this man’s humiliation.
Oliver walked up to the fugitive he had been hunting for years. Even with sopping wet hair clinging to his ears, Oliver recognized the Thief of Manhattan.
“Garth Montgomery,” Oliver said, “I want you to know two things. First, you’re under arrest. And second, your daughter is the reason we found you.”