This story was published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine January/February 2023. I had not heard of this author before, but he had an earlier story published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine September/October 2021 which I will also read.
"Dead Man's Shoe" by Floyd Sullivan
Rick Peters tells the story of his brief visit to a cabin on Keuka Lake in New York. He was taking a vacation from his job as a professional photographer. The local sheriff rings the doorbell and asks Rick to take photos of an object on a nearby pier. The object turns out to be an athletic shoe with a foot in it. The foot had been sawed off a body just above the ankle.
This was a slow burn story. Peters doesn't want to give up on figuring what was behind the discovery of the foot. There are some elements that stretched my ability to suspend disbelief, but I enjoyed the story and the ending was very satisfactory.
Last line: "I have no plans to return to the Finger Lakes. Ever."
There is an article about the inspiration for this story at Trace Evidence.
