Read Online The Silver Anniversary Murder by Lee Harris - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lee Harris
Ads: Link
the driver’s license for Charles Proctor had a photo on it. That would give something to compare a sketch to, when it was done. The medical examiner was able to lift fingerprints from the body in spite of the decomposition. What they did, Jack told me, was inflate the fingers with a gas, press the fingertips on an inked board as though they were living fingers, and then roll them on special paper. In this case, as in the case of Holly, the prints were clear enough to be usable.
The man’s death had indeed been caused by a gunshot, one to be exact. The shooter had stood in front of him and aimed at his heart. The bullet was found inside him, a .38 caliber lead slug fired from close range, leaving tattooing on the clothes and some on the skin. The bullet had carried cloth threads into the entry wound. The lab report stated that the muzzle of the gun was approximately two inches away when the weapon was fired.
Joe Fox assured me there would have been plenty of blood. The ME’s office would analyze the blood in the body for DNA and compare it to the stains found in the apartment bedroom. Perhaps now there would be a match.
The man had been wearing a business suit but there was no wallet or other means of identification on him. An indentation on his left ring finger indicated he had worn a wedding ring for a long time. His shirt was a common brand available in many stores, and the suit, while moderately expensive, could be bought in any number of outlets. Neither victim had worn shoes and none of their clothing had a store label.
The man, however, had a scar from an appendectomy done many years ago. I didn’t think that would be of much help, though, as appendectomies are common.
The police still didn’t know what had killed the woman.
Joe Fox said that an enlarged version of the license photo had been recognized by the building manager, but not with great certainty. It was the wife who usually came down if there was a problem, and there weren’t many problems with the Mitchells. But the woman across the hall, the one who had said she didn’t have much to do with them, recognized both the picture of the man and the sketch of the woman. A few other tenants thought the couple looked vaguely familiar.
But the man who had seen people loading the vehicle with furniture said he just couldn’t be sure about the man.
7
In the morning, Jack called with a ballistics report from Joe Fox. “The bullet was nice and clean,” Jack said. “The ballistics guy said it had nice lands and grooves. It was either a new gun or a new barrel.”
The lands and grooves, as Jack had explained to me in the past, referred to the markings on the lead bullet. The tiny markings are the result of the lead bullet passing through the steel gun barrel and rubbing against the riflings inside. These riflings, which are spiraled grooves, cause a bullet to rotate around its longer axis prior to exiting the muzzle of the gun. Using a microscope, ballistics experts compare bullets and can tell when two or more have been fired from the same gun. As a barrel becomes old, much used, or pitted, the markings on the bullet change and blur. Changing the gun barrel changes the markings on the bullet.
Jack had also received by fax sketches of the second victim, which he would take home with him tonight. “Maybe we need a fax at home,” he said. Now that we had a computer, he seemed interested in adding appendages to it, and I, the nervous money manager of the family, kept telling him all these things he considered both wonderful and necessary would get little if any use. When I left St. Stephen’s and took up a secular life, I bounced into the end of the twentieth century with a start. I was reluctant to move much further, especially when all these addenda were three figures apiece.
“Don’t do anything precipitous,” I cautioned, knowing it would have no effect. Jack’s office at One PP is in that part of New York that is filled with enticing
The man’s death had indeed been caused by a gunshot, one to be exact. The shooter had stood in front of him and aimed at his heart. The bullet was found inside him, a .38 caliber lead slug fired from close range, leaving tattooing on the clothes and some on the skin. The bullet had carried cloth threads into the entry wound. The lab report stated that the muzzle of the gun was approximately two inches away when the weapon was fired.
Joe Fox assured me there would have been plenty of blood. The ME’s office would analyze the blood in the body for DNA and compare it to the stains found in the apartment bedroom. Perhaps now there would be a match.
The man had been wearing a business suit but there was no wallet or other means of identification on him. An indentation on his left ring finger indicated he had worn a wedding ring for a long time. His shirt was a common brand available in many stores, and the suit, while moderately expensive, could be bought in any number of outlets. Neither victim had worn shoes and none of their clothing had a store label.
The man, however, had a scar from an appendectomy done many years ago. I didn’t think that would be of much help, though, as appendectomies are common.
The police still didn’t know what had killed the woman.
Joe Fox said that an enlarged version of the license photo had been recognized by the building manager, but not with great certainty. It was the wife who usually came down if there was a problem, and there weren’t many problems with the Mitchells. But the woman across the hall, the one who had said she didn’t have much to do with them, recognized both the picture of the man and the sketch of the woman. A few other tenants thought the couple looked vaguely familiar.
But the man who had seen people loading the vehicle with furniture said he just couldn’t be sure about the man.
7
In the morning, Jack called with a ballistics report from Joe Fox. “The bullet was nice and clean,” Jack said. “The ballistics guy said it had nice lands and grooves. It was either a new gun or a new barrel.”
The lands and grooves, as Jack had explained to me in the past, referred to the markings on the lead bullet. The tiny markings are the result of the lead bullet passing through the steel gun barrel and rubbing against the riflings inside. These riflings, which are spiraled grooves, cause a bullet to rotate around its longer axis prior to exiting the muzzle of the gun. Using a microscope, ballistics experts compare bullets and can tell when two or more have been fired from the same gun. As a barrel becomes old, much used, or pitted, the markings on the bullet change and blur. Changing the gun barrel changes the markings on the bullet.
Jack had also received by fax sketches of the second victim, which he would take home with him tonight. “Maybe we need a fax at home,” he said. Now that we had a computer, he seemed interested in adding appendages to it, and I, the nervous money manager of the family, kept telling him all these things he considered both wonderful and necessary would get little if any use. When I left St. Stephen’s and took up a secular life, I bounced into the end of the twentieth century with a start. I was reluctant to move much further, especially when all these addenda were three figures apiece.
“Don’t do anything precipitous,” I cautioned, knowing it would have no effect. Jack’s office at One PP is in that part of New York that is filled with enticing
Similar Books
