The Third Victim Part 28

"No, Sara, you don't need to put him on the phone. No, no. Hey' His voice suddenly changed to a higher pitch.

"Hi there, Murphy. Yes, you're a good dog. You're such a good dog.

Now put your mom back on the phone. Really, put your mom Sara. Sara, there you are. Yeah, yeah, I said hi, but he's a dog, for chrissakes.

He doesn't understand the modern miracle of AT&T.

"Wait a minute. Is he whimpering now? Why is the puppy whimpering?

What happened? What? Really?" Sanders sounded surprised, then sheepishly pleased.

"Murphy goes around the house each morning looking for me? He misses me. Huh. I'll be d.a.m.ned. He really is a smart little guy-' Sanders finally noticed Rainie and Quincy staring at him.

He sat up quickly, looking caught red-handed, and hastily said good-bye. He was still blus.h.i.+ng when he snapped shut his flip phone.

"New puppy," he muttered.

"My wife .. . she's kind of nuts about the thing. You know how it is."

He swallowed, then nodded toward the empty side of the booth.

"Want to have a seat? I got some news."

Rainie already felt wary, but she slid into the red vinyl booth while introducing Quincy to Sanders. The two had obviously heard of each other, and the handshake was perfunctory.

"So what brings you to Bakersville?" Sanders asked after Quincy blew off Rainie's suggestion of chicken-fried steak and ordered a Caesar salad. Rainie shook her head to let him know He was making a mistake, then ordered the steak, mashed potatoes, and an extra helping of gravy.

She hadn't eaten all day, and she'd be d.a.m.ned before she was shamed by two men into eating salad. She was still trying to decide if a chocolate malt would be overkill, when Quincy answered. "I'm researching school shootings for the Behavioral Science Unit.

Naturally I'm interested in this case."

"You're observing?"

Quincy looked at Rainie.

"Something like that."

"We don't need federal help," Sanders said bluntly.

Quincy smiled.

"Don't worry, Detective. I wouldn't dream of stepping on Officer Conner's toes by claiming jurisdiction over the case. I hear she has very strong feelings on the subject and that she's very good with her sidearm."

Rainie grinned at the unexpected compliment. Sanders scowled.

"Well," the state man said briskly, wiping his hands on his napkin, 'the whole thing will probably be moot by morning. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I wrapped up the majority of the case today."

"Really?" Rainie gave him a dubious glance.

"And here I thought I'd destroyed the case just this morning."

"Sometimes the evidence comes together in spite of an officer's best intentions," Sanders a.s.sured her.

"I'll remember that. What new evidence?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Sanders feigned surprise.

"Got some info back from a.T.F. today. Tracing Danny's .38 revolver and .22 semiauto was simple. Both registered to one Shep O'grady.

Furthermore, the CSU recovered five 38-caliber slugs from the area of incidence last night. Today the ME confirmed that blood and fiber on the slugs are consistent with the two juvenile DOAs, and drum roll here ballistics determined that rifling on the slugs matches Danny's revolver. You were right, Conner, we got at least one of the murder weapons."

"So the .38 was used to kill the two little girls," Rainie said with a frown.

"That still doesn't prove Danny was the one who pulled the trigger."

"Yeah, but we also got Danny's prints on all the casings recovered at the scene. A good lawyer will still argue that only proves Danny loaded the guns, not that he fired them, but at this point the circ.u.mstantial evidence is overwhelming. We can tie Danny to the murder weapon. He has no alibi for the time of the shooting, and we have a witness you who places him in the school immediately after the shootings, holding his father hostage. Even if we can't get his confession entered into evidence, I think we have enough for a jury to connect the dots."

"What about Melissa Avalon? So far, the evidence ties him only to the girls."

"Don't know about Avalon yet. It appears she was shot once in the forehead with the .2.2. semiauto. No exit wound, of course, so we have to wait for the ME to retrieve the slug during tomorrow's autopsy.

Cases like this generally aren't promising, though. Twenty-two-caliber slugs are only forty grains and made out of soft lead. Most of the time they're too deformed from ricocheting around the skull to yield any rifling marks. We'll have to see. On the other hand, I learned some dirt today when I got my hair cut. According to the rumor mill, Avalon and the princ.i.p.al were really tight ... if you know what I mean."

"Big deal," Rainie said.

"Quincy figured that out after a ten-minute chat with the princ.i.p.al.

Go, fed."

Quincy shrugged modestly. Sanders looked chagrined.

"You knew he was stepping out on his wife?"

"His reaction to Miss Avalon's death seemed overly intense for the circ.u.mstances."

"Huh." Sanders scowled, grabbed a fresh carrot stick, and then recovered.

"It doesn't matter to the investigation," he said firmly.

"I checked with the administrative staff, and Princ.i.p.al VanderZanden was in his office when the shots were fired. From what I can tell, Danny is the only one unaccounted for at the time. Something else to put in our reports."

"There are still the students who were absent yesterday to consider,"

Rainie said.

"Twenty-one students out sick," Sanders reported.

"Sixteen already have alibis in the form of anxious parents. I bet you the other five are cleared by tomorrow afternoon."

"What about the computers?" Quincy asked.

"Princ.i.p.al VanderZanden said Danny spent a great deal of time online.

I'm curious about that." Sanders looked at him shrewdly.

"You're thinking outside influence," he said.

"It's been a factor in several of the shootings. And I am surprised by Danny's sophistication in breaking in to what I would presume to be a state-of-the-art gun safe."