Page 137 of Nobody's Fool

“Not right now. I need to sort through it.”

“But later,” she says.

“Later.”

“Maybe after the sponge bath.”

“Certainly not before,” I say.

I call Marty next. He answers on the first ring and asks, “What did you learn?”

“You first,” I say.

“A preliminary ballistic test on the gun found at Brian Powell’s murder scene indicates it was the same weapon used on you and Victoria Belmond.”

I’m not surprised.

“It’s also the same type of gun used on Nicole Brett years ago. You probably realized that already.”

“I did.”

“Not the same gun, of course. But the same type. A Walther PPK. Hell of a coincidence.”

I don’t want to get into that now. “Powell’s time of death?”

“Hard to know. The ME still has him on the table, but the estimate is between thirty-six and forty-eight hours ago.”

I ask the obvious question. “Did you bring Tad Grayson in for questioning?”

“We tried. His lawyer said he will not cooperate. He has an alibi of sorts. Witnesses place him at the hospice with his mother pretty much nonstop—he has a cot in her room—but I guess he could have sneaked out a window or something. The place isn’t exactly Fort Knox with the security. I mean, who’d want to break into a hospice?”

My phone buzzes. I check and see the incoming call is from Jennifer Schultz at the Abeona Shelter. I tell Marty I’ll talk to him later and switch over.

Jennifer Schultz says, “I almost stopped.”

“Stopped?”

“Looking. I saw on the news Victoria Belmond had been killed in a street shootout. Were you with her?”

“Yes.”

“Were you the other person shot?”

“Yes.”

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

“You told me Victoria Belmond wanted answers. But she’s dead now. So what would be the point in digging it all up? This isn’t easy for me. These were my parents.”

Gary keeps glancing at me out of the side of his eyes.

“But you kept looking anyway,” I say.

“Yes.”

“And?”

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