Page 92 of Tough as Steele

“What?” Nate narrowed his eyes. “How can he be both?”

Grady tapped the AR-15 they’d brought along for his review. “The bullet recovered from Jessica’s body was fired from this rifle. No question.”

Nate shook his head. “Not possible. The gun was in evidence before her time of death.”

Grady held up a hand. “Just hear me out. The image on the screen shows the obvious markings from the improper cleaning that Paxton pointed out. You can see it, right?”

“Yes,” Nate replied, but Londyn heard the skepticism in his tone.

She was unconvinced too, but she should be glad that it looked like the regional lab that her department often used for bullet examinations was right. But Grady had skills far above these local examiners, and he was going to add something else to his findings that Paxton missed.

He ran his finger on his computer screen along different slashes on the magnified bullet that were barely visible. “What you don’t see as easily on this last bullet, and the examiner missed, are these anomalies.”

Nate leaned closer. “How do you explain those?”

“The only logical explanation is that your shooter first fired this bullet into a water bath or a gel, then collected it to reuse it. Or he might have fired more than one and collected several of the least deformed bullets.”

“Seriously?” Nate gaped at Grady.

“Is it even possible to reuse them?” Londyn asked.

“Yes,ifhe created a special firearm.” Grady gripped the arms of his chair. “Something with a smooth bore barrel large enough to limit the marking on the bullet but small enough to give the bullet enough force to accomplish its expected outcome.”

“Like what kind of firearm?” Nate asked.

“A zip gun, maybe.” Grady tapped his fingers on the chair. “The bullet would probablyneed to be encased in a plastic shotgun shell to minimize further marking and basically pushed out the barrel with enough force to penetrate. I can’t imagine this shot succeeding at anything but a reasonably close range.”

“She was killed close-up, which lends validity to your statement.” Nate eyed Grady. “But why go to all of that work with the bullet?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Grady said. “But the most likely explanation is to set up the owner of the AR-15 for a murder he didn’t commit.”

“But what about the timing?” Londyn asked, processing the information. “We have the weapon in evidence and know right up front that it couldn’t have been used to shoot Jessica.”

Grady snapped his chair forward. “Perhaps he left the rifle behind by accident. Maybe the police cars arriving at his home sent him running before he finished whatever he was doing there with Jessica’s car. Or maybe the shooter wasn’t even there, and Jessica left it behind.”

“I suppose that could’ve happened.” Londyn looked at Nate. “Questions are, where is Wigg, and who could be setting him up? Was he the other guy in Mimi’s car, or was it Gaskin?”

Nate tilted his head and took a long breath. “If Grady’s theory is right about setting Wigg up to take the fall for these murders, then we have a fourth person in the group. Likely the mastermind—and a person we don’t know a thing about.”

“Whoever that might be, he knows his ballistics.” Grady’s tone dripped with respect. “Not just anyone could’ve pulled this off. I’d say you’re looking for an avid hunter, former law enforcement, or military. Actually a sniper. Yeah, I think you might be looking for a sniper or former sniper.”

“The deer blood and hairs found in Jessica’s trunk could say hunter,” Londyn said. “And there are a lot of avid hunters in this area. One of them could be a former sniper too.”

“You’re right.” Nate frowned. “But if we’re just looking at hunters that would be a huge number.”

“Military or law enforcement would be easier to find since all of their prints are in a database,” Grady said.

“We should have Ryleigh do a deep dive on Wigg’s fellow soldiers too,” Londyn said and texted Ryleigh to do so, then looked up. “Fingerprints from one of the scenes would be our best bet, but nothing has returned a match in AFIS.”

“Hunter, law enforcement, or military,” Nate said. “I aim to find out which one we’re dealing with and find out fast. Mimi’s almost out of time.”

“Now that’s something that’s not in question.” Londyn’s phone rang, and she dug it from her pocket. “It’s Sierra.”

“You’re working late,” Londyn said by way of answering.

“We don’t sleep at Veritas when someone is missing.” Sierra’s motivation and concern deepened her tone. “I reviewed my 3D scan from Mimi’s house and enlarged all the images. I think I found something. A small black object is on the floor near the back leg on Mimi’s nightstand closest to the door. Just the tip is poking out. Whatever it is, we missed it because it’s so small. It could just be a chip of wood from the nightstand, but it’s worth checking out.”

“We’ll head right over there.” Londyn told Sierra about the rifle, bullets, and potential military or law enforcement lead.

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