Head Shot

49

Bob handed the keys of her parents' house to his wife. 'You do it, love,' he said. She took them from him, and unlocked the big front door, then stepped, slightly hesitantly, into the hal. The heat of the day was building up in the morning sunshine, but inside it was stil cool.

Sarah looked around the familiar entrance; Bob had done as much as he could to clean up after the technicians, but she could see that the rest was a job for the professionals. Much of the panel ing on the walls, and the woodwork on the stairway, were stil streaked with their powder.

Once more it got to her: she knew that there would be many such moments over the next few days, but it was comforting to know that with her husband at hand, she enjoyed the luxury of being able to yield to them, from time to time.

'Excuse me,' she whispered, and walked upstairs into the bedroom that had been hers as a girl, and in which she guessed that Bob had slept the night before. The sound of her crying carried down to him in the hal way; for a moment he thought of going up to her, but instead, he left the suitcase at the foot of the stairs and walked back out to the drive. He found a cloth in the Jaguar's glove compartment and used it to wrap the pistol, which he retrieved from its hiding place, and carried into the Graces' spacious reception room. Indoors, he was able to give the weapon a thorough examination. He recognised it at once as the double of several owned by his own police force, not his own firearm of choice, but one which was popular with his colleagues, because of its reliability: a 9mm Glock 19, compact model. He slid the fifteen shot magazine from its housing in the butt, and saw that, indeed, it was fully loaded.

He laid pistol and ammunition on a side table, then reached into a pocket of the cotton jacket he had bought a few days before, and took out a small notebook, searching through it until he found the number he needed. He sat in his father-in-law's armchair, picked up the phone and dialled.

'Schultz,' a strong voice answered.

'Lieutenant, good morning, it's Bob Skinner here. I hope I'm not interrupting anything.'

'No, sir, I have this morning off. I've just been running and I'm about to step into the shower, but otherwise, I'm clear. How can I help you?'

'Leo and Susannah's car,' the Scot began. 'The Ford Explorer they had up at the lake; where is it now?'

'We have it in the park at my office. Would you like it delivered back to Buffalo? I could have Toby drive it down, with a patrolman fol owing to bring him back. No big deal.'

'Thanks; maybe I'l take you up on that. But first, there's something I have to ask you. Have you searched it? The Explorer, that is.'

'No, sir.'

'Okay, I'd like you to do that, first chance you get. I haven't had a chance to check my copy of the inventory you took at the cabin, but I don't recal seeing any mention of any firearms being found there.'

'You're correct; there were none.'

'In that case, I'd like you to look in the car; in the glove compartment, central storage box, under the seats. My wife and I have just found a loaded Glock in his Buffalo car. If Leo was carrying a gun, it was unusual behaviour for him; so if he had one in Buffalo, it stands to reason…' He paused. 'There isn't another in the house here; the Bureau have been al over it, and they'd have found it for sure. So search the car, please. I'd just like to know.'

'Sure, sir,' Schultz responded. 'I'll go in soon as I'm showered. Apart from anything else, we have occasional thefts from cars, even in the police park. If Mr Grace had a second gun, it should be under lock and key in my desk, for safety's sake. I'll get back to you.'

'Thanks.' Skinner hung up, and leaned back in the comfortable chair, thinking. After a few minutes he picked up the phone again and called Joe Doherty's Washington number.

'Tell me about the registration of firearms in the US,' he began, when final y he was put through to the deputy director.

'You won't be here long enough,' his friend replied, tersely. 'Be specific.'

'My father-in-law had a gun, maybe two. Would there be a record of where and when he bought them?'

'For sure,' said Doherty, quickly. 'Federal law requires all dealers to be registered, and also it requires them to keep a record of every sale made. But if someone buys two guns, the dealer has to report their sale to the ATF… that's the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.'

'I know what the ATF is.'

'You wanna find out whether Mr Grace is on their list? It'll take me one call.'

'Yes, please, Joe, if you could. And if he did buy two firearms, would you find out when. The automatic Sarah found in his car looked more or less new.'

'Gimme your number there; I'll cal you back.'

Skinner replaced the phone, then reached out and picked up the unloaded pistol once more. He was used to guns; he had been a qualified marksman since his earliest days on the force. He felt the weight of the Glock in his hand, admiring its balance. He worked the slide mechanism, silent and smooth, sighted along the barrel and pul ed the trigger.

'I can understand why Mcl henney likes this baby,' he murmured; to himself, he thought.

'Nothing but the best for my old man,' said Sarah, behind him. 'It didn't do him any good, though, did it. Are you ready now to tell me what this is all about?'

He opened his mouth to reply, but the phone rang, silencing him.

'One cal, just like I said,' Doherty drawled. 'Leopold Grace bought two identical Glock 19 automatics from a dealer in Buffalo just over two months ago. In accordance with federal law, the transaction was reported to the ATF two days later, on form number 3310 point 4.' The American laughed. 'If you think you have a bureaucracy in Britain you wanna get a load of the paperwork our government can generate.'

'At least we've taught you something,' Skinner grunted. 'Have you heard from Kosinski yet?'

'No. He's due to see Arthur Wilkins around now; he said he'd call me straight after. I'll let you know if anything fresh comes out of the interview.'

'Okay.'

He hung up and turned to Sarah. 'Your father felt under threat, love,' he began. 'I don't know why, but he did…' He stopped in mid-sentence as the dejd vu feeling he had experienced earlier that morning, and before, swept over him once more. He had become used to it, and so this time, he simply made himself wait it out. When it cleared after a few seconds, it was as if a door had been opened in his mind.

'Bob, what is it? For a second there you just glazed over.'

'Wait.' He waved her to silence, snatched up the phone, and dialled Doherty's number again. This time, he was put straight through.

'Joe,' he snapped. 'I must have had a bang on the head as well as you on Saturday. The device on Wylie's boat: have your people found any traces yet of a timing mechanism?'

'Yeah, they did. I just got the report. So what? It stands to reason there was a timer.'

'Sure, but think about this. If you and I hadn't been delayed in transit, and if I hadn't stopped for a few seconds on the boardwalk, we'd have been on that boat too. Suppose, just suppose, Jackson Wylie wasn't the only target.'

'Yeah?' the deputy director responded, slowly.

'So who knew we were seeing him there, and at that time? Who set up the meeting?'

'Fuck!' The single hissed syl able took about five seconds to form.

'Hold on a minute, Bob! He's one of mine!'

'Sure, but suppose, just suppose…'

'Shit, shit, shit!' Skinner had never heard his friend raise his voice before. 'Yeah, okay, okay, I get the picture. I don't believe it, but I'l have him intercepted and brought to me for questioning.'

'Before he sees Wilkins, Joe, yes? You'll do it right now.'

'Yes, Goddammit; right now.'

Sarah was staring at him, hard, as he put down the phone. 'The device on Jack Wylie's boat?' she exclaimed. 'What device? You mean someone planted a bomb on board? And you and Joe were meant to be there when it went off?'

He held up his hands, as if to ward her off. 'I don't know,' he said.

'Yes, there was a bomb, but it might have had nothing to do with us. It's just a possibility, but it has to be checked out.'

'Who's being checked out? This Kosinski guy you mentioned?'

'Yes.'

'Who is he?'

'An FBI agent, one of Joe's team on the investigation.'

He looked at her. 'To go back to what I was saying before, Joe's confirmed for me that your dad bought two guns a couple of months ago. He kept one in the Jag; the other, I'd guess, he kept around the house, and took with him to the cabin. Either the guy who killed him stole it, or it's still in the off-roader they had up there.

'I want to ask you something,' he said, 'and I want you to think long and hard about it. Do the names Sander Garrett or Bartholomew Wilkins mean anything to you, either or both of them?'

She frowned, and sat on the chair facing his. 'No,' she answered, slowly. 'I don't think they do. No, I'm certain; I've never heard of either one of them. Were they associates of my father?'

'So it seems. Let me tell you the whole story.'

She nodded, looking at him intently.

'Bart Wilkins and Sander Garrett are both dead,' he began. 'They were both murdered, shortly before your father; they were lawyers. Democrats, and they both worked in Washington at the same time as him and Jackson Wylie.'

Suddenly her eyes widened, and she sat up in the armchair. 'Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute!' she cried out. 'Bart and Sandy, Bart and Sandy: I know those names. When my dad was in Washington, a bunch of the guys used to play touch footbal every Sunday. Dad said it was the most exclusive club in DC at the time, because the star player was You Know Who.'

'I do?'

'You sure do. The president himself; he turned out on most of the Sundays he was in DC. Bobby played too, sometimes. Two of the guys in the squad were cal ed Bart and Sandy; I remember that now, although he never mentioned their surnames. Jack Wylie was in it too.'

'How did they get together?'

'Through their jobs. The president himself invited Dad to join them, but all the others were in the Secret Service.'