The Wrong Gun

25

Mark Taylor was fit to be tied.

“Jesus Christ, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Steve smiled. “Don’t pull your punches, Mark. If you’re upset with me, just say so.”

“Keep it down, guys,” Tracy said, looking around apprehensively.

Steve, Mark and Tracy were catching lunch at a small sandwich shop near the courthouse. They’d chosen a table in the far corner, but the place was fairly crowded, and in a place like that there was no telling who might be listening.

“Fine,” Taylor said. “I’ll keep it down. I’ll talk low. I’ll even fucking whisper. Just tell me what the hell you think you’re trying to pull.”

“You mean about the gun?” Steve said.

Taylor stared at him in exasperation. “Yes, I mean about the gun. I’m sitting there in the back row, I almost had a heart attack. I mean, you practically out-and-out suggested to Vaulding that he start checking on who bought Colt.45s in the last few days.”

“I had to.”

“Why? You got a death wish? You wanna be killed by a really pissed off private detective? Or you wanna go to jail? I tell you, I sure don’t. I go out and buy a gun for you, the next thing I know you’re sicking the district attorney on my case.”

“Not on your case, Mark. I didn’t mean you.”

“So fucking what! What do you wanna do, tap Vaulding on the shoulder, say, ‘Excuse me, when I told you to check out who bought guns before the murder, I meant everybody except Mark Taylor?’”

“I admit that part of it’s unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate? You scared the shit out of me. Why the hell’d you do it?”

“I’m fighting for my client, Mark, and I had to do something.”

“Why?”

Steve picked up his cup of coffee, took a sip. He shook his head, exhaled. “Because, frankly, Vaulding’s good. He’s much better than I expected. His opening statement caught me by surprise, I felt I had to do something to get back. I started making my opening statement, it was going nowhere, I found myself up in the air, I had to say something. I’m just sorry it was that.”

“You and me both.”

“But come on, Mark. Checking up on gun purchases is not such an original idea. You think Vaulding hadn’t already thought of it?”

“Yeah, I know. But you don’t have to throw it in his lap. I mean, you practically challenged him with it, for Christ’s sake.”

“I know.”

“So what’s the bottom line?” Tracy said.

Taylor looked at her. “Huh?”

Tracy shrugged. “I mean, come on, boys, we can squabble over who did what to whom. What’s done is done. Now how much did it hurt, and what’s going to happen next?”

They both looked at her. Taylor shrugged. “O.K. You’re right, as usual. But will you grant me cause for bein’ pissed?”

“All day long, Mark,” Tracy said. “Now how bad does it hurt?”

“Right,” Steve said. “What is the bottom line? If Vaulding starts looking, what’s he going to find?”

Mark Taylor took a sip of coffee. If it agreed with him, Steve and Tracy couldn’t have told from his expression. He sighed. “Hopefully, not that much.”

“You buy from a dealer?”

“Yes and no.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I bought from a collector.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Big difference. Collector doesn’t run a gun shop. Doesn’t keep an arms register. The gun’s registered, yeah, but it’s registered at the shop where he bought it.”

“And where’s that?”

“I don’t know,” Taylor said irritably. “That’s what’s killing me. That’s what’s pissing me off. I mean, I try to be discreet, sure. I take precautions. But Jesus Christ. I mean, how the hell am I supposed to know there’s gonna be a murder?”

“No way you could know, Mark. But just what are you saying?”

Mark Taylor looked around the coffee shop, grimaced, lowered his voice. “All right. You show me a Colt.45, tell me you want a duplicate of the gun. I got an operative knows a dealer. So I pass along the word. No problem, made the buy. Gives me the identical gun I gave you.” Taylor grimaced again. “You know. The murder weapon. The one you filed the serial number off of.”

“Yeah, Mark. What’s the point?”

“The point is, I don’t know. I should know, but I don’t. It just wasn’t that important at the time. The gun came from the collector. But did the collector have it in stock, or did the collector have to buy it for us?”

“Wouldn’t the operative know?”

“Sure.”

“So why don’t you ask him?”

“You’re a sexist pig.”

“Huh?”

“The operative’s a woman.”

“Fine. Why don’t you ask her?”

“Because she’s on vacation and I can’t find her.”

Steve looked at him. “And you don’t know what collector she bought from, only she knows that?”

“Bingo,” Taylor said. “Right on the button. See why I’m goin’ nuts?”

“Yeah, I do. But there’s a saving grace.”

“What’s that?”

“If she’s on vacation and you can’t find her, the cops can’t either.”

“Right. So instead I just gotta sit here peein’ in my pants wondering if they’re gonna stumble over the collector.”

“Why should they?”

“Because some collectors are dealers too, and who’s to say this collector isn’t.”

Steve frowned. “I see.”

“Do you? Good. Then you know why I’m going nuts. So tell me, what’s the point? I mean, aside from wanting to compete with Vaulding, what are you trying to prove?”

“Basically, that my client didn’t buy the gun. I mean, of course, assuming we hadn’t made the substitution. I mean, here’s the murder weapon with the number ground off. Nothing to tie it to my client except the fact it was found in his room. No, if Vaulding had any way of showing Timberlaine could have purchased that gun, he would. My play is to dare him to do it and taunt him when he can’t. Now, if that runs the risk of him tripping over our back trail, that’s too bad, but I can’t back off because of that.”

“Yeah, I know,” Taylor said moodily.

“Fine,” Tracy said. “Now, if we’ve exhausted that subject, tell me about the file.”

Taylor frowned. “What about it?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Tracy said. “Vaulding serves a search warrant, finds the file, holds a press conference to announce it. Then he makes his opening statement and he doesn’t even mention it once.”

“Exactly,” Steve said. “That’s when I knew the guy was good.”

“Wait a minute,” Taylor said. “That’s right. He didn’t mention it. How come?”

Steve shrugged. “I imagine he figures he’s got enough on Timberlaine without it. So he leaves it out, so when it comes up later it’s yet another damning item on top of all the rest of the evidence.”

“Shit,” Taylor said. “Can he do that?”

“Moot point, Mark. He’s already done it.”

“I mean, is it legal?”

“There’s no law says you gotta say everything in the world in your opening statement. Hell, there’s no law says you gotta make an opening statement. Vaulding could have waived his opening statement and started calling witnesses for that matter. He made his opening statement, it was a good one, he just chose to leave that out.

“Which is one of the things that set me off. One of the reasons maybe I said more than I should’ve.”

“Then you think it’s a good tactic?”

“Hell, yes. It also anticipates the moron factor.”

“The what?” Taylor said.

Steve made a face. “One of my big problems in this case is my defendant’s not very bright. Be that as it may, I still gotta argue the guy couldn’t be so dumb as to do such and such. The main thing, of course, is hold on to the murder gun.

“Of course, Vaulding knows that. And he anticipates the argument and this is his response.”

“Timberlaine used the file so he could keep the murder weapon?”

“Exactly.”

“But then he goes ahead and keeps the file.”

“I told you it’s the moron factor, Mark.”

“Jesus.”

“Hey, it’s in our favor. Vaulding’s the one’s gotta argue the guy had to be that dumb.”

“Well, just between you and me, maybe he is.”

“No takers.”

“So how you gonna play it?”

Steve grimaced. “That’s the problem with this case. I haven’t the faintest idea. Vaulding’s unconventional, which makes it hard to plan. So I’m not acting, I’m reacting. Basically I gotta sit back and see what Vaulding does next.” Steve shrugged. “And there, Mark,” he said, “your guess is as good as mine.”