The Wrong Gun

34

“I’m not sure I wanna hear this,” Mark Taylor said when Steve and Tracy got back to the office later that afternoon and called him down to fill him in.

“You have a bad attitude, you know it?” Tracy said.

“Oh, yeah? Well, I’m sure it has nothing to do with this case. My life’s been living hell ever since I bought that gun.”

“I haven’t been too happy myself,” Steve said.

“Yeah, well lay it on me,” Taylor said. “I wanna get back to the office so I can coordinate the stuff that’s coming in.”

Steve leaned back in his desk chair and exhaled. “The stuff that’s coming in is basically irrelevant. Just wait’ll you get a load of this.”

“Of what?” Taylor said. “Come on. Give.”

“O.K. Well, it’s good news/bad news time again. The good news is the gun in court is not the gun you bought me.”

“What?” Taylor said.

“That’s right. Timberlaine switched guns.”

Mark Taylor blinked. He looked at Steve. “Time out. Flag on the play. Let me be sure I understand this. You’re saying the cops got the wrong gun?”

“That depends on how you look at it. They got the murder weapon. It just isn’t the gun we thought it was.”

Taylor blinked again. “There’s another gun?”

“I know,” Steve said. “It’s a fucking nightmare.”

“Wait a minute. You mean the gun the witness says Timberlaine bought really exists and it’s the gun in court?”

“How would you feel about that?”

“Well,” Taylor said. “I’ll be really happy if the gun in court isn’t my gun. But how the hell am I gonna prove that?” His eyes widened. “No, wait a minute. I can prove it with the bullet.”

“What bullet?” Tracy said.

“The test bullets you had me fire. You got ’em in the safe, right. All marked, nice and legal. The bullet can prove the murder weapon wasn’t that gun.”

Steve frowned. “Well, that’s a ‘maybe’ there, Mark. You gotta remember the barrel of that gun was tampered with.”

“Right,” Taylor said.

“Yeah, but after the murder,” Tracy said. “The fatal bullet itself wasn’t affected.”

“That’s true,” Steve said.

“So if the fatal bullet doesn’t match the test bullet from the gun Mark bought, it proves his gun wasn’t the fatal gun.”

“That’s right,” Taylor said.

“That’s true,” Steve said. “If we ever get that far. But hang on a minute. Can you seriously imagine me explaining all this to Vaulding? Let alone the jury?”

Taylor frowned. “I see your point.”

“Exactly, Mark,” Steve said. “It’s not like we want to prove the gun you bought had nothing to do with the murder. We’re not at the point here where we want to concede you bought a gun.”

Taylor nodded. “I’m with you there.” He scratched his head. “So what the fuck does this mean? I mean, Jesus Christ. You’re sayin’ the gun they claim Timberlaine bought he admits he bought and claims he substituted for mine. Is that right?”

“That’s it in a nutshell.”

“Then where’s mine? Pardon me for asking, but where the hell’s my fucking gun?”

“Well, Mark, right now there are two possibilities.”

“I don’t want to hear this, do I?”

“One, Timberlaine’s telling the truth and your gun is in a safe-deposit box Timberlaine rented and we can produce it at any time.”

“That’s not so bad. What’s the one I don’t wanna hear?”

“Two, Timberlaine is lying. In which case there never was any other gun. The gun he bought from that witness is it. He bought it, filed the numbers off it, carved the initial R in the handle and brought it to my office to have you fire test bullets through it. If that is true, then that gun is not in a safe-deposit box, it’s in my safe right here in the office. Which means Timberlaine didn’t switch guns after he left here. And the gun in court is the gun you bought. And not only does the fatal bullet match up with test bullets fired through it, but the fatal bullet will match up with our test bullets. Which incidentally, Mark, would elevate our test bullets to the position of prime evidentiary value, since they would have been fired from the fatal gun before the barrel was altered and therefore would match up with the fatal bullet absolutely, thereby clinching the identification of the gun.”

Mark Taylor looked sick. “Oh, Jesus Christ.”

“Exactly,” Steve said. “And that’s not the half of it. Right now, the worst of it is Timberlaine doesn’t know I switched guns. I’m sure as hell not gonna tell him. It’s not that I don’t want him to know-well, actually it is-but more than that, the son of a bitch just can’t keep his mouth shut, and I sure as hell don’t want Vaulding to know. Anyway, Timberlaine doesn’t know I switched guns. So he thinks-assuming he’s telling the truth-he thinks that the gun he gave me, that I fired the test bullets through, is the gun in his safe-deposit box, and will therefore match the test bullets. So all we have to do is give all of that to the cops. He’s not bright enough to figure out why, even from his perspective, that wouldn’t be that smooth a move, and he’s already pushing me to do exactly that. I’m resisting to the best of my power without actually telling him why.”

Mark Taylor ran his hand through his hair. “Good lord.”

“Yeah. So I’m stalling the issue as long as I can. Vaulding can force it by subpoenaing the gun.”

“Shit. Will he do that?”

“I’m hoping not. There’s a good chance he won’t, since he thinks he already has it. If he does, then I gotta deal with it. Right now, I don’t. This is becoming one of those cases where stalling is the best tactic.”

“You gonna ask for a continuance?”

Steve grimaced. “Well, there’s stalling and then there’s stalling. I’m stalling on specific points. The gun, for instance. But the case, no. I want to rush the case along before they start finding all these fucking guns.”

“Yeah, right.”

“And there’s another thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Right now Vaulding’s just happy to be hitting us with the shit. The file, the gun Timberlaine bought, the whole bit. Shock after shock, embarrassment after embarrassment. He’s so happy springing the witnesses and piling on the evidence, I’m not sure he’s stopped to figure out what it all means.”

Taylor frowned. “I don’t get you.”

“I do,” Tracy said. “You mean he hasn’t explained any of it.”

“Exactly,” Steve said. “None of this stuff was in his opening statement. The jury’s getting it fresh, just like we are. They don’t know what it means any more than we know what it means. Even less, because they don’t know what we know. Vaulding hasn’t explained any of it, and he’s got to ’cause it’s his case.” Steve spread his hands. “I mean, look at this shit. There’s another gun just came down the pike. Now, Vaulding doesn’t know it’s another gun. He’s gonna claim Timberlaine bought it and used it in the murder. If that’s true, Jesus Christ. Timberlaine buys a gun, substitutes it for his own gun and claims somebody else did. He gets pissed off over Burdett’s bid at the auction, so he kills Jack Potter thinking Potter tipped him off. Kills him with a gun that he bought and substituted for his own gun, the genuine Pistol Pete gun. And he leaves that genuine gun that he’s claimed was stolen next to the body. Then he takes the murder weapon, roughs it up with a file and leaves it on his bedside table. He leaves the file somewhere in his apartment for the police to find it.”

“Right,” Taylor said. “It’s the moron factor. It’s the how-could-he-be-that-stupid.”

Steve held up his hand and shook his head. “No. No, that’s true, but besides that. There’s a huge problem with all that. A huge glaring flaw in the theory that Vaulding’s gonna have to deal with.”

Tracy’s eyes widened. “Son of a bitch.”

“What?” Taylor said.

Tracy snapped her fingers. “Motivation. That’s it, isn’t it? Vaulding’s laid out the motivation that Timberlaine killed Potter for giving Burdett the tip. That doesn’t jibe with this new gun.”

“Why not?” Taylor said.

“Premeditation,” Tracy said. “Timberlaine bought this gun days before the auction. How was he to know he was going to get pissed off at Potter and shoot him?”

“Exactly,” Steve said. “The way Vaulding’s laid out the case, when Timberlaine bought the gun there was no way in hell he knew he was going to use it to kill Potter. The question is, why did he buy it? We know he bought it to switch with the other gun, the one he found substituted for the real one. Vaulding doesn’t concede the existence of the other gun, so his theory can’t be Timberlaine bought it for that. His theory has to be Timberlaine bought it to switch with the original gun. And why in the name of God would Timberlaine want to do that?”

“You got me,” Taylor said. “I can’t explain it.”

“Yeah, well you don’t have to, Mark. At least until Vaulding finds out you bought that gun.”

“Shit.” Taylor heaved himself out of the chair. “Can I get back to the office now?”

“I suppose so. What are you working on?”

“That’s embarrassing.”

“Oh?”

“My operative isn’t back yet. I’m trying to find out who sold her the gun.”

Steve grinned. “Are you telling me I’m paying you to investigate your own actions?”

“I told you it was embarrassing.”

“Any luck yet?”

Taylor shook his head. “Not a thing.”

“That’s good. If you can’t find out, it’s a cinch Vaulding can’t either.”

“Yeah. Unless he trips over the back trail I’m leaving now.”

“Yeah, right. Except he wouldn’t know what you were after. That’s where this is so bad it’s good. If Vaulding finds out you’re asking about guns he’ll think that’s perfectly logical. There’s no way in hell he’s going to figure you’re trying to find out who sold a gun to you.”

“One would hope. So can I get back to the office?”

“I suppose so. I-” Steve broke off at the sound of the outer office door opening. “Hang on. We got company.”

Tracy went out and came back moments later with Carrie Timberlaine and her fiance, Donald Walcott.

The young man was quite upset. He had a paper in his hand, which he held up in front of him. “They subpoenaed me,” he said disgustedly. “Can you believe that? Right in our own house. Just rang the bell and nailed me. Now I gotta testify for the prosecution.”

“Can they do that?” Carrie Timberlaine said. “Can they make him testify if he doesn’t want to?”

Steve frowned. “Let me see the subpoena.”

Donald passed it over.

Steve took it, looked at it. “I’m afraid they got you,” he said.

“Yeah, but for what? I don’t know anything.”

“Except what Timberlaine told you.”

“Isn’t that hearsay?”

Steve shook his head. “Anything anybody else told you is hearsay. Anything the defendant told you can be considered an admission against interest and you can testify to it.”

“Yeah, but what? I mean, it’s not like Russ took me aside and said, ‘By the way, I’m going to kill Jack Potter tomorrow.’”

“Of course not. Most likely it’s about the gun.”

Donald frowned. “What about it?”

“Well, look. You knew why I was there that weekend, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Sure. Why?”

“Well, there’s that. You knew it was because Timberlaine had found a gun substituted, right?”

“Yeah, right. But how does that hurt him? That’s been his story all along.”

“You didn’t also happen to know anything about Timberlaine buying a gun and pulling a little substitution of his own?”

“Is that what he says he did?”

Steve grimaced. “Look. I’m not giving out any information, and you’re better off not getting any. I’m trying to figure out why the prosecution would subpoena you. After what went on in court today, I figure it had to be something that confirmed that Timberlaine bought the gun.”

“Well, it isn’t.”

“I’m glad to hear it. But what the hell is it?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well,” Steve said. “There’s one way to find out.”

“What’s that.”

Steve jerked his thumb. “Obey that subpoena.”