“Good,” Julia said, heartened.
Paul said nothing.
“In addition, they’ll have to prove the bullet that killed Kay came from the ghost gun they found in this room. Those ballistics tests take time, especially with ghost guns. The cops didn’t have those results before they recovered the gun, so they really rushed to judgment in arresting her. It’s super fishy and suggests a police conspiracy to frame her. I’ve never seen an arrest move so fast on evidence this slim.”
Julia felt encouraged. “Okay, that’s good, but I have a question. If they planted the gun and they know who killed Kay, or they were actually involved in killing Kay, then it will be the murder weapon and the bullet will pass the ballistics test.”
“Understood.” Bennie nodded. “But the fact that they arrested her without waiting for the test results only makes my argument stronger,proving that they were rushing to judgment. It raises the question why and sets up my argument that she’s being framed by the police. But don’t let me get ahead of myself.”
“Okay, one last thing. Can you just explain about ghost guns?”
“Sure, in Philadelphia we have a fair amount of experience.” Bennie cleared her throat. “In conventional ballistics, you can do tests to determine whether a bullet came from a particular gun. How? The barrel of a conventional gun has spiral rifling grooves because of the way a bullet spins when it’s fired, which gives it stability during flight. Those grooves make lines around the circumference of the bullet. The number, angle, and direction of the lines match the gun that fired it. That’s with a conventional gun.”
“Okay.” Julia nodded, following.
“Plastic gun barrels don’t have rifling grooves. Even if they did, the plastic would be too soft to dent the bullet. But 3D printers leave what experts call a ‘fingerprint,’ though obviously it’s not a ‘fingerprint’ per se.” Bennie made air quotes. “You can use it to trace 3D-printed weapons through digital forensics. Analysts look at the marking on the 3D-printed gun to find which 3D printer produced it. A printer can possess a unique fingerprint because of vagaries that occur during the manufacturing process, like with any product. These imperfections can affect the bullet. But testing is not as certain as conventional ballistics, which is another reason why ghost guns pose problems for law enforcement.”
“So, is that good for us?”
“Yes. I don’t know if they’ll be able to prove that the bullet that killed Kay came from the ghost gun.” Bennie raised an unpolished fingernail. “However, I spoke with the detectives, and they’ll make much of the fact that she sells 3D printers.”
Julia’s heart sank. “But she doesn’t use them.”
“True, but their argument has jury appeal. She can’t claim ignorance, and it won’t look good for her. She spoke to me knowledgeably about the 3D product line. She just got a promotion.”
“So the fact that she’s good at her job will hurt her?”
“Unfortunately, yes. She told me she has a 3D demo printer in her office. I’m sure they’re going to issue a search warrant for that, if they haven’t already. They’ll test it to see if the bullet came from a gun that would have been manufactured by that printer.” Bennie glanced at Paul, who was still quiet, then she continued. “The other weakness in their case, which also involves the gun, arises out of the other failure in their investigation. Not only did they not conduct any residue test, but they didn’t search Courtney. Their theory is that she concealed the gun on her person or somewhere in the house. They searched the house but didn’t find a gun. They didn’t search Courtney, so they can’t prove that either.” Bennie straightened. “These are significant proof problems for them, and I don’t think they can meet their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. I’ll use these arguments to support our position that the gun was planted by the police. I wish I knew why they framed her, but I don’t, yet.”
“I don’t either,” Julia said, nonplussed. “Alex Dudek, who runs Shenandoah Preservation, said that some of the Buckley cops are white supremacists.”
Bennie arched an eyebrow. “It wouldn’t shock me, but I don’t think the fact that Courtney’s biracial and her grandmother’s Black is sufficient to convince a jury that’s the reason the cops planted the gun. And it doesn’t answer the question, why now?”
“That could be answered by whatever she found at the clean-up, like I told you.”
“True.” Bennie paused. “And you think this Samuel character, who’s gone missing, would know what she found?”
“Yes, Alex thinks Kay would have told Samuel. He had a crush on her, judging from the photographs in his cabin. Wait, hold on. Let me get the note he left in my car.” Julia fished the note from her purse and handed it to Bennie.
Paul looked over, reading the note.
Bennie nodded. “So he knows he was suspected.”
“That was my thought, too. He could’ve figured it out from a phone message Alex left him, or heard it in town, or was told it by Glushenko and Kowalski. Alex thinks he heard it through the grapevine.” Julia thought a moment. “What do we do with the note? Do we give it to the police?”
“I’m not sure yet. We don’t have to. They have an obligation to turn over exculpatory evidence to us, that is, evidence that points to Courtney’s innocence. But we don’t have a similar obligation.” Bennie shook her head, eyeing the note. “I don’t believe Samuel anyway. If he didn’t kill her, why’s he on the run?”
“That’s what I said. But Alex said he isn’t the type.”
“Not all murderers seem like the type.” Bennie frowned. “I need to know more about Samuel because he’s the likeliest suspect. He’s known Kay a long time, he’s taking photographs without her knowledge, then he goes missing? Sometimes the most obvious answer is the right one. He’s a major suspect for me, whether he turns up or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“If we have to try this case, Samuel is the man I’ll point to as a much more likely suspect than Courtney. They pinned this on Courtney for reasons we don’t know and they’re avoiding arresting theobvious killer. They could have reasons for protecting Samuel. Who stands to benefit if he’s untouched? Is he giving money to someone? Does he have money?”
“Not from the looks of his place.”
“That’s another thing you can’t tell by looking.” Bennie paused. “By the way, Courtney told me there was a murder on the neighboring farm, owned by a McKenna, almost thirty years ago. A man named Shoemaker was killed, and McKenna went missing afterward. Shoemaker was a drifter, and they found his body in the well. The house burned down. Tell me what else you know about that.”
