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“Well, let’s get the bullet out of the wall. Hopefully we’ll find the rifle to match it to.”
“Even though it’s a different caliber, you think it might be from the same weapon that killed Jenny?” asked Harper.
“The rounds chamber different pressure settings and though they look identical, the thickness of the brass and the head space are different. Some might disagree, but I wouldn’t fire a .300 or .308 round in a rifle chambered for NATO ordnance unless it was specifically chambered for both. It might blow up in your face, or the ejector might jam because the casing stretched too much.”
“Okay, but who would want to kill you?” asked Fuss.
“Someone who doesn’t want me to find out who murdered Jenny Silkwell would be my first and only guess.”
“Butwe’reinvestigating her death, too,” pointed out Fuss.
“Then I’d watch your back if I were you,” said Devine before walking off.
He headed to Maine Brew, where he found Annie Palmer cleaning the front counter.
“Want a cup of coffee on the house?” she said.
“Thanks.”
He took a seat on one of the counter stools and watched as she poured out two cups from a full pot. She set one down in front of him and said, “Just made it, should be extra fresh.”
“Did you hear anything about a half hour ago?” he asked after taking a sip.
She leaned against the counter, fingering her cup. “Hear anything? Like what?”
“A bang, like a firecracker going off?”
“No, but I was in the kitchen for the last hour doing inventory with my AirPods in. I wouldn’t have heard much except Rihanna. Why?”
“Just something I was checking out.” He put his cup down and decided to plunge in. “I went by to see your grandfather this morning.”
He saw her neck tense as she took a slow sip of her drink. “Really? Why? Because he found Jenny’s body?”
“Yes.”
“What did he tell you?” There was an anxiety in her voice that bothered him.
“He said he was out walking late at night like he often does. He stopped and looked out at the ocean at various places along the coast. The last place he stopped, he looked down and there she was. Then he called the cops.”
“That’s what he told me, too. Guess if he hadn’t, Jenny would’ve been carried out to sea. Then nobody would have known what happened to her.”
“You didn’t mention that your grandmother was out walking and got hit by a driver who then drove off.”
She looked down into her coffee cup. “I didn’t think to. Why would you have cared what happened to her?”
“I’m just sorry it happened.”
“Yeah,” she said brusquely. “Everybody’s sorry except for the fuckwad who did it.” Her cheeks flamed and she cleared her throat. “Sorry, I don’t usually use language like that.”
“I was in the Army; I’ve heard far worse.”
“Did Gramps tell you that she dragged herself looking for help before she died?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Living in a small town has its good points, but sometimes the isolation isn’t a positive.”
“No, it’s not.”
