Chapter 27: Solving a Murder

One week or so later, Percy and Dean were talking in Percy's office.

"Dad, Jenny and I went down to Foxwoods for a romantic weekend last week. We actually left the room and walked around."

"So what do you need, Viagra? That way you won't need to leave the room."

"No Dad, we saw the woman whose husband was killed in the lake last summer."

"So?"

"She was with a young guy. At least 15 years younger than her." prompted Dean.

"Maybe it was her son or some other relative," Percy commented.

"Oh no, this was no relative. They were all over each other. They were both hot and horny."

"Interesting! The widow appears to have gotten over her grief very quickly." Percy thought.

Dean continued, "There was one more thing. They were spending money like a couple of drunken sailors."

Percy thought for a minute. "She was from New Your State if I remember correctly. I have some friends on the State Police force; I'll have them check her out."

"Oh one more thing," added Percy. "Did you manage to make me a grandfather?"

"We tried a lot."

Percy got a call from his friend on the NY State Police. The wife returned from her husband's funeral and moved the young guy in about one week later. According to neighbors, who had overheard conversations, these two were long time "friends". Their romance was not new.

Another fact popped up. There was a very large insurance policy and he owned a successful business. The wife had just collected on the insurance and sold the business. She was rolling in cash. She and her lover had also disappeared.

Percy and Dean got together and started reviewing all the forensic data collected.

"Dad, I just don't understand how a small caliber bullet could have enough power to do an "in and out" on this guy's skull. It just doesn't add up."

"Dean, see if you can figure out how close the gun would have had to be to produce this kind head wound."

Two days later, Dean rushed into Percy's office, "Dad, I worked with CSI and we put the gun no further away than 10 feet to cause this kind of damage."

"Also, one of the guys noted that the bullet entered the back of the skull at an upward angle. It was as if the shot was fired from another jet ski just behind him and to the right."

Percy looked at his son-in-law and exclaimed, "Shit, she shot him. Let's get the CSI guys to start looking around the lake bottom for a gun."

It took a week but finally a gun was found on the lake bottom. The CSI's were all over the weapon. They cleaned it, recovered the serial number and test fired it. The bullet was a perfect match for the parts that were recovered from the husband's brain. There were no fingerprints left on the weapon. It had been in the water too long.

The serial number returned that the gun was registered to the victim, but reported stolen two months before the killing.

Percy wondered out loud, "This is too much a coincidence. I wonder who filled the missing gun report."

Dean had two week days off from patrol as part of his regular rotation. He took off for NY State and the stolen gun report. They both wanted to get their hands on that report.

Percy's phone rang the next afternoon, "Dad? The wife filled out the report. Just like you suspected."

Now all Percy had to do was link her to the gun here in Vermont after she reported it missing. That was going to be tricky.