The Guilty - Jason Pinter [28]
anything about weapons would prefer something lighter."
"Idiots don't kill women with a single shot from a hundred
yards out," I said.
"No. That takes a different kind of mental defect."
"So what are magnum rounds used for?" I asked.
"Hunting, mostly," Sheffield said. "Got an uncle, lives out
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in Montana, goes big game hunting using magnum rounds.
Got a black bear head on his mantel used to scare the shit out
of me and my sister growing up. It's a good caliber for up to
a hundred and fifty yards, after that the bullet is too heavy to
maintain its accuracy."
"The killer shot both Athena and Joe Mauser from within
two hundred yards."
"Right."
"Further reduces his idiocy quotient. Obviously the killer
is smart enough to know his range."
"Question is," Sheffield said, "why would anyone use
magnum rounds for that kind of sniper shooting? Only an idiot
would try to kill a person from far away using a magnum round.
.22s are lighter, faster and more accurate. Not to mention easier
to get. I'm up there on the roof? I'm using .22s."
"Unless there's a reason for using magnum rounds," I said.
"Whoever killed Mauser and Athena planned the murders out.
They knew Athena was going to be at the Kitten Club, and
they knew the setup outside city hall well enough to position
themselves for a shot. You don't go through that kind of
trouble and then randomly pick a gun and bullet that might
separate your shoulder with the recoil."
"It is sexy ammo," Curt said, rather offhandedly. "Magnum."
We continued walking, both processing the information.
Powerful, short range, heavy, high velocity. Sexy.
"Wait," I said. "What do you mean it's sexy?"
"Look, I'm not saying you'll find it at Victoria's Secret..."
"Come on. The killer chose this ammo for a reason. Why
does someone choose magnum ammunition over something
more practical? Especially when they have everything else
planned to a T?"
"Well," Curtis said. "Dirty Harry made magnum ammo
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cool. Forget which one of the movies it was, but he used .44
caliber special loads, which are lighter and don't have the
same recoil. Funny thing is they didn't actually use a magnum
while shooting the movie, they used--"
"Come on," I said, impatiently. "What else?"
"Well, magnum ammo is probably the one ammunition
that's actually known in pop culture. Ever see that movie,
Winchester 73? " I shook my head. "Great flick. James
Stewart and Shelley Winters. Anyway, the Winchester is
commonly referred to as 'The Gun that Won the West.' Most
popular rifle, probably ever, kind of a folk legend. The Winchester uses .44-40 magnum rounds."
"No shit," I said. "Winchester, huh?"
"Winchester."
"Think there's a chance our killer might have used a Winchester on Athena and Joe?"
"It's a possibility, man, but the Winchester plant shut down
a few years ago. It's not even called Winchester these days,
some conglomerate took it over. Probably called GunTex or
something stupid. And trust me, nobody uses Winchester
rifles anymore. They went out with the dodo and bellbottoms."
"Some people think bell-bottoms are hip," I said.
"Hey, what you and your girl do is between the two of y'all."
"Yeah, but maybe there's someone out there who thinks
Winchesters are the new black. Or at least has a reason for
using one."
"Well, I can't imagine there are a whole lot of working
ones left, so you got yourself a lead there, Maureen Dowd."
"And the note," I said. "You told me another note was left
at the scene again."
"No, I didn't," Curt said.
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"You did, asshole, give it."
Curt looked around, his eyes narrowing. "This is some creepy
stuff, man. Hard to get something like that out of your head."
"Do you have a copy of it I could take?" I asked.
"Nah. I didn't need one. You don't forget something like
that."
"What did the note say?"
Curt stopped, seemed to think for a moment, then carefully spoke.
"It said, 'People thought me bad before, but if ever I should
get free, I'll let them know what bad means.'"
"I'll