‘The bullets are all made of iron,’ said Harper.
Lafayette looked at the pictures. ‘What’s the significance of that?’
‘Iron was used to manufacture bullets at some times in the past, but it’s rare. These bullets are very rare, therefore linked, Captain.’
‘Coincidence?’
‘No.’
‘Come on, what you got? Three bullets made of iron, separated by four months, one on a case with a conviction? You know, Harper, even your fans wouldn’t buy this.’
‘It’s a link.’
‘Could it be contamination?’
‘Please, Captain. This is a breakthrough. I nearly choked. There’s some animal on the loose, taking these people out because they’re Jewish. I think we’ve got a serial killer at work.’
‘It’s not a complete picture, Harper.’
‘Complete enough. I need to take these homicides together. We need a task force. I’ll want a liaison with Brooklyn Homicide. We have to reopen the Esther Haeber case.’
Captain Lafayette sat back down and directed one of the fans on his desk towards his face. ‘Are you sure it’s enough? I know you want this, but we’ve got to be sure, Harper.’
‘Captain, I need some authority here. I need to take this forward. You’ve got to trust me on this one.’
‘The iron’s not enough. I need more. Go and check out this guy who got jailed for the Haeber murder.’
‘I’m on my way soon as we’re through here. But you’ve got to understand that the iron matches. There’s an exact chemical fingerprint to iron. These three bullets were from the same batch.’
‘You got anything that matches that bullet to a particular gun?’
‘No, it’s mangled all out of shape. But the chemical properties are identical.’
‘Bullets are made in big batches, Harper. Big, big batches.’
‘But this is not what bullets are made of now. No one uses iron today. These are incredibly old bullets. Possibly antiques.’
Lafayette pushed his chair back and stared up. ‘Okay, Harper. I’ll take your word. We’ll get some help. Run with it. But we got to talk to people about how to handle this. You know what this is.’
‘Of course I do. Some psychopath is killing Jews.’
Chapter Fifty
Eddie and Denise nodded silently as Harper talked through his visit to see Bruce Lyle, the man imprisoned for the murder of Esther Haeber.
‘So you’ve got nothing to show for your efforts?’
Harper shrugged. ‘He’s not the guy, in my opinion, but we need evidence to get the case re-opened and that means catching the real killer. He says he was framed — that someone planted the rings. I think our killer chose an easy target. They found illegal firearms and cocaine in his place, so he’s got three violations to serve.’
‘But he’s no killer?’
‘No.’
‘What else you got?’ said Eddie.
‘We’ve got something on the note from the kidnapper. It’s got mildew on it, so it was written somewhere damp. But the main thing is the typeface and ink. It’s strange.’
‘How?’
‘They’ve got a pretty full database of typewriters and fonts down there. They tell me this is something unusual.’
‘Just like the bullets.’
‘Right,’ said Harper. ‘They say this is from an antique typewriter. German make, around 1934. They are pretty sure it’s a Torpedo Portable Typewriter. It was designed for military use and only wrote in black. Not red ink.’
‘What the hell does that mean?’ said Eddie.
Denise nodded to herself. ‘This guy is delusional. Aaron noticed the Nazi symbols in the way he kills. Now an antique German typewriter. He’s not a neo-Nazi, Harper. He thinks he
‘It’s a very rare model,’ said Harper. ‘Not many people deal in these. We might be able to track something.’
‘Give me the printout,’ said Eddie. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ He got up and walked towards Gerry Ratten.
Harper’s cell phone rang and broke the somber mood. It was Hans Formet.
‘You need to come round,’ said Hans. ‘You need to come round now.’
‘What for?’
‘I know what your bullets are. I know where they come from. And this is strange.’
‘That’s great, Hans, we’ll be there as soon as we can.’
Within the hour, Harper and Denise were back in Hans Formet’s homemade lab, with a cup of coffee each, listening to the long rambling story of the man’s genius.
Hans clearly had not moved much since they’d last been there. He was bleary-eyed, with his hair sticking out in every direction. He sat on a stool with his computer screen to his side.
‘An iron bullet is rare — a 9mm Parabellum made of sintered iron is extremely rare. Take a look at this.’ Hans brought up a photograph of a bullet with a cartridge. The cartridge was black.
‘Looks like there’s a tux on a bullet,’ said Harper. ‘Like a bullet going to the Oscars.’
Hans laughed. ‘That’s a very good joke, Detective. A good ballistics joke.’
‘Come on, Hans, spill.’
‘So I sent the information across to some people I know, then I put it up on the web and got a hit. They said it might be an antique bullet. Something from the Second World War.’
Harper and Denise felt the thoughts rushing through their heads. ‘Tell us more,’ said Harper.
‘The Parabellum itself was introduced for the German Service revolver, the Luger Pistole. It’s one of the most popular cartridges in the world now. But back then, it was new.’
‘So this is a German bullet?’
‘Oh, yes. Manufactured in Poland, probably.’
‘Go on.’
‘Okay, well, sorry for the history lesson, but the Parabellum originally had a lead core. A better bullet, of course. An iron bullet is too hard. The purpose of a bullet is to cause damage in the flesh. An iron bullet can zip right through the body with no expansion. It is the expansion that brings someone down. However, in about 1942, war-time lead supplies were running low so they started making the Parabellum with an iron core.
‘Always the pragmatists, the Germans.’
‘Yes, indeed. Now, the bullet with the iron core was given a black jacket to differentiate it.’
‘So what more do we know? Why is someone using antique bullets?’
‘Come on, Harper,’ said Denise. ‘They’re not just antique bullets, they’re army supplies. These are Nazi bullets, Harper — original Nazi bullets. He’s playing the whole part, he
Harper felt the hair on his neck rise.
