'That's right.' I pointed at the slope behind the spot where Tambour had gone down. Four yellow flags were stuck into the ground, one for each of the slugs that had been recovered so far.
'Three misses and one hit,' I said with a sigh. 'I'm not sure we're looking at the same gunmen here.'
Siegel peered back and forth between the river and Tambour's body several times. 'Maybe they were firing from a boat of some kind. There's a decent chop out there today. Could explain the multiple shots, the misses.'
'There's no cover on the open water,' I said, 'and all kinds of risk for an eyewitness. Besides, it's always been one shot, one kill with these guys. They don't miss.'
'The sniper's motto,' Siegel said. 'What about it?'
'I think it's a point of pride for them. If nothing else, the work's been immaculate. Up until now.'
'So it's more likely that we have another wackjob with a high-powered sniper rifle running around out there?'
I could just hear the disdain rising in his voice. Here we go again.
'Isn't that exactly the contingency your office has been working on?' I said. 'That's what Patel told me – at the meeting you blew off.'
'I see.' Siegel rocked back on his heels. 'So are you working up any theories of your own these days – or just going by what you overhear at the office?'
My guess was that he felt threatened by me, and it helped him if he could goad me into some kind of unprofessional behavior. I'd already put a toe in, but I pulled back now and focused on the ground around Tambour's body instead.
When it became clear I wasn't going to respond, he tried again from a different angle.
'You know, it's possible these guys are just that good,' he said casually. 'Terrorism One Oh One, right? Best way to stay ahead of the police is to keep everything unpredictable. That's a valid perspective on this, right?'
'I'm not ruling anything out,' I said without turning around.
'That's good,' he said. 'It's good that you learn from your mistakes. I mean, isn't that what tripped you up with Kyle Craig?'
Now I did look up.
'He basically just outthought you, right? Just kept changing up his game? I mean – that's what he's still doing, isn't it? Even today?' Siegel shrugged. 'Or am I getting that wrong, too?'
'You know what, Max? Just – stop talking.' I stood up to face him now, getting closer than I needed to be. I wasn't trying to 'manage' Siegel anymore. I just needed to say what I was going to say.
'Whatever issues these are that you need to work through, I can recommend some professionals. But in the meantime, if you haven't noticed, we lost an officer here today. Show a little respect.'
I guess I'd given him the rise he was looking for. Siegel took a step back, but still kept that obnoxious grin on his face. It was as if he always had some kind of private joke going on.
'Fair enough,' he said, and motioned over his shoulder. 'I'll just be over here if you need me.'
'I won't need you,' I said, and went right back to work.
Chapter 64
BY NINE O'CLOCK, I'd had an emergency phone call with the Bureau Directorate and the Field Intelligence Group; a briefing with the mayor's office; and a separate report-in with my own team from MPD, who were all on the scene by now.
The important question at this point was whether we were dealing with the Patriot snipers or someone else. Ballistics was the fastest way to prove a connection, if there was one, and Cailin Jerger from the FBI lab in Quantico was brought out by chopper for a consult.
It was an amazing sight, watching the black Bell helicopter come in for a landing right there on the deserted parkway.
I ran out to greet the chopper and walk Jerger back in.
She was in jeans and a hooded Quantico sweatshirt; they probably pulled her right out of her living room. You'd never guess to look at this small, unassuming woman that she knew more about firearms examination than anyone in a three-state radius.
When I showed her where Tambour had gone down, and the spread on the four shots, she looked back at me with a knowing glance. I didn't respond at all, not a word. I wanted Jerger to draw her own, unfettered conclusions.
At the evidence tent, the whole world was waiting for us. Outside, there was a crowd of cops and agents, including most of Tambour's unit from NSID. Inside, we found Chief Perkins, Jim Heekin from the Directorate, Max Siegel, various assistant chiefs from MPD and assistant SACs from the Bureau, and a few reps from ATF. Jerger looked around at the sea of expectant faces and then dove right in as if she and I were the only ones there.
Each of the four slugs was bagged separately on a long folding table. Three of them were in relatively good shape; the fourth was badly mangled, for obvious reasons.
'Well, they're definitely rifle shot,' Jerger said right away. 'But these weren't fired from an M110 like the previous incidents.'
She took a pair of tongs off the table and plucked one of the good slugs from its bag. Then she used a magnifier from her pocket to look at the base.
'Yeah, I thought so,.388,' she said. 'And see this 'L' stamped here? That tells me it's an original Lapua Magnum. They were developed specifically for long-range sniping.'
'Can you get any kind of weapon report off of these?' I asked her.
She shrugged one shoulder. 'Depends. I'll look for rifling patterns back at the lab, but I have to tell you ahead of time – these puppies have some pretty tough jackets on them. Striations are going to be minimal.'
'How about first impressions?' I asked. 'We're really in a jam here.'
Jerger took a deep breath. I don't think she liked speculating. Her job was all about precision.
'Well, outside of equipment failure, I don't know what the motivation would be for coming off an M110 and using something else.'
She held up another evidence bag and looked at it. 'I mean, don't get me wrong. This is damn fine ammo, but in terms of long-range shooting, the 110's a Rolls-Royce, and everything else is just… well, everything else.'
'So you think this was a different gunman?' Chief Perkins asked, probably leading her more than he should.
'I'm saying it would be kind of strange if it wasn't, that's all. I don't know the shooter's motivations. As for the weapon itself, I can tell you that some possibilities are more likely than others.'
'Such as?' I asked.
She rattled them right off. 'M24, Remington 700, TRG-42, PGM 338. Those are some of the most common applications, militarily anyway.' Then she looked right at me, with a grim kind of smile on her face. 'There's also the Bor. Ever heard of it?'
'Should I have?' I said.
'Not necessarily,' she said, and continued to stare at me. 'Just that it would be a really weird coincidence. The.338 variant on that one's called an Alex Rifle.'
Chapter 65
KYLE CRAIG WORE a ridiculous grin on his face – on Max Siegel's face – all the way home to Second Street. He couldn't help himself. In his entire career and all of its incarnations, he'd never had such a good time as tonight.
Big kudos went to Agent Jerger for picking up on the Alex Rifle reference, and so quickly!
Maybe the Bureau still had a few sharp knives in the drawer after all. These arcane little clues of his had
