'Maybe, but ExEx is still new,' Nick said. 'Most people don't appear to understand what it's used for. I'm not even completely sure myself You presumably are?' Teresa's expression gave nothing away. 'Since the branch here has become associated with Grove, some of the locals say it should be closed down.'
'lf he'd been renting Xrated videos they'd say the same.'
'I know.'
'OK,' Teresa said. 'Let's get back to Gerry Grove. Do you know what the police were doing during this time?'
'Presumably looking for the killer of Mrs Williams and her little boy, and the man who shot up the filling station.'
'That's the second thing 1 don't understand. The police say they reacted promptly and efficiently, taking all the problems into account. 1 interviewed the station superintendent last week, and he maintained the police operation had been cleared by the enquiry. That's broadly true, and I've read the enquiry report. But 1 think they really screwed up. They weren't anywhere around. They had more than two hours to figure out there was a gunman on the loose, and yet when Grove started shooting it took them completely by surprise. A patrol car had gone out to the Texaco station but until emergency calls came through from the town there were no extra police on duty. just the local force, and most of them were on normal duties around the town. Since last June most of the officers involved in the shooting have transferred to other divisions. For a body that's been given a clear, they're sure acting like they want to cover something up.'
'A lot of people have left town since last year,' Nick said. 'Yes, but the police are different. Or should be.'
'The police in this county are moved around all the time. Some would have applied to go to another division, others would have been due for a transfer anyway. Do 1 have to explain that?'
'No, I'm sorry. What 1 want to do is talk. 1 keep going over this in my mind, and 1 want to hear myself saying the words.'
'And I'm handy for it.'
'Yeah ... but you also know a lot about what went on.'
'Less than you may think,' Nick said.
'Even so. Let me finish this, because there's a third thing 1 don't understand. Grove only possessed two guns, the ones he used that day. This has been established beyond doubt. The girl he knew, Debbie'
'Debra,' Nick said.
'Right. Debra. See what I mean about you knowing things? OK, Debra says Grove only ever had those two guns, and he was obsessed with them, always cleaning them and oiling them.
But they were the only ones he had.
'No one's ever disputed that.'
'Listen, because someone's about to. As far as I can tell he had four guns, not two. There were the two he used in the streets, and two more were found in the luggage compartment of the car he stole.'
' Is this relevant?'
'I don't know about relevant, but it mystifies me. The guns he used were a handgun and a semiautomatic rifle. The handgun was called a Colt AllAmerican: it's well known in the US.
The rifle was an M16 carbine, the great American rifle. Set aside the problem of how he got hold of them in this country in the first place 1 guess there are ways if you want them bad enough. Why should he have two of each?'
'But did he?'
'The police found an M16 and a Colt in the back of the stolen car; they found an M16 and a Colt with his body.'
'Exactly the same?'
'Same makes, yes. Same models, probably. 1 can't get it any more exact than that.'
'I'm sorry, 1 don't think it's much of a mystery,' Nick said. 'They're probably the same ones, and somebody made a mistake.'
'Grove's car was found in Welton Road, about a hundred yards from the GunHo building. lt was unlocked. Grove's fingerprints were all over it. They found the rifle and the handgun inside, and his prints were on them too. I've seen the sceneofcrime officer's report. There's no mistake on this. Anyway, the forensic and ballistic reports prove that the handgun was the one used on Mrs Williams and her boy, and the M1 6 was the rifle he fired at the cashier in the filling station. Right, so far so good. But the problem is, identical weapons were found at the end of the massacre.'
'With the same forensic evidence?'
'Yes.'
'So did he have four guns or two?'
'The police say he had four.'
'Have you looked at them yourself?'
'They're not in town any more. The police said they'd try to find out for me where they are now, but they didn't sound too interested.'
'So what's your point? Surely the only thing that matters is that he had guns from somewhere?'
' OK,' Teresa said. 'Let me ask you something else. Did you know Gerry Grove?'
'No, 1 never met him, even when 1 lived here.'
'Do you know anyone who did know him?'
