“It bothered me,” admitted Jack.

“I know. You were shaking afterwards.” Connie shook her head and said, “You’re a hard guy to figure out sometimes. Which is why I’m not exactly ecstatic that you’ll be part of the investigation. I’ve been down this street before and it wasn’t pretty.”

“This is different. All I want to do is lend a hand. If I can trace the gun it might help.”

“So you don’t know Melvin Montgomery? Never met him?”

“No. He was only a friend of my wife.”

“A friend?”

“I mean, patient,” Jack hastened to say.

CC gave Jack a hard look. Oh, fuck.

10

The next week drifted past with Jack and Laura getting bits and pieces of the information they sought through the police in Georgia in an attempt to track the pistol. There wasn’t much. They learned that the gun was bought new eleven years ago by a man who lived in Savannah Beach, Georgia. The man had no criminal record and was sixty-four years old when he bought the gun. Records showed he bought a second handgun two years later — a Smith & Wesson revolver.

The revolver was now owned by the man’s son and he was interviewed by the police. The police learned his mother died of ovarian cancer when his father was sixty-seven. Four years ago his father died of a heart attack and the son inherited all of his father’s belongings. The son said he only found the Smith & Wesson in his dad’s belongings and had no idea what happened to the other pistol. The police said the family was respected in the community and they believed the son was telling the truth.

“What do you think?” asked Jack when Laura finished reading the report they had received from Georgia.

“Doesn’t look good,” replied Laura. “I wonder what prompted him to wait until he was sixty-four to buy a gun? Bet his house was broken into,” she added.

Jack shook his head. “No, I checked. He lived there all of his life. No reported break-ins before or after his gun purchases.”

“Joined a gun club?” suggested Laura.

“Not that, either. I do have another theory.”

“Which is?”

“He bought it shortly before turning sixty-five. What do a lot of people do when they turn sixty-five?”

“Retire, buy the biggest car they can find, and drive it slowly up and down the street in busy traffic.”

“Exactly!” replied Jack.

“You mean I’m right? What’s that got to do with it?”

“They retire and travel. They’re Americans. Think about it. Remember that motto from an old TV Western? ‘Have gun, will travel’!”

“Guess I’m not that old, but I get your point. And when he was sixty-six he bought a second gun because —”

“He lost his first one or it was stolen. But why didn’t he report it?”

“Because he brought it someplace where he wasn’t allowed to bring it?”

“That’s my guess. I’m going to call the son myself.”

“Today’s the fourth of July. American Independence Day. He might be home.”

Laura listened as Jack dialed and then spoke.

“Yes, sir. That’s right. A Mountie from Canada.… Yes, I know the police spoke with you … no, actually I’ve never ridden a horse … yes, I’m a real Mountie. … Thank you, I like to think my English is pretty good, too. It is mostly only one province, what you would call a state, that speaks French.… Um, about seventy Fahrenheit right now … no, I’m not spoofing you …”

Laura watched as the conversation continued and listened to Jack when he asked the questions he wanted answered.

“A motor home, did they? To Niagara Falls, Canada, in early September … ten years ago.” Jack smiled and gave Laura the thumbs-up sign. “I see, well, that is unfortunate. I hope it didn’t ruin the rest of their holiday.”

When Jack hung up, he gave Laura the details she had already heard, plus he said, “They only stayed one night in Niagara Falls because someone vandalized their motor home. He said they were upset about it and returned to the States the next day.”

“In other words, if whoever did it got caught with their gun, they didn’t want to be around to face the music.”

“You got it. He remembered asking them if anything had been stolen and said they were a little vague about that.”

“So we have a pretty good idea on how the gun arrived in Canada,” said Laura. “Now what?”

“Start tracking down places where you would stay with a motor home in Niagara Falls and see if there are any records of break-ins ten years ago. Other people could have been robbed and reported it. Maybe there were suspects or arrests.”

“Heck of a long shot. Also not what you would call organized crime.”

“I know, but Natasha is afraid it will fall by the wayside. I promised her I would look into it. Besides, I think we both could use a bit of a break from —” Jack stopped to answer his phone. It was CC and he quickly jotted down notes as he spoke with her.

— Ten years ago (September) gun used in a coffee-shop robbery in Regina. Bullet fired in ceiling.

— Nobody hurt. Small amount of $ taken. Suspect in his 40s, wearing ball cap, swarthy complexion — mole below left eye.

— Four years ago (August), a suspected drug dealer (Bernie Wingham) in Trail, B.C., was shot in the knee at his house. Bernie would not co-operate with police. No suspects.

— Two years ago (April), gun used in a mugging in Vancouver. Two men tried to rob an employee of an antique store of the day’s receipts when he stepped out to go to the bank. Victim shot through the arm. Bullet went through a window of a restaurant halfway down the block and lodged in a wall. Police were inside having dinner. Suspects got away in a car with stolen plates. Both with collar-length black hair, tall, early 20s.

— Same gun used to murder Melvin M.

“So, somehow I think the gun ended up in the hands of some kids,” said CC in conclusion. “I’ll send you copies of the reports I have on what I just told you. Maybe it was someone’s older brother who tried to rob the antique store.”

“Wasn’t this Bernie character in Trail re-interviewed after the antique store mugging?” asked Jack. “It sounds like blind luck that he didn’t get killed.”

“He was re-interviewed, but wouldn’t co-operate. Too afraid. Four years ago he was growing and selling pot. The members in Trail think he’s gone straight. He has since married and has two toddlers. The guy hobbles around with a permanent limp. I guess he counts himself as lucky to be alive.”

“So, now that he is married, he is even less likely to risk talking.”

“For sure. I just got off the phone with one of the members in Trail who tried to talk to him last time. Basically had the door slammed in their face. Now that the gun was used in a murder, I’m not optimistic that it will alleviate his fear at all. I guess we could try again but I think we’re wasting our time.”

“Do you mind if Laura and I try?”

“Fill your boots.”

“Does Bernie still live in the same house as when he was shot?”

“Yes. The member mentioned that the house used to be a junk heap, but now that Bernie is married, he actually has a white picket fence and flower beds. Why? What are you thinking of?”

“I’m thinking I’ve been drinking too much.”

The following day, it was suppertime when Jack and Laura approached Bernie Wingham’s house in Trail.

Jack did up the top buttons of his golf shirt on the way to the house and whispered, “How do I look?”

“Like you’re on your way to church,” replied Laura.

“Good, I’ll ring the bell and be right back.”

A moment later, Bernie’s face appeared in the door window. He saw Jack and Laura facing each other at the bottom of his porch steps and opened the door.

Jack was talking quietly and solemnly to Laura, but his words could be overheard. “God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”