Chapter 10 chapter Ten

The Griffin family's large yellow three-story mansion was located at the end of a winding gravel road on about five acres of heavily wooded land.After a while, groups of curious neighbors gathered outside the fence, poking their heads into the house and discussing in vain.What was the cause of the explosion, which made the originally quiet and peaceful residential area of ​​Portland become so disturbed. Nick Palandino slowly approached the car, passed through the crowd, and stopped before the horse refused.A uniformed police officer tilted his head and looked in through the driver's window.Palandino has the scarred face of a boxer.The police officer looked at the people in the car in surprise, until the homicide detective showed his badge, and then hurriedly moved the horse away.

As Jack Stein's unmarked police car also slowly approached the driveway, he was sitting in the back seat, staring out the window with a sad face.Stan is shocked by the news of the bombing, and he appears a bit taken aback.As he walked step by step to the crime scene, he kept blaming himself, regretting why he hadn't intervened to do something when Abby was attacked a week ago. Palandino parked the car next to the fire engine, and a group of firefighters gathered together, staring at the scene helplessly.There was no fire, just a brand new Benz that was completely blown to pieces.Of course, the people in the car must die.

Paul Donilo, the team leader of the blast disposal unit, stopped the district inspector and detectives who were about to cross the fence and enter the explosion site, which was full of gunpowder.Donilo is five feet seven inches tall, with a bare head and rings of fat from neck, shoulders to knees and ankles, and wears the unit's black overalls over a Tyvex disposable chemical jacket designed to Prevent blood poisoning. "Come on, put this on, and I'll show you to take a good look." Donilo gave the Tyvex jacket to Stan and Padino.Stan slips on easily, but Palandino is held back by his bulging beer belly.

"When did the explosion happen?" "119 was reported at 10:35 p.m.," Donilo replied, tilting his head as he led them across the police fence.Lamps were set up all around the scene, and all the lights in the house were also lit, illuminating the yard brightly.Members of the demolition disposal team are scouring every corner of the surrounding area for bomb fragments.In this way, they can know what the bomb is made of.One of the police officers has been assigned as evidence guardian, responsible for searching for other evidence in areas other than the blast site. Stan notices a man taking pictures of the large breach in the garage.The battered Benz was parked right outside facing the garage door.Stein speculates that the car may have been parked in the driveway and was about to back out when the explosion occurred.He circled the car.The disgusting pungent smell still lingers in the condensed night air for a long time; although the safety windshield on the car was shaken and shattered, it is still standing in front of the car, but the side door The glass on it is not the case, it has long been smashed one by one.From the driveway to the grass in front of the house, there are large and small, distorted, dilapidated debris everywhere. The roof above the driver's seat was lifted violently, as if an extremely strong force rushed out from the inside. like.Pointing to two other holes about an inch wide in the roof, Donilo explained that they were pierced by debris from the car body; then he led two men through the driver's window.

"When we started looking at the underside of the car," Donilo said, "we found a really big hole in the underside under the driver's seat, and that's where the bomb detonated. Look out for the seat belt." It was cut into two paragraphs, "This is how the deceased was blown up by a hard bomb, smashed through the roof of the car, and then fell heavily on this toilet seat." Stan took a heavy breath, then ventured into the car.Staring at the dead body of a murder victim is never easy; especially when the victim may have been someone you knew.And here the corpse of the victim plummeted on the right side of the front seat of the car, his eyes were closed tightly, as if he was in a deep sleep, his head and torso remained intact, his knees were kneeling, but his whole body was still bruised and his skin was torn apart. .Stan could clearly identify blood stains and minced meat on the roof and windshield of the driver's seat, but the deceased did not bleed as much as Stan expected, because the cause of death was due to serious internal injuries.Stan cheered up, and gazed at the face again, remembering how it looked when it was still alive.He felt a slight headache and turned around to leave quickly.

"Paul," came a cry from the garage, "come over and see this." The garage door is now wide open, and inside there is a member of the demolition team squatting in front of a white refrigerator against the wall.Donilo leaned over to watch, while Palandino and Stan also stared intently. All four of them fell on a circular piece of metal on the refrigerator door. "Did that fly in through that hole in the garage door?" Donilo asked the member who had called them into the garage. "That's right. We've measured ballistics. I'm glad I didn't drink a lot of beer before I came here, or I'd be scared the shit out of it."

"Did Peterson take the picture?" Donilo asked. "Hold it until he's done taking the picture." Stan leaned forward and bowed to watch.He noticed two small pieces of copper wire remaining on it, and some unidentifiable metal pieces. "It's part of what's left of the top of the bomb," Donilo explained. "And this is a fragment of a light bulb that is often used to make bombs. When the explosives explode, the top goes out like a bullet and hits the ground. The pre-determined target. That's how it went through the garage door and then embedded in the refrigerator door."

The members of the explosion glass team brought in the personnel who described the terrain on the scene and the personnel who were responsible for collecting evidence and taking pictures, and began to collect evidence. "It's getting more and more breathless here." After Donilo finished speaking, he motioned to walk out of the garage with Stan and Palandino. "Paul," Stan asked the head of the bombing team, "were you also responsible for the Harlins bombing?" "You mean Dim's case?" Stan nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if you asked that," Donilo said. "When I first saw the remains of the roof, it seemed familiar. But I can't say anything more until the evidence-gathering investigation is over. It will be clear when we collect all the bomb fragments, but I'll bet you a year's salary that this bomb is exactly the same as the one that killed Harlins and his daughter .”

Just before midnight, Jack Stein followed Harvey Lenny to Middlebrook.This is a newly developed residential area on the outskirts of Portland. More than 20 small and charming houses are scattered on both sides of the gravel road.It is only a twenty-minute drive from the scene of the bombing.Stan parked the car in the driveway of a gray first-floor house with a garage; at the same time a police car pulled up along the railing.Stan rings the bell and knocks on the door.The age of this house is still young, and it seems that there is still some new ideas. The area has just been developed, so even the trees planted have not yet become shaded.The small house has a large floor-to-ceiling window, which is enough to absorb all the sunlight into the house during the day.Stan peeked into the dark living room through the French windows, then turned to the police officer who was ordered to accompany him and said:

"Check out the back and see if there are any signs of a break-in." The officers leave and circle around to the back of the house.Stan looked a little worried.Why is there no one in the house?Not long after, two beams of light appeared at the end of the street, and a car was turning into the driveway in front of the house, braking to a stop.The driver's door opened, and Abby stepped out of the car.She wore a ponytail, jeans, a black long-sleeved cotton shirt, and a navy trench coat. Abby looked suspiciously at the police car in front of her house, just as uniformed police officers appeared from the side of the house.Abby glances first at the officer, then stares blankly at Stan.

"What's the matter, Jack?" Abby asked anxiously. "Where have you been?" Stan deliberately avoided her question. "Wandering around aimlessly. What, what happened?" Stan looked grave and hesitated.Abby grabbed his arm tightly. "Tell me!" she said urgently. Stan put his hands firmly on Abby's shoulders. "I have bad news," Stan said, and an armed look flashed across Abby's face. "It's Robert, he's dead." "How did you die?" Everything seemed to be within her expectations. "Murdered." "My goodness!" "Killed in the car, Abby, exactly the same way Charlie Deam killed Larry Harlins and his daughter." For a moment, Abby felt her legs go limp.Stan hurriedly helped her to the steps in front of the door and let her sit down along the way. "I want you to listen carefully." Stan warned Abby sternly, "Although there is no direct evidence that Dim did the crime, the bombs used are very similar. So, I don't dare to take risks anymore. Tonight, these police officers will guard you here, and then I will arrange 24-hour police protection for you tomorrow morning." "But why is it Robert?" Abby couldn't believe it, "He let Dim out!" "Dim is a sadist, maybe his real target is you, but he wants to kill the people around you first to torture you." Abby looked dazed, "He first tried to break into my house, then he tried to attack me at the beach, and now he murdered Robert. I really can't believe these things happened one by one." "You'll be fine, Abby. We'll protect you and catch Robert's murderer as soon as possible. But you still have to pay special attention to your own safety and be careful." Abby nodded heavily, "You're right. I can't believe how I dared to go out and wander alone tonight." "Why are you out so late?" "I got a call saying they wanted to meet with me to discuss a case. But the man never showed up." "when did it happen?" "It's about nine o'clock!" Abby pauses, suddenly realizing why Stan is asking her when the call came. "You don't think that phone call has anything to do with the bombing?" Abby asked. But Stan didn't pay attention, and just turned to speak to one of the police officers. "Get your car off first, fast! Then radio Paul. He must still be at Judge Griffin's house. Tell him I need a demolition team down here, and he'll send someone right away. come over." Stan grabs Abby and drags her toward his car. "What are you doing?" Abby asked.She was a little baffled and at a loss by the sudden behavior of the district attorney in front of her. "I'm going to get you out of the way before the Bomb Squad checks it out. Because if you're out at nine o'clock, the guy who planted the bomb in your husband's car has plenty of time for you Put one here, too."