Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

Hours later, they wrapped up photographing the four bodies and other on-site inspections.Puller and Monroe laid the bodies, one after the other, on a plastic sheet that lay on the floor.Wellman's body was also packed into a body bag and moved from the basement to the restaurant on the first floor.Neither Wellman nor the Reynolds family had any wounds caused by their own resistance.They were apparently subdued by surprise. During this period, Puller recorded his observations with a tape recorder and used a device that had been worn on his waist.Monroe asked curiously what it was for. "Our troops call it a site surveyor. It's actually a camera with an encoder, a digital display, a labeler, a printer, etc., all in one. It has a USB port, so Can be connected to my laptop for downloading or uploading. My digital voice recorder does the same thing, and it has an electronic transcriber that automatically prints out my voice recordings. I'm not a big fan of typing. on the line."

"These things are amazing," Monroe said. "Don't get too excited, Lan," Cole said. "I don't think we can afford even one of these things on our budget." Pooler looked at Cole and said, "Tell me about the dog." "Collie. One of our colleagues looks after him. Very gentle little thing." "Okay, but why didn't any of the neighbors mention hearing it?" "It doesn't bark," Cole replied. "Maybe that's the only reason they didn't kill him." "A dog that can't bark?" "Well, he didn't bark at us once. Maybe some surgery was done to him that destroyed the puppy's ability to bark. At least, that's what a veterinarian friend I asked said."

Looking at the row of corpses on the ground, Cole asked: "You said they were being interrogated, but you didn't give any further explanation. They obviously won't be interrogated after they die. So, why do you want to put them away after killing them?" How about sitting in a row on the sofa?" "I guess someone would like to see them interrogated, and also want to have video to confirm that they were all killed." "So the killer wants to show these pictures to other people?" "That is what I thought." Cole nodded slowly. "If we can find the footage, there might be some clues. For example, which one of the killers may have accidentally been photographed. Or maybe a certain image can reflect the shadow of one or more killers."

"Probably. The problem is, if we find the material, we'll find the killers too. They don't just drop it somewhere." "Well, expect something like this to happen." "We need to send them to a place with cryogenic conditions and do an autopsy on them," Puller said, looking at the decomposing bodies. "The evidence required by the court has been dissolving at some point. Your doctor How is your friend?" "There will be confirmation later today." Puller squatted next to Matthews Reynolds. "The face was blasted by a shotgun. The distance is less than one meter, the diffusion surface of the shotgun is very small, and the material of the bullet plug remains on the wound. If the barrel of the gun is a twisted barrel, the identification will encounter a lot of trouble." He pointed The remaining bullet plug asked, "Lan, have you taken a sample? Maybe you can determine the specification of the bullet."

① Chokebore: A shotgun barrel whose caliber gradually narrows toward the muzzle to prevent the dispersion of the shotgun. "Yes. I haven't had time to make a measurement on the sample, but I hope that when the sample is used to compare the diameters of various bullet plugs, it can give us an answer." Puller turned to the wife's body. "I have measured the distance between the impact points, and there is no central wound and no bullet residue, indicating that the shot may have been fired at a distance of three meters." "And it's in the basement." Cole said, squatting beside him.

"Presumably, a forensic serological test would confirm that," Puller said. "Why in the basement?" Cole asked. "Minimum movement," Puller said, "but there's still something puzzling." "for example?" "Even in a basement, a shotgun shot in the middle of the night can still be heard. And you've got to keep the other victims under control. They'll panic, yell and try to run away when they hear the gunshots .Because they know it might be their turn next." With a snap of his fingers, Monroe opened a metal evidence box he had brought into the house earlier, and took out several sealed and labeled small bags from it.

"I'm still surprised to find these things in a place like this, but what you just said probably explains it." Puller took the evidence bags one by one. "Tell me what you found." "A small gray fluffy thing was found in the girl's left ear. The white thread in the bag was left in the boy's mouth. A similar piece was found on the mother's left molar. threads." Cole looks at the evidence bags over Pooler's shoulder.Puller said, "White thread in the mouth? Cloth gagged?" "What about the ear?" Cole asked. "I think that's left over from the earphones," Munroe said. "It's like the earphones you use to listen to iPods or MP3 players."

"Forcing them to listen to that deafening music while they're shooting someone," Puller said. "That way the other victims can't hear the gunshots." "Absolutely well done," Monroe added. "But that still doesn't explain what happened with the shotgun," Puller said. "Maybe these dead people couldn't hear the gunfire, but some neighbors probably did." Cole got up and went to the window, then turned back. "You mentioned the deafening sound." Puller returned the evidence bag to Monroe and turned to her. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Trent Mining Company. They probably used dynamite to collapse the mountain on Sunday night. This community is only three kilometers away from where they fired the mountain."