Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen

Puller stared at Cole and said, "But, the explosion on the mountain was so loud, can it cover the shotgun fire from the house next door?" "From the basement of the house next door, we have to say. If you're not far from the construction site, the sound of their cannons sometimes jolts you out of bed." "You're saying they're likely to fire. You can't be sure of that?" "No, I live a long way from here. But if anyone here hears an explosion, it's only from the Trent Mining Company site. They're the only company around here." Munro said slowly, "Wait, my girlfriend and I stayed out late that night. It's also three kilometers from here, but in the other direction. I remember hearing the explosion."

Puller asked quickly, "Do you remember when the explosion happened?" Monroe thought for a moment. "I think it was between twelve and one at midnight." "In line with the approximate time of death provided by the symptoms of the corpse." Puller said, "it is still very useful for us to get the time period further." "It's good for verifying whether the suspect is at the crime scene." Cole pointed out.Puller nodded approvingly. "The other thing we have to wonder about is, why do they kill the parents with a shotgun and use different means with the kids? Or why don't they just kill everyone with a blunt weapon? That way you don't have to worry about people hearing the guns," Puller said. sound."

Neither Cole nor Monroe knew how to answer these questions. Puller looked at Monroe and asked, "Have you done the exclusionary fingerprinting work? The fingerprints of several victims and Mrs. Reynolds' parents." "I did. Before I went to check the car, I went to collect the fingerprints of the old couple early in the morning." "You didn't tell them what happened at home?" "Well, the old lady had a stroke. I pressed her fingerprints without her being conscious, so I couldn't say anything to her. The old man was confused. I pretended that the fingerprints were a game. So he didn't understand what was going on."

"Dementia?" Pooler asked, and Cole nodded. "Does he get sober sometimes?" Cole replied: "I think so, sometimes sober. Do you think he can help?" Puller shrugged. "Well, if the killer was someone in the area, maybe the old man would know something. I think there are several possibilities here. First, Colonel Reynolds' career with the Defense Intelligence Agency caused the family to be killed; second, Because of something to do with the mother; third, something to do with the children; fourth, something to do with the children's grandparents; or fifth, something to do with something we don't know about yet."

"It might just be an accidental robbery," Monroe pointed out. Puller shook his head. "They didn't take the new Lexus, they didn't take the laptop, they didn't take the woman's wedding ring. They left some other valuables here. And in the occasional robbery, there is very little focus on interrogation of the victim's family. Case." Cole said: "Mrs. Reynolds' parents probably didn't have any enemies in the world. With her and the two kids only here for the summer, I find it hard to believe they'd have time to make any enemies. That way, That leaves Colonel Reynolds."

"It is likely so, but it is still necessary to find out." Puller stood up. "Did you find other fingerprints besides the above fingerprints when the police first went to the police?" "There's the postman's. There's the nurse at the nursing home. We got her invisible fingerprints on the refrigerator where she nursed Colonel Reynolds' father-in-law before he went to the nursing home. And the fingerprints of the two EMTs, They've been here after they got the call that the old lady had a stroke." "Anyone else's?" "There are two more fingerprints. One was found on the wall of the living room, and the other was found on the kitchen counter. I have sent it to the fingerprint database of the police station for comparison."

"Give me a copy, and I'll send it to the FBI's fingerprint data center," Pooler said. "thanks." Puller added: "How do the murderers know when the mine is going to be blasted? Is this a form of public information?" "Yes," Cole said. "Surface blasting is subject to a lot of regulations. You have to get a permit and submit a proper blasting plan. You have to publish a blasting schedule in advance in the local newspaper. Residents near the blasting site also get The notice is delivered in person. You must use a professionally qualified blasting team. The noise of the explosion must be controlled within the specified range, and someone specially monitors the sound decibel. They also need to measure the seismic waves caused by the blast. And you have to blast in milliseconds, usually Detonating explosives in groups of eight milliseconds apart."

"Why?" Monroe listened fascinated.His eyes met Puller's. "I went to West Virginia University, but I'm not from here." "The eight-millisecond interval effectively controls the blast noise and seismic waves," Cole said. Puller asked her, "You obviously know a lot about that. Where did you know that?" "I'm a girl from West Virginia," she shrugged. "The whole state is one big coal mine, at least that's how it feels sometimes." "Does your father work for the Trent Mining Company?" Monroe asked. Cole glanced quickly at Pooler, who was staring at her intently.She said softly, "He worked there. Never again, though."

"Why?" Puller asked. "He's dead." "I'm sorry." Pleton asked after a moment, "What kind of explosives did they use?" "Usually it's a mixture of ammonium nitrate -- which is fertilizer, really -- and diesel. They've stripped the topsoil and subsoil, drilled holes in the rock, put explosives in, and the purpose is to blow up the rock layers. Then they use heavy equipped to expose the coal seam to the surface." "Why did they blow up the hills instead of digging tunnels underground?" “They did use tunnels to mine coal decades ago. But the remaining coal seams can no longer be drilled into tunnels. The rock formation is not hard enough, so they say. But it’s interesting.”

"What's interesting?" "As a rule, blasting must be carried out after sunrise and before sunset every day, from Monday to Saturday every week. Trent must have obtained some kind of special permission to blast in the middle of the night on Sunday." "So, the bombing arrangements are open to the public," Puller said. "That doesn't do much to narrow down the suspects. Tell me about Trent Mining, though." "Trent has been by far the largest business in the county." "A well-loved institution?" Cole bit his lip. "No one likes a coal mining business, Puller. As a result of Trent's mining, every valley here is filled with rubble. It caused flooding and many other environmental problems, not to mention collapse What an ugly view we have here after falling so many hills. But this method of mining is much more cost-effective for the company. They make untold money.”

“But they provide employment opportunities,” Munro said. “I have a cousin who is a geological engineer in Trent, and he makes a good living.” Cole continued: "Roger Trent is the sole owner of that company. He did a lot of lawless things, and some accidents killed people. But this does not affect his living in the big iron gate In the high-end villas in the back, they also use pipes to bring clean and drinkable water from other places to their homes. Because of their mining, the groundwater here has been seriously polluted.” "Are people just letting these things go?" "He's got some lawyers who tell lies. And, while the state keeps talking about cleaning up the judiciary, he's already paid off more than half of the state's judges. Of course, he's giving people jobs, and they're paying good wages. Not low, and he often gives generously to charities, so people have a kind of tolerance for him. However, if there are some major coal mine accidents, and a few more cases of cancer due to pollution, people will be afraid. We're going to find him out and parade him in the streets." Puller looked at the corpse on the ground and asked, "How long has the Reynolds family been here?" "People say it's about five weeks," Kerr said. "The Colonel himself was going back and forth between Washington and here," Pooler himself added.He looked out the window again and asked, "Have you asked the neighbors around you in detail?" Cole replied, "There are seven other residents here, and we've talked to everyone. Nothing." "It's unbelievable," Puller said, "that the killer was in the next house and no one saw or heard anything? Then another cop was killed, and someone drove his police car away, or nothing. What does one see or hear?" "That's what these neighbors say." "Then I think it's time to re-check all of them."