Chapter 66 Chapter 66

Puller stepped out of the car and walked into the Drake County Library.It's a bland, ugly orange one-story building. He asked the admin at the front desk a few questions and explained what he needed.Although there are several computers in the library, Puller finds himself flipping through the newspapers in old-fashioned fashion.The fact that he had rummaged through the newspapers of the period he believed to be relevant, and found nothing, however, spoke volumes in itself. As he walked out of the library, his cell phone rang.It's Christine Craig, a technical detective at the Criminal Investigations Laboratory.

"To give you some preliminary results, Puller." Puller got in the car, turned on the air conditioner, and took notes on what she had said. "We did a DNA test on the sample you sent us at an unconventional speed. We followed the exclusion list one by one, and finally found an unidentified sample. It has been uploaded to the FBI's DNA combination search System. Maybe we'll hit the lottery." "What else?" "We identified the remains of a bullet plug on Colonel Reynolds. It was a 12-gauge shotgun round." "Any other discoveries? Manufacturers?"

"Sorry, I do not have it." "Okay, go ahead." "Your autopsy doctor over there did a good job. Our guys generally just re-confirmed his various conclusions. We didn't see those bodies, needless to say, but we think that guy knows what he's doing. .” "That's good." Further confirmation was nice, but what Puller really needed was some new information that would help him solve the case. "We found something odd on the .22 you sent us." "What is it?" "Oh, I've got three people here to confirm it, because it's not something we think we'll find on a warhead that goes into someone's head."

"Don't play tricks on me, Christine." "It's gold leaf. West Virginia's a place for coal, not gold, isn't it?" Puller thought of the Trent mansion. "Oh, coal and gold are obviously the same thing to some here. But gold leaf?" "Indeed it is. Just a little bit, almost only with a microscope to spot it, but we confirmed it was gold leaf. Don't know what that is about." "What do you think of the soil test report I sent?" "That report didn't show anything of note. The uranium levels were normal, especially for coal-producing counties. The rest wasn't anything special either. If anyone was killed as a result of this report, I think That's hell."

"I'm thinking the same thing as you. How's the stuff in that drug lab?" "That's an interesting thing, too. Are you sure it's a drug lab?" "It looks like it. It's full of the kind of things you would normally find in a lab like this." "Yes, all those things. But there's one more thing you don't usually find in other drug labs." "What is it?" "Tungsten carbide." "Where did you find it?" "Vials, glass tubes, and coils. There are many places, so it can't be said that it's just a few leftover traces."

"So it might have stuck to either Trivel's or Pitna's hand." "Possibly. We did find Trivell's fingerprints on those instruments." "So it wasn't left there by someone who set it up," Puller said. "It's kind of useful to know that." "You ever thought someone planted them?" "No, but like everyone else, I like to prove my ideas in every way. Tungsten carbide, so? It's used in industrial tools, like grinding wheels in the jewelry industry, right?" "It is. It is harder and denser than steel and titanium."

"Trillwell has a ring. Could it be made of tungsten carbide that somehow seeped into his hand?" "No, we checked the ring." "He works in a chemical supply store. He also has a Harley." "Again, none of this explains the origin of the tungsten carbide." "do you have anything else?" "Aren't these enough?" Christine asked. "You haven't given me any answers yet." "I'm just giving the facts. It's up to you to find out, my friend." She put the phone down, and Puller slowly moved the phone away.

There was another use for tungsten carbide, which he was well aware of as a soldier.It is often used to make armor-piercing projectiles, especially when another material of choice, depleted uranium, is scarce. But if Trivell was manufacturing weapons and ammunition of this kind, there was no other correlative evidence to be found in his house.It takes a lot of space, specialized manufacturing equipment, and a lot of money.The government closely monitors the range of raw materials needed to make the ammunition.How could a country guy who lived in the backcountry of West Virginia, worked in a chemical supply store, and rode around on a Harley motorcycle have the qualifications to do this kind of thing?And if Trivel was really involved in this kind of thing, how could he be killed?Perhaps those who directed the manufacture of the ammunition for this weapon found that Trewell was frightened and were making contact with the authorities through Reynolds.

Puller would have to go to where Triwell was working and find out if there was a significant amount of tungsten carbide missing, if they had any.And if there were indeed missing tungsten carbides, the case would take on some new features.He wondered how it might relate to what Mason had said. If the targets were indeed gas pipelines and a nuclear reactor, then the ammunition could have been designed to penetrate the pipeline, and perhaps the reactor.If so, it means that Trivel is tied to the so-called jihadists.Puller couldn't figure out how this was even possible.Why are some people willing to launch such an attack in such a place?Are they all stupid?

Then he considered the gas pipeline.A Canadian company managed by Trent.Is Trent colluding with terrorists?He helped the terrorists complete the attack and got a sum of money from it?But why would a hugely successful coal tycoon do this?If a nuclear reactor were blown up, all the coal mines in Trent would be radioactively contaminated. Unless those guys paid Trent far more than his business would make.This may explain why Trent was so terrified of death threats being made. Trent may have fallen out with his "business partner". Puller pulled over his Malibu to the side of the road.He had less than three days to find out the truth.He understands that the chances of success are slim.

But Pooler was already in uniform, serving his country.He will do his duty, even if it costs him his life.