Sam Kincaid 01 - The Commission

spotlight from Kate in the event an arrest was made. The guy was smart and calculating, I had to give him that.
    Kate’s nonverbal demeanor suggested that she was irritated with Locke’s interference, but had to be careful how she responded. “Hyrum, it’s a little early to press the panic button. The investigation is still less than forty-eight hours old and we have a variety of solid leads.”
    As I guessed, Puffer appeared content to sit quietly absorbing as many details about the investigation as possible. He’d probably been asked to serve as a conduit of information directly to Chief Hansen and indirectly to Mayor Baldwin. Before Locke could respond, Puffer looked up from the legal pad he was scribbling notes on and asked, “So what’s the status of our main subject, this John Merchant fellow?”
    “Unfortunately, I personally checked his alibi and it looks solid. If the cigarette butts we found at the scene provide a DNA sample or latent prints, we’ll compare it to Merchant’s. In the meantime, he’s not going anywhere. When he’s well enough, he’ll be transferred from the hospital to the Salt Lake County Jail. He’s looking at several new felony charges and an impending probation revocation hearing. But right now, I’d have to say it doesn’t look promising,” said Kate.
    “I should say not,” said Puffer. “Any other persons of interest?”
    “Nope, not at the moment.”
    “Vince, what have you got for us?” asked Locke.
    “I got a warrant for Vogue’s Lexus, which we had towed to the police impound lot. The lab guys found a variety of latent prints but most of them belonged to Vogue. Winkler’s prints were also found, but that’s no surprise. There were other unidentified prints lifted from both the exterior and interior of the vehicle. Some of them will probably belong to other members of the family. I did find a plastic bag containing a half dozen adult video tapes, all of them run-of-the-mill commercial hardcore except one. The amateur tape featured Winkler performing alone and then with our victim doing the horizontal mamba,” said Turner.
    That revelation raised a few eyebrows, including my own. “I wonder if anyone else has a copy of that tape. Sue Ann neglected to tell us about that little detail when we spoke with her. Maybe somebody was trying to blackmail him,” I said.
    “Worth looking into,” said Locke.
    Turner continued. “I’m also working with our burglary dicks to try to identify anyone from the local B&E crowd using the same modus operandi—so far, nothing.”
    “Thanks, Vince. Kate, what have you got for us?”
    “The autopsy results confirmed that the time of death was between eleven and eleven-thirty p.m. The contents of his stomach included a partially digested Mexican dinner, which was consistent with the statement given to us by Sue Ann regarding their meal at the Starlite Motel.
    “The Medical Examiner estimated Vogue was shot from a distance of ten to twenty feet with some type of shotgun. The pellet pattern in the chest wound was dispersed, and the angle of the shot suggested the killer was most likely directly in front of Vogue, not firing from above or below.”
    “And the CSI team did or did not find any shell casings?” asked Puffer.
    “We didn’t find shell casings and the shotgun was discharged twice,” said Kate. “The chest wound produced serious damage to the heart and would have been fatal within minutes without the second shot to the head. The head shot was delivered point blank with the victim lying prone. Traces of powder burns found on the skin under the chin suggested that the barrel of the shotgun had been placed directly against the flesh.”
    Burnham and I then explained the process we would follow in attempting to connect Vogue’s murder to his work on the parole board.
    After that, Puffer and Locke stood, signaling an end to our meeting. “Thanks for the update, but, at the moment, it looks like you really don’t have shit,” said Puffer.
    ***
    As soon as I got back on the street, my cell phone rang. It was Patti.
    “Sam, we received a phone call about an hour ago that I thought you might be interested in. It might be nothing, but the call was in relation to the Vogue investigation.”
    “You’ve got my undivided attention. Tell me more.”
    “The caller was an elderly-sounding man who lives in the Avenues about three blocks from the victim’s home. He belongs to a Neighborhood Watch group, and he wants to