“Cooper, get me up to speed.”

“One victim – male, thirties, Caucasian. Driver’s license identifies him as Paolo Trivetti, but we’re having a hard time matching that to his face, because, well… take a look.”

The junior detective led her superior to the bedroom, where a body sprawled on the unmade bed. Blood soaked the walls and sheets, emanating from the large hole in the victim’s head.

“Jesus,” Detective Allandale muttered. He stooped over the body, getting a look at it from several angles. “What caliber gun could do this?”

“Crime scene guys say there aren’t many, but they exist.”

“Get a look at the bullet?”

“No, sir.”

“What do you mean, ‘no?’” Allandale said, jabbing his finger in the direction of the corpse. “It sure as hell isn’t in there. That exit wound’s a mile wide.”

“Well, sir, that’s one of the strange things about the scene.”

“‘One of?’ I have a feeling I’m not gonna like this.”

“I have a feeling you’re gonna hate it. Ballistics – and this is all preliminary, mind you – find that the bullet’s path through the skull wasn’t exactly normal. See, bullets spin when they’re fired.”

“I did pick that up at some point in fifteen years, Cooper, thank you.”

“Sorry, sir. It’s just that, this one didn’t.”

Allandale rubbed his fingers under his eyebrows. “So this missing bullet wasn’t fired from a gun? What, did somebody throw the damn thing?”

“Interesting you should say that, sir, because I did a quick number crunch with some help from the ballistics guys, and the amount of force that would be needed to throw a bullet – and this is purely conjecture, you understand –– could be generated by an arm that was able to move quick enough to reach around behind the head and catch that same bullet before it hit the wall. I know it sounds crazy, but some of the blood splatter backs the theory up.”

“So some pitcher with a six thousand mile-an-hour fastball killed this guy?”

“Not necessarily, sir. He could have been a quarterback.”

“Was that a joke, Cooper?”

“An attempt, sir.”

Allandale sighed. “I’ve avoided ulcers, but I think this is gonna do the trick.”