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had stripped parts of the metal jackets off the rounds and flattened them just a bit, on their way through. So when they came out of the back face of the front of the vest, they weren’t quite round anymore. I dropped the vest back down on his chest, and pulled the blanket back over him. It snagged on the weeds, and I tore it.
    I looked up at Hester.
    ‘‘M-16?’’
    ‘‘Likely,’’ said Hester. ‘‘We’ve got a lot of 5.56 brass around here.’’
    I sighed. ‘‘Well, they tell you that these vests are only designed for pistol ammo.’’ I thought for a second. ‘‘What was Johansen carrying?’’
    ‘‘AR-15. Both officers were.’’
    I stood up. ‘‘We have the rifles now? I mean, all we need is for some defense attorney to say Kellerman shot him himself by accident, or that Bill was shot by Ken . . .’’ I shook my head. Since I knew he’d just about shot me, that was a lot closer to reality than anybody else knew. ‘‘I hope we can find some bullets to match up with the weapons.’’
    ‘‘I think there are some fragments trapped in the rear panel of his vest,’’ said Hester.
    ‘‘I hope so.’’ I took off my gloves, and stuffed them in my pocket. I looked up the hill, and was stunned to see two people with a still camera panning the scene. One male, one female.
    ‘‘Uh, who the fuck are those people?’’
    Everybody followed my gaze, and were equally dumbfounded.
    ‘‘Media,’’ said Hester. ‘‘Honest to God . . .’’
    I looked around, and the young deputy and trooper assigned to the security detail for the scene were standing facing the crime scene, rather than looking outward. They were still the only ones at the scene wearing dark glasses. Of course.
    ‘‘Suppose maybe Elwood and Jake there could run ’em off?’’ I asked.
    ‘‘HEY!’’ yelled Al, waving uphill and getting the attention of the gawking troopers. ‘‘Get those people secured right NOW!!!’’
    It took them a second, but then they started uphill at a run. The media people tried to outrun them to the top of the hill, but were caught well before the crest. After a few moments, the whole group started down toward the crime scene.
    ‘‘Jesus Christ,’’ said Al, ‘‘they’re bringing them back to us!’’
    By this time Lamar had joined us. ‘‘I’ll talk to them,’’ he said, and stomped uphill, gesturing to the troopers to keep them away from the scene.
    I looked at Al and Hester. ‘‘We better go with him,’’ I said. We all knew that Lamar was really bad with the media, and not much better with junior state troopers. We also all knew that processing this scene was probably going to take well into tomorrow, and that the media weren’t done out here by a long shot. We’d better get ground rules they would all have to follow.
    ‘‘Just me,’’ said Al. ‘‘You two are going to be working the case, and there’s no point in letting them get to you, or even know who you are.’’ He watched Lamar trudge up the hill. ‘‘I’ll let Lamar talk to ’em for a couple of minutes first.’’ He grinned. ‘‘Makes my job that much easier.’’
    ‘‘You love it,’’ said Hester. She wiped the sweat off her own forehead with the back of her hand. ‘‘That’s why you look so pretty.’’
    He grinned, but she was right. Of all the people at the crime scene, only Al looked cool. He had removed his suit coat, and carefully rolled his pale blue shirtsleeves up two rolls, and barely loosened his navy blue tie. There was just a hint of perspiration on his shirt. Shirtsleeves, mind you. Sleeves.
    ‘‘How’s he do that?’’ I asked Hester as he began moving uphill.
    ‘‘What, walk without falling over?’’
    ‘‘No, damn it. Always look so neat.’’
    ‘‘You’ll never know, Houseman.’’ She grinned. ‘‘Back to work.’’
    We got together with Dr. Peters, and talked over what we had. Not a lot, but too much for anybody but a very meticulous lab team to make