One Dead Drag Queen by Mark Richard Zubro Read Free Book Online Page B

more personal rather than political. I think it’s highly unlikely the bomber or bombers used that kind of explosive device because it was the only one he could get.”
    “Maybe he got a deal,” McCutcheon said. “Buy three rockets, two mortars, and you get this limpet mine thrown in for free.”
    Pulver said, “And maybe a lower interest rate on his payments,which he doesn’t have to make until next year. Or a frequent-terrorist discount.”
    Their attempts at sarcasm were more humor than I was in the mood for.
    “What else?” I asked.
    “The bomber knew what he was doing and planned well.” Pulver leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. He held my gaze for several moments, then said, “Lots of people are going to be asking you questions about this. Kenny’s a friend and I’m in your corner. I think it would help if we went over you and your friend’s movements the last few days.”
    “Am I under suspicion?”
    “Nope.”
    “How could I know anything?”
    “You probably don’t, but if someone is specifically after you, then maybe you’ll give me a hint that will begin helping us get to the bottom of this.”
    “But I couldn’t possibly be involved.”
    “Somebody had a lot of other cars to choose from last night. Your buddy’s truck got bombed. If it means anything beyond random chance, we’ve got to ask.”
    It seemed pointless to me, but I went ahead and gave him a detailed account of my movements the day before.
    When I finished, Pulver shook his head. “Somebody’d have to be watching you both awful close and be awful lucky to be able to plant that bomb on such short notice in Mason’s truck. That’s presuming all three bombings had something to do with you.”
    “Could they have?”
    “Anything’s possible.” At least Pulver didn’t sound as dismissive as Jantoro had the night before.
    “Who’d be willing to go to such great lengths to hurt me and Tom?”
    “Do you read your own press coverage?” Pulver asked.
    “Okay, stupid question. Sorry.”
    Pulver continued, “But why wait until last night to go to those lengths? And why kill all those other people? Venting anger at you by hurting your lover makes some sense, not killing all those other people as well.” Pulver shook his head. “I don’t think it was
all
about you. I’m just not sure it wasn’t somehow about you. Putting the bomb in Mason’s truck specifically makes things complicated and awkward. Your killer has to realize he was there, find the truck, get the bomb—”
    I interrupted, “Unless they followed him from home.”
    “How would they know he was going out? If they knew where you lived, why did they wait until this time when he went out? It’s too much coincidence. We need a lot more information before being able to say anything for sure.”
    “Do the police have any clues at all?”
    “Tons of them literally. The main explosion was a truck bomb, big goddamn thing. They’re trying to assemble parts of the vehicle that they think contained the bomb to try and determine the manufacturer and ownership. That stuff could also tell them about the nature of the blast, and they might find traces of chemical residue for analysis. They’ll probably be examining what’s left of that block for weeks. Every piece of debris will be carefully sifted. They’re talking to the survivors. They’ve got hundreds of possible witnesses, and they’re trying to pin down the movements of anybody who was around that block.”
    “What about all those prominent protesters being in town?”
    “Cops don’t like coincidences. All those people have thealibi of having been at the dinner, but one of them could have parked the truck and strolled over.”
    I said, “Someone must have seen a truck with that much explosive.”
    “If they’ve found out something from witnesses, I haven’t heard about it. With that much destruction, I was told the bomber would need at least a thousand pounds of explosives. They’re also