Raferty displayed no reaction to Pitt’s accusation. His mellow eyes never left the pipe. His hands slowly, placidly filed away at the threaded ends. He was far too nonchalant, Pitt thought. Raferty wasn’t acting like

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a man about to be turned in for murder. The look of a cornered rat was nowhere apparent.

“A shame Charlie didn’t see things my way.” Raferty shrugged almost sadly. “Contrary to what you may think, Mr. Pitt, I am not a greedy man. I did not attempt to sell off the projectiles in one swoop. You might say I looked upon them as a sort of savings account. When Max and I needed a few dollars, I’d make a one-at-a-time withdrawal, you might say, and call Mapes. He’d send a truck to pick up the merchandise and pay me in cash. A clean-cut, nontaxable transaction.”

“I’d like to hear how you murdered Charlie Smith.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Pitt, but I don’t have it in me to take a human life.” Raferty leaned forward and his wrinkled face seemed to leer. “Max is the stronger one. She handles the killing. Shot old Charlie in the heart as neat as can be.”

“Maxine?” The shock that swelled within Pitt did not come so much from the sudden disclosure as it did from the realization that he had committed a sad mistake.

“Throw a dime in the air at twenty paces and Max will make change,” Raferty continued, nodding over Pitt’s shoulder. “Let Mr. Pitt know you’re there, honey.”

Two metallic clicking sounds answered Raferty, followed by a gentle thud.

“The cartridge striking the floor should tell you Max’s old lever-action Winchester is loaded and cocked,” said Raferty. “Any doubts?”

Pitt braced both feet squarely on the floor and flexed his hand under the Windbreaker jacket. “Nice try, Lee.”

“Then see for yourself. But I warn you-no sudden moves.”

Pitt gradually turned to face Maxine Raferty, whose kindly blue eyes were staring over the sights of a repeating rifle. The barrel was pointed, rock steady, at Pitt’s head.

“Sorry, Mr. Pitt,” she said sadly. “But Lee and I ain’t of a mind to spend our few remaining years in jail.”

“Another murder on your hands won’t save you,” said Pitt. He tightened his leg muscles as he gauged the distance between himself and Maxine. It was five feet. “I brought my own witnesses.”

“Did you see anybody, honey?” asked Lee.

Maxine shook her head. “He came up the road alone. I kept watch after he entered the house. No one followed him.”

“I figured as much,” Lee Raferty said, and sighed. “You’ve been

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playing a bluffing hand, Mr. Pitt. If you had any solid evidence against Maxine and me, you’d have brought the sheriff.”