"You went after him."
"I got his address and went to his house to tell him off. I figured it's the least he had coming. Didn't want him to get away with it by claiming she agreed or something, you know. Well, he got mad at me. Can you believe it? The rapist, or whatever you call him, gets mad at me. He told me to get the hell out of there. We started arguing. And when I didn't leave he got his gun out."
"You stood there. He pointed a gun at you?"
"Guns don't bother me, grew up with them. You should have seen the expression on his face, when I just grabbed the damn thing. The bastard was shot with his own gun. Now that's some sort of poetic something."
A wild story. Nevertheless, it described self-defense. Ray felt slightly better.
"I know all about guns. My daddy had guns." She pointed to a small box resting on top of an overnight bag against the wall. "That one's about as small and light a .38 you're going to find. Feels good to a woman. Don't bother with peashooters, that's what daddy called .22s, not enough smack. Take a look." She pointed to the glossy cigar-box-size carton sitting in plain sight.
Ray was startled. "The gun's in there?"
"No, no, that's a different gun, that's my gun. Bought it yesterday. I was going to use it to shoot him but got scared. As it turned out, I didn't need to buy it after all."
Ray turned on the desk lamp and carefully picked up the new gun box by the corners. On the top was a multi-color picture of a small revolver nestled in the folds of an American flag. Printed across were the words Ladysmith Special. Cautiously he opened the box, handling it by the edges. Inside he saw a small revolver, only about six inches long, wrapped in plastic and resting in Styrofoam. It appeared the gun hadn't been fired, never even unpacked.
"You say this gun has nothing to do with the shooting. Where's the actual murder weapon...as they say?"
"Guess it's still there, beside Barner. Should we go get it?"
"What's this 'we' stuff? Why did you bring that new gun with you here?"
"Would look funny if they found it at my place, I'd have to explain."
"The police could be swarming your place right now."
"Don't need it now. Maybe I'll take it back to the store for a refund. What do you think?"
"You shouldn't go anywhere near that store ever again." He realized the police would construe any advice he gives her as conspiracy.