Soon the entire Cold Case squad was assembled in a conference room, with the exception of Kat, who was still researching Raynard Whitney, and Scotty.

"Hey Lil, where's Scotty?" Asked Jeffries. "You guys seemed so eager to let us know what you found at the crime lab, and now you're holding us up."

"He had to go get something out of the records room," Lilly explained. "He should be back in..."

Lilly was interrupted by Scotty walking into the room. In his arms, he carried a folder from the homicide records department. But it wasn't Darnell's folder. The information on the folder read "Sears, J. May 1978."

"Scotty, what are you doing with that?" asked Vera sarcastically. "Last time I checked, we haven't solved the Prince case yet. I don't think we're in any position to start on another one."

"Well maybe not, but we made a big break in this case all the same," Scotty replied as he set the folder down on the table and started pulling items out of it. "And that also happens to be directly tied to our current one."

"Alright, I think it's time for an explanation," Stillman said. "Let's hear what you have found."

Scotty pulled something out of the folder and held it up for everyone in the room to see. It was a picture of a woman in her mid 20's. "This is 27-year old Julia Sears, a clerk in a Philadelphia law firm and a mother of two," he explained. "In May of 1978, she was walking home from a late night at the office when she took two pistol bullets to the chest. She was dead before the para-medics ever arrived. The police were alerted to the scene by 911 calls from the surrounding buildings. The callers reported hearing multiple gun shots and the cops found shell casings at least 3 different weapons at the scene. Based on the recent activity in the area, the original theory of the crime was that it was a shootout between two rival drug gangs, and Sears just happened to be there to take a couple of stray rounds. But that was as far as the original investigation ever got. The police didn't find any more physical evidence in the case, and no witnesses to the shooting ever came forward."

"All very tragic," said Jeffries. "But what does this case have to do with our current one?"

"Quite a lot actually," Lilly cut in. "Because we just found the murder weapon."

Everyone else in the room reacted to Lilly's declaration with stunned silence. Then Vera spoke up. "Wait a minute, are you saying the gun you found in Larry Tyler's house is the gun that killed Julia Sears?"

"The one and the same," replied Lilly, holding up a ballistics report she brought back from the crime lab. "The guys down at the lab matched the gun to both rounds that killed her."

"So for the last 26 years, the prize possession of Larry Tyler's gun collections was actually a murder weapon, and he never even knew it." remarked Stillman. "I can hardly wait to break the news."

"But how is the gun involved in our current case?" asked Vera. "We know Larry got the gun from Darnell, who originally got it by taking it from David Landis. Is it possible that David was the one who killed Juilia Sears? If so, that would certainly give him a strong motive to kill Darnell so that gun would never find its way into a police evidence room."

"It's possible, but not likely," Scotty replied. "Remember, Julia was killed in 1978. David would have only been 15 years old at the time. I don't think he was working for Allen back then."

"Well you remember, Marcus Rothman said that Allen didn't have an age limit for his dealers..." Jeffries pointed out just as the door started to open. Kat entered the room and quietly took a seat, apparently finished with her research on Raynard Whitney, but not wanting to interrupt the conversation

"Yeah but there is no record of him using anyone that young," said Lilly. "Besides, all based on all the evidence we've found so far, it seems that Landis' dealing for Allen was something that was very recent around the time of Darnell's death and very short."

"That's a good point," Stillman added. "Also, I don't see Landis as a person who could have been the masterminded. I just don't think he had the resources or the skills required for something this big. Plus he wasn't at Darnell's Super Bowl party, so there I don't see how he would have known where Darnell was on the night he was killed."

"But Allen could have set it up," said Scotty. "He did have the resources and skills required for an operation like this. And he could have found out where Darnell was from Byron Wilford, or maybe even someone else. Wilford might not have been his only connection on the inside."

"So this is what we figure happened," Lilly explained. "In 1978 one of Allen's men uses the gun in a shootout with some rival gang members and accidentally kills Julia Sears. For some reason, the guy keeps the gun and later on he lends it to David Landis, and then it's taken by Darnell. But Allen finds out that Darnell took the gun off David when Darnell brandished it during their confrontation in his bar, and he panics. He knows one of his men used that gun in a murder and if the gun is ever turned in to be used as evidence, it could destroy his entire operation. After all, the gun implicates his entire organization in a murder and he could personally go down for it."

"So hit sets up the whole hit in order to make sure Darnell never turns the gun in to his department, or at least to cover up where Darnell got the gun from, and makes it look like a robbery," Stillman concluded. "That's consistent with what David Landis told us. He said the person who told him to make the phony call to the police was Allen's top enforcer, Raynard Whitney. Speaking of Whitney, Kat I assume you are here because you have finished your research on him. Let's hear what you've found."

All attention in the room turned to Kat as she stood to deliver her report. "Well it looks like David was telling the truth. Whitney was the top enforcer for Gerald Allen back in those days. But even though it seemed like everyone knew what he did, it turns out that he was even better at covering his tracks then his boss. The man had no criminal record whatsoever. In fact, in addition to his business with Allen, he actually worked for a legitimate security firm called "Steven's Security and Protection Services". The company provides security services to some of Philadelphia's top companies and industries."

"Well considering some of the occupations of the other people involved with this case, I can't say I find this too surprising." Remarked Stillman

"That may be, but here is where the story gets really interesting. The day after the Super Bowl, Whitney checked himself into a hospital. According to the hospital records, he was treated for severe bruising on his face and a cracked rib. He told the doctors he fell down the stairs in his apartment."

This caught Stillman's attention. "A cracked rib? That sounds like the type injury a person might get if they were shot while wearing body armor."

"Exactly," Kat replied. "And I checked with his old company. They did issue their security officers body armor back then. Suffice to say, it looks like we've found the third shooter."

"This just keeps getting better. So where is he now?"

Kat's tone suddenly became less enthusiastic. "Well... here's the thing. Two days after his hospital visit, he quit his job without giving any notice and moved out of state. This caught the attention of the police, but at the time there wasn't anything to link him or Allen to Darnell's death. They just figured he screwed up a job for Allen and recieved a beating for his efforts. Then he skipped town to avoid getting a cement overcoat. His last known address was in Cleveland, Ohio."

"Ohio huh? Well does anyone want to volunteer for our next field trip?" Asked Stillman.

"That won't be necessary," Kat replied in a grim tone. "I'm afraid we found this all out a bit too late. Raynard Whitney isn't going to be telling us anything. He died of lung cancer in 2005."

Scotty slammed his fist down on the table. "Dammit! We put so much effort into this case and we'll never get to charge the shooter! Unbelievable."

"Take it easy Scotty," said Stillman. "We can still get the person who paid him to do it. But in order to do that, we'll need to prove Whitney was the third shooter at the scene. Kat, please tell me we've got his prints on file somewhere."

"We don't," Kat replied, "but his company does. He had to give them a sample of his prints as a condition of employment. I've already talked to company reprasentatives and they agreed to send his prints to the crime lab."

"Excellent. With his prints we can match them to ones on Darnell's revolver, and Whitney's known association with Allen's drug operations links Allen to the crime. I think it's time we brought him in for another talk."

"Sounds reasonable Lt, but I doubt he will have much to say. He wasn't very hospitable the first time around, and left us with the impression he would never say anything else to us." pointed out Scotty.

"That was before we found all the evidence against him, " said Stillman. "I have a feeling that once he finds out we know the secret of that old gun and we are in process of testing Whitney's prints against the ones on the murder weapon, he'll be a little more accommodating.

Lilly wasn't convinced. "I'm not so sure about that. Even with that evidence, we'll still have a hard time proving Allen set up the hit. We still might be able to convict him, but it's a long shot, and person like Allen would know it.

"But we have another ace in the hole," Kat pointed out: "Raynard Whitney. As far as I can tell, Whitney didn't have any more contact with Allen after he left Philly. So Allen might not know that he's dead. If we make him think we are planning to cut a deal with Whitney in order testify against Allen, it might be enough to get Allen to confess. After all, this is a capital case we are talking about. I seriously doubt Allen is willing to risk spending his final years on death row."