Harris's .45 Gold Cup

Harris's .45 Gold Cup is Bud Harris's personally purchased .45-caliber pistol, acquired after his return from the Marines. Initially carried as backup for a meeting with Murray Clark, it becomes the decisive weapon in the confrontation that ends with Murray dead and Harris responsible for concealing the killing.

Ownership and Preparation

Harris bought the Gold Cup after returning from the Marines. When he prepares to find Murray, he first retrieves an old five-shot revolver from the police station's evidence room and loads it with .38 plus-P hollowpoints. He then decides he needs backup, takes the Gold Cup from his office safe, and puts a spare magazine in his pocket. Unlike the revolver, which is an old item from the station's evidence stores, the Gold Cup is his own firearm.

His preparation grows more deliberate as he recognizes the danger of the encounter. He wears a ballistic vest beneath his clothes and takes a small flashlight, while carrying the Gold Cup in a rear waistband holster. The pistol is part of a wider effort to equip himself for a meeting he tells himself should only involve talking, even as his choices show that he expects violence.

Use in the Confrontation

At Murray's darkened home, Harris fires the revolver after sensing someone behind him. During the struggle that follows, an attacker pins him down and tries to take the revolver. Harris frees the Gold Cup with his left hand, clears its safety, and fires at the assailant. The gunshot gives Murray an opportunity to escape from the room.

Harris pursues him outside. Using his flashlight to locate Murray in the brush, Harris fires the Gold Cup twice. Murray is later found motionless in the grass. The sequence turns the pistol from a precautionary backup into the weapon Harris uses in the fatal outcome of the encounter.

Consequences and Significance

After the shooting, Harris returns toward his truck preoccupied with the evidence left behind: the revolver remains in the house, and he cannot remember how many shots he fired or where the shell casings fell. The Gold Cup has served his immediate purpose, but it has also drawn him into a killing and its cover-up. The weapon therefore marks the crossing from Harris's stated intention to confront Murray to the irreversible violence he commits while trying to protect Billy Poe.