[It still sends a momentary bolt of surprise through him whenever he is referred to as a loved one, as family, even as a friend. Even after all this time, it's still a startling and magnificent thing to recall, that he has managed to find that for himself against all the odds.]

Wrong.

[He waves a hand, dismissive of John's whole plan, though it's not the worst one he's heard.]

Using a pillow to muffle a gunshot would leave you, no doubt, covered in stray fibres and gunshot residue, you would be caught in moments. The murder weapon cannot be the gun, anyway, or the game would not ask you to find the weapon. A bullet wound clearly indicates how the victim was killed, as the weapon is ambiguous, a gun cannot have been used.