The medical examiner takes off her left glove twice. First after shaking hands with Montalbano when he leaves to talk to the maid, and again when she turns away from the body.
When Montalbano is on the roof his assailant is holding a shotgun but the report is that of a rifle and Montalbano picks up a bullet that he later shows to the assailant and says forensics will show that it was fired from one of the assailant's hunting rifles.
A black American soldier is shown at the checkpoint with white American soldiers. The U.S. military was segregated up until 1947 and the mixing of white and black common soldiers in the same units would not have been allowed.