One paragraph later: FBI agents scrutinized every smithereen I don't think I've ever seen "smithereen" in print before. Merriam-webster.com only has "smith

One paragraph later: FBI agents scrutinized every smithereen I don't think I've ever seen "smithereen" in print before. Merriam-webster.com only has "smithereens" a "plural noun". But the singular nicely fits the sentence.