Well put.

We can theorize all day long, but without having it in front of me thats all I can do is shoot in the dark at it.

I cannot exactly figure out how shot ended up coming out of the ejection port though? In order for shot to have come out the ejection port, the shell would of had to have been fired when it was not in the chamber. The only way for that to have happened would of been if the gun was locked open and the shell went off before she shut the action. And in that case.. she probably would of lost her hand or at least been burned. Typically though, shells that cook off not in the chamber don't fire like they do inside the chamber. Its more like a firecracker and the heat from the burning powder is usually more dangerous than the shot. I've seen one get cooked off on a buffing wheel (trying to remove rust... bad idea) and I hit one at the hunt club with a lawn mower just right and it went off. Most of the shot and the wad didn't even leave the shell... most of it blew out the side.. but you could tell it had blown.

Anyhow... thats the only part I cannot figure out.