“Then we have to use DNA.” Kelsey frowned. “It’s less likely to survive high-intensity fires, but it can, and that’s a potential option. We could also get prints from other objects in the nearbyarea that can lead to a possible identity, and dental records, which we can compare to the teeth. That is assuming the teeth aren’t too fragmentary for reconstruction and that good or reliable antemortem records exist.”
Abby looked around. “You said this was a high-intensity fire. I didn’t know prints could survive such heat.”
“They can for sure. Many forensic technicians don’t have the training or equipment to recover them. But if you have a skilled forensic team like ours with state-of-the-art equipment, prints can be lifted for comparison to databases.”
Abby planted her hands on her trim waist. “Are there times when you just can’t ID them?”
Kelsey nodded. “I’ve had times when I couldn’t match remains to a specific individual. There weren’t any medical or dental records for the living person, giving us nothing to compare the postmortem information against. Or there were times when the remains were so severely damaged or compromised by heat that it was impossible to extract DNA. Or the teeth were too fragmentary for reconstruction.”
Abby frowned. “That occur often?”
She shook her head. “In my experience, it’s rare when a forensic anthropologist can’t reconstruct some living characteristic from bone, even burned bones. Though I have to say, wildfires can be particularly difficult when the victim is not in their home or vehicle.”
Sierra stepped into the house but knelt by the door. “Speaking of prints, the front door knob looks good to lift prints.”
“Great.” Abby turned. “What about the accelerant used? Gasoline odor seems to suggest that.”
“You’re likely right,” Sierra said. “Fortunately, the pour pattern is obvious. I’ll take samples, and if you locate a suspectin possession of a gas can, we can match the gas used here to the cans.”
“You can drill down to such a detail?” Abby asked.
“Yes,” Sierra said. “And if you obtain samples from local stations, I can pin it to them, and they could have surveillance video showing your suspect buying the gas.”
Abby frowned. “Wouldn’t it be as fast just to go to nearby stations and ask for video?”
“You’d have to answer that, but when you take this killer to court, you’ll want to forensically tie the gas to a local station if possible, so I’ll still give you the data.”
“Problem with either option is manpower.” Abby looked at Dev. “You sure you’re not wanting to get back in the game?”
Dev took a few steps closer to the house, glanced at Colin, then back at Abby. “I’m sure, but our team would be happy to help in this investigation in exchange for getting reports from the Veritas experts.”
Abby frowned, and the shadows from the lights cast deep shadows over her face. “Tell you what. Let me deputize you for this investigation. I’ll take lead on it, and you do the grunt work for me. If you do, I’ll share the reports.”
Dev didn’t answer right away when Colin wanted him to jump on the offer. But he held his tongue and trusted his brother to handle this.
“That could work,” he finally said. “But my team works with me.”
“I don’t know.” Abby scrubbed a hand over her face. “It’s one thing to bring in a temp deputy. Another to have the rest of your team horning in.”
“They can all report to me, and I’ll make sure they only work on what we need. No grandstanding.”
Colin snorted.
Abby shifted her focus to him. “Not going to be easy to keep former feds in line.”
Dev eyed Colin, reminding him of times they’d been caught by their father when they were up to their necks in mischief. “I can assure you they’ll behave, if this is the only way we can get the information from you and help bring in a killer.”
Colin gave a sharp nod of acceptance. Of course he did. No way he would antagonize the sheriff, but if he had to go rogue to find Tarver, he wouldn’t hesitate to do so.
He’d do just about anything to give Brooklyn back her life.
10
Exhausted, Colin and the team piled into their vehicle to head back to the compound. Nick remained onsite with the Veritas team to help out with the investigation. But there was nothing the Shadow Lake team could do to aid in recovering forensics. Or the body. They were better off getting some shut-eye so they could be on their game tomorrow.
An ear-piercing alarm sounded on everyone’s phone.
Colin had his in hand and looked at the alert. “Floor it. We have an attempted hack of the security system at the compound.”
