She flung her arms around him and held him fast.
“On that happy note, I’ll take my leave.” Dev started off toward his cabin and tried to keep in his heart the joyful spirit that Jessie often displayed.
Sierra fell into step next to him. “I hope my kids turn out as sweet as Jessie and Ella. But then, they’re both boys. Rough-and-tumble. As they are now, I won’t expect a lot of sweetness.”
“How old are they?” Dev asked.
“Asher is four and Mason is just over a year old.” Her wistful tone spoke to missing them.
“I’m sorry to take you away from them.”
She waved a hand. “I’m the one who chose to continue to work. You’re just providing that work. Besides, by bringing my assistants with me on this trip, I hope to be home tonight.”
“There’s one thing I wanted to ask you about, before we get to the drone.”
She cast him an inquisitive look. “Go ahead.”
“Kinsley told me she worked with you on the investigation into Peter Mooney.”
“That’s right.” She frowned. “The guy who allegedly killed his work partner.”
“She said you found evidence in the pond that still had DNA after an extended period of time.”
“Oh that. Don’t tell me you’re one of the skeptics.”
“Skeptic? No. Kinsley didn’t remember the details, so I couldn’t be skeptical if I wanted to.” He shortened his normal steps to remain next to her. “Were others skeptical, and that’s why the evidence didn’t help?”
“A majority of crime scene professionals believe that after seven days in an aquatic environment, zero remaining fibers would be recoverable as possible evidence. That means a majority of agency protocols don’t allow them to search and recover this form of evidence after a week.”
“But you believe otherwise.”
She nodded. “My belief is based on recent research, but there aren’t any precedents set to admit it in a court of law.”
“Tell me about it.”
“It’s simple really. The partner had gone missing four weeks prior to my search, and the skeptics couldn’t believe that there would be any evidence left after that long of time, but we located the carpet fiber. Research told me to expect a high initial loss of fibers in the first twenty-four hours in the water—up to eighty-one percent in moving water regardless of the textile type. But after the first twenty-four hours the persistence rates plateau. Then at forty-eight hours, the effect of textile type became important.” She cast a glance at him. “Are you with me so far?”
Dev nodded. “But you were way beyond the forty-eight-hour mark.”
“I was.” She got a gleam in her eyes. “But that’s when the textile type came into play. Carpet shows the highest persistence and the respective roughness of surface texture make a big difference. These textile types keep the same order of highest to lowest persistence even over four weeks, illustrating the overarching effect of fabric construction.”
“So the moral of the story is law enforcement shouldn’t give up too soon, and it’s always worth searching. Or at least it will be once the courts catch up to the research.”
“Exactly. Which is one of the reasons why the DA chose not to prosecute.” Her attention shifted ahead, probably studying the drone that remained in the same position where it had fallen, about twenty feet from his cabin’s porch.
She closed the distance to it and set down her portable kit that resembled one of his large fishing tackleboxes. He hung back a bit and watched her in action. She took out a stack of yellow, numbered evidence markers and placed one next to the drone and a second near a section that had broken off the drone when it crashed.
She slipped her fingers into disposable gloves and lifted her camera from around her neck. She snapped pictures of both items, the click of the shutter breaking the silence. Releasing the camera to let it hang around her neck, she squatted and picked up the large piece of the drone that held a camera.
She turned it over and studied the device. “Are you familiar with remote ID?”
Dev nodded. “A registered drone in flight has to provide identification and location information through a broadcast signal so it can be received by others.”
“Exactly. It allows the person receiving the signal to locate the control station.”
“So, for example the FAA could find a drone that is flying unsafely,” Dev said.
“Correct.” She peered at the drone again. “Newer models have the broadcast signal built in, but this looks like an older model drone. If I’m right, it would have to be retrofitted with a remote ID module. I don’t see one, but Nick can tell us if it had any earlier broadcasts. I’m not sure if he can access the data or if it’s only restricted to the FAA and law enforcement.”
