Page 71 of Night Prey
“We’ll need to have this processed for prints and DNA.” Ian gritted his teeth and set the paper down to lift a clear plastic zipper bag from the box.
Malone took a quick look to confirm a finger from the knuckle up dangled in the bag, but her stomach churned, and she had to look away.
“Seems like it’s from a male,” Ian said. “But what do I know?”
“Kelsey’s on her way up.” Sierra shoved her phone into her pocket and stepped up behind him. “If you want to know gender, I can tell you from a print. I’ll do it electronically, and it won’t alter the finger by adding ink.”
Malone turned back. “You can really tell gender just from a fingerprint?”
“Yes. There are two ways actually. First, females have significantly higher ridge density. Meaning a finer ridge than males for both radial and ulnar areas. And eighteen-year-olds and younger have higher fingerprint RD than older males.”
“And the second way to tell?” Ian asked.
“Fingerprints contain certain amino acids,” Sierra replied. “The levels of these amino acids are twice as high in the sweat of women as in that of men.”
“So the first is visual and the second a lab test,” Ian clarified.
Sierra nodded.
“Then if you don’t change anything, go for it.” He held out the bag to her.
Malone watched to see if Sierra seemed at all squeamish, but she just took the bag, set it down then got out a small electronic print reader. She cleaned the screen and picked up the bag.
Sierra took the finger out of the bag, but the lab door opened, and Kelsey entered, giving Malone something else to focus on.
Malone was always struck by the fact that Kelsey didn’t at all look like the kind of woman who might unearth decaying bodies and deal with their bones. She had nearly black wavy long hair, pinned back today with an intricate metal clip, and green eyes that sparkled like emeralds. She wore a lab coat, but underneath she had on a frilly patterned blouse and a pleated navy skirt. She clipped across the room in high heels that Malone envied.
“Hi all.” She smiled at the group then she peered at Ian. “And you must be Detective Blair.”
“It’s Ian.” He shook hands with her.
She looked at Malone, cut her eyes toward Ian, and gave a firm nod. Was she approving him for her? Had Sierra been telling her partners that Ian and Malone had a thing?
Kelsey stepped to the table, her professional look in place. A look Malone thought Kelsey probably needed to get through the things she saw. At least Malone needed a stone face when battered children and women and dirty homeless teens showed up on her doorstep needing help. And not just anyone’s help, but Malone’s help. To give it, she had to remain objective and not let her emotions take over.
Kelsey put on gloves and waited for Sierra to finish taking prints from her reader.
The silence in the room was getting to Malone, and she had to end it. “I had no idea prints could be taken from a finger that was severed days before.”
Kelsey glanced her way. “Fingerprints are very durable. Especially when on ice and kept cold like this finger. When you die, they’re one of the last things to disappear.”
Malone shook her head. “I had no clue.”
“Okay, you’re up, Kelsey,” Sierra said.
Kelsey laid the finger on the clean paper. “It’s an index finger from a right hand. No question about that.”
Malone didn’t interrupt to ask how she knew that but watched with nearly closed eyes as Kelsey measured the finger and studied it, turning it several times. “Longer than a typical female’s index finger. But, as I say, typical, so could still be a female with a long finger. Honestly, the way the nail is cared for, I would say male. Plus, it’s meaty and blunt. And the skin hasn’t aged, so I’d say young male.”
“I concur,” Sierra said looking up for a microscope. “The ridge details match a male, and the amino acid concentration say male as well. Eighteen or under.”
“So, a young male is missing his index finger,” Ian stated.
“A Caucasian male,” Kelsey added.
Sierra held up a swab in a labeled plastic container and looked at Ian. “I swabbed for DNA, which we can get to Emory, but we’ll need your approval to run it in CODIS.”
Malone had clients whose prints were in the Combined DNA Index System, another database managed by the FBI and contained DNA profiles for criminals and law enforcement officers.
