Page 39 of Shadow of Hope
He let out a low whistle. “I’ll be needing a tour of that lab.”
“I’m sure our firearms experts, Grady or Trent, would give you one if we asked,” Delcie said.
Oh yeah.Could be the one bright side in this whole situation. “Then let’s ask.”
They moved outside, and he caught sight of a firing range in the distance, but what really caught his attention was a two-story house built right behind the center. Not a model. Not a false front, but a real house.
Delcie entered the front door and held up a hand. “We wait here for Sierra.”
Micha took in the two-story entry with a sparkling chandelier and sweeping staircase. A warm and inviting vibe came from the brightly patterned wallpaper. Only if he ignored the blood spatter on the paper and the pool of blood on the floor, along with several pieces of evidence noted by bright orange evidence numbers.
“What is this building, anyway?” Ava asked.
Delcie shoved her hands into the pockets of her white lab coat. “It’s a sixteen hundred square foot house, where we set up mock crime scenes to provide new hires with a hands-on experience in unique crime scenes. Sierra also uses it as a teaching facility to instruct all of her staff in the latest forensic breakthroughs so we can live up to our reputation as a cutting-edge lab.”
“Wow,” Micha said. “Quite an investment for that.”
“As I always say,” a woman with long blond hair and bangs stepped into the foyer, “you can’t put a price on greatness.” She chuckled, her eyes warm and friendly. “Sierra Rice. Forensic expert and partner here.”
Micha held out his hand, and they shook. “Thank you for agreeing to see us last minute like this.”
“Of course.” She turned to Delcie. “Can you help the staff get this crime scene cleaned up?”
“Sure thing.” She hustled into the other room.
Sierra offered her hand to Colin. “Nice to see you again, Colin. How is everyone doing at Shadow Lake?”
“They’re all being their usual bossy selves.” He chuckled.
“And I’m sure you just go along with everything.” Sierra laughed and shook hands with him, then Ava. “Sorry I’m not in my lab, but I have evidence bags here, and I can take possession of your items now if you’ll follow me. Careful of the blood. It can be slippery. Especially on tile.”
She stepped into a living room where full blackout shades had been lowered making the room darker than normal. “Our home is pretty normal except for the intense blackout shades used in our shooting scenarios. Helps with the laser-trajectory rod usage that Grady and Trent do. And blood stain analysis for the various lights we use in evidence collection too. We’ve also placed cameras in several areas to allow us to do a better job of training, too.”
Micha took it all in. “This place would be great to train law enforcement too.”
She nodded. “We agree and take our role in enhancing law enforcement and forensic science seriously. So we allow access for area agency trainings as often as they like.”
“Impressive addition since I was last here,” Colin said.
“Thank you.” She stepped into a kitchen and moved behind an island. From a drawer she took out bags and markers. “Now what do we have?”
Micha placed the bag holding the catapult on the counter. “I did my best to preserve the evidence. None of us touched it. I wore disposable gloves from the first aid kit to handle it and the bag was clean.”
She slipped on purple gloves. “Sounds like you know what you’re doing.”
“Former military intelligence,” he said.
“Ah, that explains it.” She pulled out a roll of white paper from under the island and covered the counter with a long sheet, then took out the catapult and studied it. “Wood is quite smooth. Lifting any prints that it might hold should be pretty straightforward.”
“Good deal,” Micha said.
“Well, partially a good deal anyway.” She narrowed her eyes. “I can find the prints for you, but if you’re expecting me to submit them to AFIS, I can’t do that. Not without an official law enforcement investigation.”
Micha’s good mood evaporated. The Automated Fingerprint Identification System managed by the FBI contained prints from known criminals, which was the most likely way to find a suspect. “We aren’t working with law enforcement. At least not yet.”
Sierra raised an eyebrow. “Not even Russ Maddox?”
Micha shook his head but didn’t elaborate as he didn’t want her to refuse to process the evidence when she heard they weren’t handling everything on the up-and-up. “We have five potential suspects, though. Three more likely than others.”
