[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
the temperature was lower . . . like sitting on the ground . . .
I m just thinking here.
Yes, said Hector, perhaps the thick pieces might
contain some strands that survived. Of course we would
have . . .
To use Jin s protocol for shed hair, said Scott.
They looked at Jin.
What do you think? Diane asked Jin.
It never hurts to try, but I don t really hold out any
hope. But we may get a paper out of it. He grinned. So did
Hector and Scott.
I ll send you some samples, said Diane. Thank you.
By the way, said Jin, I ve done some analysis on our
evidence. That large stain on the floor near the table was a
combination of urine and feces, just as you said. Probably
the spot where she died.
Diane nodded. Thanks, Jin.
She left them and rode the elevator up to the third floor
and walked over to the crime lab.
Neva, David, and Izzy were there. They were getting a
lecture on handwriting analysis from a member of the mu-
seum archives staff. The sample under discussion was the
writing on the back of Marcella s desk drawer.
I personally think that you can t tell much about what
slant means in the young, Lawrence Michaels, one of the
museum s archivists and their only handwriting expert, was
saying when Diane walked into the dimly lit lab. Children,
especially early teenage girls, experiment with different
handwriting on a whim for fun. However, in the adult . . .
Ah, Dr. Fallon. Good to see you. I was just explaining that
I get a bit of mixed messages from the handwriting on the
desk drawer.
Michaels was a middle-aged man with striking silver
hair. He always dressed in a suit and tie, clothes he appar-
ently found comfortable. Occasionally he wore a bow tie,
which Diane thought gave him an entirely different per-
sona. Today he had on a dark brown suit, a light pink shirt
with a tie that was a dark shade of pink decorated with
small brown fleurs de lis. Diane pulled up a chair and sat
down beside David.
This is a woman s hand, Michaels continued. She is
intelligent and creative as suggested by the rounded w
and the one u. These coiled shapes and counterstrokes that
curve in what we might call the wrong way, suggest a self-
centeredness. The closed a s and o s suggest that she is hid-
ing something.
He indicated each of the characteristics with a laser
pointer that jumped quickly from character to character,
making lightning zigzags of neon red on the dry-erase
board where he had projected the image of the note.
The characters are largest in the middle zone the
ascenders and descenders don t go much above or below
114 Beverly Connor
the baseline. This suggests immaturity could be young at
heart. Immaturity doesn t always have to be a bad thing.
The way the letters slant in different directions is a little
disturbing. Bottom line, I m not really sure what you have
here. Perhaps an intelligent, creative, selfish, and childishly
disturbed woman with something to hide. Or maybe not.
This isn t an exact science. I hope this helps. He grinned
at his audience.
No offense, said Izzy, but I could have gotten most of
that from the words she wrote. What adult, but a disturbed
one, writes a message like that on the bottom of a drawer?
Who did she expect would find it?
Michaels shrugged. The handwriting is consistent with
the message. I can say that, he said.
Thank you, Dr. Michaels, said Diane. Quite possibly,
it does help. What would really help, Diane said to all of
them, is if we could get an approximate date for when the
message was written.
Okay, said Michaels. There is one other thing. See the
double s in the word missing how the first s is like an f,
only backward? That s the way kids were taught to write
about a hundred years or so ago. That s called a leading s
because it is the first s in the sequence.
Now, see, said Izzy. That s helpful. You should have
said that right off.
Sorry, Michaels said, grinning. He dusted off his hands
as if he had been using chalk instead of a laser pointer.
Well, I think it s neat, said Neva. Thanks, Dr. Michaels.
Neva escorted Lawrence Michaels to the door that was
the threshold between the dark side, the crime lab, and the
museum proper.
I couldn t help but notice, David said to Diane when
Neva returned, that you said that quite possibly it does [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
the temperature was lower . . . like sitting on the ground . . .
I m just thinking here.
Yes, said Hector, perhaps the thick pieces might
contain some strands that survived. Of course we would
have . . .
To use Jin s protocol for shed hair, said Scott.
They looked at Jin.
What do you think? Diane asked Jin.
It never hurts to try, but I don t really hold out any
hope. But we may get a paper out of it. He grinned. So did
Hector and Scott.
I ll send you some samples, said Diane. Thank you.
By the way, said Jin, I ve done some analysis on our
evidence. That large stain on the floor near the table was a
combination of urine and feces, just as you said. Probably
the spot where she died.
Diane nodded. Thanks, Jin.
She left them and rode the elevator up to the third floor
and walked over to the crime lab.
Neva, David, and Izzy were there. They were getting a
lecture on handwriting analysis from a member of the mu-
seum archives staff. The sample under discussion was the
writing on the back of Marcella s desk drawer.
I personally think that you can t tell much about what
slant means in the young, Lawrence Michaels, one of the
museum s archivists and their only handwriting expert, was
saying when Diane walked into the dimly lit lab. Children,
especially early teenage girls, experiment with different
handwriting on a whim for fun. However, in the adult . . .
Ah, Dr. Fallon. Good to see you. I was just explaining that
I get a bit of mixed messages from the handwriting on the
desk drawer.
Michaels was a middle-aged man with striking silver
hair. He always dressed in a suit and tie, clothes he appar-
ently found comfortable. Occasionally he wore a bow tie,
which Diane thought gave him an entirely different per-
sona. Today he had on a dark brown suit, a light pink shirt
with a tie that was a dark shade of pink decorated with
small brown fleurs de lis. Diane pulled up a chair and sat
down beside David.
This is a woman s hand, Michaels continued. She is
intelligent and creative as suggested by the rounded w
and the one u. These coiled shapes and counterstrokes that
curve in what we might call the wrong way, suggest a self-
centeredness. The closed a s and o s suggest that she is hid-
ing something.
He indicated each of the characteristics with a laser
pointer that jumped quickly from character to character,
making lightning zigzags of neon red on the dry-erase
board where he had projected the image of the note.
The characters are largest in the middle zone the
ascenders and descenders don t go much above or below
114 Beverly Connor
the baseline. This suggests immaturity could be young at
heart. Immaturity doesn t always have to be a bad thing.
The way the letters slant in different directions is a little
disturbing. Bottom line, I m not really sure what you have
here. Perhaps an intelligent, creative, selfish, and childishly
disturbed woman with something to hide. Or maybe not.
This isn t an exact science. I hope this helps. He grinned
at his audience.
No offense, said Izzy, but I could have gotten most of
that from the words she wrote. What adult, but a disturbed
one, writes a message like that on the bottom of a drawer?
Who did she expect would find it?
Michaels shrugged. The handwriting is consistent with
the message. I can say that, he said.
Thank you, Dr. Michaels, said Diane. Quite possibly,
it does help. What would really help, Diane said to all of
them, is if we could get an approximate date for when the
message was written.
Okay, said Michaels. There is one other thing. See the
double s in the word missing how the first s is like an f,
only backward? That s the way kids were taught to write
about a hundred years or so ago. That s called a leading s
because it is the first s in the sequence.
Now, see, said Izzy. That s helpful. You should have
said that right off.
Sorry, Michaels said, grinning. He dusted off his hands
as if he had been using chalk instead of a laser pointer.
Well, I think it s neat, said Neva. Thanks, Dr. Michaels.
Neva escorted Lawrence Michaels to the door that was
the threshold between the dark side, the crime lab, and the
museum proper.
I couldn t help but notice, David said to Diane when
Neva returned, that you said that quite possibly it does [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]