Eye of the Ocelot by Volta Rose

Author:Volta Rose
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Eye of the Ocelot, Abigail Fiorelli Mystery, Volta Rose, Green Heart Books, mystery series, ecology mystery, endangered species mystery, detective mystery
Publisher: GREEN HEART BOOKS
Published: 2022-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

24

The tow truck had hauled the SUV down to the Barnstable station garage, backing up and dropping it off in the bay set up for forensics.

After the SUV had been allowed to dry for several days, Coleman and Fiorelli donned evidence suits, gloves, and masks, then began combing through the vehicle. First, they fingerprinted every surface an operator would normally touch: steering wheel, shift lever, door handles inside and out, dash surfaces, radio knobs. With their faces covered, Coleman and Fiorelli communicated mostly by motioning to each other as they examined each surface and checked it off on the vehicle evidence examination form. At one point, Coleman remarked, “I’ve never searched a vehicle for prints when no one was actually driving the car.”

Fiorelli smiled beneath her mask. “Me neither. And I’ll bet, given the sophistication of the operation we’re dealing with, they were thorough in removing the prints of everyone who worked on this mastodon of a car before it led us on that high-tech wild goose chase.”

The team examined the seats, dash, floormats, and other interior surfaces for any bits of evidence that may have been left lying out in the open. When all secondary forensics checks had been accounted for, they began to dig even deeper: under seats, inside the upholstery, in the spare tire well, under the hood, and within the cargo area. This was the point in every vehicle search at which Fiorelli would start asking herself just how deep they wanted to dig. She thought of the exhaustive search depicted in The French Connection, when the detectives dismantled an entire vehicle into its component parts and were ready to give up. Someone asked if there was any place at all left unchecked. “Just the rocker panels,” a detective replied. That was where the hidden contraband was finally discovered.

Fiorelli stepped away from the vehicle and took off her mask. “Andrew, it’s all in your hands now. This car had been wiped and washed clean.”

“Maybe so, Abby, but this isn’t 007’s Aston Martin or Mission Impossible, where the electronics self-destruct and go up in a puff of smoke after they’ve done their job. Everything I need to know is waiting inside the circuit boards and mainframe computer—including, hopefully, some digital echoes of how and where the Artemisians pulled this off. Your work here is done, but mine is just beginning.” With that, he reached for a tool pouch, rolled it out like a surgical kit on what was left of the passenger seat, and started dissecting the brains of the most sophisticated vehicle he’d ever worked on.

“This is what you live for, isn’t it, Coleman?” queried Fiorelli.

“My heroes are Q in the 007 films and Scotty on the USS Enterprise. This isn’t quite as difficult as trying to use a transporter to beam someone aboard while moving at warp speed, but it’s still an exciting dive into new technology.”

“I have no idea what language you’re speaking, Andrew,” replied Fiorelli, shaking her head. “And that’s probably a good thing.

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