Basic Investigation Skills Tutorial No. 2

by Frank Riccobono

How to Take Fingerprints

1. Search the crime scene for a likely surface to yield a usable set of prints. Smooth surfaces such as drinking glasses or doorknobs are ideal.
2. Sprinkle fingerprinting dust onto the surface.
3. Using a soft brush, clear away the excess dust revealing the telltale swirls and arcs of a fingerprint.
4. Gently lay a piece of clear tape over the imprint, taking care not to smudge it.
5. Contact your local biomedical research facility and ask to borrow their skin-graft 3D printer.
6. Use the machine to construct a flesh glove with the prints on the appropriate fingers.
7. Put the glove on your hand. They are now your fingerprints. You are the suspect.
8. Thrill in the exhilaration of being on the run from the law.
9. Feel secure in the knowledge that you will never be caught because you are the law.
10. Spend a good few minutes getting into this state of mind.
11. Use your nascent psychic link to track down the suspect. Where would John Doe go? You are now John Doe. Where would you go?
12. When your paths inevitably cross, cast off the glove and resume your prior life. You have no more need of these fingerprints.
13. Arrest the suspect and continue the investigation.

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