Chapter 47: Unknown Fingerprints...

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In the lab, a steady hum filled the air, machines whirring, computers processing, and the soft buzz of LED lights glowing above. It wasn’t noisy, but there was definitely a sense of life. Sia often said she could tell what kind of day it would be just by listening to the lab’s "heartbeat." Today, though, it felt different, tense, and like everyone was on edge, waiting for something.

Sia was checking the fingerprints, still waiting for the results to come in. Meanwhile, Peter, Mateo, and George were focused on the wires and devices scattered across the table. They figured out that the devices were made with the same formula that William had come up with years ago. This confirmed that the technology made from William’s formula was finally being used, which was puzzling because William had disappeared a long time ago, and nobody had seen him since his formula was destroyed. They found some fingerprints on the wires and devices, which they sent over to Sia for a closer look.

Mateo dropped the last evidence bag beside her. "This is everything we could grab," he said. "Some prints are clean, but others are a mess. Looks like it could be more than one person."

Sia frowned slightly. "That works for me. We’ll check all of them," she replied, sliding open a tray filled with glass plates. "No jumping to conclusions."

She scooted her stool closer to the table, and the others gathered around her, placing the new sets of fingerprints they had just lifted. Each one was carefully sealed in a fresh bag, labeled, dated, and treated like it were the world’s best-kept secret. "Alright," she said softly, "let’s see what we’ve got."

Peter nodded and powered up another monitor. "The database is ready," he said, his excitement palpable as they geared up to dig deeper into the mystery of William’s disappearance and the fingerprints left behind.

George leaned in, keeping an eye on Sia as she worked. "Let’s start with Leo’s samples first and then compare them to the ones we lifted from the scene."

"Sounds good," Sia replied, already fully concentrated on what she had to do.

She opened the first evidence bag, the one Leo had brought, and carefully took out the tape using forceps. With precision, she placed it on a clean glass slide, smoothing it down with the dull end of the tool to avoid trapping any air bubbles.

The fingerprint shimmered a bit under the LED lamp, and the details started to show.

"Next," she said, moving on quickly.

George passed her another slide, and Mateo set up two forensic devices under bright lighting, scanning for any leftover oils and residues. A fine layer of powder clung to the prints still visible on the metal, revealing the intricate patterns of ridges.

Peter collected the tape marks, glancing at them thoughtfully. "These came from the handle of the device," he pointed out. "Whoever used it had a tight grip."

"Could be fear or just experience," Mateo said, looking serious as he thought about what the evidence could mean.

"Or maybe it’s both," Sia added. She placed the new fingerprints next to the original ones and straightened up. "Alright, let’s get started."

The scanner table hummed to life as she popped in the first slide. A pale blue light moved over the fingerprint, capturing every ridge, curl, and tiny flaw. The digital image appeared on the screen, slowly getting bigger.

"Quality looks... acceptable," Sia said. "Starting the enhancement."

The image sharpened up nicely.

"Next." She inserted the second print from the device. The ridges looked different, more compact and slightly angled.

"Not from the same person," George pointed out.

"Maybe," Sia replied. "Let’s let the system work its magic."

She fed in the prints from the wire next. These were faint, almost like the person had rushed their touch. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Peter kept track of everything as she worked. "So that’s seven prints total: three from Leo and four from the wire and devices."

"Good to know," Sia said.

Mateo jumped in, "It seems like there should be four from the wire and devices, and then two from the man’s hands. I mean, with four prints total, it should match the two hands of both people."

"Yeah, that sounds right," Sia said, cracking her knuckles. "Let’s scan all of them."

In just a few minutes, all the fingerprints were digitized and laid out on the screen like a weird puzzle, each one telling its own story.

There were loops, arches, and whorls.

Some prints were bold and confident, leaving solid impressions. Others looked smudged and rushed, like someone was in a hurry. A few were almost too perfect, making them feel a bit off.

Sia pulled up the side-by-side comparison view on her monitor. "Okay, so fingerprint batch A is Leo’s, and batch B is what we collected. I’m running a cross-match now."

The system beeped as it got to work analyzing the prints.

Sia tapped her pen on the counter, her eyes drifting away for a moment, but her mind was laser-focused.

Peter leaned in closer. "Any updates yet?"

"Not yet," she said. "The system is sorting them into categories and checking for duplicates."

Mateo chimed in, "Do you think they could be from the same person?"

Before Sia could answer, George jumped in, "Not a chance. Not unless someone messed with half their hand."

Sia couldn’t help but smile at George’s directness. "Let’s just wait for the results before jumping to conclusions," she replied, keeping her tone light as they all braced for what came next.

The monitor lit up the dim room, displaying:

SCANNING...

COMPARING PRINT A1 WITH PRINT B1...

NO MATCH.

COMPARING PRINT A1 WITH PRINT B2...

NO MATCH.

The machine kept humming along, doing its thing.

COMPARING PRINT A2 WITH PRINT B3...

NO MATCH.

Peter crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking frustrated. "So far, we’ve got nothing. These prints don’t match any of Leo’s samples."

Mateo, peering closely at the screen, chimed in, "That means different people were handling these devices. Could mean we’re dealing with something bigger here."