fandomhigh | Entries tagged with forensics

brandyforapples.livejournal.com

"Well, today's the last day of class and... to be perfectly frank, I can't really find it in my heart to test you on much of anything."

Mostly because, well, she was going to miss them. She'd sent the letter two days ago; by New Amsterdam post, it should reach Richard's office just before she did.

"What I would like to do is open things up for any of you to ask anything of me that you'd like, on any topic you might know I could speak to. If your question must be private, please feel free to come by Friday."

She glanced around the room and her smile was tight.

"I would like you to know that it has been a pleasure teaching you and that I wish you all the best of luck in the future."

[ocd up!][GDRL; sorry this is late!]

brandyforapples.livejournal.com

"I admit that today's class, as it has to do with witnesses and suspects, is something of a mixed bag. For one, I'm going to speak about interrogation which, strictly speaking, is not at all forensics. It is, however, something you might have to do if you are in any way, shape or form, part of an investigation. Any discussion with a potential lead, no matter how small, should be conducted with the importance of your work in mind."

She eyed the class thoughtfully.

"As such, I'd like you all to give this and this a look, though obviously we will not be watching the whole of either video. While that particular right is not, in fact, a part of my own legal system, the points that these men make are very intelligent and speak to the tendencies of investigators as well as to those who would give you information."

Abby Irene looked at her class and considered some of what she'd spoken to Murdock about, her gaze settling on a few particular faces. She would miss this. God, she really and truly would miss this place and these children.

"The first lesson is to treat every person you're talking to as a witness. I know this might sound counterproductive, but it is the best strategy to gain information. Treating everyone as a witness makes them more likely to offer information, less likely to close up, and those they know who might be able to provide some information for us to use in prosecution are more likely to do so when they think that it's just harmless.

"As for thaumaturgically..."

She went on for some time, really, before they got to the discussion.

[ocd up!]

brandyforapples.livejournal.com

She eyed her class carefully, considered what had happened last week, and shook her head.

"I'll hand out something next week covering today's class. Instead, I've brought some tea and coffee," which she pointed to, "as well as some baked goods" which was there as well "and we're going to watch a movie and not think about anything but the ridiculousness of this plot."

And she took her seat at the back of the class to let them at it.

[ocd up!]

brandyforapples.livejournal.com

"Ethereal evidence," she started, smiling at the assembled.

"There's certainly a lot I could cover, but I'm going to keep things very basic. Ethereal evidence is anything which is not physical evidence; it's a poor definition, in some ways, but necessarily vague due to the various ways in which one might observe and use ethereal evidence."

She walked up to the blackboard.

"Ethereal evidence is the emotional content of the scene, memories or impressions left in a weapon or location, any connections sensed with thaumaturgy between an item and a suspect. It can be as simple as the way a man moves to tip a hat that has been lost in a struggle to the evidence provided by a ritual designed to locate the writer of a particular note. As we have had no crime, and one cannot produce ethereal evidence in such a space as this, we're simply going to discuss the matter, times when it has been helpful to it, and occasions when ethereal evidence can be either useful or misleading."

[ocd up!]

brandyforapples.livejournal.com

"Physical evidence," she started off as soon as her students were in their seats, "is, quite obviously, both some of the most important you're going to have on a case and some of the most confusing. Anything, from a shoe to a handgun, will tell you something about what happened at the scene of the crime, but figuring out the important from the unimportant is where you must be the most careful."

She lifted, as she'd mentinoed, a shoe from the desk.

"A deductive mind would say that this shoe, found on the murdered victim, was scuffed and torn during the flight from his attacker," and she pointed with one finger, "indicating either an unexperienced attacker or someone whom the victim knew to be afraid of."

Abby Irene smiled at the class wryly.

"That idea, however, loses all water when you consider that the victim was found in his home with no signs of a struggle or forced entry. This scuff is merely evidence that the gentleman in question was careless with his things, or without means to have his shoes shined regularly."

She put the shoe down.

"Magically, of course, there are other things you can do with a piece of evidence, and we'll get there. But for now, I'm going to give each of you a piece of 'evidence' and I'd like to see what you get from it with only a few minor details included."

[ocd up!]

brandyforapples.livejournal.com

The Danger Shop had been transformed for this class; it now resembled nothing so much as a New Amsterdam alleyway, a little dirty, largely dark, and somewhat foreboding.

"Welcome to today's class. As your syllabus said, today we are studying the crime scene. While my current position means that I usually come to the scene after the police have already done quite a lot of work, you will not always be so lucky.

"So... your first job is to find the body. Your second is to notice as many pieces of information as possible, and your last is to figure out, from the clues left to you, what your next step should be. I would like you to work in teams; help each other, try and find someone with a different skillset from you, or someone who might pick up what you wouldn't think of."

[ocd up, sorry this is up so late!]

brandyforapples.livejournal.com

It was a new term and a new term meant new students. Or, in Abby Irene's case, new students and old students. She was rather pleased with the fact that she saw repeat visitors to her class, though one had her just a touch boggled really.

As they entered, she leaned back against her desk and spread her hands. She'd been wise enough to put the copies of the syllabus so they could skip the 'passing out' trouble.

"Welcome to Basic and Thaumaturgical Forensics. My name, for those who don't know me, is Detective Crown Investigator Abigail Irene Garrett. For this class, you may refer to me as Doctor Garrett, DCI Garrett, or simply Professor Garrett as you prefer but kindly keep your 'missus' to yourself.

"In this class, we'll be covering the most simplistic of forensics that you can do with magick or with your own two hands and eyes. I realize that some of you might come from worlds with a great deal more technology than I am used to, but there are some things which thaumaturgy does well, and nothing that can't be served with a bit of common sense and a sharp eye.

"First class, of course, is introductions. Not to mention openings for teaching assistants, for anyone interested."

[ocd up!][Roster and Syllabus]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

There's no lab this time as students enter the danger shop, just a stack of black duffel bags. "For our final, you're going to take what you've learned and do what I'm sure you've all been wanting to do this whole semester."

She pointed behind her down a long hallway lined with doors. "You're each going to commit a crime."

Abby lead the students into a room and once the last student had filed in, a dummy appeared on a chair in front of them. "This is Bob. You're going to kill Bob. You have to figure out how to do it, how to be sneaky about it and how to make sure that the cops can't figure out it was you. Bonus points if you can frame one of your classmates in the murder."

"Because I don't want you to have nightmares, all you have to do is say the method of homicide out loud and the danger shop will kill your dummy for you." Abby grinned. "Now, head to a room and get killing!"

[ooc: OCD up! Play!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

Abby was standing at the door of the danger shop, handing out hardhats along with the usual labcoats. "Welcome to the last class. I'm really sad that this class is ending, I've had a fun time killing off your fellow teachers and classmates."

"Today we're going to be focusing on one last aspect of forensic science." Abby said, donning her own hard hat. "Figuring out the differences between an accident and a homicide."

"Not everyone that dies has been killed." Abby lectured. "And sometimes murders can be set up to look like accidents. You need to be smarter than the cops, smarter than the doctors, smarter than the criminals to solve these type of crimes."

She flashed up two scenes on the plasma screen, both of drowning victims. "These scenes are similar, but one was an accidental drowning and the other was a homicide. There are a few obvious clues and some not-so-obvious ones."

Waiting until the class had finished talking about the scenes, Abby herded them to the door that led to the crime scene. It opened into a large warehouse, complete with piles of wood pallets and flickering lights.

In the center of the room was a puddle of water and an electrical wire surrounding the body of Jake Gavin. "You're job is to figure out if Jake died as a result of an accident or somebody killed him. Oh, the wire isn't live so none of you are in danger. I just think hard hats are fun to wear."

[ooc: ocd up!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

Abby stood by a lab table full of Kwik Stop snacks as the students came into the classroom, drinking from a large cup of Caf-Pow.

“I’m sorry for flaking out on you guys last week so I brought you treats. Plus, everybody gets an automatic A for last week.”

Once people had gotten something to eat, Abby walked over to a wall of the lab where several blank-faced dummies stood in a row. “These are forensic helpers. They stand in a for a body so you can easily see the height or approximate weight of a person. They’re pretty indestructible. I’ve thrown one off a bridge, beat one with a baseball bat and tried to set one on fire.” Abby looked a little too gleeful as she counted off the damage on her fingers. “Today you’ll be using it to replicate the crime. Try to figure out how tall the killer was.”

“But let’s get to the crime scene for today. I’m really excited about it!” Abby led the students through the door of the lab into a posh living room. Movie posters lined the walls in gilded frames and over the mantle place was a larger than life painting of Daisy Adair. Lying across a chaise lounge in front of the fireplace was Daisy’s body, a bloody Oscar statuette nearby.

[OCD UP! PLAYOMG!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

The classroom was dark when the students entered and Abby was standing by the rack of laptops she had handed out last week.

"We're going to be using these today to solve our crime." Abby said, loading a program on one and explaining how to do handwriting analysis. "Also, you're going to be looking for matching injuries in crime databases. When you're not sure what happened at a scene or you want to check and see if this fits the profile of different crimes, you can enter the information and look for a match."

"Today's crime scene is very cool. It's our first hanging!" Pulling the door open to the crime scene, Abby grinned excitedly and ushered the students into the room where Bel lay on the ground. "Police found our dead guy this morning swinging from the rafters. They cut him down but they aren't sure if he's a suicide or the victim of a homicide. It's up to you guys to decide what happened."

[ooc: OCD up!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

Abby is sitting on one of the lab stools, spinning in a circle as the students enter. "I failed at tackling people this week so no talking dead people. So instead we're going to play with computer forensics."

"Not everything is blood, guts and fingerprints. A lot of times you'll be using computers to catch the bad guys." Abby described some of the programs. "Setting up crime scene analysis, tracing emails, tracking GPS, following bank accounts. That sort of thing."

Pointing out a stack of laptops, she grinned. "These are loaded up with every sort of forensic tool you'll need. Broots, Mac and Lucas? I'll be counting the laptops before you leave so don't get any ideas."

[ooc: OCD up!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

Abby was pouring over a notebook at a lab table when the students entered. "John, Parker, Zero, Will, Billy, Lana and Hermione all have perfect attendance. Lucas already talked to me about his absence. Everyone else should come see me and have a reason for their absences or a bribe for your teacher."

"Now, today we're going to be working on identifying bodies where there's not much left to the bodies." Abby turned on the overhead to show a skeleton. "Due to method of murder, you're not always able to find fingerprints or identify by facial features. Sometimes you need to use other methods to identify the victim."

Abby gave a lecture on how to identify skeletons and teeth, showing pictures and x rays. Opening the door to the crime scene, Abby grinned at the students. "Let's get to the fun part."

A half collapsed garage stood on a grassy lawn, one wall torn apart and laying in pieces of shrapnel along the ground. "This is the final resting place of two people. Early this morning a pipe bomb went off and destroyed this building and killed the two people inside of it. There wasn't a lot left, so it's up to you guys to find a way to identify the remains and match them up with a file in missing persons. Also, here's a hint, make sure the injuries to the bodies match the injuries consistent with an explosion."

Abby glared at the garage. "There'll be pieces of a skeleton that you'll have to find. The other "dead" body," Abby used finger quotes here. "Is being a big pain and refusing to wear my really nifty skeleton t-shirt. So just pretend Miley is all burned and exploded."

[ooc: OCD up! Play!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

In place of the overhead today there was a flat screen TV set up in the lab and Abby was busying talking to an older gentleman as the students entered.

( Read more... )

[ooc: plz to be ~~waiting for the ocd!~~ playing!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

The danger shop was set up as normal, with Abby perched on a lab table watching as the students entered. "I will pay anyone cash money for video footage of my fellow teachers being all cute and tiny."

"I was really impressed with how everyone did last week. This week we're back to learning some forensic techniques." Abby turned on the overhead and started talking about testing items for drug residue. "We've done food toxicology before but a lot of people die from exposure to drugs that they didn't ingest. I've seen drugs that were smoked, drugs that were on fabric and drugs sprayed into the face. You'll have to check for everything."

"Let's get to the crime scene." Abby said, moving to open the door. "Our dead guy was found in a hotel room, surrounding by what looks to be the remains of a very fun night. The reporting parties were 3 women who are being held for questioning."

The door led to a very cheesy hotel room, complete with red furnishings, mirrors and a large circular bed where a dead Dick Casblancas lay, shirtless and covered up to his waist by red silk sheets. Abby rolled her eyes at how low Dick had pushed the sheet and pointed to her students. "Go find the bad guy!"

[~~Wait for OCD please~~ OCD's up! Play!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

There were wee heart lollipops alongside the lab coats this week as the students filed into the Danger shop. Abby was sitting on one of the lab counters, her pigtails held up with bright red fuzzy ties.

"Happy Valentines Day, guys! Eat your suckers during the lecture because you are not going to want to take them into the practical this week." Grinning at the students, she clapped her hands. "This week we're going to be using the forensic skills you've learned to find out what happened at a crime scene. The only catch is that you won't be the only people there this week. You'll be dealing with other departments, people who will be in charge, people who might mess up your crime scene. As always, you want to figure how what happened to the victim, but this week you're going to learn how to deal with firemen and cops. Cooperation is key, guys. You're an important part of the team so don't let them walk all over you...but don't get too uppity. They can throw you off the crime scene. Today that'll mean you get a lower grade but in the field it'll mean that you can't do your job and evidence could get lost or destroyed while they wait for a replacement."

Passing out handouts and messenger bags to each of the students, Abby talked a little about the tools that they'd find inside. A camera for crime scene photos, several evidence bags and vials, notebook and pens, and most importantly, identification. "Crime scenes can be like circuses and being the lab geek means that not everyone at the scene will know who you are. Unless you want to be tossed into the back of a police car, keep your ID on you at all times."

Opening the door of the lab, she ushered the students through. Instead of walking into the crime scene like usual, the scene was set outdoors. They stood in front of a burnt out shell of a house, still smoking in places as ~~NPC~~ firefighters crawled over it. The stench of burning wood was heavy in the air as Abby directed them to three firefighters who were waiting near the front door.

"Go get 'em!"

[ooc: OCD up! Go ahead and play!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

Abby was on the phone when the students entered the danger shop; arguing with someone about a Caf-Pow! delivery. "You're already one day late. I can't be held responsible for my actions if you don't get it here today. No, that's not a threat against you. I'm a high school teacher, it's not like I'm going to come after you or anything. It's just that I've accidentally killed the wrong person already because I didn't drink enough Caf-Pow!, I don't want that to happen agai-hello? Hello?"

Abby shook her head and slammed down the phone. "Stupid delivery men." Pointing to the stools in the lab, she stalked over to the whiteboard to start the lecture. "I'm not in the best of moods today so lets try getting through the lecture quickly so you can go do your crime scene work. Today we're talking about trace evidence. It's the itty bitty things that are found at crime scenes that you'll be responsible for collecting, cataloging and identifying. Trace evidence includes hairs, fibers, soils, botanical materials, residue from gunshot or explosives." Abby gave a handwavy lecture on using microscopes and lab equipment to test evidence. "Basically, you're going to be collecting everything and bringing it back to the lab. Most of it will be crap, but some will help you solve the crime and identify the killers."

Walking to the door of the lab, Abby walked through, motioning the students to stand with her around an outdoor pool. The water was drained from the majority of the pool, leaving a few dirty feet of water in the deep end and two bodies in the shallow end. "There was a party here last night, lots of drinking and dancing and two deaths. Some say the men just had too much drink, some say they committed suicide. It's your job to gather as much trace evidence as you can and use it to discover what happened."

Pointing to a stack of rubber waders, Abby stood back to let the students put them on and climb down into the pool. "This is Aziraphale and not-Wilson." Abby glared a little at Neil and shook her head. "Apparently when I've not had enough caffeine, people are a little fuzzy to me. In my defense, he looks very similar. Whatever. Neil deserves to have his murder avenged as well. Remember to get the trace evidence from the water in the pool and the bodies. Go for it."

[ooc: OCD up! Play!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

The box of lab coats is next to door of the danger shop and Abby is perched on a lab counter, flipping a DVD in the air. After checking the class over for a few minutes, she hopped off and started pacing.

"We've got a blood free class today and I hopefully that makes some of you happy. Today we're going to do two of the things that I hate doing. But that doesn't mean that you have to hate today's class. Maybe you'll love it. Maybe your new favorite class with be today's class on..." Abby walked over to the overhead projector and turned it on, illuminating a worksheet on toxicology. "...stomach contents!"

Abby launched into ~~an extremely handwaved~~ lecture on how to test stomach contents. "Also, you're going to pouring over security camera tape to find the bad guy. It's like looking for a needle in a black and white really grainy haystack. Not a favorite thing of mine to be doing, but if you're into that sort of thing you'll have a ball."

Opening the door to the crime scene, Abby moved to show the students the layout. Chad lay slumped in a chair at a very fancy table in a wealthy looking room. Chad's shirt had greyish looking vomit drying on it and the leftovers of dinner were still on the plates in front of him. "This is Chad. Poor dead Chad died before he finished his dinner. I wouldn't recommend nabbing anything off the plate though. You need to figure out how Chad died and who did it. You'll do that by using the skills we talked about in class earlier."

"Go get 'em!"

[ooc: OOC up! Come play!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

Abby welcomed students into the danger shop with the box of lab coats as usual. "Afternoon, guys! We've got a lot to do before we head to the crime scene so lets get cracking."

Walking over to a chart, Abby explained the human ABO blood type system and how to test blood to determine it's type. "Each lab station is going to be set up with this testing equipment." She held up test strips, droppers and the antigens for blood testing. "It's easy. Drop the blood on the strips, add the antigens and see if they react. If the blood reacts to the A antigen it's A blood, if it reacts to A and B antigen it's AB blood, etc. Then do a RH test and to see whether the blood is positive or negative."

Abby walked over to a large block of gray clay that had several knifes sticking out of it at all angles. Grabbing a large knife, she drew it out and then plunged it back into the clay quickly. "This is forensics clay. You're going to stab it today to see what sort of wound different objects make. Match the wound in the clay to the wound in the victim and you've found your murder weapon."

"Now, let's get to the fun stuff!" Abby moved to open a door onto the crime scene, an upscale study that held, among other things, a deceased Molly Hayes, laying across a couch. "Police found Molly during a party at a very ritzy house and detained the other guests. They need you to figure out how she died, what was used to kill her and who did it."

"Also..." Abby looked around the room for Broots. "Just to make things clear, the dead people aren't really dead. The blood isn't real and the bad guys are figments of the danger shop's imagination."

"Now, get to work!"

[ooc: ~~Wait for OCD please!~~ OCD up! Play!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

Abby welcomed the students into the danger room by handing out lab coats and directing them to the lab. "Last week was excellent, I'm totally impressed by your work! Because you guys turned out to know more than I thought, I'm bumping up the lessons plans. Today we're going to be focusing on two techniques."

"We're going to be looking for leftovers today. Leftover blood and leftover residue from a gun." Abby gave a quick lecture on the history, chemical basics and uses of Luminol. She didn't really care if you were taking notes or not. "What you need to remember for today's class is 'wetter is better'. Don't skimp on spraying the solution. You don't want to let the bad guy get off because you were nervous about getting the drapes soggy. Once you've sprayed the solution, use the portable blacklights to determine whether or not there's a glow."

"Next we're going to test for gunshot residue." Abby grinned and held up a plastic arm off a mannequin. "This is Creepy Pete, the criminal. He's going to help you learn today, aren't you, Pete?" The hand didn't respond. Running through a history of the chemicals used and the methods employed to test for gunshot residue, Abby finished up by grabbing a tube and brush. "It's easy as pie. You brush on the activator and then hold the hand under a special light. Ta-da! Creepy Pete has been up to no good."

Abby rubbed her hands together excitedly and pointed towards the crime scene door. "Now for the fun part! Today's crime scene is a mystery that you need to solve. The police found young Sam, the victim of an apparent suicide. But there are some concerns." Abby led the way to the doorway so that the students could see the crime scene, a small bedroom with light blue walls, a desk and chair, carpeted floors. Then there was the bed where Sam Winchester lay, seemingly dead, one hand lying on his chest and the sheet beneath his head slick with dried blood.

"Now," Abby had allowed a few moments for the crime scene to sink before speaking. "The first officers on the scene found a gun in Sam's hand, just lying across his chest. Such a perfect placement like that after shooting yourself in the head seemed a little iffy and add the fact that there's no blood spatter on the bed and you've got a possibility that this case isn't as open and shut as it looks. Check out the room with the the luminol and then check out Sam for gunshot residue. Pick up your handouts and your tools from the lab and then get to work. Use the evidence to figure out what happened and then catch the bad guy."

[ooc: OCD ~~coming~~ up! Play!]

cheerfulgoth.livejournal.com

When the students came into the danger shop they entered into a lab that seemed straight from the heart of a police department or right off the set of a TV show. There were computers, microscopes, containers and tubes and just about every forensic doodad that you could imagine. Abby stood at the door and handed labcoats to everyone and pointed them to a row of stools around the edges of the room.

"Hey guys, I'm Professor Abby and I'll be teaching you the basics of forensics science this semester. Since I would be bored out of my brain teaching you things on paper, we're going to take a more hands on approach. I'm assuming that at least most of you have seen a TV show were they solved the case by using forensic science. They matched the fingerprints on the gun. They traced the carpet fibers. They figured out whodunit by using forensics."

"In this class you're going to be learning forensics by doing the same thing as the scientists on those shows. You're going to solve a crime." Abby pulled her lab coat tighter and motioned to a door on one side of the lab. "Follow me."

As the students stepped from the lab they walked into a dark deserted parking lot. A single flickering street lamp illuminated one corner of the lot where a blonde girl lay half against a wall amidst broken bottles, trash and puddles of water.

"This is Isabel. She's dead." Abby said, stopping about halfway across the lot. From this distance they could see that Isabel was unmarked, but it was hard to tell in the light if she was breathing or not. All in all, a pretty convincing display. "You're going to try and figure out how she died and who killed her using what you know and my nifty handout. You can work alone or in pairs or teams. Whatever you want. This week we're going to be focusing on prints that aren't fingerprints."

Passing out the handouts, Abby continued talking. "You're in high school. I'm not expecting you to know everything yet. So don't worry about knowing how to do everything on the handout. When in doubt...ask a question. I'll be around and there's always Isabel. You'd be surprised at how talkative a dead person can be."

[ooc: ~~ocd coming soon!~~ OCD up! Play!]

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