Crime Scene Investigation: Unraveling the Story Stitch by Stitch

 by Guest Author Katy Lee.

Hello, Seekerville. I am so excited to return to your home today and to spend some time with you during this holiday season. I hope you don’t mind, but I brought my knitting with me, and I’ll respond to you in between rows.

This season I am working on a new shawl, but with this one there won’t be any big surprises of its outcome. (Been there, done that.) You see, I have a pattern. But still, things can happen along the way that bogle my mind sometimes. Holes appear out of nowhere that I have to fix before I can move forward. But this usually transpires when I have been rushing through the stitches or not following the pattern correctly. Both of these can leave you with an unwanted garment in the end.

I’ve learned this past year that the same goes for investigating a crime scene.

I recently completed a crime scene investigation course, and we spent months going over old cold cases, many famous, like the Jonbenet Ramsey case, and an old favorite, Lizzy Borden with her Ma and Pa murders. As students it was difficult to accept we would never know what really happened, but still, that didn’t stop us from digging into the evidence to be the one to find that missing clue that has escaped too-numerous-to-count amateur sleuths, and even the many professional ones who have tried their hand at it over the years.

In addition to investigating cold cases, we learned about the methodical processes CSI’s take from the moment they get the call to come out to a scene to appearing in a court of law to explain their findings, or lack thereof. Something that struck me interesting is that a crime scene investigator’s job isn’t to determine what happened. Sure, they wonder, and even speculate, but when they close their cases up for the day (or night) all they have is an exorbitant collection of swab samples and even more pictures that will need to be shipped off to various labs to be processed and studied. They have to walk away without any finite answers to what happened and hope they did their job clean enough, and careful enough, for the detectives to piece the evidence together for a good picture of the scene.

And speaking of pictures…there are a lot of them.

Pictures will go to court so the jury can get an accurate feel for the crime scene. They will see the scene over and over again as each and every piece of evidence is tagged and photographed before it is removed. The detective giving the class said whenever a piece is removed, another photo is taken of the scene without the item. It’s similar to peeling back the layers of an onion until nothing remains. There could be a clue that is invisible to the bigger picture, and when the camera snaps a shot of the last item in the room, such as a mattress on the floor, it’s still not done, because there could be something beneath the item that could be the crucial piece of evidence needed to solve the case. No stone can be left unturned, and one can’t rush in and start overturning things without going through the step by step processes. To do so, could, and would, contaminate the scene and limit the chances of ever finding the answers, thus creating botched cases that grow cold and old like the famous ones I mentioned.

It’s sad to see how cases do get botched because of a careless move, either done by someone who doesn’t understand contamination, or someone rushing through. But it happens, and oh, so easily. In fact, during my final exam, we had a mock crime scene set up, where we had to come in and perform a full investigation, from taking measurements and photographs to cataloging swab samples and fingerprints. I made the mistake of taking fingerprints before DNA swabs. My oops got me a tsk from the detective and the remark, “You just contaminated my crime scene.”

The key to solving a crime is not rushing, but it also entails following a method that will limit error from entering the scene.

I think this can also be said for writing—and also for knitting.

Knowing the processes of both will garner you something you are pleased with, or at least something that’s workable. You don’t want to end up with a mess to unravel. This is something I learned from Debbie Macomber, who is actually the person I credit to teaching me how to knit. Long story short, I met Debbie on a reader cruise in 2004 and spent each morning with her and other novices and experts learning the stitches to create a blanket by the end of the voyage. Here’s a picture of us catching up at the Barbara Vey Reader Luncheon in 2014. I was excited to show her how far I had come with my skills.

But something I learned was that patterns were the key. Learn the pattern. Understand it to the point you can see your mistakes, but also to the point that you can fix them. When you can fix something, then you know you’ve grasped it. But, also learn the pattern, the routine, the structure, to avoid the mistakes as much as possible. Nobody likes a botched crime scene, or shawl…or story.

There are many story structure patterns out there. Find the one that works for you. I particularly like Michael Hauge’s Story Mastery, but this is not an ad, so please check around for a routine that will give you a beautiful finished piece you will be happy with.

And remember, this is not a race.

Happy holidays to all, and one commenter will receive a copy of my June book, Permanent Vacancy.

RITA® nominated author, Katy Lee, has published six novels. She writes suspenseful romances that thrill and inspire. She believes all of her stories should stir and satisfy readers—from the edge of their seats. A native New Englander, Katy loves to knit warm wooly things. She enjoys traveling the side-roads and exploring the locals’ hideaways.  A homeschooling mom of three competitive swimmers, Katy often writes from the stands while cheering them on.  Her 2014 book, Grave Danger, received the highest honor in romance: a RITA® nomination in the Romantic Suspense category, as well as a nod for the Daphne du Maurier award for excellence in mystery and suspense.

Visit Katy at:  www.KatyLeeBooks.com

Katy’s December release:

Silent Night Pursuit

http://amzn.to/1YD0QA1

RACE AGAINST TIME

Lacey Phillips believes Captain Wade Spencer knows something about her brother's mysterious death. So she throws caution to the wind and tracks him down on Christmas Eve looking for answers. Wade tries to turn her away—until bullets start to fly. He doesn't want to take the stubborn beauty on his life-or-death mission to find out the truth about how Wade's past may have cost her brother his life. But with killers lurking everywhere, he has to protect her—especially when she breaches the walls around his heart. Can Wade and his faithful service dog keep Lacey alive long enough to figure out who's targeting them?