📓 Ned’s Notes #11 CSI: Hairball Edition. Monkey Jewelry Theft

Ned here, reporting from the always sizzling Sunshine State of Florida. Summer’s heat is a round-the-clock, and calendar, fact of life here. Needless to say, it’s not exactly ideal for furry critters.

Consider suspect number six from my first Florida case Pairs: This Dating Site Will Be the Death of You. He has a monkey sidekick named Perry. By the end of the mystery, both broke into a sweat. But was it only due to the heat? Perry has a reputation for jewelry theft… Still, is he the true culprit behind the entire caper?

Let’s Return to Evidence Collection

Last week, we left off with Bob, our crime scene tech, vacuuming the Florida Aquarium’s tiled lobby floors. Like CSI on a mission to solve a monkey jewelry theft. Why vacuum an aquarium floor? The answer: hair is a sneaky form of trace evidence. It is often invisible to the naked eye, yet crucial to cracking a case.

Bob’s vacuum isn’t your average house cleaner. It’s specially designed for collecting hair and fibers without sucking up the entire collection of dirt from the floor. As he works, he glides it gently across the tiles, focusing on gathering evidence, not deep cleaning.

After every investigation, Bob swaps out the vacuum filter. This prevents cross contamination. Then, he sorts the collected fuzz by location within the scene.

From this lot, any monkey hair he identifies probably belongs to Perry. That seems true—after all, how many monkeys get to visit the aquarium?

Here’s where things get interesting. Bob will compare the latest sample to monkey hair. He found this hair in certain jewelry stores in downtown Sarasota, Florida. Thieves robbed millions from their inventory. Coincidentally, a man with a monkey has been spotted near each one.

Is Perry a jewelry thief?

What about the Pairs-Perusing Pet Parent, a.k.a. suspect #6?? 

That remains to be seen. In fact, maybe you’ll decide. Read Pairs to find out.

In the meantime, if you see any Pilfering Primates hanging around, hide your jewelry.

See you next week.

—Ned

🔍 Crime Scene Tech Tip: Remember, tiny evidence can solve big cases!

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