Reinvestigation

Sometimes crimes go unsolved or "cold". Other times, like in Sole Survivor, a reinvestigation or a "follow-up" takes place. Here's a basic idea of the steps involved in a reinvestigation.

• Step One: review all case files and reports generated. This includes interviews, statements, and reports typed by by officers and examiners - i.e. autopsy, ballistic reports, etc.
• Step Two: review the crime scene photos, diagrams, maps, and, if possible, view the scene. Make note of possible witnesses or discrepancies. 
• Step Three: re-interview witnesses as needed or as available. Also re-interview suspects.
• Step Four: look at the evidence if possible. Determine what, if any, follow-up tests might be useful, especially with a cold case.
• Step Five: consider a reconstruction of the crime scene.
• Step Six: check databases for similar crimes or information on suspects.
• Step Seven: proceed as necessary - maybe arrest or have search warrants for suspects' homes.

Again, this varies depending on the crime, the circumstances, and the outcome of the case -- solved versus unsolved, etc. 

I've found that it helps to have crime scene sketches and "reports" of various incidents for the J. Carter & Associates series. They don't have to be pretty - just functional. I tend to put my locations in or around real locations. Sometimes the buildings are real (the library in Sole Survivor is located in Edgewater and has a road beside it and a small patch of trees) and others are placed where some buildings already exist - the house on the cliffside for example - or the Robertson mansion.

Bloody Inspiration - Behind the Scenes of "Sole Survivor"

I've always been interested in crime. Shows like CSI have popularized crime, making it glamorous, but I got started with a childhood fascination with Nancy Drew.

Fast-forward a good dozen years. I'm working on revisions for an original thriller, called Coldest Degree, which I based on the idea of a pregnant woman's murder. The plot was too messy and over-populated with random characters and plot threads.

During revisions, I decided to start over.

At the time I was taking a class on criminalistics at community college. My professor, an ex-State Police Officer, assigned an unusual project. As groups, we had to reinvestigate a closed case in the method a real police detective would. With a checklist in hand, each group picked a type of crime.

My group chose homicide. We ended up working on a carjacking from the mid-1990s. During the reinvestigation, I visited the county's CID or Criminal Investigation Divison and spoke with real homicide detectives. I read the reports, the interview transcripts, the autopsy file, and studied the crime scene photographs.

This project hit me with an idea--what better way to get a character involved in a crime than through a reinvestigation?

My main character, Katherine, went from a 17 year old who stumbled onto a dead body to a 19 year old college student who uncovered the truth about a solved crime. Her reinvestigation attracts the interest of the men behind a deadly fire and puts both her life and the life of the only witness to the original crime in danger.

Of course, the crime itself changed from a car bombing to a fire. The fire was also inspired by a true local case. Two people died when a house fire triggered the collapse of the upper levels. I went by the actual scene and read news reports on it.

One simple class helped me get back on track on the first novel of my series. Sole Survivor is the introduction of series characters Katherine, Jackson, Aidan, and Marc. Katherine went from an angry teen to a damaged young woman. Jackson's past was fleshed out. Aidan went from being invisible to a large part of the action along with his partner, Aidan.

More to come on the art of reinvestigation and creating crimes in the next one.