Framed!

Forensic Investigator Luke Harding is called to investigate his first real case--a young student has been mysteriously shot and killed by an arrow. The boy's murder is followed in swift succession by two more grisly deaths in this first installment in the Traces series.

Chapter One The skeleton lay on the classroom floor, and Luke Harding prowled around it, thinking. Then, on his hands and knees, he went around again, taking a closer look. Still he didn't touch the specimen. Without looking up, he pointed to the rib cage and said, "Malc, there's a tiny mark on the sixth rib. Looks like a knife wound to me. Scan it, will you?" The flattened orb moved in, hovered above the bleached bones, and swept a laser over the fault. "It is consistent with a stab wound made by a narrow blade, pushed in at an approximate downward angle of 43 degrees." "By looking at the edges of the cut, I'd say it was made on living bone and not done by cunning examiners on the skeleton. What do you think?" "I do not have the capacity to think. I conduct forensic tests and supply facts. I confirm that the wound was inflicted on live bone by a sharp instrument with a slightly jagged edge." Luke glanced over his shoulder at Malc. "What's it doing here?" "Irrational question," the neutral male voice said. "Well, what sort of exam is this?" "Criminology, Year 11, Final Qualification, Advanced." "Right," Luke replied with a grin. "Advanced. So what's a simple knife wound doing in an advanced exam? I could have spotted it with my eyes closed." "Illogical and unlikely." "Oh, loosen up, Malc." "This is your Final Qualification Examination. Not a time to be loose." "You're so boring, you know. Anyway, let's do what I'm expected to do-and fail to get an answer, no doubt. A DNA scan, please." Malc drifted down the entire length of the skeleton and then reported, "No traces left exposed." "Hairs and fibers next." "None detected." Luke already knew that there would be no obvious traces to help him complete the test of determining the victim's identity and the cause of death. Luke hadn't made it to the top of the class to have the answer handed to him on a silver platter. "This is a tough exam. Are you getting nervous, Malc? I didn't know you got nervous." "Illogical. I am a Mobile Aid to Law and Crime," Malc responded. "Without a nervous system, I cannot get nervous." "Confirm the inscription on the back of the watch, please." "Capital C, dot, capital S, dot. Love, comma, capital F, dot, capital E, dot." "Mmm." Luke walked slowly around the specimen again. The school instructors had a stock of skeletons somewhere. They were dragged out one at a time for practice and examinations. Clearly, this one was supposed to mimic a murder victim who had lain naked and undisturbed for five years or so. "No blood, no hair, no DNA, not even tendons or ligaments left, no traces of clothing. No flesh, so no evidence of flesh wounds. A completely clean male skeleton with no possessions except a "pairing" ring and a watch. The only sign of violence is a knife wound that probably missed the heart-too easy for an advanced exam. No, I've got to be a little bit more imaginative. Give me an ultraviolet scan." Under Malc, the white bones began to glow. "Ever thought of a career as a spotlight in a nightclub?" Luke asked with a wicked smile. As soon as Malc bathed the skull in crisp blue light, Luke spotted a faint glimmer from deep inside an eye socket. He cried, "Stop. Home in on the right eye area, will you? What