Chapter 9 - REBUILDING THE LABSix months after the trial, the headlines had shifted, but Dr. Amelia Carter’s name had become synonymous with unyielding justice.
She stood inside the newly renovated Carter-Vance Forensic Research Institute—the sprawling downtown facility built directly on the seized assets of her ex-husband’s estate. The state-of-the-art laboratory was filled with mass spectrometers, digital autopsy servers, and young, brilliant female medical students reviewing evidence under bright fluorescent lights.
Her phone buzzed on the stainless steel counter.
It was an alert from the federal prison system: Inmate Evan Carter has been transferred to maximum security facility unit 7.
She didn't bother opening the notification. She swiped it away, archiving the digital ghost of her past into the digital trash bin where it belonged.
Her senior research assistant, a sharp young graduate student named Maya, walked over with a fresh stack of case files.
"Dr. Carter, the DA's office just sent over the cold case intake files from the state archive," Maya said, handing over the folders. "They want your team to run a full trace analysis on three unsolved domestic homicide cover-ups from the nineties."
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Amelia opened the top folder, running her fingers over the crisp, clean pages of uncompromised evidence.
"Tell them we're ready," Amelia said, a confident, radiant smile touching her lips. "Let's find out what the dead are trying to tell us."
