| "Maybe you remember the Russian fable Cinderella. If | | | | been burglarized, CSI's focus their search in those |
| the shoe fits, wear it."-Chekhov, Star Trek VI: The | | | | areas. Following the exit path can indicate to CSI's |
| Undiscovered Country | | | | where the crook tossed the weapon or pieces of |
| Crooks many times find themselves heading straight | | | | clothing, such as a mask or gloves. The best evidence |
| for prison if it is found that their shoe fits. Shoeprints | | | | tends to be found when retracing a crook's path. |
| and impressions are very useful to criminal | | | | A shoeprint also can link a crook to several crimes. |
| investigators for a variety of reasons. For one, not only | | | | Finding the same prints at several different crime |
| can they show that a particular person was at the | | | | scenes suggests that the same crook may be |
| scene of the crime, they may also confirm or deny a | | | | involved in each crime. This association many times is |
| perpetrator's alibi. For instance, suppose a neighbor | | | | significant to solving the crimes. Each individual crime |
| claims that when he went next door to borrow a cup | | | | scene may provide other evidence that when taken |
| of milk, he found the lady who lived there lying on the | | | | by itself is of no use, but when combined with |
| living room floor beaten to death. He mentions that the | | | | evidence from the other scenes may become crucial. |
| door was unlocked, so he checked for the woman's | | | | For instance, suppose that CSI technicians find a blond |
| pulse, called 911, and waited for the authorities to arrive. | | | | piece of hair at one crime scene, brown carpet fibers |
| The neighbor says that he went nowhere in the house. | | | | from a Toyota at another, and, blood spatter patterns |
| If crime scene investigators (CSI's) discover the | | | | that indicate that the killer was right-handed and about |
| neighbor's shoeprint on a piece of newspaper, lying on | | | | six feet tall at a third crime scene. If viewed individually, |
| the floor of the woman's closet next to her empty | | | | each item of evidence tells investigators little about the |
| safety deposit box, his story will not jibe with the | | | | crimes, but when the same prints link the crimes and |
| criminal investigators. | | | | suggest that the same individual committed all the |
| Prints can also be indicative of the points of entry and | | | | crimes, a much clearer image is revealed. That picture |
| exit at a crime scene. Shoeprints found in the soft soil | | | | is of a six-foot-tall, right-handed man with blond hair |
| of a flower bed underneath the pried-open window | | | | who drives a Toyota with brown carpet. Although this |
| and matching dirt and grime prints on the floor inside | | | | profile does not provide enough conclusive |
| the house suggest the point of entry. Prints filled with | | | | identification, it, however, builds a better description of |
| blood pointed out through the rear door indicate the | | | | the perpetrator. |
| point of exit. Shoeprints left on the tile or wooden | | | | Multiple shoeprints can suggest whether more than |
| floors, countertops, ladders, stairs, windowsills, and | | | | one person is involved and may even help determine |
| even chair seats may reveal the crook's movements | | | | exactly how many. When CSI technicians find three |
| within the house. | | | | distinct types of prints, they can say that at least three |
| Following the shoeprints through a crime scene assists | | | | people are involved. More people may have been |
| CSI's to narrow their search for evidence. When prints | | | | involved in the crime but failed to leave behind any |
| are found in more than one room of a house that has | | | | shoeprints. |