Case #2: Video

[19centconstable]

[George looks pale and rumpled, like he has not slept. His hair is trying to un-part itself. His constable's coat is off. His suspenders are holding steady, but his shirt is threatening to become un-tucked. His eyes are glazed over, and he speaks slowly and groggily.]

I...saw...movies...

You tell them not to open the door, but they always

Comments

howie's afk for the night. EDDIE'S TURN.

[needshumility]

Fingermarks... I didn't think any of you had barcodes.

[19centconstable]

I'm not certain what that is, but fingermarks are...marks left on things by...well, everybody's fingers have these tiny ridges on them in sort of swirly patterns, and nobody's patterns are exactly the same as anybody else's.

[needshumility]

They're not... swirly patterns. They're lines.

Wait. Do you mean on my finger tips, or under my nails?

[19centconstable]

Your fingertips. I'm not sure how someone might touch things with their fingernails. Unless they were very long. But that just seems unhygenic.

[inhistorybooks]

What movies didja watch?

[19centconstable]

There were a few. Let me see...

There was one which I thought was meant to be about trolls, but was actually about goblins. I may have missed something, as this seemed to be the second in a series. And there was one which was about Martians and their ninth plan to take over the Earth. I'm not sure what became of the previous eight plans. And there was one about a young man who is killed by his pet rats, which is what one gets for keeping pet rats, particularly as many as he had. I believe there was a dancing academy which was infested with witches.... This one about a shark... And there were two houses which were haunted and drove the men which lived in them to madness, although one of them was actually a hotel.

And there were several more, but I had to look away quite often.

[inhistorybooks]

You know, there are movies in existence that won't scare the pants off you.

[19centconstable]

Yes. I probably should have started with those.

[thebestnose]

[Eddie's got the barcode thing covered so-]

I didn't think you could talk to the people in films...? What's behind the door?

[19centconstable]

You can, they just can't hear you. Or they don't listen.

Usually it's a man with a knife, although sometimes it's only a corpse.

[thebestnose]

Then why would they open the door?

[19centconstable]

Curiosity, I believe.

Vid.

[takencareofyou]

[slow clap] Were they good for you?

Vid.

[19centconstable]

They were all certainly interesting.

Re: Vid.

[takencareofyou]

...I take it you don't get out much.

Vid.

[19centconstable]

I get out quite often, but I'm from 1897, so the sorts of getting out we have are very different from this. Although: there is the theater, I suppose, but I don't attend.

[Private]

[most_feared]

I think you'd probably be better off fingerprinting suspects as they come, because there's such a rate of change-over in the population, you couldn't keep it current. I know there's a forensic capable FBI agent here and various individuals with scanners. As well as Mr. Holmes who has an interest.

Also, not everyone has fingerprints. [Like him. And he doesn't want a lot of people to know this.]

[Private]

[19centconstable]

I was just considering that myself! For instance: vampires. Have they got fingermarks?

[Private]

[most_feared]

I'm sure some of them do, leftover from being human. But they can also distort their forms so the prints might change. And some people habitually wear gloves. And I think Time Lords use a different sort of scan to tell the difference between them other than fingerprints. Related to temporal signatures.

[Private]

[19centconstable]

I've actually thought about that as well: regarding werewolves. I would wonder if their fingermarks always return just the same, or if they have a different set each month. And also: what becomes of their clothing?

Now, temporal: is that to do with temperature, temper, or the temple?