among wisps of black chest hairs.
Jin saw her through the glass door and came out,
locking the door behind him. His jet-black hair was
cut short. He had on jeans and a white lab coat and
wore a decidedly irritated expression on his face. Deven Jin was formerly one of Diane’s crime scene
crew. He was now head of the new DNA lab run
under the auspices of the museum. DNA labs all over
the country were backed up with work, and Jin was
getting just about more samples to
could handle himself. The lab was
analyze than he proving to be a lucrative addition to the museum. He had not adver tised yet, but he was planning to hire another techni cian. But Jin was picky. He had to be. Diane could imagine that Curtis Crabtree in no way met Jin’s
criteria.
‘‘This is Curtis Crab... tree,’’ said Jin, waving a
hand in the direction of Mr. Bell-bottoms and Gold
Chain.
Crabtree stood with his arms folded, frowning at
Jin.
‘‘Look,’’ Crabtree said, ‘‘Lloyd Bryce appointed me as the link between the Rosewood Crime Lab and the DNA lab. He wants me to run all the samples that
come from our unit. What’s the problem?’’ Diane set her box down on a nearby coffee table.
‘‘Lloyd Bryce has no authority to appoint anyone to
the DNA lab,’’ said Diane. ‘‘All DNA personnel deci
sions are made by Jin and reviewed by me. We have
strict protocols for access to our laboratory services.
Those protocols do not allow for an agency submitting
DNA samples to use our equipment to analyze it
themselves.’’
Crabtree had a staccato laugh that she imagined
would become annoying very quickly.
‘‘Funny,’’ he said. ‘‘This is different. We aren’t just
any agency. If you want the business of the Rosewood
crime scene unit, this is how it’s going to be done.
This is our policy.’’ He stood with his chin jutting out,
his body rigid as his eyes shifted from Diane to Jin. Jin rolled his eyes.
‘‘Then we will have to forgo doing your DNA test
ing,’’ said Diane. ‘‘The Georgia Bureau of Investiga
tion has an excellent DNA lab. You can take your
proposal to them—or to any of the other labs across
the country.’’
Crabtree hesitated a moment, as if he had expected
her to give in and now didn’t know quite how to pro
ceed. He didn’t laugh.
‘‘You better rethink this. You don’t know what you
are getting into,’’ he said.
‘‘Mr. Crabtree,’’ said Diane, ‘‘I think you had better
go. Even if we were hiring right now, you’ve disquali
fied yourself by your aggressive behavior.’’
‘‘What? You’re kidding. I was just defending myself.
He started it.’’ Crabtree pointed to Jin.
