# Read the first page of The Survivors Club by Lisa Gardner Read the opening of The Survivors Club by Lisa Gardner free, no signup. Three assault survivors become suspects when their attacker is murdered. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/the-survivors-club-lisa-gardner - Genre: Thrillers - Year: 2002 - ISBN: 9780345544247 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9780345544247&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9780345544247 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9780345544247 ## The opening It started as a conversation: “The scientists are the problem—not the cops. Cops are just cops. Some got a nose for jelly doughnuts; others got a nose for pensions. The scientists, though . . . I read about this case where they nailed a guy by matching the inside seam of his blue jeans with a bloody print left at the murder scene. I’m not kidding. Some expert testified that the wear pattern of denim is so individual there’s something like a one-in-a-billion chance that another pair of jeans would leave the same print, yada, yada, yada. Fuckin’ unreal.” “Don’t wear blue jeans,” the second man said. The first man, a kid really, rolled his eyes. “That’s fuckin’ brilliant.” The second man shrugged. “Before you lecture me about Calvin’s sending someone to the big house, perhaps we should start with the basics. Fingerprints.” “Gloves,” the kid said immediately. “Gloves?” The man frowned. “And here I expected something much more innovative coming from you.” “Hey, gloves are a pain in the ass, but then again, so is serving time. What else are you gonna do?” “I don’t know. But I don’t want to wear gloves if I don’t have to. Let’s think about it.” “You could wipe down everything,” the kid said shortly. “Ammonia dissolves fingerprint oil, you know. You could prepare a solution, ammonia and water. Afterwards, you could spray it on, wipe stuff down. You know, including . . .” The kid’s voice trailed off. He didn’t seem quite able to say the word, which the man thought was pretty funny, given everything this “kid” had done. The man nodded. “Yes. Including. With ammonia, of course. Otherwise they might be able to print the woman’s skin using Alternate Light Source or fumigation. Instead of spritzing, the other option is to put the woman in a tub. To ensure that you’re being thorough.” “Yeah.” The kid nodded his head, contemplating. “Still might miss a spot. And it involves a lot of maneuvering. Remember what the textbook said: ‘The more contact with the victim, the more evidence left behind.’” “True. Other ideas?” “You could leave fake prints. I once met this guy from New York. His gang liked to cut off the hands of their rivals, and use them to leave false prints at their own crime scenes.” “Did it work?” “Well, half the gang was in Rikers at the time . . .” “So it didn’t work.” “Probably not.” The man pursed his lips. “It’s an interesting thought, though. Creative. The police hate creativity. We should find out where those people went wrong.” “I’ll ask around.” “A fingerprint is nothing but a ridge pattern,” the man thought out loud. “Fill in the valleys between the ridges and there’s no more print. Seems like there’s gotta be a way of doing that. Maybe smearing the fingertips with superglue? I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know if it works.” “Wouldn’t that interfere with feel, though? I mean, if you’re going to lose sensation, you might as well return to gloves which you know will do the trick.” “There’s scarring. Repeated cutting of the fingertips with a razor to obscure the print.” “No thank you!” “No pain, no gain,” the man said mildly. “Yeah, and no pleasure, no point. What do you think scar tissue is gonna do to the nerve endings of your fingertips? Might as well hack ’em off and be done with it. Keep it simple, remember? Another thing the textbook pointed out—simple is good.” The man shrugged. “Fine, then it’s gloves. Thinnest latex possible. That resolves the matter of fingerprints. Next issue: DNA.” “Shit,” the kid said. “DNA is the kicker,” the man agreed. “With fingerprints you can watch what you touch. But with DNA . . . Now you have to consider your hair, your blood, your semen, your spit. Oh, and bite marks. Let’s not forget about the power of dental matches.” ## Books with a similar feel - [Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena](https://uncovered.ink/read/not-a-happy-family-shari-lapena.md) - [Dark Places by Gillian Flynn](https://uncovered.ink/read/dark-places-gillian-flynn.md) - [Memory Man by David Baldacci](https://uncovered.ink/read/memory-man-david-baldacci.md) - [In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead](https://uncovered.ink/read/in-my-dreams-i-hold-a-knife-ashley-winstead.md) - [Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson](https://uncovered.ink/read/her-every-fear-peter-swanson.md) - [Zero Days by Ruth Ware](https://uncovered.ink/read/zero-days-ruth-ware.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.