Modus Operandi by Mauro Corvasce (universal ebook reader txt) 📕

modus operandi works: While working as a detective for the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, Joe had investigated a series of home burglaries that occurred in Brooklyn. During the course of these burglaries, the thief would defecate on the kitchen table no matter what time of the day or night he struck the unoccupied home. In some instances, defecation is used as revenge against a particular person. However, in this particular thief's M.O., he would always defecate in a particular location — the victim's kitchen table.

A man named Nick was recently released from prison and had started to burglarize homes in the area. While Nick was incarcerated, he learned the tricks of his trade even better. After all, consider jail a kind of college where you learn your trade better than if you were out in the cold, cruel world and had to work for a living. Nick learned how to pop open windows better, how to jimmy the garage door better, and how to bypass the alarm better. He also learned how to select his victims, so he would get bigger and better takes of merchandise in the same amount of time. But one thing Nick did not learn was a new modus operandi: After breaking into a home through his usual methods, which happened to be through a patio door or rear window, and always starting at the rear of the home, then he would defecate on the victim's kitchen table. He did this for one reason: He was nervous! His criminal activity created such a turmoil in his body that he actually had to move his bowels.

Now, why did he choose the kitchen table? The real reason was because he was obsessive-compulsive about germs — he constantly washed his hands and was constantly concerned about getting sick from germs. While he was incarcerated, he was known to take piles of toilet paper, magazines, books, paper towels or whatever he could and place them on the seat of the toilet so that his bare skin did not actually touch it. Also, he didn't like to flush the toilet with his hand on the handle, so he would use a disposable object, such as a stick. He would not even stoop to flushing the toilet using his shoe, because that would make germs on the bottom of his shoe which could possibly spread to his body.

In the early stages of these home burglaries, Joe noted that Nick would frequently defecate in the person's bathroom, and the detectives would find the toilet seat layered with many, many pieces of toilet paper. Coincidentally, Nick did catch an infection in his genital area. He attributed this to using the victim's toilet, although it was not a possibility because of the toilet paper placed on the seat. So from that point on, he simply defecated on the victim's kitchen table.

When this particular M.O. showed up, Joe simply went to Nick and casually confronted him. During a casual, approved search, to which Nick consented, the criminal's home was found to contain many items that were linked to the burglaries which had occurred weeks and months earlier in Brooklyn. This is a classic case of a criminal's method of operation leading the police to his capture.

In this book, you will learn how and why criminals operate. Their modi operandi, which, until now, were clandestine and known only to themselves and the police departments investigating them, are now known to you. So, let us step into the shoes of the criminals who operate day or night and learn the tricks of their trade. Be forewarned — the experience can be arresting!

Arson is the most underreported of all crimes because evidence that could be left behind is usually destroyed by the fire. Fire investigators are trained to determine the origin (where the fire started) and the cause (what started the fire). If an arsonist performs his craft perfectly, the fire investigator will find it extremely difficult to determine the origin and the cause of the fire.

Amateur arsonists attempt to fool the fire investigator by placing a flammable or combustible material in or near an electrical outlet. The arsonist thinks that the investigator will see the burn pattern (the direction that the fire burns, also known as the V pattern) at the electrical outlet and determine that the fire started through faulty wiring or electrical devices in the building. However, a trained fire investigator knows that for an electrical short to start a fire, certain other elements must be present.

These elements are a fuel source, an oxygen source, an ignition source or heat, and an uninhibited chemical reaction among the three. This is known as the fire triangle.

1. Fuel can be any type of flammable or combustible material—solid, liquid or a vapor.

2. An oxygen source is necessary so the fire can "breathe" and maintain a strong, steady rate of burn.

3. An ignition or heat source could be the striking of a match by the hands of an arsonist or an electrical malfunction which causes overheating and/or a spark.

4. The uninhibited chemical reaction is the above three elements —the fire triangle —coming together to start a fire.

The trained fire investigator must evaluate these four elements in deciding whether or not the cause of the fire is accidental or arson. By comparing these elements with other factors, the cause can be properly determined. For example, in dealing with the electrical short circuit, some factors, such as the wire beading up, or forming small balls of melted metal at the point of the short, or sleeving, the loosening of the insulation from the wire, will indicate arson or a malfunction. Also, a circuit breaker will "trip" off when the wire is overloaded. These are the tell-tale signs that an arson investigator will use to make his determination.

To incorporate arsonists in whodunits, the writer must first understand the legal definition of arson. A person is guilty of arson if he or she starts a fire or causes an explosion whether on his property or another.