Jory followed Joshua towards the forensic lab. He was wondering if should have worn gloves or something before picking up the receipt because he was obviously compromising the evidence. But then again none of the others had been wearing gloves when they were touching those pamphlets. So maybe it wasn't a big deal? Plus they could always take his fingerprints and eliminate it from the paper.

Jory stopped short in shock eyeing the mess that laid before him, Joshua and Aspen. Someone had been searching for something in particular, perhaps?

Aspen perused the contents of the wallet she'd "borrowed" as they walked to the Forensics lab. Apparently she was to learn protocol, but mostly she was just "learning" to "follow Josh around". Which was fine. At least she wasn't bored.

But her laugh (again) was probably out of place when she finally looked up from the wallet to note the mess of the lab.

Lulz.

"What was it that Brown just said about Security?" Gigglesnort. Anywho. Don't mind this Odessa. Just gonna PERUSE the corners a bit.

Yes, obviously bad day at work. Since the laboratory lady seemed to be unhappy with the mess, Josh supposed she did not burst into the place with anger and unleashed it into the room. Well...actually, it looked like someone searched for something and searched everywhere for it. Then it took some time for them to find what they want. Merlin...and what were security people doing again?

Josh took his dark brown eyes from the mess in the room and looked back at the woman when she asked how she could help. "We have this evidence. A receipt and we need it analysed for...the fingerprints on it. Stonewall...'' he indicated at one of the YATIs with his head. "...has the receipt and only he touched it so far. So you need to eliminate his finger prints...please."

The YATIL turned to the young man then. "Stonewall, the receipt." Give it to the laboratory lady. He was about to comment more on the receipt just when Aspen Odessa spoke. Josh turned and looked at her. Well...what she was holding in her hands looked very familiar to him. But they had things to do now, he would talk to her about it later. He stared at her for a bit then let out a snort as well. "Well...i seriously started to wonder what the ministry pays to the security people for."

Oh. Fingerprint work. Elinor set down the glasses and stepped over to them, reaching for the receipt with one hand. "Shouldn't take more than a few minutes." With the hope that other fingerprints hadn't contaminated it too much, and there were no smudges.

"Mr. Stonewall?" Assuming that was his last name and not an unusual first name-- "Would you mind pressing your fingertip to the inside of this?" She handed him one of the fingerprint strips she had picked up, briefly touching the two strips that were meant to be pulled apart to reveal the sticky tape underneath.

She turned on one of her bright work lights and held the receipt under the magnifying glass with her gloved hands. "How old is this?" she asked, before thinking to actually look at the date printed on the paper. "I only ask because the chemicals in the ink and paper can interfere with the oils on the skin."

Oh, goody. A chance for Elinor to show her smarts to new acquaintances. That did lighten her mood a bit.

Right. The receipt. Jory promptly handed it over, holding on to one of the edges. "I haven't touched the middle just the edges.'' He knew the lab lady would need to take his prints so when she gave him the okay, he stepped forward and did as she instructed. Jory pressed his fingertips on the inside of the strip before handing it back to the woman.

... fingerprinting was something that actually did interest Aspen. She'd done it a few times herself, but hadn't ever had formal training like THIS lab had. So.... one could say she was nearby. Watching. Not in the way, not forcing her opinion on anyone. No, she was nearby, OBSERVING and casually pocketing things from the ransacked lab.

They'd never notice it missing.

Josh watched as Jory gave his fingerprints to the laboratory woman. Good boy, he was not creating any problems very unlike some certain YATI lady. Mentioning her, he supposed it would be good to keep and eye on her, just to make sure if she was watching closely. They were supposed to get familiar with the progress, were not they? So, Odessa had to watch the laboratory woman instead of...well...

Josh raised an eyebrow as he though she took something. He cleared his throat loudly as he eyed the young woman briefly. It was a warning for her. Josh was not sure if she really had taken something but the warning was for her to put it back if she had and if she had not, it was a warning to tell her to keep her eyes on the progress of analysing the fingerprints that was about to begin.

Anyway, the laboratory woman asked something.

"It has a date on it yet we actually don't know how long it had been in where we found it. The holding cell is not among the most sterilised places so stuff from the environment might have messed it up too. Still, it can work, right? Some dust and dirt should not be trouble some enough to make it difficult to get a few fingerprints"

Elinor nodded when he said he hadn't touched it that much, and again to thank him when she took the strip from him. She set it and the receipt down before crossing to a shelf lined with various jars, selecting one without hardly taking the time to notice it. She didn't need to.

"The only problem with taking fingerprints from this is the kind of paper used to print receipts. It's not like normal paper, you notice. Still... This should be easy," she said as she pulled a brush out of the drawer in front of her station. She then unscrewed the jar, which contained lots of fine black powder, and dipped the ti of the brush into it, shaking off excess.

"Depending on how old it is," she added, as she began to dust the paper lightly, swiftly covering the receipt with a fine grey sand. A few defined blotches showed up as the powder clung to the remnants of the finger prints.

Elinor held the clear strip under the magnifying glass to get a look at the employee's print before closely looking at the receipt and holding it up in front. "The edges, you say..." she muttered, holding the strip up before carefully pressing it to the paper. When she peeled it off, she had a distinct match of the employee's print, darkened by the powder that stuck.

"The full fingerprints are all smudges here, but I think I can..." She trailed off as she pulled out a couple more of those strips and pressed them, individually, to each of the partial fingerprints. Then she lined them up, one of top of the others. Of course, it wasn't perfect. She would need to hold them under one of her microscopes before she could align them.

Elinor turned to the adjacent table and began lining up the "slides" under one of the microscopes she had there. "I'll probably be doing this all day, considering the state of my lab," she commented. Once these people were gone, she was going to go back to looking for evidence. And she was going to strangle whomever the perpetrators were. At least, that's what she told herself.

Yes, Jory had noticed the receipt's texture was different from regular paper. But this lady should be able to omit his fingerprints, right? She said it would be easy. He watched in fascination as she did her work.

"Yes, just the edges,'' Jory repeated. Thankfully he had the good sense to do that. All day she said next? So they should leave her alone then? He glanced at Josh before casting his eyes around at the Lab. What really happened to it?

The lab worker suddenly stopped bending over her microscope, straightened her shoulders, and clasped one hand over her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose in a telltale sign of frustration. "What am I doing?" she muttered, perhaps with a choice word mumbled in there somewhere, it wasn't very clear. The lab worker heaved a sigh, trying to take a moment to herself, but obviously too aggravated to center herself.

I'm sorry," she said, turning back to the receipt and grabbing hold of the bush again. "I'm not thinking terribly clear." Perhaps it wasn't just the state of her lab, but that was certainly the icing on the cake of stressful thoughts currently sitting in her mind.

Elinor flipped the receipt over, dusted the back of it, then applied two more of the sticky strips to fingerprints appearing in the middle. Clear, complete fingerprints. "Looks like a middle and a ring finger," she said as she applied the other side of the strips so that the clear fingerprints left could not be destroyed or tampered.

Elinor took out a blank manilla folder from the filing cabinet in the corner and a pen, looking briefly at her guests. "Can I have your names again? Meanwhile, she scribbled in the date and the... "Case number-- I didn't ask for a case number?" Elinor covered her face again and sighed before returning her hand to the paper, prepared to write whatever was supplied for her on the blank form inside the folder.

She could not wait for this day to be over. Or this month. Or whatever span of time it would take. It seemed she was long overdue for a vacation. But she didn't even have the time to think about it, so... there you have it.

"You two watch closely" Josh told the YATIs as the laboratory lady started to work on the receipt. Josh could not wait to get the results and identify who had been holding that piece of paper, well, of course except Jory. The state of the lab, which the lady had been complaining about, surely was a cause that made the progress of analysing the receipt take much more time. She had all the right to complain about it and Josh did not blame her. He would have been really...annoyed...if someone dared to put his working place into such a state.

His dark brown eyes watched the woman carefully. She seemed to be dealing with the job well...until her words told him that she apparently had a hard time focusing. He glanced at the YATIs, Jory and Aspen, then turned back to the lady and put a hand on her shoulder. He did not know if she would consider this inappropriate yet Josh hoped she would understand that he had no purpose other than reassuring her about...things.

"Our names." he said "I am Joshua Carter, Auror and the YATIs are Mister Jory Stonewall whose fingerprints you have and..." he glanced at Aspen before turning back to the laboratory lady "...Ms Aspen Odessa. And no, you did not ask for a case number and i am not sure if we have one anyway." and reassuring about things right."I don't know who has been messing with the ministry and, of course, your laboratory included. I can see that you really are troubled about this, Ms...." he did not know his name "...but if you can help me with this case, i promise i would do my best to find who did this to your working place and turn his face into a worse mess than this place is"

Oh, Jory was watching closely all right. This was all very much fascinating but was something wrong with the lady? She seemed...distracted. Was that the right word? He watched as she used more of the sticky strips and retrieved two perfect fingerprints. Jory didn't know why because he had seen his dad do this once before but he was impressed. "Well done,'' he said thinking aloud. When he realised what he said, he smiled sheepishly. The lab lady probably did this a million times before. So, they just needed to do a comparison now.

As Josh introduced Aspen and him, Jory gave the woman another grin. Hai there, Lab lady! Nice to meet you! Oh and yes, he'd be more than pleased to help Josh find out who did this to the lab.

Aspen HAD been watching, but................... what was there to see really? This woman had ONE JOB and was all flustered.

"I think she did it." Aspen pointed out. All the signs of guilt WERE there.

Or maybe this was getting boring and Aspen was going to make it interesting again. "I think we need her fingerprints."