DEFINITIONS

|Introduction
|A: Abbacinare to Avionics
|B: Ballad to Buy and Bust 
|C: Cadaver Dogs to Cyberterrorism
|D: Dactylography to Dumpster Diving
|E: Ecclesiastical to Eyewitness
|F: Fabliau to Free Verse
|G: G.P.S. to Gun Control
|H: Habeas Corpus to Hyperbole
|I: ICAM to Islamic Law
|J: Jacobean to Justifiable Homicide
|K: Kidnapping to Kiss
|L: L.K.A. to Lyric
|M: Masque to Myth
|N: Narcoanalysis to Number
|O: Objective to Onomatopoeia
|P: Pantomime to Purple
|Q: Question to Questioned Documents
|R: Rank to Runaway
|S: Sabotage to Synesthesia
|T: Tactical Officer to True Crime
|U: UDSL to Utopia
|V: VIN to Void
|W: Waiver to Wrongful Death
|X: X-ray to xxx
|Y: Yellow Dog Contract to Youth
|Z: Zadig to Zero
|References: Books Useful


Paid Links:






Introduction

Anthony Boucher, when he was the Mystery Critic for the New York Sunday 
Times Book Review, divided Mystery Novels into Five Categories. Several of 
these are further divided into subcategories:

The Puzzle Mystery
The Hard-boiled Mystery
The Straight Mystery
The Novel of Pursuit
     a) the Spy Mystery
     b) the Man-on-the-run Mystery
     c) the Metaphysical Mystery
     d) the Doomsday Mystery
The Whodunnit
     a) the Sociopolitical Mystery
     b) the Private Eye Mystery
     c) the Psychological Mystery
     d) the Mechanistic Mystery
     e) the Vigilante Mystery
     f) the Caper Mystery
     g) the Camp Mystery
     h) the Period Mystery

Each of these is defined, with examples, in the Dictionary, below.

Other classifications of Mystery Fiction:

Amateur
Cozies
Crime Novel
Golden Age
Hard Boiled
Noir
Police Procedural
Private Detective
Soft-boiled
Suspense
Thriller


Each of these is defined, with examples, in the Dictionary, below.

A
Definitions: A

AAMVANET: abbreviation for  American Association of Motor Vehicle 
Administrators Network; which links USA and Canadian state/province 
agencies on highway safety/usgae issues.

AFIS: Acronym for Automated Fingerprint Identification System

AIDS: Acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Sydrome, see 
also Human Immunodeficiency Virus

A.K.A.: abbreviation for Also Known As

ALS: Acronym for Alternative Light Systems

A.S.A.: Abbreviation for "assistant state's attorney." 
An assistant state's attorney, acting on behalf of the 
state's attorney, represents the state in criminal 
proceedings. In Cook County, an assistant state's 
attorney must review all felony charges before they 
are approved.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

ASCLD: Acronym for American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors

Abbacinare: A barbaric form of corporal punishment meted out in the Middle 
Ages where persons would be permanently blinded by the pressing of hot irons 
to the open eyes.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Abduction: To take someone away from a place without that person's consent 
or by fraud. 
See also: kidnapping

Abet: The act of encouraging or inciting another to do a certain thing, 
such as a crime. For example, many countries will equally punish a person 
who aids or abets another to commit a crime.

Abstract: {to be done}
see: Concrete and Abstract

Accelerant: compound or falmmable fluid which speeds the 
start and spread of a fire.  Synonym: Booster.
See: Arson; Burn Indicators

Accelerant Detection Canines: Dogs which are able to detect accelerants 
(associated with arson) by scent.
See: Explosives Detection Canines; Cadaver Dogs

Accountability: The doctrine by which one is liable for the criminal conduct 
of another. Example: A agrees to help B rob a store, but only on condition 
that there be no violence. B assures A that no one will be hurt in the robbery. 
B nevertheless kills a clerk in the commission of the robbery. Both A and B 
may be criminally liable for the murder.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Acquittal: A final judgment by a judge or jury that the prosecution has not 
proven a criminal defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This is not 
a guilty verdict.

Act: (1) a major division in the action of a play, as introduced in England by 
dramatists of the Elizabethan era, in imitation of Roman playwright 
Seneca.  Acts are often divided into scenes.
     (2) By analogy, if a novel is like a play, then the drama in the 
novel is implicitly or explicitly divided into Acts, while the scenes 
roughly correspond to chapters.
     (3) In the sense of "criminal act", see: crime.
     (4) A statute or law (an Act by the State Legislture).
     (5) An activity, such as a "sex act."  See Prostitution

Act of God: An event which is caused solely by the effect of nature or 
natural causes and without any interference by humans whatsoever. 
Insurance contracts often exclude "acts of God" from the list of insurable 
occurrences as a means to waive their obligations for damage caused by 
hurricanes, floods or earthquakes, all examples of "acts of God".
See: Force Majeure

Action: See Civil Action; Criminal Action;
Law Suit; Litigation

Action Stereotyping: when an officer sees events the way 
he/she expects them to unfold, rather than as the actually do.

Active System: Category of vehicle antitheft devices which 
demands that the driver do something to activate/deactivate each time the 
vehcile is started or parked.
See: Theft Deterrent

Addict: Either Physical Dependence or Psychological 
Dependence on Drugs, or both.
See: Drugs; 
Contrast: Recreational Drug User

ADR: Abbreviation for alternative dispute resolution.

Adjudication: The decision (decree or judgment) by the court concerning 
the defendant(s) involved in the case. 

Administrative Log: Written record of actions performed by Crime Scene 
Coordinator, with assignments, release of the scene, and everything else.

Admissible: to be admissible, evidence must be material (it must go to 
a substantial issue in the case) and relevant (it must go to the truth 
or falsity of a matter asserted). May also require competence.

Admission: A person's acknowledgment of his/her involvement in 
criminal behavior, but not in itself sufficient to establish guilt. 
Example: a suspect acknowledges having been at the crime scene, 
but does not confess to having committed the crime.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Adultery: Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and another 
person who is not their married spouse. In most countries, this is a legal 
ground for divorce. The person who seduces another's spouse is known as the 
"adulterer." In old English law, this was also known as criminal conversation.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Advance Reading Copy (ARC): The text of a forthcoming book, issued by the 
publisher in a form resembling a trade paperback, for booksellers and reviewers 
so they will be familiar with the story when it is published. Usually subject 
to final editing. Also referred to as proof copy, uncorrected proof, galley, 
or galley proof.
[Seattle Mystery Bookshop]

Adversarial System: The state and defense represent their evidence as vigorously 
as possible, competing agsainst each other before a judge or jury.  The 
other main approach is that of the Inquisitorial System, where the judge 
is the one asking the questions, to determine the truth.  The USA uses the 
Adversarial System; France uses the Inquisitorial System.
        
Aestheticism: a literary movement, of the late 19th century, based in 
France, but evolved from the German theory of Kant [1790] that aesthetic 
contemplation is "disinterested" -- indifferent to utility and reality, but 
only concerned with Beauty.  This also grew from "The Poetic Principle" 
[1850] of Edgar Allan Poe, who is the father of the modern detective story.
see also Decadence.

AFIS: Abbreviation of Automated Fingerprint Identification System,
a computer based fingerprint identification system.

Affective Fallacy: (1) The error of evaluating a poem by its effects, 
especially its emotional effects, upon the reader.  Thus, the poem itself 
disappears as an object of criticism, as does the poet.  We are left with 
"impressionism and relativism."  This was defined by W. K. Wimsatt, Jr., 
and Monroe C. Beardsley, in an essay [1946] of the same name.
     (2) By analogy, a bogus claim for critical objectivity sometimes
applied to Mystery Novels and stories.

Affidavit: A statement which before being signed, the person signing takes 
an oath that the contents are, to the best of their knowledge, true. It is 
also signed by a notary or some other judicial officer that can administer 
oaths, to the effect that the person signing the affidavit was under oath 
when doing so. These documents carry great weight in Courts to the extent 
that judges frequently accept an affidavit instead of the testimony of the 
witness.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]
An Affidavit by an oficer is a prerequisite to a judge issuing an arrest warrant.

Affirmation: witness acknowledges understanding and accepting the 
obligations of an oath, including the risks of perjury.

Age: see Periods of English Literature

Age of Sensibility: (1) The literary era between Alexander Pope's death [1744] 
and Wordsworth and Colerdge's "Lyrical Ballads" [1798]. Also known as the 
Age of Johnson, due to the power of Dr.Johnson [1709-1784] and his 
neoclassical followers: James Boswell, Edmund Burke, Edward Gibbon, Olivber 
Goldsmith.  This era marked a positive view of the Middle Ages, cultural 
primitivism, folk literature, "original genius", the bardic, the sublime, 
and the visionary.
     (2) By analogy, a corresponding period in the late 20th century for 
Mystery fiction.
See: Periods of English Literature

Age-progression Photos: "Photographs that are "aged" (in simulation of the 
subject being aged) through the use of computer software.
See:  Age Progression and Photoenhancement

Agent: (1) the Agent finds and negotiates a contract between 
author and publisher.
     (2) Short for FBI Agent, or Secret Agent, or the like.
[Bill Pronzini, "On Agents", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition
     (3) A person who has received the power to act on behalf of another, 
binding that other person as if he or she were themselves making 
the decisions. The person who is being represented by the agent is 
referred to as the "principal."
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]
(4) Biological Agent or Chemical Agent

Aggravated (offense; e.g. aggravated assault, aggravated battery): 
A condition which makes an offense more serious, and subjects the 
offender to greater punishment. Example: using a deadly weapon, or 
wearing clothing that conceals one's identity, in the commission of 
an assault constitutes aggravated assault.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Aggravated Assault:
see: Aggravated; Assault; Violent Crime
Contrast: Simple Assault

Aggravated Damages: Special and highly exceptional damages awarded 
by a court where the circumstances of the tortious conduct have been 
particularly humiliating or malicious towards the plaintiff/victim.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Agricultural: In Criminalistics, means any chemical used on farms, such as 
fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides.

Agroterrorism: Use of bioweapons aginst food supply or agriculture industries.
See: Terrorism

Airport Bookshops: according to Romance Writers of America statistics, 
are the sites where 2% of romance readers purchase books.

Alcohol/DUI: Measuring the quantity of alcohol in the blood is one of the 
three methods available to assess alcohol impairment. This is usually 
accomplished by an instrumental chemical analysis of the blood to measure 
the blood alcohol concentration. A practical method for monitoring alcohol 
impairment in driving is breath analysis via breath testing devices. These 
breath analyzers measure the amount of alcohol in breath and translate it 
to blood alcohol levels.
[Office of the Attorney General, State of California, Dept. of Justice]

Alec Jeffreys: This biologist was the first person to use DNA in a 
criminal case in order to identify a suspect.

Algor Mortis: the decrease in a human body's temperature following death.

Alimony: An amount given to one spouse to another while they are separated.

Allan Pinkerton: First detective for Chicago, Illinois [1849]. 
Founder of the Pinkerton Agency [first USA detective agency]. 

Allegory: Narrative where actions, agents, and settings not only make sense 
as themselves, but more importantly point to or signify a correlated 
system of persons, places, and things. This may be for historical, 
political, religious, or other usually didactic purpose.
See also: Fable; exemplum; parable.

Alligatoring: The alligator-skin appearance of charred wood, with its 
characteristically checked texture.
See: Arson

Alliteration: In a sequence of words close to each other in speech or on 
the page, the repetition of a speech sound, usually recurring at the start 
or other key stressed syllable or part of the words. Usually applies only 
to consonents.  Most common in poetry, but also a technique useful in 
speech-making and in establishing character or atmosphere in a Mystery 
fiction.
see also Assonance,Consonance

Allocution: The right a victim has to make a statement (written or spoken) 
at felony sentencing hearings and parole hearings

Alphonse Bertillon: Founder of anthropometrics. 
See: Anthropometry

Alternative Dispute Resolution: Also known as "ADR"; methods by which legal 
conflicts and disputes are resolved privately and other than through 
litigation in the public courts, usually through one of two forms: 
mediation or arbitration. It typically involves a process much less formal 
than the traditional court process and includes the appointment of a 
third-party to preside over a hearing between the parties. The advantages 
of ADR are speed and money: it costs less and is quicker than court 
litigation. ADR forums are also private. The disadvantage is that it often 
involves compromise.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Alternative Light Systems: abbreviated ALS, the portable lasers or handheld ultraviolet lighting 
devices utilized in locating physical evidence at the Crime Scene, particularly trace evidence.
See also: Basic Yellow 40

Amateur Burglers: Impulse- or opportunity-burglers, who 
lack planning, typically use force to enter and ransack premises, and can 
become violent offenders of secondary crimes such as rape or murder if 
caught in the act.

Amateur Detectives: In these stories, nosy and inquisitive civilians with
private occupations not associated with law enforcement, get caught up in
mysteries. The Usually cooperate with authorities, but are viewed as
meddling annoyances by police. 
[formerly on now-abandoned site 
     http://staff.queens.lib.ny.us/central/my_html/Mystery.htm]
* Diane Mott Davidson (Goldy Bear)
* Agatha Christie (Jane Marple)
* Lawrence Block (Bernie Rhodenbarr)
* Simon Brett (Mrs. Pargeter, Charles Paris)
* Jonathan Gash (Owen Lovejoy)
* Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael).

Ambience: see Atmosphere

American West: see  {hotlink}{to be done}

Ambush: Type of robbery depending on surprise, rather than planning, and which 
uses  force or threat of force against victim, typically for a small score.

Amusement: "...the literature we read for amusement or purely for pleasure 
may have the greatest influence upon us." [T. S. Eliot]

American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors: 
International society for maintaining the highest standards of practice at 
crime laboratories.  It conducts an accreditation program for labs, plus 
education programs for lab personnel.
Abbreviated ASCLD

Amido Black: Blood-sensitive dye used in developing fingerprints 
contaminated with blood.

Amphetamines: Class of stimulants that boost blood pressure, heart arte, 
respiratory rate, metabolic rate; while decreasing appetite, making senses 
hyperalert, and causing stress that lasts a long timne.  Addictive.  
Perhaps larger in dollar value that heroin or coacaine in amount sold 
today in USA.
See: drugs; Crystallized Methamphetamine;
Crystal Meth; Ice; Speed

Anatomically Correct Dolls: Dolls with all anatomical features used to 
assist in interviews with children who may have been sexually molested.

Anglo-Saxon Period: see Periods of English Literature

Angry Young Men: a set of 1950s British playwrights and novelists, 
generally reflecting a jaundiced view of "the Establishment." Includes 
Kinglsey Amis [Lucky Jim, 1950]; John Braine [Room at the Top, 1957]; 
Alan Sillitoe [Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, 1960]; John Osborne 
[Look Back in Anger, 1957].

Anthology: a book consisting of a collection of stories,
typically by different authors.

Anthrax: A biowar agent weaponized from acute infectious disease with three 
forms: (1) cutaneous; (2) intestinal; (3) inhalation. These three differ 
in three ways by means of (1) transmission; (2) symptoms; (3) lethality.

Anthropometry: The combination of anthropology and measurements to identify a
person.
See: Alphonse Bertillon; Bertillon Measurements;
Will West Case

Antithesis: Parallel grammatical structure used to emphasize and 
opposition or contrast in meaning.

A/O: Abbreviation, often used in case reporting, for "arresting officer."
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Appeal: To ask a more senior court or person to review a decision of a 
subordinate court or person. In some countries such as Canada, the USA 
and Australia, appeals can continue all the way up to the Supreme Court, 
where the decision is final in that it can no longer be appealed. That is 
why it is called "supreme" (although, in Australia the supreme court is 
called the High Court).
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]
See: Judicial Review

Appearance: The act of showing up in court as either plaintiff, defendant, 
accused or any other party to a civil or criminal suit. It implies that you 
accept the power of the court to try the matter (i.e. "jurisdiction"). 
Appearances are most often made by lawyers on their clients behalf...
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Arbitration: An alternative dispute resolution method by which an independent, 
neutral third person ("arbitrator") is appointed to hear and consider the 
merits of the dispute and renders a final and binding decision called an award. 
The process is similar to the litigation process as it involves adjudication, 
except that the parties choose their arbitrator and the manner in which the 
arbitration will proceed. The decision of the arbitrator is known as an "award." 
Compare with: mediation

Archaism: using in literature, for stylistic effect, words that are obsolete in 
ordinary usage.  

Archaeological Looting: Removal by illegal and unscientific methods of 
historical resources from tribal, public, or private land.
See also Bone Rustlers

Archetype: Elemental pattern of myth, legend, or ritual.  A theory 
developed by anthropologists (especially in J. G. Frazer's The Golden 
Bough] and the Depth Psychology of Carl G. Jung.  Literary critics such as 
Northrop Frye, Joseph Campbell, and others developed this critical theory.  
The Mystery genre is one where the archetypes of hunter and hunted, the 
deranged killer, the person haunted by a guilty conscience, the cop as 
authorty figure, the innocent victim, and the rational or intuitive 
detective are central.

Area: A group of five police districts which share a detective unit, 
a youth investigation unit, and male and female lock-up facilities. 
Chicago is divided into five areas.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Arraignment: In USA criminal law, the formal appearance of an accused 
person to hear, and to receive a copy of, the charge against him 
or her, in the presence of a judge, and to then enter a plea of guilty 
or not guilty. The arraignment is the final preparatory step before the 
criminal trial.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Arrest: To take a person into custody, by authority of law, 
for the purpose of charging him/her with a criminal offense. 
An arrest is proper when an officer observes criminal behavior 
or reasonably believes the individual has engaged in criminal 
behavior; or upon warrant issued by a judge or magistrate.

Arrest Warrant: Judicial order that a specified person be 
arrested and brought before court to answer criminal charge(s).

Arresting Officer: see A/O

Arson: Some countries define "arson" as the intentional setting of a fire 
to a building in which people live; others include as "arson" the 
intentionally setting of a fire to any building. In either case, 
this is a very serious crime and is punishable by a long jail sentence.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]
Arson: Unlawfully damaging real or personal property by means of fire 
or explosives. The property must have a value of $150 or more. 
This offense includes damaging one's own property with the intent 
to defraud an insurer.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]
See: Incendiary Material; Plants;
Accelerant; Alligatoring; Booster; Point of Origin;
Burn Indicators; Charring; Effective Fire Temperature;
Trailers
See: Property Crime

Arson/Explosives: Arson investigation is the science of determining the cause 
of a fire. It is necessary for experts in this field to be knowledgeable in 
scientific, as well as non-scientific areas. Such scientific areas include 
physics, chemistry, and electronics. An extensive knowledge of the construction 
of buildings would be an example of a non-scientific area. It is also important 
for an arson investigator to be aware of the psychological disorders that are 
related to fire-setting behavior.
     Investigation of explosives is similar since the explosion scene requires 
extensive reconstruction efforts. The investigator must be knowledgeable in the 
areas of manufacture, materials, and detonation of explosive materials. Another 
important aspect is the knowledge of the mental states and psychological 
disorders that lead to random and intentional bombings.
[Office of the Attorney General, State of California, Dept. of Justice]
See also: Chemical Explosions; Explosion

Assault: The touching of another person with an intent to harm, 
without that person's consent.
See: Aggravated Assault; Simple Assault

Assault and Battery: Two distinct offenses which can occur 
independently or together. Assault is placing someone in 
reasonable apprehension of a battery, e.g. by making 
threatening statements or raising a fist. 
Battery is causing bodily harm to a person by any means, 
or making physical contact with a person of an insulting 
or provocative nature. 
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Assignment Sheet: Person assigned at a crime scene must make such written 
report to document the tasks he/she's done and those things found.

Associative Evidence: evidence that (bidirectionally) connects the 
perpetrator to the victim or crime scene.

Assonance: In a sequence of words close to each other in speech or on 
the page, the repetition of a vowel sound, usually recurring at the start 
or other key stressed syllable or part of the words. Most common in poetry, 
but also a technique useful in speech-making and in establishing character 
or atmosphere in a Mystery fiction.
see also Alliteration

Atmosphere: the ambience, mood, or tone pervading a work of fiction. 
Atmosphere establishes a reader's expectations.  Atmosphere is an essential 
element of style in Mystery fiction, as it also is in related genres such as 
Gothic, Horror, Romance.
[Dorothy Salisbury Davis, "Background and Atmosphere", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition

Attorney: An alternate word for lawyer or "barrister & solicitor", 
used mostly in the USA. A person that has been trained in the law 
and that has been certified to give legal advice or to represent 
others in litigation.
NOTE: Your Humble Webmaster is NOT an attorney, and is not giving legal advice.

Augustan Age: (1) the literary era of Horace, Vergil, and Ovid in the 
reign of Roman Emperor Augustus [27 B.C. - 14 A.D.]
     (2) By analogy, the period in English literasture from roughly 1700 to 
1745, when authors such as Addison, Pope, Steele, and Swift 
self-consciously aped the social themes, decorum, moderation, and urbanity 
of their ancient predecessors.
See: Periods of English Literature

Authentic: {to be done}
[Barbara Frost, "How to Make It Authentic", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition

Auto Theft: {to be done}
See: Property Crime; Vehicle;
VIN; Confidential VIN

Autobiography: a biography written by the author about 
himself or herself, as distinguished from Memoir 
(where the emphasis is not on oneself, but on people met or 
events witnessed) or Diary (intended for private use).

Autoerotic Death: Accidental asphyxiation, causing death, rersulting from 
masochistic activity of the deceased.  
Synonym: Sexual Asphyxia

Automated Fingerprint Identification System: {to be done}

Author: the author writes the manuscript that becomes the book.
See ROMANCE Authors Table of Contents.
Author: according to Romance Writers of America statistics, 
is the #4 most important selling point for readers when deciding what book 
to buy. See also: description on the back cover, word-of-mouth, Personal flip-through, price.

Automated Fingerprint Identification System: A computer based fingerprint
identification system, abbreviated as AFIS. Maintained by 
the FBI, it stores and quickly compares millions of fingerprints in order to 
find matches for purpose of identification of victims or perpetrators.

Autopsy: Medical examination of human body for determining time of death 
and cause of death.  This is legally required for any suspicious or violent 
death.

Avionics: Abbreviation for Aviation Electronics, meaning any electronic 
equipment on aircraft, such as navigation, radio, IFFN, jamming.

B
Definitions: B

BEA: acronym for Behavioral Evidence Analysis

BOLO: acronym for Be On the Lookout

Background: {to be done}
[Dorothy Salisbury Davis, "Background and Atmosphere", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition

Bad faith: Intent to deceive. A person who intentionally tries to deceive 
or mislead another in order to gain some advantage.

Bail: Criminal law: a commitment made (and possibly secured by cash or 
property) to secure the release of a person being held in custody and 
suspected of a crime, to provide some kind of guarantee that the suspect
will appear to answer the charges at some later date.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]
The deposit -- money, property, or bond -- that is put up by, or on behalf of, 
an arrested person to secure his or her release from jail before or after 
court proceedings begin. The California State Constitution declares all 
arrested persons, other than those charged with a death penalty offense, 
are entitled to bail. 
See: Property Bond

Ballad: (1) roughly synonymous with folk ballad, popular ballad, traditional 
ballad. An orally transmitted song which tells a story.
     (2) By analogy, a work of fiction that attempts to capture the 
musical and popular style of such a song.
     (3) Related literary terms include: ballad stanza, broadside ballad, 
     literary ballad.
     
Ballistics: The scientific study of firearms and projectiles in thee phases:
(1) Interior Ballistics: the projectile behavior in the gun barrel;
(2) Exterior Ballistics: the projectile behavior in flight;
(3) Terminal Ballistics: the projectile behavior when it hits the target.

Barbituates: category of depressents of short, intermediate, or 
long-lasting depression, i.e. Secobarbital, amobarbital, etc.  These can, 
on abrupt withdrawal, cause convulsions or death, and usually nicknamed by 
the color of the pill/capsule or the name of the manufacturer.

Barrister: A litigation specialist; a lawyer that restricts his or her 
practice to the court room. In England and some other Commonwealth 
jurisdictions, a legal distinction is made between barristers and 
solicitors, the latter with exclusive privileges of advising clients, 
providing legal advice, and the former with exclusive privileges of 
appearing in a court on behalf of a client. In other words, solicitors 
don't appear in court on a client's behalf and barristers don't give 
legal advice to clients. In England, barristers and solicitors work 
as a team: the solicitor would typically make the first contact with 
a client and if the issue cannot be resolved and proceeds to trial, 
the solicitor would transfer the case to a barrister for the duration 
of the litigation. Lawyers in some states, such as Canada, sometimes use 
the title "barrister and solicitor" even though, contrary to England, 
there is no legal distinction between the advising and litigating roles. 
Canadian lawyers can litigate or give legal advice, as is the case in the USA, where lawyers 
are referred to as "attorneys."
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Basic Yellow 40: After superglue fuming, this dye is used to make latent 
prints fluoresce under alternative lighting systems.
See also: Crystal Violet; D.F.O.

Bastard: An illegitimate child, born in a relationship between two persons 
that are not married (ie. not in wedlock) or who are not married at the 
time of the child's birth.

Bathos: From the Greek term for "depth", critics since Alexander Pope use 
the word to mean an unintended descent from an author's intended elevation 
or passion, by clumsiness or overshooting, to the ridiculous or the 
painfully trivial.
See also: Bombast

Battered Child Syndrome: Clinical language for those injuries caused to a 
physically abused child.

Battery: see: Assault and Battery

Be On the Lookout: The notification broadcast to officers, 
containing detailed information about vehicles or the suspects in them, 
which is technically part of the preliminary investigation.
Abbreviated BOLO.

Beat: A geographic area assigned to specific officers for patrol. 
There are 279 beats in Chicago.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Beat Car: A police car assigned to patrol a specific beat.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Beat Community Meeting: A forum held at least quarterly, 
and often monthly, on each of Chicago's 279 beats. 
Police and community members jointly identify, 
prioritize, and develop strategies to address 
local crime and disorder problems.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Beat Drugs: Substances sold to buyers in place of actual drugs, 
(i.e. "phony drugs") 

Beat Integrity: A Chicago Police Department strategy to keep officers 
on their own beat as much as possible (rather than assisting in 
emergencies on other beats). This allows officers to get to know both 
residents and problems on their beat.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Beat Plan: A plan of action developed by the beat team, 
with input from the community, on significant problems 
on the beat and how to address them. The framework of 
analysis is the "crime triangle," which views each 
problem in terms of three legs: victim, offender, 
and location.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Beat Team: The eight or nine officers from all three watches assigned 
to the same beat, and the sergeant who serves as team leader.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

"Beauty is only skin deeep."  Or is it?
Beauty: #2 of the top 3 character traits that romance readers like 
to see in the heroine about whom they read (in 1998),
according to Romance Writers of America statistics.
See also: intelligence, attractiveness, handsomeness, kindness, muscle bound, 
and strength of character.

Behavioral Evidence Analysis: Type of criminal profiling by a 
deductive method wherein the perpetrator's characteristics are determined 
from crime scene evidence.
abbreviated BEA.

Benzodiaapines: see Date-rape Drugs

Berne Convention: An international copyright treaty called the Convention for 
the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works signed at Berne, Switzerland 
in 1886 (amended several times and as late as 1971) and to which now subscribe 
77 nations including all major trading countries including China, with the 
notable exception of Russia. It is based on the principle of national treatment.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Alphonse Bertillon: Founder of anthropometrics. 

Bertillon Measurements: A specific set of 11 measurements of various parts of the
body to identify a person.
See: Alphonse Bertillon; Anthropometry

Bigamy: Being married to more than one person at the same time. 
This is a criminal offence in most countries.

Biggers-Brathwaite Factors Test: Method to balance the reliability of 
eyewitness identification, based on five factors listed by the U.S. Supreme 
Court, against the corrupting influence of suggestive processes.  It 
enables a highly reliable means of identification in court, even after 
some misbehavior by officers put the fairness of the identification in 
jeaopardy.

Biography: (1) "The history of particular men's lives." [Dryden]
     (2) The genre of books, short works, or collections of such histories.
     (3) Subgenres include:
          * Autobiography: a biography written by the author about 
               himself or herself, as distinguished from Memoir 
               (where the emphasis is not on oneself, but on people met or 
               events witnessed) or Diary (intended for private use).
          * Chronicle: especially about a King or a Saint.

Biological Agents: Toxins or microorganisms such as anthrax, botulism, 
plague, smallpox, which can cause human illness or death, and could be 
used by terrorists for biowar.  Typically slow-acting compared to Chemical Agents.

Biometrics: The use of personal biological measurements for entry into 
computer systems. 

Biowar: see Biological Agents
                             
Blacked Out:(noun) A vehicle being driven at night without any lights. 
[A.P. Duli Investigations]

Blamestorming: (verb) Sitting around in a group, discussing what went wrong, 
and who (if anyone) should be held responsible. 
[A.P. Duli Investigations]

Blank Verse: Poetic lines of iambic pentameter.

Blend: To become part of surrounding activities or culture, for 
investigative purposes. 

Blending Operations: Assimilating police officers into their surroundings. 

Bloodstain Pattern Analysis: The study of the origin, trajectory and patterns of
bloodstains. 

Bobbies: slang for British Police Constables, based on name of Sir Robert Peel.

Body Language: The display of certain gestures, demeanor, facial expressions, and/or 
body movements as brought about by deception or truthfulness. Keen observers can 
analyze involuntary body language during conversation, interrogation, or testimony.

Bombast: (1) Original meaning was "cotton stuffing."
     (2) By analogy, a fiction, drama, or poetry style which is inflated, 
verbose, inflated in an attempt to be heroic. 
See also: Bathos.

Bone Rustlers: Fossil hunters without authorization, who loot private or 
public land. 
See also Archaeological Looting

Book: Books are the final printed objects that publishers 
release, from the manuscripts sold to them by authors. The kinds of books that the 
Romance industry are interested in 
include: anthologies, single-title romances, series romances.

Book clubs: according to Romance Writers of America statistics, 
are the way that 9% of romance readers purchase books.

Book Store: one of several types of retail outlets 
where a reader buys one or more books.

Booster: see Accelerant

Booster Bag: Used by shoplifter, this is a big shopping bag lined with 
aluminum foil and duct tape, which blocvks the electronic security tags of 
items placed inside, allowing them to be smuggled past detectors at exits.

Bore: the interior diameter of a gun barrel in between its opposing high sides.
See also: Caliber; Firearm

Bow Street Runners: 18th Century unpaid private citizens who received 
rewards for identifying thieves. These volunteers were established in 1748 
by Henry Fielding, and were thus the first modern detective force.  Some, 
by 1785, were directly employed as detectives by the government.

Bowdlerize: Derived from Reverend Thomas Bowdler, who left out the rude 
bits in his "Family Shakespeare" [1815], omitting as he put it: 
"whatever is unfit to be read by a gentleman in a company of ladies."
Hence, any overly delicate censorship.

Brady Material: Also known as discovery. 
See: Brady v. Maryland

Brady v. Maryland: The Supreme Court case allowing the accused to discover all
opposing evidence for trial.
See: Brady Material

Brands: the registered combinations of letters, marks, numbers, and shapes 
used to uniquely identify ownership of livestock.

Brainpower: (noun) Intellectual capacity (or lack thereof).
[A.P. Duli Investigations]

Brainwork: (noun) Intellectual activity, especially as an aspect of a 
person's profession.
[A.P. Duli Investigations]

Brideswell: see Workhouse

Brown v. Mississippi: Supreme Court Decision ending brutality and "third degree"
interrogation tactics. 

Bug: (noun) Hidden microphone connected to a radio transmitter or 
directly wired to a listening post. 
[A.P. Duli Investigations]
See: Wiretap

Bullet: {to be done}
see also: Caliber, Gun

Bumper Beeper: (noun) Radio transmitter attached inside a vehicle's bumper 
used as a beacon or homing device for mobile surveillance. 
[A.P. Duli Investigations]

Burden of Going Forward: The responsibility of the defense 
in a criminal trial to present sufficient evidence to raise reasonable 
doubt in the minds of jurors.  This is optional, as the defense is not 
formally required to present any evidence at all.

Burden of Proof: A rule of evidence that makes a person prove a certain 
thing or the contrary will be assumed by the court. For example, 
in criminal trials, the prosecution has the burden of proving the 
accused guilt because innocence is presumed.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Burgler: a criminal who commits a burglary.

Burglary: Illegally entering or remaining in a building, vehicle, 
or water craft, with intent to commit any felony or theft.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]
See: Property Crime

Burglary Tools: Used by burglers to commit crimes, usually 
ordinary household tools, sometimes modified to be more effective in 
aiding breaking and entering.

Burlesque: (1) a type of Satire, roughly synonymous with parody or travesty,
where the author inongruously imitates the manner or matter of a serious 
work of literature, and where the more the disparity between the subject 
matter and the style or form, the more fun and amusement is gained.
     Some critics draw fine distinctions, claiming that "Burlesque"
is the more general term, and other terms above are specialized sub-types. 
They further subdivide as follows:
     * High Burlesque: Elevated style for undignified low subject:
          * Mock Epic, or Mock Heroic
          * Parody (usually of a specific literary work or author)
     * Low Burlesque: Undignified low style for serious and dignified subject:
          * Hudibrastic: doggeral mocking Chivalric Romance
          * Travesty: mocks an elevated work in lowly language and style
(2) The modern use for a form of theatre derives from incongruous 
imitations of serious drama, such as John Gay's "Begger's Opera" [1728] 
which skewered Italian Opera.  Gilbert & Sullivan were the masters of 
Burlesque musical theatre in the Victorian era, sometimes using plots with 
Mystery elements.
(3) In America, the second definition above declined to designate mere 
slapstick, bawdry, and ultimately the striptease.

Burn Indicators: Those effects of heat or partial burning which indicate 
the rate of development of a fire, its points of origin, its duration, its 
time of occurrence, or the presence of accelerants.
See: Arson

Burned: The act of being observed by the person being surveilled. Also 
known as "made." 

Buy and Bust: The apprehension of a drug seller upon the purchase of drugs.

Thomas Byrnes: Commander of the Central Detective Office in New York City [1880]

C
Definitions: C

CFE: abbreviation for Certified Fraud Examiner (Investigators who are 
certified to conduct fraud investigations.

CIB: acronym for Criminal Identification Bureau

CID: acronym for Criminal Investigation Department

CODIS: acronym for Combined DNA Index System

CUPPI: acronym for Circumstances Undetermined Pending Police Investigation

Cadaver Dogs: The highly trained canines who assist in locating bodies 
submerged in water, or underground, based on sensitivity the the smell of 
decomposing human remains.
See also: Accelerant Detection Canines; Explosives Detection Canines

Cadaveric Spasm: Popularly known as Death Grip, this is the instantaneous
tightening of an extremity or other body part at the time of death.

Caliber: a bullet's diameter, slightly larger than the bore of the weapon 
that fired that bullet.

The Camp Mystery:
     "The rules and appurtenances of any of the foregoing [Whodunnit]
subtypes turned inside-out and played strictly for belly laughs."
     Considered a sub-type of the Whodunnit.
[Bruce Cassiday, "Into Something Rich and Strange", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition
See also: Burlesque.
Characteristic Camp Mystery Authors:
* Ed McBain
* Robert L. Fish
* Donald E. Westlake

Canon Law: The law of the Christian Church. Has little or no legal effect 
today. Canon law refers to that body of law which has been set by the 
Christian Church and which, in virtually all places, is not binding upon 
citizens and has virtually no recognition in the judicial system. Some 
citizens resort to canon law, however, for procedures such as marriage 
annulments to allow for a Christian church marriage where one of the 
parties has been previously divorced. Many church goers and church 
officers abide by rulings and doctrines of canon law. Also known as 
ecclesiastical law.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Canvass: To interview a large number of potential witnesses. 
     
The Caper Mystery:
     "(The yin-yang opposite of the Straight Whodunnit). A step-by-step 
analysis of a crime as it is planned by the man who is going to bring it off."
     Considered a sub-type of the Whodunnit.
[Bruce Cassiday, "Into Something Rich and Strange", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition
Characteristic Caper Mystery Authors:
* Eric Ambler [Topkapi]
* Richard Stark
* Lionel White

Caper Novel: One of the newer forms, centered on the commission of some type 
of crime or scam, usually outrageous and frequently humorous. Will it succeed, 
and will the scoundrels get away with it? Gives us an opportunity to root for 
characters we might not root for in real life.
[Seattle Mystery Bookshop]

Capital Punishment: The most severe of all sentences: that of death. 
Also known as the death penalty, capital punishment has been banned in 
many countries. In the United States, an earlier move to eliminate capital 
punishment has now been reversed and more and more states are resorting 
to capital punishment for serious offenses such as murder
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

CAPS: Acronym for Chicago's Alternative Policing Strategy. 
This is the Department's community policing strategy, 
based on a partnership between the police and the community. 
Although it is officially called an alternative policing 
strategy, it is the Department's principal strategy for 
addressing crime and disorder problems.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Career Criminal: One who keeps breaking the law, again and again, 
regardless of how often arrested or incarcerated.
See: Professional Criminal; Crimogen

Career Criminal Programs: The investigation of career criminals.

Cargo Theft: The theft of things in or from a commercial motor vehicle.

Carjacking: The crime of taking a motor vehicle away from 
a passenger or motorist, in that victim's presence, bu using force or 
threat, with the intent of permanently or temporarily depriving the owner 
of the use of the vehicle.

Carrier Current Device: (noun)Transmits a low-power AM signal along wires 
(electrical or phone). 
[A.P. Duli Investigations]

Carnivore: (1) Literally, meat-eater;
(2) USA Federal device used to intercept information through the internet. 

Caroline Age: Literary period during the reign of Charles I [1625-1649], 
during which was the English Civil War between Royalist "Cavaliers" and 
allies of Parliament ("Roundheads").  Authors of the age included John 
Milton, George Herbert, and the court-connected Cavalier Poets (Thomas Carew, 
Richard Lovelace, Sir John Suckling, and Robert Herrick [although he was 
an unconnected country parson]). Most of these were admirers of 
Dr.Johnson (hence called "Sons of Ben").
See also Jacobean Age; Periods of English Literature

Carpe Diem: Latin phrase meaning "seize the day" [Horace, Odes, I.ix],
which is now a common literary motif.

Case Folder: A file used for the collection and organization of 
investigation documents.

Case Investigator: also known as Primary Investigator or Lead Investigator;
The criminal investigator responsible for the proper investigation of the 
crime scene.

Case Law: The entire collection of published legal decisions of the courts 
which, because of stare decisis, contributes a large part of the legal rules 
which apply in modern society. If a rule of law cannot be found in written 
laws, lawyers will often say that it is a rule to be found in "case law". 
In other words, the rule is not in the statute books but can be found as a 
principle of law established by a judge in some recorded case. The word 
jurisprudence has become synonymous for case law.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Case Management: The procedure for collecting, recording, organizing, and
perserving investigative information. 

Catalytic Combustion Detector: a criminalistic portable device that 
oxidizes a smaple's combustible gases.  It is used to detect residues of 
accelerants at fire scenes.  
Synonyms: Combustible Gas Indicator; Explosimeter; Sniffer; Vapor Detector
See also: Arson.

Caveat: (Latin) "let him beware." A formal warning. Caveat emptor means 
let the buyer beware or that the buyers should examine and check for 
themselves things which they intend to purchase and that they cannot 
later hold the vendor responsible for the broken condition of the thing bought.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Celtic Renaissance: The period, roughly 1885 to William Butler Yeats' 
death [1939], also known as the Irish Literary Renaissance.
Authors included AE (G. W. Russell), James Stephens, Oliver St.John Gogarty.
Playwrights included Yeats, Lady Gregory, John Millington Synge, Sean O'Casey.

Certified Fraud Examiner: Investigators who are certified to conduct fraud
investigations; abbreviated CFE.

Ceteris Paribus: (Latin) all things being equal or unchanged. 

Chain of Custody: "A continuous, logical chain of evidence possession" 
without which a defense attorney will argue that the evidence was tampered 
with during some break in the chain."
This should, ideally, be a written, unbroken, chronological record that 
also accounts for any changes in the evidence.

Character and Characterization: {to be done}
[John D. MacDonald, "How a Character Becomes Believable", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition

Charging: formally asserting that a specific person shall be prosecuted for a crime.
See: Cleared By Arrest

Charring: the way that materials are scorched by a fire. 
By analysis of relative depth of scorching throughout the fire scene, 
an investigator can determine the direction of fire spread.
See: Arson

Chaste: A person who has never voluntarily had sexual intercourse outside 
of marriage, such as unmarried virgins. 

Chattel: Moveable items of property which are neither land nor permanently 
attached to land or a building, either directly or vicariously through 
attachment to real property. A piano is chattel but an apartment building, 
a tree or a concrete building foundation are not. The opposite of chattel is 
real property which includes lands or buildings. All property which is not 
real property is said to be chattel. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Check Fraud: The creation or use of altered or phony bank checks in any 
activity such as counterfeiting, identity theft, or a payroll check scheme.
See: Check Washing

Check Washing: process of altering bank checks with the 
use of an acidic chemical solution in order to erase the amount or the 
payee information, so that false numbers or names may be written in their 
place. 
See: Check Fraud

Chemical Agents: Rapidly acting biowar weapons such as mustard gas, sarin, 
V agents, which cause  a variety of incapacitating symptoms or death, and 
which can cause mass casualties.
See: WMD; Biological Agents

Chemical Explosions: Events in which high-pressure gas is 
produced by chemical reactions which involve alteration of the nature of 
the fuel, as commonly occurs in burning of hydrocarbon fuels such as 
natural gas, gasoline, or lubricating oils, when a polymer is broken down 
by heat into a monomer or shorter polymer gas.

Child: person under the age of 18.
See: infant; juvenile; minor; youth

Child Pornography: As defined by statute, any sexually explicit
visual depiction of a minor, including magazines, movies, negatives, photographs,
videotaped, and computerized images. 

Children: may result from marriage, may result from love, almost always 
result from sex.

Children's Books: according to Romance Writers of America statistics, 
such merchandise is purchased by 27% of romance readers when they're in a 
bookstore buying romance fiction.

Chivalric Romance or Medieval Romance: {to be done}

Chop Shops: Criminal garages that strip stolen cars of usable parts to 
repair damage vehicles. The goal is that the illegal dissassembly of cars 
allows the traceable parts to be disposed of or altered, so that the 
remaining untraceable parts can be sold to repair shops, salavage yards, 
or other buyers.
See: Auto Theft; VIN; Confidential VIN

Chorus: {to be done}

Chronicle: {to be done}
See: Biography

Chronicle Plays: {to be done}

Crystallized Methamphetamine: a long-acting amphetamine stimulant that 
started in injectible form or pill, but has been modified to a smokable 
odorless version in solid form which looks like a chip of ice and liquifies 
when lighted.
Synonym: Crystal Meth; Ice; Speed
See also: Amphetamine

Circumstances Undetermined Pending Police Investigation: a case where the 
medical examiner has performed an autopsy, but requests clarification 
before signing a death certificate.
Abbreviated CUPPI.

Circumstantial Evidence: Evidence which may allow a judge or jury to deduce 
a certain fact from other facts which have been proven. In some cases, there 
can be some evidence that can not be proven directly, such as with an 
eye-witness. And yet that evidence may be essential to prove a case. In these 
cases, the lawyer will provide the judge or juror with evidence of the 
circumstances from which a juror or judge can logically deduct, or reasonably 
infer, the fact that cannot be proven directly; it is proven by the evidence
of the circumstances; hence, "circumstantial" evidence. Fingerprints are an 
example of circumstantial evidence: while there may be no witness to a person's 
presence in a certain place, or contact with a certain object, the scientific 
evidence of someone's fingerprints is persuasive proof of a person's presence 
or contact with an object. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Citation: An order of a court to either do a certain thing or to appear 
before it to answer charges. The citation is typically used for lesser 
offences (such as traffic violations) because it relies on the good faith
of the defendant to appear as requested, as opposed to an arrest or bail. 
The penalty for failing to obey a citation is often a warrant for the 
arrest of the defendant.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Civil Action: A lawsuit in which a private party, rather than the state, 
is plaintiff, and where the plaintiff's remedy is either money damages 
or an injunction. In some cases, the same conduct can give rise to both 
a civil or criminal action.
See: Civil Law
 
Civil Law: Law inspired by old Roman Law, the primary feature of which 
was that laws were written into a collection; codified, and not determined, 
as is common law, by judges. The principle of civil law is to provide all 
citizens with an accessible and written collection of the laws which apply 
to them and which judges must follow. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 
See: Civil Action

Class Characteristics: Aspects of physical evidence which are common to a 
set of objects or persons.

Cleared By Arrest: That category of offense where the suspect has been 
arrested but there was insufficient evidence to file any formal charge.

Cliche: {to be done}
["Avoiding Cliches Like the Plague", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition

Clandestine: Something that is purposely kept from the view or knowledge
of others either in violation of the law or to conduct or conceal 
some illegal purpose. 
See: French Method of Detective Work

Clandestine Drug Laboratory: an illicit operation which produces a variety of illegal 
drugs for distribution and sale.  Because of the chemicals used, and the 
lack of expertise by the workers, these seriously endanger the public, as 
well as police and firefighters.

Clean Hands: A maxim of the law to the effect that any person, individual 
or corporate, that wishes to ask or petition a court for judicial action, 
must be in a position free of fraud or other unfair conduct. 

Cloning: the illegal programming of a cellular phone by overwriting the 
access code with that of some legitimate cellular customer, by means of a 
personal computer or specialized cloning "black box."

Close Tail: "Following a person, must be undetected, a constant 
surveillance" -- also known as "Tight Tail."
See also: Loose Tail; Rough Tail

Clues: see Leads; Evidence

Cocaine: a natural stimulant extracted from coca leaves.  It is sold 
illegally as a white, translucent crystal power, and is usually 
adulterated (stepped on).
Abbreviated: Coke
See: Drugs; Crack; Rock Cocaine

Code of Ethics: (noun) Rules of conduct to which members must adhere 
in order to remain in good standing with a professional organization.
[A.P. Duli Investigations]

Codeine: an opiate in injectible, liquid, or tablet form which is preferred 
to morphine because it causes less analgesia, sedation, and respiratory 
depression.

CODIS: Acronym for "Combined DNA Index System." 
          
Coffee or cafe items: according to Romance Writers of America statistics, 
such merchandise is purchased by 15% of romance readers when they're in a 
bookstore buying romance fiction.  
A prolific author is a machine where you put in coffee and get out manuscripts.

Cognitive Interview: Technique used to enhance accuracy in a witness's
information. 

Coke: see Cocaine

Cold Case Investigations: The investigation of old and unsolved crimes.

Collusion: A secret agreement between two or more persons, who seem to have 
conflicting interests, to abuse the law or the legal system, deceive a court 
or to defraud a third party. 

Colonial America: see Romance Subgenres

Combined DNA Index System: Database developed and maintained by the FBI
which includes records of convicted offenders' DNA profiles, and known-subject 
DNA profiles, and unknown-subject DNA profiles, which is used by 
investigators to find matches in order to link unsolved crimes across 
multiple jurisdictions.
Abbreviated CODIS

Combustible Gas Indicator:   
Synonyms: Catalytic Combustion Detector; Explosimeter; Sniffer; Vapor Detector
See also: Arson.

Comedy: the second of the two great dramatic forms, according to Aristotle, the 
other being Tragedy.
see Wit

Comedy of Humors: {to be done}


Comic Relief: {to be done}

Commedia Dell'Arte: {to be done}

Commercial: see Romance Subgenres

Commercial Shoplifters: people who steal merchandise in 
order to resell it. Also known as Boosters.

Commercial Vehicle Theft: stealing of tractor units or trailers.

Common Law: Unwritten legal precedents created through everyday practice and
which is supported by court decisions. 

Community Adjustment: Disposition of a juvenile offense which involves 
releasing the offender to a parent or guardian, with follow-up 
assistance by either the police or a community agency. A community 
adjustment is an alternative to juvenile court, made in the discretion 
of the police, for less serious offenses. Also referred to as a 
"station adjustment."
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Common Law: Judge-made law. Law which exists and applies to a group on the 
basis of historical legal precedents developed over hundreds of years. 
Because it is not written by elected politicians but, rather, by judges, 
it is also referred to as "unwritten" law. Judges seek these principles 
out when trying a case and apply the precedents to the facts to come up 
with a judgement. Common law is often contrasted with civil law systems 
which require all laws to be written in a code or written collection. 
Common law has been referred to as the "common sense of the community, 
crystallized and formulated by our ancestors". 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Commonwealth Period: see Periods of English Literature

Comparative Negligence: A principle of tort law which looks at the 
negligence of the victim and which may lead to either a reduction of the 
award against the defendant, proportionate to the contribution of the victim's 
negligence, or which may even prevent an award altogether if the victim's 
negligence, when compared with the defendant, is equal to or greater in terms 
or contributing to the situation which caused the injury or damage. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Competency: Evidence that is admissible contrasted with that which is
inadmissible.

Competency: (of a Witness) Personal qualifications or circumstances 
for court testimony, depending on the legal ability to act as a sworn witness, 
for intance: age or mental state.

Complaint: (1) (Police) A statement under oath whereby a witness accuses 
an individual of criminal behavior. Although a complaint may trigger an 
arrest, it is not in itself sufficient in Illinois and most jurisdictions 
to bring the offender before a criminal court.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]
(2) (Law) The Complaint and Subpoena are served and filed at the start of a
Civil Action.
(3) A written accusation filed by a prosecutor in a justice or municipal court 
that accuses one or more persons of committing one or more crimes. 
[California]

Component Swapping: A practice of fraud where manufacturewrs of, for instance, 
computers, use parts from a low-cost supplier but do not inform the buyer 
of that, pretending instead that the parts are expensive and standard.

Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970: The act that defines the 
legality or illegality of drugs. 

Computer-aided Investigation: Computer programs used to analyze criminal 
information and to prepared investigative plans. 

Computerized Case Management: Computer software used to collect, record and
organize investigative information.

Computerized Report Writing: Digital dictation systems for computerized 
report writing. 

Con Men: see Confidence Artists

Conceit: {to be done}

Concentric Fractures: An impact on a glass window leaves these lines that 
approximately circle the point of impact.

Concrete and Abstract: {to be done}

Confabulation: When a subject is hypnotized and asked to recall events, 
the subject will fabricate details to edit the incomplete actual memories 
for continuity.

Confession: A person's admissions of enough facts to establish his 
or her guilt of a particular crime.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]
Note: if the admissions cover each and every element of the offense, then 
there should be no reasonable doubt as to guilt.

Confidant: {to be done}

Confidence Artists: People who employ guile an a person-to-person 
interaction in order to swindle the victim by gaining the victim's 
conficence.
Synonym: Con Men

Confidential Informant: A professional person who provides information to law
enforcement, usually on a one time basis.

Confidential Information: People who provide the police with information and 
remain anonymous 

Confidential VIN: an extra Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) 
stamped someplace on the vehicle's body or frame in a location known onlky 
to the manufacturer and law enforcement experts in auto theft.  This is a 
way of protecting against chop shops.

Connotation and Denotation: {to be done}

Conspiracy: (1) An agreement between two or more persons to commit a criminal act. 
Those forming the conspiracy are called conspirators. 
(2) Agreement with another, or others, to commit a crime, and an act by any 
party to the agreement in furtherance of the agreement.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Contact: An investigator who maintains contact with the undercover officer 

Contact Burn: damage to the skin caused by contact with a 
flame or hot object such as tip of lit cigarette, or hot iron.

Contaminated: The state of evidence or crime scene being contaminated, or spoiled. 
Contrast: PristineContamination: processes by which evidence is contaminated.
See: Cross-Contamination

Contaminated Fingerprint: see Fingerprint 

Contemporary: see Romance Subgenres

Contempt of Court: An act of defiance of court authority or dignity. 
Contempt of court can be direct (swearing at a judge or violence against 
a court officer) or constructive (disobeying a court order). 
The punishment for contempt is a fine or a brief stay in jail (i.e. overnight).

Continuance: A delay of court proceedings.  

Contract: An agreement between persons which obliges each 
party to do or not to do a certain thing. Technically, a valid contract 
requires an offer and an acceptance of that offer, and, in common law 
countries, consideration.
     In general, Mystery fiction is bought from an author by a 
publisher (sometimes hrough an agent) via a 
contract.  The Contract almost always involves a cash advance, and then a royalty pay-out.

Contract Law: That body of law which regulates the enforcement of contracts. 
Contract law has its origins thousands of years as the early civilizations 
began to trade with each other, a legal system was created to support and to 
facilitate that trade. The English and French developed similar contract law 
systems, both referring extensively to old Roman contract law principles such 
as "consensus ad idem" or caveat emptor. There are some minor differences on 
points of detail such as the English law requirement that every contract 
contain consideration. More and more states are changing their laws to 
eliminate consideration as a prerequisite to a valid contract thus contributing 
to the uniformity of law. Contract law is the basis of all commercial dealings 
from buying a bus ticket to trading on the stock market. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Contract Security Investigations: Contracted external companies which provide
numerous security services. 

Convenience: according to Romance Writers of America statistics,
is the #2 most important shopping factor for romance readers, in order of 
importance. Contrast: selection of books, price, help.

Conventions: {to be done}

Copyright: The exclusive right to produce or reproduce (copy), to perform 
in public or to publish an original literary or artistic work. 
Many countries have expanded the definition of a "literary work" to 
include computer programs or other electronically stored information. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Coroner: A public official who holds an inquiry into violent or 
suspicious deaths. A coroner has the power to summon people to the 
inquest. 

Coroner: The term Coroner has been in use in England since about the year 900. 
It derives from the term coruner (root word corona, Latin for crown, "officer 
of the crown", meaning worked for the King). The position of Coroner has evolved 
over the centuries as a public official responsible for the investigation and 
certification of cause and manner of cases of sudden and unnatural death. 
     Much of American law derives from the English system and the office of the 
Coroner has remained in use in the United States to date. The use of the office 
of the Coroner varies widely throughout the U.S. Some are elected positions, 
others are appointed. Many are open to lay persons, others require that the 
Coroner be a physician, and a few require that the Coroner be a 
forensic pathologist. 
See: Medical Examiner

Corporal Punishment: A punishment for some violation of conduct which 
involves the infliction of pain on, or harm to the body. A fine or 
imprisonment is not considered to be corporal punishment (in the 
latter case, although the body is confined, no punishment is inflicted 
upon the body). The death penalty is the most drastic form of corporal 
punishment and is also called capital punishment. Some schools still 
use a strap to punish students. Some countries still punish habitual 
thieves by cutting off a hand. These are forms of corporal punishment, 
as is any form of spanking, whipping or bodily mutilation inflicted as 
punishment.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Corpus Delicti: (Latin) The "body of the crime"; i.e. all the elements 
that make up the crime.

Corpus Delicti Evidence: Substantiation of elements of a 
crime, which evidence of elements must be proved by the prosecution to 
prove the case and possibly convict the accused.

Court: {to be done}

Court Advocacy: A CAPS program in which community volunteers identify 
and track court cases and attend court proceedings that are of concern 
to the community. Attendance at court shows support for victims and 
lets the judge and defendants know that the community is concerned 
about the outcome of the case.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Court Martial: A military court set up to try and punish offenses 
taken by members of the Army, Navy or Air force. 

Court of Admiralty: A rather archaic term used to denote the court 
which has the right to hear shipping, ocean and sea legal cases. 
Also known as "maritime law".  

Courtly Love: {to be done}

Courtroom Drama: see Romance Subgenres

Cover Story: An fictional explanation of one's presence or activities.
See: Pretexting

Covert Operations: Undercover investigations (conducted in secret ). 
See: Clandestine; Overt

Cozies: English villages or country houses, with peaceful and genteel
exteriors are usually the setting for these mysteries. There is little violence
involved (apart from a murder), no gory details and everything is wrapped
up in a satisfactory conclusion. 
[formerly on now-abandoned site 
     http://staff.queens.lib.ny.us/central/my_html/Mystery.htm]
* Charlotte Macleaod (Peter Shandy, the Bittersohns, Dittany Henbit)
* John Sherwood (Celia Grant)
* Agatha Christie (Jane Marple)

Cozy: Think Agatha Christie. Think cats. Think culinary. The cozy is a mystery 
in which a murder, perhaps violent, is committed without bringing significant 
unpleasantness to the reader, or to the other characters in the story. In her 
entertaining 1977 book, Murder Ink, Dilys Winn described the cozy as "a small 
village setting, a hero[ine] with faintly aristocratic family connections, a 
plethora of red herrings, and a tendency to commit homicide with sterling 
silver letter openers and poisons imported from Paraguay."
[Seattle Mystery Bookshop]

Crack: synonym for Rock Cocaine

Credibility: the credibility of a witness is that quality which renders 
his or her testimony worthy of belief, based upon the attentiveness, 
consciousness, presence, and other aspects of that witness in interviews or 
at trial.  The judge can make a "credibility determination", and the jury 
must also decide for themselves how credible a witness is.

Credit Card Fraud: Activities including creation of altered, fake, stolen, 
or fraudulently obtained credit cards.
See: Fraud; Check Fraud

Crime: An act or omission which is prohibited by 
criminal law. Each state sets out a limited series of acts (crimes) 
which are prohibited and punishes the commission of these acts by a fine, 
imprisonment or some other form of punishment. In exceptional cases, 
an omission to act can constitute a crime, such as failing to give 
assistance to a person in peril or failing to report a case of child abuse. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Crime Analysis: Application of systematic analytical 
methodologies in order to obtain pertinent and timely information on crime 
patterns, and correlation of trends regarding crimes. This includes:
(1) Administrative Crime Analysis;
(2) Strategic Crime Analysis;
(3) Tactical Crime Analysis;

Crime Analyst: a person who performs Crime Analysis: 

Crime Bulletins: Publications written by Crime Analysts to disseminiate
knowledge by print or electronically on topics such as:
(1) Active Criminals: the persons topping the list;
(2) Crime Series (i.e. multiple crimes with similar location, time, M.O.);
(3) Trends regarding crimes.

Crime Lab: abbreviation for Crime Laboratory.
A scientific organization which performs analysis of materials collected 
from a crime scene and from suspects and victims, in order to assist in 
determining whether or not a crime was comitted, and, if it was:
(1) How;
(2) When;
(3) By whom.
See: ASCLD

Crime Laboratories: see Crime Lab; ASCLD

Crime Novel: "Mysteries" and more. Perhaps a better term than "mystery novel" 
to describe the category today, with its implication of a broad variety of 
approaches to the issue of crime and its implications, less dependence on the 
four essential elements. A notable example of the newer type of construction 
is the story told from the standpoint of the criminal -- hit man (or woman), 
con artist, or whatever. Often in a crime novel, the "good guys" and the 
"bad guys" share equal time -- you know whodunit -- but you don't know how 
the story will be resolved.
[Seattle Mystery Bookshop]
See: Mystery Novel

Crime Scene: The geographic location where a crime has been committed.

Crime Scene Coordinator: {to be done}

Crime Scene Entry Log: Written chronological record of 
each and every person who enters or leaves a crime scene.

Crime Scene Unit: A unit of investigators trained to secure, analyze, and 
process crime scenes. 

Crime Scene Investigation/Reconstruction: Crime Scene Investigation deals 
with the preservation and collection of evidence located at the scene of 
a crime. Crime Scene Reconstruction is the interpretation of the evidence 
to recreate the circumstances of the crime. Each crime scene is unique
and must be evaluated individually. 
[Office of the Attorney General, State of California, Dept. of Justice]

Crime Scene Release: The formal end of Crime Scene: processing, which is 
then followed by returning the area or premises to a responsible person 
(i.e. owner), as determined by the Crime Scene Coordinator.

Crime Scene Vehicle: A vehicle used to transport crime scene investigators 
and crime scene processing supplies.

Criminal Action: A lawsuit in which the state or the public, rather than 
a private party, is plaintiff, and the defendant faces punishment such 
as a fine or incarceration if convicted.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]
See: Civil Action

Criminal Conversation: Synonymous with adultery. In old English law, 
this was a claim for damages the husband could institute against the adulterer. 

Criminal Identification Bureau: In Chicago, 1884, this was 
the first municipal organization in the USA exclusively for helping detectives 
with criminal identification.
Abbreviated CIB

Criminal Investigation Department: Created in 1878 
London, this was a centralized group of detectives at Scotland Yard which 
was, for strategic, ethical, and administrative reasons, kept separate 
from the Metropolitan Police.
Abbreviated CID

Criminal Investigative Analysis: The processes formerly known as 
Psychological Profiling. This is used to determine the 
behavior and personality of offenders of serial rape or serial murder.

Criminal Law: That body of the law that deals with conduct considered 
so harmful to society as a whole that it is prohibited by statute, 
prosecuted and punished by the government. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]
See: Penal Law

Criminal Personality Profiling: The attempt to identify a person's mental, 
emotional, and psychological characteristics. 
Also known as Criminal Profiling

Criminal/noncriminal Investigation: The investigation of criminal and 
noncriminal matters.

Criminalist: A forensic scientist who examines physical evidence.

Criminalistics: Scientific discipline directed to the recognition, 
identification, individualization, and evaluation of evidence. 
The sciences used include:
(1) Biology;
(2) Chemistry;
(3) Computer Science;
(4) Geology;
(5) Mathematics;
(6) Physics.

Criminal Profiling: see Criminal Personality Profiling

Crimogen: (1) an individally identified offender who has comitted a large 
number of crimes; (2) an individual victim who reports a large number of crimes.

Criminology: {to be done}

Criss-cross or reverse directories: Directories that allow various means of 
referencing information. For example, a Reverse Phone Directory allows you 
to look up the address of a person if you known his/her phone number. 

Critical: see Criticism

Critical Criminology: see Radical Criminology

Criticism: {to be done}

Cross-Contamination: The undesired transfer of material 
between multiple sources of physical evidence.
See: Contaminated

Cross-examination: In trials, each party calls witnesses. Each party may 
also question the other's witness(es). When you ask questions of the other 
party's witness(es), it is called a "cross-examination" and you are allowed 
considerably more latitude in cross-examination then when you question your 
own witnesses (called an "examination-in-chief"). For example, you are not 
allowed to ask "leading questions" to your own witness whereas you can in 
cross-examination. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Cryptanalysis: Procedures for accessing secured information by breaking 
the encryption, i.e. cracking the code.  Today, this is done primarily by 
the use of special software, sometimes on specially designed computers.

Crystal Violet: a dye utilized for developing latent prints on the 
adhesive side of sticky tape.
See also: Basic Yellow 40; D.F.O.

Culpa Lata: see Gross Negligence

Cultivated Sources: People who have special information regarding a 
particular crime.

Cybercrime: Any illegal act in which knowledge of computer technology is used to
commit the offense.

Cyberlaw: {to be done}

Cyberstalking: The harassment of others through the use of a computer.
This may include threatening victims by e-mail, in internet chat rooms, or 
in news groups.

Cyberterrorism: Terrorism which is perpetrated through the internet 
This may include: disruption or shut-down of critical infrastructure 
facilities of energy, government operations, or transportation.

D
Definitions: D

DEA: see Drug Enforcement Administration

D.N.A.: abbreviation for Deoxyribonucleic Acid; genetic molecule used in 
forensics to identify identity of biological evidence.
See: DNA/Serology; Genetic Fingerprint; MtDNA

D.F.O.: abbreviation for Diazafluren-9-one, an especially effective
chemical for developing latent prints on paper.  It produces red prints 
that may be visible to the naked eye, but which also fluoresce brightly 
under laser and alternative lighting systems.

D.O.A.: Abbreviation for "dead on arrival," as applied to a person 
who expires before reaching a medical facility.

D.O.B.: Abbreviation for "date of birth."

D.U.I.: Abbreviation for "Driving Under the Influence"
see Alcohol/DUI

Dactylography: Study and comparison methodoloies on fingerprints for 
criminal identification, as first used regularly in 1900 England, but used 
occasionally for at least 2,000 years.

Damages: A cash compensation ordered by a court to offset losses or 
suffering caused by another's fault or negligence. Damages are 
a typical request made of a court when persons sue for breach of contract
or tort. 

Date-rape Drugs: Chemicals that facilitate rape by debilitating the 
victim.  These include:
(1) Rohypnol;
(2) GHB;
(3) various depressants;
(4) various benzodiazapines 

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical Inc: U.S. Supreme Court decision stating 
that federal courts should generally allow admission of all relevant evidence.

Death Grip: see Cadaveric Spasm

Death Penalty: Also known as capital punishment, this is the most severe form 
of corporal punishment as it is requires law enforcement officers 
to kill the offender. Forms of the death penalty include hanging from the neck, 
gassing, firing squad and has included use of the guillotine.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]
See: Decapitation

Decadence: a literary movement;
see Aestheticism, from which it evolved.

Decapitation: The act of beheading a person, usually instantly such as 
with a large and heavy knife or by guillotine, as a form of capital punishment. 
This form of capital punishment is still in use in some Arab countries, 
notably Saudi Arabia.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Decorum: How properly or fittingly the actions and 
characters, on the one hand, match the dialog and narration style, on the 
other hand.  This is a classical theory, expinded in "The Art of Poetry" by 
Horace.  It was elaborated in the Renaissance, and again in the Neoclassical 
Age.  When violated, this leads to Burlesque and Bathos.

Decoy Operations: The use of police officers as "victims", a proactive attempt 
to detect criminal activity. 

Deductive Reasoning: [in Crminology] Mental processing that starts with 
general suppositions and evolves to specific details.  For instance, a 
hypothesis about the crime is imagined, and then tested mentally against 
the facts as established by evidence, in order to arrive at a conclusion.
Contrast: Inductive Reasoning

Deed: A written and signed document which sets out the things that have 
to be done or recognitions of the parties towards a certain object. 
Under older common law, a deed had to be sealed; that is, accompanied 
not only by a signature but with an impression on wax onto the document. 
The word deed is also most commonly used in the context of real estate 
because these transactions must usually be signed and in writing. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Defamation: An attack on the good reputation of a person, by slander
or libel. For example, Your Humble Webmaster was both 
slandered and libelled by two perpetrators named "Paul C. Turner" and 
"Ronald M. Jones" and I battled against them in court for almost 15 
years.  In Mystery fiction, the crime is usually theft, or kidnapping, or 
murder, or the like -- but Defamation can be extremely serious.
See: Self-defense

Defense: (noun)(1)The act of defending against attack, danger, or injury. 
(2) A means or method of defending or protecting. 
[A.P. Duli Investigations]
See also: Burden of Going Forward

Defense Wounds: those wounds suffered by a victim while 
trying to protect themselves against an assault, usually inflicted by a 
blunt instrument or a knife, often on the hands or forearms.

Defendant: The person, company or organization who defends a legal 
action taken by a plaintiff and against whom the court has been 
asked to order damages or specific corrective action redress some 
type of unlawful or improper action alleged by the plaintiff. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Deism: see Enlightenment

Delay-in-Arraignment Rule: From a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1943, the 
legal principle that failing to take a prisoner before a committing 
magistrate, without unnecessary delay, will render even a freely obtained 
confession inadmissible.

Demurrer: This is a motion put to a trial judge after the plaintiff has 
completed his or her case, in which the defendant, while not objecting 
to the facts presented, and rather than responding by a full defence, 
asks the court to reject the petition right then and there because of a 
lack of basis in law or insufficiency of the evidence... 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Dental Identification: Identifying a person by comparing dental records, 
or photographs of teeth-visible smiling, or bite-marks, to spot a match 
between before-death records and after-death findings, as done by a 
forensic dentist.

Dental Stone: criminalist's favorite material for making casts of 
footprints or tire tracks, because it sets faster than the traditional plaster 
of paris, and makes a higher resolution impression.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid: see DNA

Deposition: The official statement by a witness taken in writing 
(as opposed to testimony which where a witnesses give their perception 
of the facts verbally). Affidavits are the most common kind of depositions. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Depressants: Drugs which depress the central nervous 
system, thereby reducing tension, disinhibiting behavior, and inducing 
sleep.  These can result, after years of chronic use, in loss of balance, 
faulty judgment, and volatile temper.  Overdoses cause unconsciouness and death.
See Drugs; Date-rape Drugs

Description on the back cover: according to Romance Writers of America statistics, 
is the #1 most important selling point for readers when deciding what book 
to buy. See also: personal flip-through, word-of-mouth, author, price.

Detection Agencies:
See: Detective; Investigation Services

Detective: (noun) (1) A person, usually a member of a police force, 
who investigates crimes and obtains evidence or information. 
(adjective) (1) Of or relating to detectives or their work: detective novels. 
(2) Suited for or used in detection. 
[A.P. Duli Investigations]
Detective: A sworn member of the Department responsible for the 
follow-up investigation of crime.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]
also see: Bow Street Runners;
Romance Subgenres

Deus Ex Machina: Latin for "god from a machine."  Greek playwrights, 
including Euripdes, enjoyed ending dramas by having an actor dressed as a 
god lowered mechanically to the stage, and by divine intervention, 
resolving the problems of the characters.  Thus, today, we use the phrase 
to mean an improbale way of forcing the end to a story without properly 
working out the plot.  We see this in, for example, "Oliver Twist" by 
Dickens, and "Tess of the d'Ubervilles" by Hardy.  It was parodied by 
Brecht in the climax of "Threepenny Opera."  In a bad Mystery novel,
it happens if one character is suddenly revealed to be another, or someone 
gets a vast ingeritance, or a lost clue is suddenly found, or the 
Detecdtive announces that everything hinges on a fact which he trots out 
for the first time, or the like.

Dialogue: 
     "When is he going to write this definition?"
     "Later."
[Margery Allingham and Carl G. Hodges, "Dialogue", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition

Diary: we distinguish between
Autobiography (a biography written by the author about 
himself or herself), Memoir (where the emphasis is not on oneself, 
but on people met or events witnessed) or Diary (intended for private use).

Dicta or Dictum: (Latin) an observation by a judge on a matter not 
specifically before the court or not necessary in determining the issue 
before the court; a side opinion which does not form part of the judgment 
for the purposes of stare decisis. May also be called "obiter dictum." 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Didactic Literature: fiction intended to teach a practical or theoretical 
lesson or doctrine, usually for philosophical, religious, or moral 
purpose.  This is as opposed to mimetic literature, designed by 
imagination for its own purpose.
See also: Allegory; Propaganda

Digital Forensic Analysis: Acquiring, preserving, analyzing, and/or 
presenting evidentiary data germane to any investigation or prosecution.

Direct Evidence: Directly establishes the main facts at issue in a case.

Direct Examination: A witness in trial being questioned by 
whichever party (defense or prosecution) called that witness to testify.
Contrast: Cross-Examination

Disposition: [of an Incident Report] After an Incident Report is filed and 
approved, a determination is made on how the case will be handled, as made 
normally by the supervisor of the officer who wrote the report.  Options 
include:
(1) Unfounded;
(2) Inactivated;
(3) Retained for investigation by officers;
(4) Referred to plainclothes investigators.

Discovery: A pretrial procedure in which the prosecuting or defense 
attorney receives evidence in the possession of the other, including 
witness statements, police reports, scientific examinations, etc. 
Discovery permits the attorneys to prepare their cases and helps to 
ensure a fair trial. 

Dismissal: A decision by a judge to end the prosecution of a case without 
deciding whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. 

Disorderly Conduct: An act which unreasonably alarms or disturbs 
another and provokes as breach of the peace.
[Chicago Police Department, unofficial]

Disposition: A final disposition is a legal action which takes place following 
an adult or juvenile felony arrest. Examples are dismissal, acquittal, or 
conviction. Examples of intermediate dispositions are suspended proceedings 
or the placement of a defendant in one or more programs. 
[California]

Dissertation: contrast Essay

Dissociation of Sensibility: a notion in literary criticism invented by 
T. S. Eliot in "The Metaphysical Poets" [1921].  {to be done}

Distance and Involvement: {to be done}

Divorced: according to Romance Writers of America statistics, 
10.7% of romance readers are divorced (7% in 1998).  
Contrast: married, single, 
widowed, separated.

DNA: Abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid. A chromosome molecule which 
carries genetic coding unique to each person with the only exception of 
identical twins (that is why it is also called "DNA fingerprinting"). 
Through laboratory process, DNA can be extracted from body tissue such 
a strand of hair, semen, blood and matched against DNA discovered at a 
crime scene or on a victim to scientifically implicate an accused. 
Can also be used to match DNA between parents in a paternity suit.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]  

DNA Profiling: also known as Genetic Fingerprinting: "The "matching" of 
or DNA Typing. DNA profiles between suspects, victims, evidence, and locations.

DNA/Serology: Serology is the study of body fluids: blood, saliva, semen, 
and urine. From biological evidence left at a crime scene, such as hair or 
semen, DNA analysis (or DNA typing) can be used to identify an individual. 
The most widely used methods of DNA typing are Restriction Fragment Length 
Polymorphism (RFLP) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).
     The RFLP process is a long, labor intensive procedure that involves 
extracting DNA from the biological sample, fragmenting the DNA with special 
(restriction) enzymes and separating the molecular pieces by gel electrophoresis. 
     PCR is a technique by which a miniscule and/or degraded amount of DNA 
can be quickly amplified. This is beneficial in cases where only small 
quantities of evidence are discovered. 
[Office of the Attorney General, State of California, Dept. of Justice]

DNA Typing: The procedure for isolating and reading DNA for criminal 
identification.  
Synonyms: DNA Profiling; Genetic Fingerprinting

Doctrine: A rule or principle or the law established through the 
repeated application of legal precedents. 

Document: Anything on which a person can make a mark in 
order to transmit a message.

Documentary Evidence: Tangible writings, pictures and audible sounds. 

Documented Vessel: any boat registered by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Doggerel: crude, rough, heavy-footed, jerky, inept verse; or very 
sophisticated verse in that form for purpose of Burlesque.

Domestic Terrorism: Terrorism committed by citizens of the United States.  
That is, more generally, use or threat of violence against property or persons by
any individual or group whose operations are entirely within the nation of the 
victim(s), without directions from foreign power(s), and which are 
committed to advance a social or political goal.
See: International Terrorism

Domestic Violence: Violence within the family, or between husband and 
wife or partners.

Domicile: The permanent residence of a person; a place to which, 
even if he or she were temporary absent, they intend to return. 
In law, it is said that a person may have many residences but 
only one domicile. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]  

The Doomsday Mystery:
     "A geopolitical study of the way a protagonist copes with such 
world-destroyers as atom bombs, nerve gas, and mutant microbes."
     Considered a sub-type of the Novel of Pursuit by Boucher and Cassidy.
[Bruce Cassiday, "Into Something Rich and Strange", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition
Characteristic Doomsday Mystery Authors:
* Tom Ardies
* John Lange
* Robert Traver

Drama: {to be done}
See also: Act; Comedy; Tragedy

Dramatic Monologue: {to be done}

Dream Vision: {to be done}

Drug Enforcement Administration: A federal law enforcement agency which
investigates drug offenses; abbreviated DEA. It was created in 1973,
and goes beyond investigation to enforce laws about illicit drugs, to 
fight international drug traffic; and to train local and state police about 
illicit drugs and how to do relevant investigation, development of 
informants, and survellance.

Drug Identification/Toxicology: Toxicology is the study of substances that 
are harmful to humans. Toxicologists examine body fluids and organs for the 
presence of poisons, alcohol, and drugs. A toxicologist detects, identifies, 
and quantifies minute amounts of these substances for further evaluation.
[Office of the Attorney General, State of California, Dept. of Justice]

Drug Testing: Drug screening of employees to see if they are using drugs, 
or under the influence.

Drugs: see Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970
See: Amphetamines; Recreational Drug User;
Clandestine Drug Laboratory; Cocaine;
Ecstasy; Opiates; Psychedelics;
Stimulants; Depressants

Drugstores: according to Romance Writers of America statistics, 
are the sites where 2% of romance readers purchase books.

Duces Tecum: (Latin) "bring with you." Used most frequently for a species of 
subpoena (as in "subpoena duces tecum") which seeks not so much the appearance 
of a person before a court of law, but the surrender of a thing (eg. a document 
or some other evidence) by its holder, to the court, to serve as evidence in a 
trial. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Due Process: A term of US law which refers to fundamental procedural legal 
safeguards of which every citizen has an absolute right when a state or 
court purports to take a decision that could affect any right of that citizen. 
The most basic right protected under the due process doctrine is the right 
to be given notice, and an opportunity to be heard. The term is now also 
in use in other countries, again to refer to basic fundamental legal rights 
such as the right to be heard. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 

Due Process Revolution: Due process guaranteed to suspects and defendants 
pursuant to U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Mostly about the period 1961-1966, when 
those decisions changed the rules for search and seizure, and for legal 
representation.

Dumpster Diving: Searching through dumpsters (large refuse bins) for 
identification-related material.

E
Definitions: E

E-commerce: see software, internet bookstore.

Ecclesiastical Law: Synonymous to Canon Law: the body of church-made law 
which binds only those persons which recognize it, usually only church 
officers, and based on aged precepts of canon law.

Ecstasy: see Methylenedioxy Methamphetamine; Drugs

Editor: {to be done}
[Eleanor Sullivan, "How to Please an Editor", Mystery Writer's Handbook,
     Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest, 1975] revised edition

Edwardian Period: the literary epoch after the death of 
Queen Victoria, yet before the start of World War I [1914], so named for 
the briefly reigning [1901-1910] King Edward VII. Top Edwardian novelists 
included Joseph Conrad, Ford Maddox Ford, Henry James, Galsworthy, Rudyard 
Kipling, and H. G. Wells.  Top Edwardian plawrights included James Barrie, 
John Galsworthy, George Bernard Shaw and others of the Celtic Renaissance.
Top Edwardian poets included Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Noyes, 
and W. B. Yeats.
see: Periods of English Literature

Effective Fire Temperature: For structural fires, those identifiable 
temperatures which indicate those physical effects within specific ranges 
of temperature.
See: Arson

Einfuhlung: [German] "feeling into";
see "Empathy and Sympathy"

Elegy: (1) in Greek and Roman literature, any poem 
written in the "elegiac meter", alternating lines between hexamneter and 
pentameter. 
(2) in England, to the 17th Century, any poem of solemn meditation;
(3) in modern use, a formal poem of lamentation for a specific person;
contrast: Dirge (shorter, less formal, or intended as a song);
Threnody (modern use: synonym of dirge);
Monody (modern use: elegy or dirge to be spoken by, or 
reprsented as spoken by, a specific person);

Elizabethan Age:  While Queen Elizabeth reigned (1558-1603) England
expanded it commerce-based economy, its navy-based military power, and its 
nationalism.  England defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588.  At the same 
tine, literature reached a peak, especially in drama, thanks to
Bacon, Ben Jonson, Marlowe, Raleigh, Shakespeare, Spenser and their 
colleagues.

see Periods of English Literature

E-mail Intercept: Technique in Intelligence whereby e-mail is intercepted 
and analyzed to determine data about criminals, hackers, pornographers, or 
terrorists.  This requires a showing of reasonable cause, to get a warrant.

Emancipation: Term used to describe the act of freeing a person who was 
under the legal authority of another (such as a child before the age of 
majority) from that control (such as child reaching the age of majority). 
The term was also used when slavery was legal to describe a former slave 
that had bought or been given freedom from his or her master. 
When Abraham Lincoln outlawed slavery he did so in a law called the 
"emancipation proclamation". 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Embargo: This is an act of international military aggression where an 
order is made prohibiting ships or goods from leaving a certain port, 
city or territory and may be enforced by military threat of destroying 
any vehicle that attempts to break it or by trade penalties. The word 
has also come to refer to a legal prohibition of trade with a certain 
nation or a prohibition towards the use of goods or services produced 
by or within a certain nation. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Embezzle: The illegal transfer of money or property that, although 
possessed legally by the embezzler, is diverted to the embezzler 
personally by his or her fraudulent action. For example, an employee 
would embezzle money from the employer or a public officer could 
embezzle money received during the course of their public duties and 
secretly convert it to their personal use. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Emergency Communications: (verb) Sending a message when time is critical. 
The message may be transmitted via verbal (speech), electrical (radio, telephone,
... etc.) or mechanical means (hand signals, fist, baseball bat, pipe,
firearm, etc...). 
[A.P. Duli Investigations]

Emolument: A legal word which refers to all wages, benefits or other 
benefit received as compensation for holding some office or employment. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada]

Emotional Approach: a technique in interrogation, particularly effective 
with first-time offenders and with women, where the interrogator appeals to 
the suspect's family pride, honor, morals, religion, and the like.

Empathy and Sympathy: 
(1) Empathy (and its German equivalent Einfuhlung) is identification with the 
object of a perception, vicariously participating in its feelings, motion, 
or posture; inner mimicry; 
(2) Sympathy is fellow-feeling, feeling along with the object of a perception,
especially for thoughts or emotions (or even those ascribed to an 
inanimate object).

Employee Polygraph Protection Act: Prohibits the use of polygraphs 
for private sector employment screening.  (Abbreviated EPPA).

Encryption: Methods of encoding information to prevent unauthorized use by others.
This approach to data security involves transforming the data into what 
looks like nonsense, storing or transmitting it, and allowing it to be 
reverse-transformed back into the original "plaintext" when needed by 
legitimate users.

Enderby Cases: In England, these two rape-murder cases first used DNA 
typing for criminal investigation, in 1987.  DNA samples from both victims 
led to the release of an innocent man, and to the arrest and conviction of 
the killer.

England: 
see: Periods of English Literature
see Romance Subgenres

Enhancement: Additional confinement time added to the base prison term, 
based on specific circumstances such as use of a gun or knife when 
committing a crime. 

Enlightenment: Western European intellectual movement in 
the 17th century, reaching a zenith in the 18th century.  The central idea 
was belief in reason for solving all problems, and using reason to replace 
barbarism, ignorance, and prejudice.  It also was an approach to 
undermining authority and tradition. The quintessential type of reason was 
Science.  This movement was spearheaded by Bacon, Descartes, Diderot, Godwin,
Kant, Leibnitz, Locke, Voltaire, and their colleagues.  In Christianity, it 
led to Deism; in Judaism, to Freethinkers.
see Periods of English Literature

Entrapment: The inducement, by law enforcement officers or their agents, 
of another person to commit a crime for the purposes of bringing 
charges for the commission of that artificially-provoked crime. 
This technique, because it involves abetting the commission of a crime, 
which is itself a crime, is severely curtailed under the constitutional 
law of many states.
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 
(2)  Inducing a individual to commit an uncontemplated crime.

Epic: (1) in formal critical use, an Epic Poem is synonymous 
with a Heroic Poem in these criteria:
   (a) Long;
   (b) Narrative;
   (c) Serious or great subject;
   (d) Elevated style;
   (e) centers on a heroic or nearly divine person;
   (f) tribe, nation, or human world hangs in the balance.
(2) Folk Epics, or Traditional Epics, or Primary Epics, sprung from oral 
traditions, history, legends, as with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, or the 
Anglo-Saxon Beowulf.
(3) Literary Epics, or Secondary Epics were highly-crafted imitating Primary 
Epics, as with Vergil's Aeneid, Milton's Paradise Lost, Keats' Hyperion, 
Blake's Prophetic Books, or Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
(4) By analogy, a prose work or film sharing many of these criteria.

Epigram: (1) the original Greek meaning was "an inscription";
(2) later, any very short poem, usually amorous, anecdotal, complimentary,
elegiac, meditative, or satiric, which is quite condensed and polished to 
a memorable point;
(3) since late 18th century, broadened to any prose or verse statemernt of 
Wit.

Epiphany: (1) [Greek] manifestation; (2) in Christianity, 
a manifestation of God's presence in the world; (3) in literature, since 
James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", any secular 
experience of sudden revelation or radiance while observing a commonplace 
object or scene.

Epithalamion: [Greek] Epithalamion means literally "at the bridal 
chamber"; [Latin] spelled Epithalamium; verses to be sung outside the 
bedchamber of a newly married couple.  The first major English examples 
included Sir Philip Sydney's [1580], and Spenser's [for his own marriage].
Other notable examples by Auden, Donne, Herrick, Hoseman, Jonson, Suckling, Tennyson.

Epithet: [from Greek "epitheton" meaning "something added"];
In literary criticism, an adjective or adjectival phrase that pinpoints the 
special qualities of a specific person.
Homeric epithets include "fleet-footed Achilles", "wine-dark sea"; the 
latter parodied by James Joyce in Ulysses as "snot-green sea."
Contrast: invective (which confuses some people into thinking that all 
epithets are negative);

Espionage: Spying.
see: Industrial Espionage
see Romance Subgenres

Essay: Short prose composition intended for a general audience, 
discussing a specific matter, or to expain a point of view, or to persuade the 
reader to accept some thesis.
contrast: treatise or dissertation, which attempt to be complete, 
systematic, and addressed to a specialized audience.

Ethics: (noun) (1) The discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with 
moral duty and obligation. 
(2) (a) a set of moral principles or values 
    (b) a theory or system of moral values 
    (c) the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group 
       (professional ethics) see Code of Ethics 
    (d) a guiding philosophy 
[A.P. Duli Investigations]
(3) The practical normative study of the rightness and wrongness of human conduct.

Eugene Vidocq: French criminal and informant who turned from the Dark Side 
to Law and Order, and then led the French Surete.

Euphemism: [Greek] to speak well; use of a polite phrase 
to substitute for a colloquial, direct, disagreeable, irreligious, offensive, or 
terrifying term, as with "to pass away" instead of "die", or "darn" instead 
of "damn", or "friend" instead of sex-partner.

Euphony and Cacophony: 
(1) Euphony is musical, pleasant, smooth language in terms of both subject 
and sound combinations;
(2) Cacophony is unmusical, unpleasant, rough, discordant language,
somtimes due to clumsiness of the writer.

Euphuism: elaborate formal English style of the 1580s. named for John 
Lyly's "Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit" [1578].

Evidence: Proof of fact(s) presented at a trial. The best and most common 
method is by oral testimony; where you have an eye-witness swear to tell 
the truth and to then relate to the court (or jury) their experience. 
Evidence is essential in convincing the judge or jury of your facts as the 
judge (or jury) is expected to start off with a blank slate; no preconceived 
idea or knowledge of the facts. So it is up to the opposing parties to 
prove (by providing evidence), to the satisfaction of the court (or jury), 
the facts needed to support their case. Besides oral testimony, an object 
can be deposited with the court (eg. a signed contract). This is sometimes 
called "real evidence." In other rarer cases, evidence can be circumstantial... 
Most legal cases are decided on the strict rule of law. 
[Lloyd Duhaime, "Duhaime's Law Dictionary", Duhaime Company, Victoria, 
British Columbia, Canada] 
Evidence: Oral statements, documents, sound and video recordings, 
and objects admissible in court. To be admissible, evidence must 
be material