Mistaken Identity

Someone goes to a lot of trouble to make it appear as though Ronnie Joe Waddell escaped the electric chair and is on the loose killing again. No one took Waddell's fingerprints during autopsy even though it is a routine procedure. All of Waddell's personal effects are destroyed after his death. Nothing remains that appears to have a verifiable fingerprint from Waddell on it. When Jennifer Deighton is murdered and a fingerprint is found that comes back as Waddell in AFIS, it seems that Waddell somehow escaped prison before arriving on death row several weeks before. This situation makes Scarpetta look unprofessional and reflects poorly on law enforcement in general. Scarpetta sets out to prove Waddell died in the electric chair but finds resistance everywhere she turns.

Scarpetta's morgue supervisor has been acting strangely for weeks. When Scarpetta realizes that the supervisor, Susan, failed to get Waddell's...