Chain of Custody

One in 4.7 trillion. The DNA match against his client is perfect. That is the first problem.

Kansas City defense attorney Adrian Cole used to work in a crime lab. He knows what the jargon means, and he knows the difference between an analyst who is nervous and one who has been coached. So when a cold-hit DNA match names his client with a random-match probability of one in 4.7 trillion, he does not see certainty. He sees a number too clean to trust.

The regional lab has been privatized. Its software pipeline decides what the instruments report, and the gaps in its records are measured in minutes. What Adrian uncovers is worse than contamination: a system that can author forensic evidence on demand, and a whistleblower with everything to lose by helping him prove it.

The fourth Edited Truth novel. After edited video, engineered juries and fabricated witnesses, the machinery reaches the lab itself. Each book stands alone; the conspiracy connects them.