All fingerprints fit within one of five types, but according to Galton’s calculations, the odds against two persons having the exact same lines are so overwhelming we can say duplication is impossible.” Achille pointed to a fingerprint chart set on a table in Féraud’s office, next to Gilles’s photographs. They viewed the evidence by gaslight supplemented by the illumination of two kerosene lamps and reflectors. “On each finger there are many lines organized in patterns around a nucleus, and over that central point are one or two secondary points. Following Galton’s method, I’ve identified two distinctive types found at the crime scene. Gilles did a fine job photographing the prints on the cloth and the enhanced latent prints on the cigarette case.” Féraud examined the photographs under a magnifying glass. “Yes, Achille, I can see how one set of prints matches.” “Now, please look at the prints on Sir Henry Collingwood’s letter and compare them to the prints on the cloth, cigarettes, and cigarette case.”
