With fingerprint in hand, Susan's heart began to race, for she had a perfect print. This could be the clue she needed to clear her father. Susan took the fingerprint to the police lab and they were surprised that she had been able to get such a fine print, and had not given up. The print was not her father's so he would be released from jail for the robbery of their neighbor. The print pulled up a man who had been arrested many times for the same crime.

"Mr. Daniels we are so sorry for the mistaken identity," said the police chief as he open the cell door to let Susan’s father out. "If it had not been for the persistence of your daughter, a rookie with our department, well...let's just say things might not have turned out the way they did."

Susan realized in that moment that she had chosen the right path for her career. Helping the innocent was always what she did best.

, from Albuquerque, NM, has a new murder/mystery novel that has just been released and is working on getting several children manuscripts considered for publication. Her newly published novel is Marti Brown and the House of Face. You may visit her website at:

© 2008 Teresa Allen. Original for CCF (Allen grants CCF  first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).