but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches,

the blood or semen he deposits or collects.

All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget.

It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence.

Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent.

Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value.

—Paul L. Kirk. 1953. Crime investigation: physical evidence and the police laboratory. Interscience Publishers, Inc.: New York.