John Sweetman

He goes straight to the desk.

He tells the guard on duty that his daughter is missing.

He gives a description.

Elaine O'Hara, 36 years old, 5'4", broad build, brown hair to her shoulders.

Last seen two days earlier.

He explains that no one has heard from her.

There have been no calls, no messages, nothing.

Frank tells them that in his family that doesn't happen.

They would always hear from Elaine.

He stops for a moment, because now, saying it out loud, he knows something is very, very wrong.

When someone is killed in Ireland, the Gardaí call in a specialist unit of forensic crime scene examiners from the Technical Bureau.

This is Ireland's real-life version of CSI, but it's nothing like the movies or TV shows.

For 25 years, I was one of the detectives on that team.

My name is John Sweetman.

My job as a guarded detective in the Technical Bureau was to read the evidence that could not speak for itself.

I learned to see what others might miss.

Fingerprints smudged on the handle of a door.

Weapons disguised in everyday objects.

Handwritten notes that revealed more than the writer ever intended.

The smallest traces often unraveled the bigger story.