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Evidence can be a powerful dramatic element driving suspense. An evidence profile associated to a particular crime may keep track of the inventory and timeline where it becomes deployed in the story.

Kwon has a digital whiteboard with suspects list, evidence catalog, notes, and to do list, Marco is old school. He keeps a whiteboard with suspects, pictures, and all possibilities which do not fit. Both Kwon and Marco have a second whiteboard representing such as associated suspects, left field possibilities, witnesses and family, interlinking stories. Stories are actions of related individuals before and after crime events and subtext describing relationships.

Evidence list:
email
social media posts
videos, pictures
audio
IP address
chat room identities
What’s up app
PGP mail
fingerprints
DNA
strands of hair
fiber
dirt
imprints
tire tracks
shoe tracks
mass spec particles
bugs
drugs
finger nail trace elements
Luminol blood
Directional splatter
cc TV
identity
Tracker
cell tower trace
golden eye
satellite trace
national criminal database
DMV
Interpol
FBI
CIA
NSA
corporate ops
dark net
black ops
black market
burner phone
dead drop
code system
flag
spy craft
set up
fall guy
patsy
mark
spook
nock
Illuminati
Cabal
Triad
Mafia
Snitch
mark
bagman
Leek in the department
plant
double agent
Witness
mcguffin
defense wounds
wax impression
cipher
weapons
hand written notes
match book
keys
letter
documents
scrapes
handkerchief
fragment
splinter

Gear:
wepons
Magnifying glass, microscope
contact microphone
laser reader
bug
Tracker
gloves
evidence bags
Tweezers
cuffs
audio recorder
sos beacon
clip on engagement link
bullet proof vest

Motive:
Silence victim
stop blackmail
warning to others
vendetta
illuminate competition
favor for a friend
Payday
Inheratence
rage
passon
love
justice
sympathy

Poisons

The most common poisons in adults
pain medicine
sedatives, hypnotics, antipsychotics
antidepressants
cardiovascular drugs
cleaning substances (household)
alcohols
pesticides
bites and envenomations (ticks, spiders, bees, snakes)
anticonvulsants
cosmetics and personal care products

The most common poisons in children
Did you know that even these common household items can poison children?
cosmetics and personal care products
cleaning substances and laundry products
pain medicine
foreign bodies such as toys, coins, thermometers
topical preparations
vitamins
antihistamines
pesticides
plants
antimicrobials

Overdose

Alcohol and Benzodiazepines
A symptom of rampant prescription drug abuse, benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax and Ativan) are the most common drugs mixed with alcohol. Unfortunately, this combination is also one of the most lethal. Both alcohol and benzodiazepines slow down the central nervous system. When combined, the central nervous is affected twice as hard, which can lead to severe loss of coordination, coma and significantly increase the risk of overdose and death.

Alcohol and Opiates
Alcohol and opiates also make for a particularly lethal combination, since each one enhances the sedative effects of the other. Much like benzodiazepines, illegal opiates like heroin and prescription opioids (OxyContin, Vicodin, hydrocodone) seriously depress the central nervous system. Both alcohol and opiates slow down breathing in different physical ways. Along with this one-two punch to breathing, both substances inhibit coughing reflexes. Not surprisingly, respiratory arrest is particularly common with this combination.

Alcohol and Stimulants
Unlike alcohol/benzodiazepines or alcohol/opiate combinations, the combination of alcohol and stimulants counteracts each substance’s effects to an extent. In other words, stimulants (cocaine, speed, meth, Ritalin, Adderall) mask the depressive effects of alcohol, while alcohol dulls the “edge” of stimulants. This significantly increases the risk of taking more than your body can handle. Also, when you mix cocaine and alcohol, your body creates a byproduct called cocaethylene in the liver, a dangerous chemical compound that increases the chances of overdose.

Top 10

Plants

Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata)
Closely related to poison hemlock (the plant that famously killed Socrates), water hemlock has been deemed "the most violently toxic plant in North America." A large wildflower in the carrot family, water hemlock resembles Queen Anne’s lace and is sometimes confused with edible parsnips or celery. However, water hemlock is infused with deadly cicutoxin, especially in its roots, and will rapidly generate potentially fatal symptoms in anyone unlucky enough to eat it. Painful convulsions, abdominal cramps, nausea, and death are common, and those who survive are often afflicted with amnesia or lasting tremors.

Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna)
J. Fujishima/B.W. Halstead, World Life Research Institute
According to legend, Macbeth’s soldiers poisoned the invading Danes with wine made from the sweet fruit of deadly nightshade. Indeed, it is the sweetness of the berries that often lures children and unwitting adults to consume this lethal plant. A native of wooded or waste areas in central and southern Eurasia, deadly nightshade has dull green leaves and shiny black berries about the size of cherries. Nightshade contains atropine and scopolamine in its stems, leaves, berries, and roots, and causes paralysis in the involuntary muscles of the body, including the heart. Even physical contact with the leaves may cause skin irritation.

White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima)
White snakeroot (Ageratina altissima). Sten Porse
An innocuous plant, white snakeroot was responsible for the death of Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks. White snakeroot is a North American herb with flat-topped clusters of small white flowers and contains a toxic alcohol known as trematol. Unlike those who have died from directly ingesting deadly plants, poor Nancy Hanks was poisoned by simply drinking the milk of a cow who had grazed on the plant. Indeed, both the meat and milk from poisoned livestock can pass the toxin to human consumers. Symptoms of "milk poisoning" include loss of appetite, nausea, weakness, abdominal discomfort, reddened tongue, abnormal acidity of the blood, and death. Luckily farmers are now aware of this life-threatening hazard and make efforts remove the plant from animal pastures.

Castor Bean (Ricinus communis)
J. Fujishima/B.W. Halstead, World Life Research Institute
Widely grown as an ornamental, the castor bean is an attractive plant native to Africa. While the processed seeds are the source of castor oil, they naturally contain the poison ricin and are deadly in small amounts. It only takes one or two seeds to kill a child and up to eight to kill an adult. Ricin works by inhibiting the synthesis of proteins within cells and can cause severe vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, and even death. The poison was used in 1978 to assassinate Georgi Markov, a journalist who spoke out against the Bulgarian government, and has been mailed to several U.S. politicians in failed terrorism attempts. Most fatalities are the result of accidental ingestion by children and pets.

Rosary Pea (Abrus precatorius)
Luon Kwon-Ming Li/B.W. Halstead, World Life Research Institute Also called jequirity beans, these piously-named seeds contain abrin, an extremely deadly ribosome-inhibiting protein. Rosary peas are native to tropical areas and are often used in jewelry and prayer rosaries. While the seeds are not poisonous if intact, seeds that are scratched, broken, or chewed can be lethal. It only takes 3 micrograms of abrin to kill an adult, less than the amount of poison in one seed, and it is said that numerous jewelry makers have been made ill or died after accidentally pricking their fingers while working with the seeds. Like ricin, abrin prevents protein synthesis within cells and can cause organ failure within four days.

Oleander (Nerium oleander)
Common oleander, or rosebay (Nerium oleander). Joaquim Alves Gaspar
Described by Pliny the Elder in Ancient Rome, oleander is a beautiful plant known for its striking flowers. Though commonly grown as a hedge and ornamental, all parts of the oleander plant are deadly and contain lethal cardiac glycosides known as oleandrin and neriine. If eaten, oleander can cause vomiting, diarrhea, erratic pulse, seizures, coma, and death, and contact with the leaves and sap is known to be a skin irritant to some people. Indeed, the toxins in oleander are so strong that people have become ill after eating honey made by bees that visited the flowers! Fortunately, fatalities from oleander poisoning are rare, as the plant is very bitter and thus quickly deters anyone sampling the vegetation.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). © LianeM/Shutterstock.com
Tobacco is the most widely grown commercial non-food plant in the world. All parts of the plant, especially its leaves, contain the toxic alkaloids nicotine and anabasine, and can be fatal if eaten. Despite its designation as a cardiac poison, nicotine from tobacco is widely consumed around the world and is both psychoactive and addictive. Tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year, making it perhaps the most deadly plant in the world.

5. Ricin
This extremely toxic plant poison was famously used to kill the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov, exiled in London. On 7 September 1978, he was waiting for a bus near Waterloo Bridge, when he felt an impact on the back of his right thigh. Looking round he saw a man bending down to pick up an umbrella. Markov was soon taken to hospital with a high fever – and died three days later.

An autopsy revealed a tiny sphere made of a platinum-iridium alloy in Markov’s thigh. The sphere had been drilled to take a small amount of ricin and may have been fired from an air gun hidden in the umbrella.

Ricin is obtained from the beans of the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis), which is cultivated to extract the oil – the ricin remains in the solid fibre. It is a glycoprotein that interferes with protein synthesis in the cell, causing cell death. It has an LD50 of 1-20 milligrams per kg if orally ingested, but far less is required to kill if inhaled or injected (as in Markov’s case).

Strychnine
The poison strychnine comes from seeds of the plant Strychnos nux vomica. The chemists who first isolated the toxin also obtained quinine from the same source, which was used to treat malaria. Like the alkaloids in hemlock and belladonna, strychnine causes paralysis that kills via respiratory failure. There's no antidote for the poison.

Other

Asp Venom
ke venom is an unpleasant poison for suicide and a dangerous murder weapon because, in order to use it, it's necessary to extract the poison from a venomous snake.

Arsenic
People are exposed to elevated levels of inorganic arsenic through drinking contaminated water, using contaminated water in food preparation and irrigation of food crops, industrial processes, eating contaminated food and smoking tobacco.
Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic, mainly through drinking-water and food, can lead to chronic arsenic poisoning. Skin lesions and skin cancer are the most characteristic effects. Arsenic is also used in the hide tanning process and, to a limited extent, in pesticides, feed additives and pharmaceuticals, and rat poison.Arsenic is not a good murder weapon choice in modern society because it's easy to detect now.

4. VX
The only synthetic compound in our top five, VX is a nerve agent with the consistency of engine oil. It emerged from ICI’s research into new insecticides in the early 1950s but proved too toxic to use in agriculture. VX kills by interfering with the transmission of nerve messages between cells; this requires a molecule called acetylcholine.

After acetylcholine has passed on its message, it needs to be broken down (otherwise it will keep sending the message) by an enzyme catalyst called acetylcholinesterase. VX and other nerve agents stop this enzyme from working, so muscle contractions go out of control and you die of asphyxiation.

Nerve agents were made by both sides during the Cold War, but VX became particularly well-known after featuring in Hollywood blockbuster film The Rock. Only one person is known to have been killed by VX, a former member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, though some 4,000 sheep were killed by it in an accident in Skull Valley, Utah in 1968. It has an LD50 of as little as 3 micrograms per kg (although some reports suggest the figure is a little higher).

3. Batrachotoxin
We’ve all heard of South American Indians using venom-tipped blowpipes to hunt their prey. Curare is the best known, and comes from a plant. The most toxic, however, come from the skins of tiny frogs – and the deadliest of all is Batrachotoxin.

Native Indians in Western Colombia collect these frogs – golden Phyllobates terribilis and multicoloured Phyllobates bicolor – and sweat out the poison over a fire before putting it on their darts. The LD50 is around 2 micrograms per kg, meaning that an amount the size of two grains of table salt will kill you.

Batrachotoxin kills by interfering with sodium ion channels in the cells of muscles and nerves, jamming them open so that they do not close. The continued migration of Na+ ions results ultimately in heart failure.

Interestingly, captive-born frogs of these species are not poisonous, suggesting that the poison is derived from their diet. Indeed, nearly 30 years ago, Jack Dumbacher, an American ornithologist, was working in Papua New Guinea when he was scratched on the hand by one of the local Pitohui birds. He instinctively put his hand to his mouth, which started to go numb.

Eventually, it was found that these birds – on the opposite side of the world to Colombia – have plumage containing the same poisonous molecule as the frogs. It is thought that both the birds and frogs obtain the toxin from the beetles they eat – although the poison is far less potent in the birds.

2. Maitotoxin
There are a number of potent marine toxins, such as Saxitoxin, which are often the cause of poisoning after eating contaminated shellfish. These are often associated with harmful algal blooms in the sea.

Maitotoxin is the most lethal of these substances, reckoned to have a LD50 about an order of magnitude less than batrachotoxin. Formed by a dinoflagellate, a kind of marine plankton, it has a very complicated structure, which presents a massive challenge to synthetic chemists. Maitotoxin is a cardiotoxin. It exerts its effects by increasing the flow of calcium ions through the cardiac muscle membrane, causing heart failure. 1. Botulinum toxin
Scientists differ about the relative toxicities of substances, but they seem to agree that botulinum toxin, produced by anaerobic bacteria, is the most toxic substance known. Its LD50 is tiny – at most 1 nanogram per kilogram can kill a human. Extrapolating from its effect on mice, an intravenous dose of just 10-7g would be fatal to a 70kg person.

It was first identified as a cause of food poisoning due to incorrectly prepared sausage (Latin, botulus) in late-18th century Germany. There are several botulinum toxins, with type A being the most potent. These are polypeptides, consisting of over 1,000 amino acid molecules joined together. They cause muscle paralysis by preventing the release of the signalling molecule (neurotransmitter) acetylcholine.

This same paralysing property is fundamental to the clinical use of the botulinum toxin in cosmetic Botox. Targeted injections of tiny amounts of the toxin stop particular muscles from working, relaxing muscles that would otherwise cause wrinkly skin. But it has also been applied to a range of clinical conditions, such as paralysing muscles that, if untreated, would cause crossed eyes (strabismus).

There is increasing interest in using the properties of toxic substances medicinally. The venom of the lethal Brazilian pit viper, Bothrops jararaca, for example, contains blood-pressure reducing molecules that have led to pioneering treatments for high blood pressure.

As Paracelsus is reported to have said 500 years ago: "All things are poison, and nothing is without poison: the dose alone makes a thing not poison." And he had a point. Ultimately, we are surrounded by potentially dangerous substances – it’s the dose that makes it deadly.