Recent celebrated criminal cases have raised the public's awareness of forensic science. The advent of DNA technology, in particular, has led to a perception of instrumental techniques that lead to a mathematical probability of guilt that approaches certainty. Mostly passed over in press accounts of forensic operations is the use of the microscope in the examination of physical evidence. By the use of an example from an adjudicated criminal case it is hoped that a greater appreciation is gained of the microscope, that in its various forms, is by far the most widely used instrument in a crime laboratory today.

A middle-aged woman was reported missing by her son after the Memorial Day weekend in 1997. An examination of her apartment by members of the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team revealed a small amount of blood on her bedding. This bedding, together with other items, was taken into evidence.