The birefrigent material could have been fingernail polish ...

[Cherokee]

Cellulose vs nitrocellulose:

Well, I actually took the time to draw out the differences in my chemical structure drawing program, but I can't seem to post it here. Copy and paste doesn't work. Essentially, cellulose is a naturally occuring chemical compound that is a bicyclic hexose polymer. In other words, it is a long chain of sugar molecules stuck together. Nitrocellulose is a very similar compound where all of the hydrogen atoms in the molecule have been replaces by NO2. This is a flammable solid and an irritant. It is dangerous when dry and must be wetted with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to prevent explosion. There are many other cellulose compounds available ...

How this relates to the birefringent material in the crime, I do not know. As a chemist, I wanted to explain this bit though.

Thank you, Arielle. I appreciate your explanation and wish I could see the chemical structure you took the time to draw.

I think it helps to underscore the fact that we don't know the exact nature of the birefrigent material. It could have been from the broken paint brush or from Patsy's fingernail polish or from JBR's pull-up diaper, etc. It could have been from a host of sources.

Short of a confession, we'll probably never know exactly what it was.


IMO