Episode 88 — The Talking Bone | Rene Denfeld In Episode 88 of Ciphered Past, Tim Gardner and Eli Frame welcome internationally acclaimed author, journalist, and licensed investigator Rene Denfeld, author of The Talking Bone, The Enchanted, The Child Finder, The Butterfly Girl, and Sleeping Giants. For nearly two decades, Rene has worked in the world of criminal investigation, including cases involving wrongful convictions, exonerations, missing persons, trafficking victims, and some of society's most vulnerable people. Her latest novel, The Talking Bone, draws upon those experiences through the story of investigator Ruby Spencer, known as “The Exonerator.” But behind the thriller is a much larger question: What happens when the evidence of the past begins to speak—and are we willing to listen to what it tells us? Rene explains the inspiration behind the haunting title and discusses how bones can “talk” through DNA, archaeology, history, and the evidence left behind by people who can no longer speak for themselves. The conversation then goes far beyond fiction. Rene takes us inside the reality of wrongful-conviction investigations, explaining how confirmation bias can take hold once authorities identify a suspect, why defendants often have attorneys but no independent investigator, and why being willing to discover that your own assumptions are wrong may be one of an investigator's greatest strengths. We also explore the forgotten side of missing-person investigations: why some disappearances receive enormous attention while others barely register, how assumptions about runaways can cost investigators precious time, and why the first hours and days after someone disappears can be so important. Rene also discusses eyewitness memory, false memories, trauma, interviewing witnesses, visiting crime scenes, DNA and genetic genealogy, the limitations of technology, and why even in the modern era much investigative work still comes down to old-fashioned shoe leather. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Introduction: Rene Denfeld01:49 — From Investigative Journalism to Private Investigation04:41 — What Is “The Talking Bone”?07:18 — How Investigation Influences Rene’s Writing07:56 — Ruby Spencer: “The Exonerator”09:18 — The Reality of Wrongful Convictions12:02 — When the Police Are the Only Investigators14:16 — Fighting Confirmation Bias18:30 — Exonerations and the Search for Missing Women23:07 — Recognizing Patterns Without Creating Conspiracies25:32 — Why Police Sometimes Hold Information Back27:38 — Technology, the JFK Case & Modern Investigations30:46 — Why Investigations Still Require “Shoe Leather”31:50 — What Happens After Police Identify a Suspect?33:10 — Who Gets Remembered—and Who Gets Forgotten?37:14 — Tupac Shakur, Forgotten Victims & Unsolved Crimes39:01 — When Society Allows Victims to Disappear40:55 — Untested Evidence and the Rape-Kit Backlog42:12 — Where Does the Criminal Justice System Fail?46:34 — Domestic Violence and Cycles of Trauma48:01 — Can Trauma Make Someone a Better Investigator?52:41 — The Psychological Burden of Investigative Work56:55 — Lies, Eyewitness Testimony & False Memories1:01:11 — Why Investigators Need to Visit the Crime Scene1:03:00 — The Kyron Horman Case & Missing Children1:05:20 — The Critical First Hours of a Missing-Person Case1:08:03 — Runaways, Missing Women & Dangerous Assumptions1:10:55 — What Happens When We Refuse to Learn From the Past?1:14:43 — Admitting When the System Got It Wrong1:23:16 — When the Wrong Person Is Convicted, the Guilty Go Free1:24:51 — How Rene Avoids Becoming Bitter1:30:48 — Final Thoughts1:32:14 — Closing / Rene Agrees to Return
