I am glad he proposed the idea of us going home early. I wanted to be the first one to watch the newly uploaded episodes of an ongoing series. I was also itching to get home to play the game I downloaded early in the morning. I am glad I did not miss out on these things yesterday. I should probably get ready to go to work.
What happened yesterday:
Doron: Detective, I have a suggestion.
Moran: Yes?
Doron: We just received the reports of the crime today, and we haven't looked into the murdered women at all. This would be a bad start, so I would like to request the day off for us to investigate the matter on our own and form our own perspective before discussing it. We can resume tomorrow.
Moran: Very well. Do the majority agree?
Everyone agreed.
Moran: Well then, see you all tomorrow.
Moran: *gasps*
I did not prepare anything. But it is all right since my colleagues would have collected all the data regarding the type of content the victims posted, the audiences they attracted, and their own theories. If I go last, I will get to hear everyone's theories first, and then I can form my own at that moment.
I took my seat in the office dedicated to Fraction 1. Everyone came empty-handed, which surprised me since they wanted to analyze the victims' lives to form data on which a theory could be built. But it could also mean that the data is in their heads. Looks like my team is full of talented people. Our first case will be a success.
Everyone looked at each other, wondering who would go first. Then their eyes rested on Moran. They assumed that, as the detective and their senior, he would have prepared the most important facts for this case.
7th of May, Tuesday
Moran: "I will go last. How about—" (he forgot the name)
Sebastian: "I will go first."
I did not want him to go first, but not that it will matter.
Sebastian: "At first glance, it does not seem possible for a single person to commit crimes in different countries. However, considering that there is a sufficient time gap between the murders, it could be one person behind these three crimes."
Sebastian sat down, and Aiko began presenting her theory.
Aiko: "Considering how the crime was carried out, there are two things to note: First, there was no emotion involved. Second, it was done by someone who knew exactly where to stab to kill in one go. So, it can be assumed that the perpetrator is either a doctor or a professional hitman."
Albert: "It may not be a serial killing of social influencers but rather a pattern based on completely different criteria, such as wealth or appearance. Maybe if we look at the case from a different angle, the mystery will solve itself."
Dorian: "Each case could be a different crime rather than a single connected one."
They asked for the day off just to not do any work? I mean, I don't have a place to comment on that since I didn't do anything myself. But they spent their whole day coming up with these lame theories that aren't based on anything. I am genuinely disappointed in my team. I cannot believe that these people—who probably read detective books and think they are smarter than everyone else—are in charge of a murder case of this magnitude.
"If you are given an analytical paragraph to write based on a given dataset, how would you write it?"
Aiko: "Why this all of a sudden?"
"I will explain, but first, answer me: How would you write an analytical paragraph based on given data?"
Aiko: "We would analyze the data and mention what could be interpreted from it."
"Right. And what would you avoid mentioning in an analytical paragraph?"
Sebastian: "Things based on personal beliefs that are not supported by the data."
"Exactly. A murder case is just like an analytical paragraph. You are given the facts of the murder, and you must infer based on those facts. You must avoid letting your personal thoughts—which are not backed up by any data—find their way into your analysis."
Albert: "And the point you are trying to make is?"
"What do you think?"
Albert: "You just told us not to think."
"I did not tell you not to think. I told you not to think wrong."
Some said "ehhh" out loud, while others expressed the same thing with their faces.
"What I am trying to say is that just like in an analytical paragraph, you infer based on the data, not on what you imagine. The theories you all just presented are based on your own imagination of what might have happened, not on any actual data. You all just said one line, and that's what you took a day off for? Nobody researched anything, did they?"
The room remained silent, which answered the question.
"I will first address your delusions. This was not done by a single person. To understand why, let's assume for a moment that it was. We know that the victims were from three different countries—Germany, the U.S., and Spain. If one person had traveled to all three of these countries just before each murder, the case would have been solved before it even reached our hands. A person visiting three different countries within a span of 14 days would stand out too much.
Now, you might assume that someone hired a hitman, which could explain how the murders occurred in three different countries without raising suspicion and the lack of emotion at the crime scenes. However, hiring a hitman is costly, and it is unlikely that an average person would do it three times. Moreover, who would that 'someone' be? People hire hitmen for revenge, intimidation, or personal gain. If it were one person, they might have had an enemy who wanted them dead. But for three victims, from different countries, to have such a common enemy? That is highly unlikely."
Akino: "They do have something in common—their fans. People watch multiple influencers and feel connected to them."
"Why would a fan want them dead? There are always viewers who dislike certain influencers, but those battles are fought on the platform itself—through reputation damage, hate comments, and exposé videos, to name a few.
Also, even if someone hired a hitman, they would struggle with the psychological burden of orchestrating three murders in such a short time. And if a fan were to kill them personally, aside from standing out, the nature of the crime itself does not indicate an average person's work. Plus, there was no emotion at the crime scene."
"The next theory was to look at different factors beyond their influencer status. In short, there are none. But I will explain anyway. There are many birth privileged people in the world. Influencers on the other hand gain wealth as their following grows. In these three cases, the victims started off in middle- to lower-middle-class backgrounds and became rich as they gained popularity. As for appearance, there are plenty of people with better looks in your own locality. I doubt anyone would cause a global crime spree over that."
"Now that I have disproved your theories, I will not let what happened yesterday happen again. You have homework today."
Dorian: He ignored my theory.
Aiko: He ignored Dorian's theory.
"Watch every single video of these creators. Note the type of content they make, the audience they attract, and dig into their lives. Hacking into their emails should be easy. Divide these tasks among yourselves based on your abilities. I will be leaving home early today."
He got up, collected his belongings, and prepared to leave.
"And one more thing—the only thing that can be inferred at the moment from the victims' deaths is that there was no personal gain involved. Their murders had a purpose."
The detective took his leave.
Dorian: "Yesterday... when I asked for an early leave, I thought that even though he is our senior, he is still so young and would be easy to control."
Aiko: Purpose?
Albert: "Purpose?"
Albert Thorne
gender: male
age: 41
Sebastian Hogue
gender: male
age: 38
Aiko Tanaka
gender: female
age: 28
Dorian Ashford
gender: male
age: 33
Moran Takeda
gender: male
age: 21