8th of May, Wednesday
Moran took his seat in the office and glanced around. Everyone was so busy doing the work endorsed by him that they did not take notice of his arrival. A few seconds passed and Aiko finally noticed him and exclaimed at his sudden and quiet presence, making everyone stop at their work and look in his direction. He took pleasure in watching them work so hard.
"So how much has been done so far?"
"I am so sorry we were not able to complete it in one day." said Aiko in a worried domineer.
"I did not give that much work to be done in one day."
"When you said it was our homework we assumed it had to be done in one day. Thanks to that we slept for 3 hours only." Added Sebastian.
"I see"
They are senior to me in age and experience and yet they are amateur.
"So how much info is gathered yet?"
"Sebastian and Doron are watching every videos of the victims available online and it appears it will take two or three days more to watch every single one. Albert and I hacked their email and were reading them. we will further try to find their contacts and the messages shared between their families, friends etc on all social medias."
"As of our findings till now, these points are common for all three
1. They belonged to middle class initially when they started their careers
2. Their audience was small at first but it did not take long for them to gain a large one.
3. There was a point in their career when they were on the pinnacle of their fame. After that they took what seems like their unrecoverable downfall. But they made a comeback so great that they had more followers than before and reached the top of the social media influence."
The last point is what draws Moran's attention.
"During which years did these fluctuations in their audience occurred?"
"The years are different for all three like Hana Lori the first victim, started her career in 2016 and between 2021-22 this fluctuation occurred. Natalia the second victim started during 2011 and the fluctuation occurred between 2015-16. Josie the third victim started in 2017 and the fluctuation occurred during in 2022-23."
"Then check their email only of the time when fluctuation occurred."
"And the contacts?"
"Thoroughly since we want to establish a relationship between the victims and their families."
"Then why only email?"
"I guess you could call it a detective's intuition."
"And when you have found everything then form a detailed report on every victim so far and hand it to me." commanded Moran.
He then proceeded to take his seat at his desk which everyone assumed was because he is about to prepare the daily report the detective has to write to the chief dictating the detailed progress on the case made by the fraction each day. His hand supporting his cheeks resting on it turned into a fist, his head turned opposite to the inspectors. He appeared to be deep in thought.
After a while Aiko and Albert made progress after working on the idea proposed by the detective but to them it seemed mediocre. They called the detective but there was no response. They did once again but not an answer this time too. Aiko then proceeded to go to his desk and discovered that he was sleeping. The other inspectors who had high hopes that the detective was working on a theory and doing research of his own were disappointed. Aiko then told the detective about the discovery. Apparently all three victims received an email saying- "Do you want to gain your followers back and even more than before?" the response in each was "Yes". But they had all been received from different email addresses and those were not accessible by the inspectors.
"This does not seem relevant to the case at hand." said Aiko
"So it was consensual"
"What do you mean?"
"Since these occur before they made a comeback on the social platforms it can be concluded that the one who sent them that email did indeed help them to which if they hadn't responded yes they couldn't have made that comeback. Now because the senders were aware that email addresses can be hacked easily by authorities they resumed their conversation in real life of which no record can be held. But if they were talking about something as mediocre they could've done it on email and introduced themselves too. Unless they were planning their death the minute they made contact with them and foresaw that if they gave any information about themselves it would be accessible by the authorities."
"How are you sure that the sender is related to the crime?" Asked Albert
"One coincidence is just a coincidence, two coincidences are a clue, three coincidences are a proof" (Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie)
"Now before and after the fluctuations notice the change in their behavior in their videos and the change in the type of content. Go through the messages between the victims and their family and friends on all social platforms as they might include some information relevant to the case. Include these facts obtained in the report for which I am giving two days to complete."
"Yes! And about the daily report? Have you completed it? The day is about to end." Remarked Aiko.
"Yes about that...can one of you do it from today onwards."
"If you don't mind I will do it." said Sebastian.
"Alright, the task of making the reports everyday is upto you."
"Remember that I said that this serial killing had a purpose? It seems like by saying yes to that email they invited themselves to something that cost them their life."
Everyone tensed up by the question what exactly was that email invitation to?