Cryptography and stenography are similar but stenography is meant to disguise that a message was being sent. Stenography is mostly used by spies and in countries where cryptography is illegal. Most modern encryption is done using computer software but it can be done a number of ways without a computer. For example using a known publication and version of that publication a numerical code such as 78.22.6 which might indicate page 78, line 22, and the 6th word in that sentence. Another way might be a page the same size that can be put over a page and indicate specific words or letters. Computer software works in a similar way but could use images or other types of programming. In this case the writer was trying to make the readers aware of the encryption. If it wasn't for the corresponding murders the FBI would have just assumed it was a clever writer hiding messages in a story. What wasn't clear is if the writer was also the killer or if he was communicating somehow with killers and writing their stories. He might not even be aware that the murders were actually real. The computer or user could not be traced to link other websites or publications to the writer. What was obvious and meant to be discovered was the first part of the encryption which read We are all professionals. This could indicate a professional hit man or some kind of spy relaying information. The information could have been intended for the FBI to draw them into whatever game was trying to be played. The rest of the encryption described the victims and how they died in great detail. The story itself was intriguing but an obvious work of fiction a lot of embellishments and over the top characterization. The writer was familiar with long distance shooting and loading ammo describing research and development methods to set bullet depths, gun powder variations, and testing different loads to get consistent groupings. He also described the variables such as humidity, temperatures, wind, and the curvature of the earth and how it effects trajectory. The stories describe formulas and how to use the dial and the mil dots on a scope indicating a lot of time spent shooting or a military background. The story also described methods of making a murder look like an accident. The murderer in the story was like the unbreakable hero common in action movies but with bad intentions. There was multiple references to Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" which ended up one of the books used in the encryption. Serial killers are often narcissistic so a story about becoming the super man would be appealing to the ego. Using cryptography was also a way of demonstrating how intelligent he is. If the actual killer was using the writer as a surrogate it was another step to disguise their identity. The writer could just be a ghost writer trying to advance their own career with a duel story. The Russian doll effect. There was one other possibility that Sanchez needed to consider, it could be foreign operatives trying to gain intelligence on current FBI agents. It did seem far fetched but the FBI hackers found a Trojan horse program designed to collect data from anyone who opened the story. It could be used to seek out potential victims but the content of the encryption suggests they were trying to get the attention of the intelligence community. The FBI had the chance to set a trap with false intelligence leading whom ever to make a mistake. If it was foreign operatives there was a previous breach allowing them to access files or they could have obtained the information over time from local investigations that intersect the FBI investigations. The FBI is called in when there is multiple murders with the same profile. Sometimes local authorities are unaware of similar crimes outside their jurisdiction and don't realize there is a pattern. FBI and other intelligence computers help assist in finding patterns that might be missed, someone could have been intercepting the data stream. For now it was an investigation into a serial killer or killers with above average IQ. The investigation was in it's infancy so everything at this point was speculation. What was clear was the encryption was linking several murders together that were previously separate investigations. The only thing Sanchez was sure about is the information was intended to be discovered.
Killer Letters - by Ben Smith
It wasn't until the chapter about cryptography that it was realized the true nature of the story. Using an obscure website that caters to aspiring writers a serial story about a serial killer was actually an encrypted message to other serial killers. The serial killer in the story and the crimes were fictional but the encrypted story was a little too close to reality to ignore. Knowing the stories would be edited the author made sure it was well written. Most cryptography leads to what seems to be mistakes in the writing. Usually encrypted writings are between two people with an encryption key available to both parties. Certain groups in prison use similar methods to communicate. Because multiple people are involved known publications are used as the encryption key. The stories were written from the first person perspective, the protagonist is the killer. The fictional killer was familiar with profiling and worked hard not to fall into a category. He worked hard to pick a variety of victims and not stick to the same methods. The killer in the story would often copycat and add signatures of others. This killer was no victim and didn't really know what drove him to do it. The story was flagged by intelligence agencies because of it's content but wasn't taken seriously until the discovery of the encrypted story within. There were previously unlinked victims that suddenly were part of a larger investigation. If the writer was actually a killer the body count was likely over 50 over a span of 30 years. Just like the fictional killer everything was well planned and nothing was left to chance. According to what was decoded the unsub (unknown subject) started in his teens. The fictional story goes into extreme detail about the characterization but it was unclear if the killer was describing himself or if it was a forensic countermeasure to put the authorities on the wrong trail. Unfortunately the killer was smart enough not to lead a digital trail back to an IP address. The stories were likely his way of taking credit for his handy work. The chapter about cryptography was likely his own ego and need to be recognized. There was the possibility that it was just a writer who had created correspondence with actual killers and encrypted their stories within his own fictional story. There were way to many details that were left out of the media to ignore. It was often debated whether or not to take the stories down. The stories were the only real leads into the multiple unsolved crimes. The writer was very well read using a wide variety of books as encryption keys. The stories were as well constructed as the crimes themselves. The fictional character payed for his exploits through hacking. Jail breaking smart phones was a way of finding potential victims. According to the stories he wouldn't go after his customers themselves but would target their contacts. In the past he would have to work harder and often acted like a private investigator observing his targets habits. With smartphones and modern technology it was easy to observe a person's habits. The camera and the sound could be turned on remotely without the knowledge of the user.
Of the profiles he liked to copycat the house cleaner was his favorite. A house cleaner imagines themselves as doing society a favor by taking out the trash. Some of the murders appeared to be accidents or suicides and it wasn't until the decryption that they were even investigated as crimes. Every type of serial killer was emulated making it extremely difficult to profile. Sometimes he would include two separate signatures on a single victim to leave investigators wondering. Now it was the job of FBI profilers and detectives working the open cases to try and create their own correspondence with the unsub. He published the stories to take credit it was now just a matter of setting the trap. This person was clever to say the least but he had to know the attention he would create. Maybe he was trying to set a trap of his own for the investigators. Nick Sanchez was just the type of FBI profiler needed to take on the case, young and full of ambition. Nick was the fresh perspective that was needed to go after the elusive killer. He understood coding and encryption, this type of challenge was what he needed to make a name for himself. It would be a team effort but he got to take the lead in decoding the rest of the story.