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.