By browsing Lyla’s own Instagram profile for several minutes, Mitchell determined that her full name was Lyla Harper, and she worked as a waitress at Bill’s Pizzushi Place, whatever that was.
As Hannah had figured out, Frank had maintained a lot of Twitter accounts which he used to harass several women. Mitchell managed to find some fake Facebook accounts used for similar purposes, as well as seven different e-mail accounts. The amount of hate and venom in the messages of those accounts made Mitchell want to take a shower. He made a list of all the Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts, and e-mail addresses of the harassed women. About half of the harassing accounts were suspended, and he assumed they’d been reported to Twitter.
The browser history didn’t reveal much. Frank had periodically visited some blogs from his phone, as well as cnn.com. There was nothing else there, but this wasn’t surprising. Many people did most of their browsing from their laptop, tablet, or desktop computer.
It was a well-known fact in the squad that if anyone knew how to sniff out relevant information from that enormous entity called the internet, it was Mitchell. He would open dozens of tabs on his browsers, scanning multiple profiles, searching for parts that clicked, or digital references that overlapped. Captain Bailey had recently procured him a second monitor for his computer. Now, when he was fishing for information, dragging browser windows across the two monitors, he looked like a criminal mastermind, monitoring the secret agent bumbling around in his evil lair.
Using Frank’s phone, Mitchell could scan Frank’s friends list on Facebook. He found several connections between that list and the harassed women. There was a Melanie Foster, who was both a Facebook friend and one of the main targets for Frank’s attacks. Two others were both Facebook friends and victims as well. There was one celebrity comedian, living in a different state, whom Mitchell doubted Frank knew first hand. It seemed Frank targeted women he knew personally and women he didn’t.
After checking Melanie’s profile, Mitchell established that she and Frank worked in the same place. The connection to the other two Facebook friends wasn’t immediately apparent.
Lyla Harper, Frank’s current partner, had one shared friend with Melanie. A coincidence? Probably. People had shared friends. In fact, according to Facebook, Mitchell’s cousin was Lyla’s friend as well.
Somewhere in the background, he heard Jacob speaking. He tuned out the noise, and dug deeper.
Jacob was talking to Matt on the phone. Matt sounded weary, and Jacob could sympathize. Matt had been woken up in the middle of the night, and had spent the last six hours painstakingly collecting samples from the crime scene and carefully documenting it. Now he was in the laboratory helping to analyze the findings.
“The killer was careful,” Matt said. “He wiped the doorknob before leaving, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t touch anything else. We have several fingerprints from the apartment; they don’t all belong to the deceased, but I doubt any of them are the killer’s.”
“Okay,” Jacob said, glancing at Mitchell. The young detective was looking at multiple open browser windows. Recently, Jacob had found himself feeling crippled next to his partner. He could hardly check his own mail, never mind cross-reference different social networks. How long until his supervisors noticed he wasn’t as useful as the other detectives in the squad? These days, it wasn’t enough just to interrogate well, or have a nose for details.
“The good news is Hannah and Bernard were right,” Matt said. “The killer was waiting in the hallway. We found some scuff marks in the dust where he was hiding. I think he was tapping his foot while he waited.”
Jacob tensed. “Fingerprints?”
“No fingerprints, sorry, but he was biting his fingernails. I have a few samples. They definitely belong
As Hannah had figured out, Frank had maintained a lot of Twitter accounts which he used to harass several women. Mitchell managed to find some fake Facebook accounts used for similar purposes, as well as seven different e-mail accounts. The amount of hate and venom in the messages of those accounts made Mitchell want to take a shower. He made a list of all the Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts, and e-mail addresses of the harassed women. About half of the harassing accounts were suspended, and he assumed they’d been reported to Twitter.
The browser history didn’t reveal much. Frank had periodically visited some blogs from his phone, as well as cnn.com. There was nothing else there, but this wasn’t surprising. Many people did most of their browsing from their laptop, tablet, or desktop computer.
It was a well-known fact in the squad that if anyone knew how to sniff out relevant information from that enormous entity called the internet, it was Mitchell. He would open dozens of tabs on his browsers, scanning multiple profiles, searching for parts that clicked, or digital references that overlapped. Captain Bailey had recently procured him a second monitor for his computer. Now, when he was fishing for information, dragging browser windows across the two monitors, he looked like a criminal mastermind, monitoring the secret agent bumbling around in his evil lair.
Using Frank’s phone, Mitchell could scan Frank’s friends list on Facebook. He found several connections between that list and the harassed women. There was a Melanie Foster, who was both a Facebook friend and one of the main targets for Frank’s attacks. Two others were both Facebook friends and victims as well. There was one celebrity comedian, living in a different state, whom Mitchell doubted Frank knew first hand. It seemed Frank targeted women he knew personally and women he didn’t.
After checking Melanie’s profile, Mitchell established that she and Frank worked in the same place. The connection to the other two Facebook friends wasn’t immediately apparent.
Lyla Harper, Frank’s current partner, had one shared friend with Melanie. A coincidence? Probably. People had shared friends. In fact, according to Facebook, Mitchell’s cousin was Lyla’s friend as well.
Somewhere in the background, he heard Jacob speaking. He tuned out the noise, and dug deeper.
Jacob was talking to Matt on the phone. Matt sounded weary, and Jacob could sympathize. Matt had been woken up in the middle of the night, and had spent the last six hours painstakingly collecting samples from the crime scene and carefully documenting it. Now he was in the laboratory helping to analyze the findings.
“The killer was careful,” Matt said. “He wiped the doorknob before leaving, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t touch anything else. We have several fingerprints from the apartment; they don’t all belong to the deceased, but I doubt any of them are the killer’s.”
“Okay,” Jacob said, glancing at Mitchell. The young detective was looking at multiple open browser windows. Recently, Jacob had found himself feeling crippled next to his partner. He could hardly check his own mail, never mind cross-reference different social networks. How long until his supervisors noticed he wasn’t as useful as the other detectives in the squad? These days, it wasn’t enough just to interrogate well, or have a nose for details.
“The good news is Hannah and Bernard were right,” Matt said. “The killer was waiting in the hallway. We found some scuff marks in the dust where he was hiding. I think he was tapping his foot while he waited.”
Jacob tensed. “Fingerprints?”
“No fingerprints, sorry, but he was biting his fingernails. I have a few samples. They definitely belong
Similar Books
