The Hashtag Murders

 

A serial killer is responsible for four deaths in the last week. The State Police Chief calls these the Hashtag Murders. Of the four deaths, two were earlier considered to be suicide; one, a murder-suicide pact; and, the fourth, a kidnapping gone wrong. 

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Inspector Shokie is handling the case. The Inspector is a once-capable investigator who was on long leave after being disgraced in the brutal Shekhar Case. She allegedly fabricated evidence implicating her nemesis Shekhar.    

Going against her usual procedure, Inspector Shokie met the press and released details of the Hashtag Murders. 

She began by telling the public to be vigilant and added ominously that that might be the only way the SIT can catch this killer. 

She listed what the SIT has found till date.

1. The killer has been active in the State for more than thirteen years and killed fifty three or more.

2. The four in the last week is an escalation in activity. The average murder rate of this killer in the past was one in three or four months. The SIT is unsure if the heightened activity is due to the diversion of the police force for irrelevant political roadshows.

3. The four deaths in the last week share a common feature: the death is associated with some hashtag on social media.

a) The lady doctor in Kollam was pushed into a state of depression due to the dowry demand of her fiancé. The latter was ironically an activist doctor well-known for protests related to the hashtag StopViolenceAgainstDoctors. The lady's death was considered to be suicide before the SIT discovered that this was the first kill of the serial killer in the last week.

b) The lady professor in Kochi was a political activist. She lost her job after retweeting a post connected to the hashtag Palestine. In the post, the influencer praised his young kid's hatred and call for annihilation of the state of Israel and its people. The 'suicide' of the lady is now confirmed to be the second kill.

c) The duo in Palghat involved in the murder-suicide pact met via the hashtag WeMetOnX. The lady hacked the man to pieces before hanging herself in the outhouse. This crime too was abetted by the serial killer.

d) The kid in Kannur was kidnapped and brutally murdered by the family in huge debt. The family has a huge following on social media. Their posts with the hashtag AmateurCrime have gone viral. This was the fourth kill.

4. The deaths have another common feature which helped the SIT discover that an outside agent is responsible for these four crimes and the fifty three in the past. There were always notes left at the scene of the crime including the two 'suicide' notes in the last week. In all the notes, the first sentence is 'I am sorry to the dear ones I leave behind.' and the last sentence is 'See you at the end of the tunnel.'

5. Inspector Shokie admitted that the SIT has no leads as of now to catch the killer. She speculated that the killer of unknown gender somehow contacts, gets close and convinces the victims to do the final act, whether it be suicide or murder or kidnap. 

6. She released a profile of the killer: 'Kind person, understanding, approachable and trustworthy, altruistic, with no motive and no moral fiber as per common standards, inactive but observant on social media, not any common trope like hacking IT whiz or abused sociopath, not depressed but with persistent anger issues, not religious but with uncommon personal attachment to God.'

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‘This novel is made up...There is no doubt, however, that the novel is born of a specific reality.’

-Andrea Camilleri on his book ‘The Wings Of The Sphinx’