CHAPTER SIXTEEN #2
Kelly did not take her attention from Selena immediately. Then she placed the pages on the table and slid them toward Connor.
“The judge approved access to their internet providers and the info they have on the victims’ internet usage.
Approval was rushed quickly based on the three linked murders and the common-victim analysis.
We compared account and connection records.
Turns out, all three victims used the same small regional internet provider. ”
Connor scanned the first page. “What does that prove? There can’t be many providers out here.”
“By itself, nothing,” Kelly said. “That’s what I assumed, too. Then I contacted the provider’s legal compliance officer and asked for subscriber-level correlations under the warrant.”
Selena stood and crossed to the table despite herself.
“Speak English, please?” Connor said. “Sometimes it’s like you FBI folks have your own language.”
Kelly pointed to three rows of data. Each contained a customer number, an assigned IP range, and connection records covering the weeks before the murders.
“All three accounts accessed the same online service,” Kelly said. “HearthSpace.”
Connor frowned. “What does HearthSpace do?”
“It’s a privacy-focused platform built around private communities and anonymous posts.
Those communities can be focused on any topic.
Traffic and stored data are encrypted, but the company can produce limited account content under a court order.
People join invitation-only spaces about topics or issues they are interested in, share messages, and use usernames that aren’t tied publicly to their identities. ”
“Like a secret message board?” Connor asked.
“Partly. It also supports direct chats and closed groups. The public-facing company information is vague, and most content sits inside closed, encrypted communities. The question is, what community did the victims join, and was it the same one?”
Selena read the access entries.
Kelly drew another page from the stack. "HearthSpace doesn't advertise. New users need an invitation link from an existing member, and its servers are routed through several states. The company markets privacy to support groups, whistleblowers, and people discussing sensitive subjects."
Connor’s expression tightened. “Or people planning crimes.”
“Possibly,” Kelly said. “Encryption protects both, but they still store some records, namely who connects to their servers.”
Selena read the dates again. Karen’s heaviest use came shortly before she moved into the cabin. Ruth had logged in at irregular hours, often late at night. Linda’s access stopped on the evening she disappeared.
The internet connection at Karen’s former Loyall home had reached HearthSpace servers repeatedly during the month before her death. Ruth Keller’s account showed similar traffic. Linda Mercer’s mobile device and home router had accessed the same service.
The pattern was not proof that the women knew one another. Thousands, if not millions, of people could use the same platform.
But HearthSpace was obscure enough that this felt like more than a coincidence.
“How many local subscribers use HearthSpace?” Selena asked.
“The provider wouldn’t answer without a narrower order,” Kelly said. “They confirmed connections associated with all three victims accessed it, but not which HearthSpace accounts were being used or whether they belonged to the same group.”
Connor tapped Linda’s record. “Could someone else in the household have used it?”
“Possible. Karen’s former Loyall connection may also have been used by Gerry before the separation. Ruth lived alone. Linda shared internet service with Phil.”
“Did Phil know about HearthSpace?” Connor asked.
“We could ask.”
“He’s in no condition for another interview today.”
Selena returned to the board. “I agree.”
Three women from overlapping school years. Three users of an encrypted platform. Either connection could matter. Both might. The killer’s removal of their tongues suggested punishment for speech, disclosure, or betrayal. Private messages carried a logic the school records had not yet provided.
Connor placed the papers on the table. “That’s good work. This might be the break we need. The high-school angle isn’t giving us much.”
The compliment tightened something inside Selena.
Kelly had found the first new link since the Boyd lead collapsed. She had done it by going around Selena, using contacts in Seattle, and challenging the line Selena had defended in front of Blethan.
For one ugly second, Selena wanted the lead to fail.
The thought shamed her as soon as it formed.
Catching the killer mattered more than being first. More than proving she deserved the Eagleton assignment. More than refusing to let the girl who humiliated her in school become the agent who moved the case forward.
Yet the old need remained.
Selena had spent years measuring herself against rooms that expected her to fail.
Washington rewarded certainty until certainty became a weapon.
Returning home had stripped away the title, office, and distance she used to define her worth.
Kelly’s arrival had touched the oldest wound beneath all of it.
Every disagreement became a contest.
Every success felt borrowed if it belonged to someone else.
She hated that about herself.
“Selena?”
Connor’s voice pulled her back.
Kelly stood beside the table, waiting.
Selena forced her shoulders to loosen. “Yeah. Good work, Kelly.”
Surprise crossed Kelly’s expression, followed by caution. “Thanks.”
“The internet provider can’t give us the content of the posts.”
“No,” Kelly said. “They only carry the traffic. HearthSpace controls the accounts and server records.”
“Do HearthSpace retain identifying data?”
"Their privacy policy says they keep registration metadata, device records, login IPs, etc."
Selena picked up her phone and opened the contact list.
Connor watched her. “What are you doing?”
“We need a warrant for HearthSpace’s records.”
Kelly moved closer. “We’ll need to specify accounts.”
“We don’t know the usernames yet, but we have the victims’ known IP addresses and access windows. HearthSpace can match those against login records.”
Selena selected the number for the Commonwealth’s Attorney who had handled the provider warrant.
“If we match the service records to the victims’ personal IP addresses, we can identify their usernames and find out what they were discussing.”
Connor glanced at the three photographs on the board.
Selena pressed the call button.
“Maybe it has something to do with the killer.”