We Solve Murders Prologue: You Must Leave as Few Clues as Possible
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The Prologue opens with a single, absolute rule for the unnamed criminal narrator: leave as few clues as possible. The narrator (who appears to be a high-end criminal or handler) explains that direct communication is sometimes unavoidable—orders, shipments, even killings require talking to people. But they advise extreme caution. For contacting a figure like François Loubet, only an absolute emergency justifies using a voice‑changer phone; misuse would bring swift regret.
Most communication, however, happens via encrypted messages or email, because high‑end criminals, like millennials, prefer indirect contact. The narrator warns that even strong encryption can be broken by determined authorities—nerds with laptops have put many good criminals in prison. Hiding an IP address is easy (Loubet’s emails take a world tour), but a far more dangerous signature remains: language. Everyone has a unique verbal fingerprint—word choice, rhythm, personality. An analyst could match an email to a postcard from 2009 and prove they came from the same person.
That is why ChatGPT has become indispensable. After drafting any message, the criminal runs it through ChatGPT, which strips away the author’s individual quirks, flattening the personality until the writer “disappears.” Loubet’s favorite prompt is “rewrite in the style of a friendly English gentleman.” If Loubet wrote in his own unmistakable voice, the trail would be obvious. With ChatGPT, an investigator might find a thousand emails but still have no idea where Loubet is or who he really is. They might know what he does, but they can do little about it.
Key Events
- The narrator announces the one rule: leave as few clues as possible.
- They describe limited, carefully controlled communication with François Loubet, involving a voice‑changer phone only for absolute emergencies.
- The chapter explains the vulnerability of encryption and the real threat of linguistic analysis.
- ChatGPT is introduced as a tool to erase the writer’s natural language signature.
- Loubet’s specific prompt (“friendly English gentleman”) is revealed.
- The narrator concludes that even if a thousand messages are intercepted, Loubet’s identity and location remain hidden.
Character Development
- The Narrator (Unnamed Criminal): Though the narrator is not a named character, the Prologue presents their voice as authoritative, pragmatic, and deeply experienced in covert operations. They speak with the confidence of someone who has personally managed the risks of digital communication. Their emphasis on “science” as the enemy of criminals hints at a calculating, methodical mind.
- François Loubet: Mentioned only in the third person, Loubet is established as a significant figure—someone who requires extraordinary security measures. He is portrayed as someone whose natural communication style is so distinct that it would betray him instantly. His choice of a blandly pleasant rewrite prompt suggests he values invisibility over individuality, a telling detail for a high‑end criminal.
Themes, Symbols, and Motifs
- Linguistic Fingerprinting as Identity: The chapter argues that language is an inescapable marker of identity. Every person’s word use and rhythm form a unique signature that can be traced—even across decades. This makes language both a gift and a liability.
- Technology as Double‑Edged Sword: Encryption protects, but can be broken. ChatGPT anonymizes, but its very use shows how criminals must constantly adapt to outwit analysts. The chapter celebrates AI as a “godsend” while acknowledging the cat‑and‑mouse game with authorities.
- Invisibility and Vanishing: The motif of disappearance runs through the text. The narrator counsels “you must hide as well as you can.” ChatGPT “washes you away, quirk by quirk, until you disappear.” The ultimate goal is to become untraceable—a ghost in the digital world.
- The “Friendly English Gentleman” as Mask: Loubet’s chosen persona is a deliberate, ironic disguise. Politeness and conventionality become camouflage for lethal operations, underscoring the theme that surfaces conceal dangerous depths.
Why This Chapter Matters
As a prologue, this chapter sets the operational rules for the entire criminal ecosystem that the story will explore. It introduces the concept that identity can be erased through technology—a key vulnerability that may later be exploited by the protagonists. The focus on François Loubet establishes him as a target or puppet master whose real nature is deliberately hidden. Moreover, the narrator’s calm explanation of methods gives readers a behind‑the‑curtain view of modern organized crime, raising the stakes: if even a tool like ChatGPT can be used to vanish, solving the murders will require breaking through layers of artificial anonymity.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does the narrator say ChatGPT has been a “godsend” for communication?
The narrator believes that every person’s writing has a unique linguistic signature—word choices, rhythm, personality—that can be used to identify them across different messages, even years apart. ChatGPT removes that signature, flattening the text into a generic style so that the author cannot be recognized or traced.
2. What is the single rule stated at the beginning of the Prologue?
The rule is: “You must leave as few clues as possible.” Everything else in the chapter—encryption, IP masking, voice changers, and AI rewriting—is a specific application of that rule.
3. How does François Loubet use ChatGPT to protect his identity?
Loubet runs his messages through ChatGPT with the prompt “rewrite in the style of a friendly English gentleman.” This eliminates his natural voice, making it impossible for analysts to match the emails to his real identity or location. Even if thousands of emails are intercepted, they reveal nothing about who he is or where he operates.