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Five hubs

Five series.

Every Short belongs to one of five series. Here each series is a hub: the idea, the readings that explain it, and the cases that show it.

The series

  1. The Pyramid

    Why some killers are harder to catch

    Five tiers, sorted by how many ways there are to catch a killer. Each step up removes one.

  2. The Catch

    How killers get caught

    The single mechanism that ends a case: a ticket, a sample, a sheath, a forged will.

  3. The Failure

    How the system fails

    The moments the system had him, or had the information, and let it go.

  4. The Myth

    What people believe, and what the record says

    The genius, the loner, the man who cannot stop. The record says otherwise.

  5. The Class

    What the labels miss

    Definitions and typologies describe a case. A few conditions decide it.

In brief

What are the five series?

The Pyramid sorts killers by how catchable they are. The Catch names the single mechanism that ends a case. The Failure follows the moments the system had him and let him go. The Myth tests common beliefs against the record. The Class looks at definitions and typologies, and at what they miss.

Which series comes first?

The Pyramid. It is the framework the other four hang on: five tiers, and each step up removes one way to get caught.

Can a case belong to more than one series?

Each case is filed under one series, the one its claim argues. Its page links to the readings in other series that the same case is evidence for.

What is a reading?

A reading is a page that explains one mechanism, myth or definition in depth. Each fact on it is tied to a numbered source.