The glow of the computer screen was the only light in Faye Leroux's dorm room. Outside, the Canadian winter had settled over Ottawa with its characteristic quiet determination, but inside, the hum of electronics and the tap-tap-tapping of keys created a different kind of atmosphere entirely.
Faye adjusted her glasses, pushing them up the bridge of her nose as she scrolled through another forum thread. At 19, she had mastered the art of being invisible—a skill honed through years of being the "weird girl" in school who preferred books and online communities to parties and small talk. Her short hair fell across her forehead, and she brushed it aside with an impatient gesture.
She sighed, leaning back in her chair. The room around her was a testament to her personality—books stacked haphazardly on every available surface, a collection of vintage video game consoles, and clothes that prioritized comfort over style. A half-finished cup of tea sat cooling next to her keyboard.
It was in one of these late-night browsing sessions that she stumbled upon a detective forum—a place where true crime enthusiasts and actual investigators mingled in uneasy digital companionship. And it was there she first encountered the username "CB_Investigation."
Cole Brennan rubbed his eyes, the fatigue of another long day settling deep in his bones. At 28, he'd already seen enough of human nature to last several lifetimes. His apartment reflected his personality—sparse, functional, with files and case notes occupying more space than personal items.
He poured himself a whiskey, the amber liquid catching the dim light of his laptop screen. The detective forum was a guilty pleasure—a place to occasionally drop breadcrumbs about cases he couldn't solve through official channels. It was also, he admitted to himself, a place to feel less alone.
His cursor hovered over the reply button when he noticed a new username in the thread—"DigitalGhost." Their comment was sharp, observant, cutting through the noise with an intelligence that made him pause. They'd connected dots even he had missed.
Cole Brennan wasn't a man who believed in fate, but he did believe in patterns. And this "DigitalGhost" had a pattern of insight that intrigued him.
He typed a reply, his fingers moving with purpose for the first time that night.
On the other side of the city, Faye's breath caught in her throat. CB_Investigation—the poster whose analyses she'd been quietly following for weeks—had replied to her comment. Her hands trembled slightly as she typed her response, the glow of the screen illuminating her focused expression.
Neither of them knew it yet, but in that moment, in the quiet of their separate rooms, surrounded by the digital ghosts of the internet, their story had begun.