In the pro­logue of “We Solve Mur­ders,” the nar­ra­tive begins with a fun­da­men­tal rule for crim­i­nals: leave as few clues as pos­si­ble. Engag­ing with peo­ple is, how­ev­er, unavoid­able when con­duct­ing busi­ness, whether it involves giv­ing orders, arrang­ing ship­ments, or car­ry­ing out lethal tasks. The pro­tag­o­nist empha­sizes that iso­la­tion is not an option. In emer­gen­cies, there is a method to con­tact François Lou­bet, but doing so reck­less­ly is like­ly to lead to regret.

The text then reflects on the nature of com­mu­ni­ca­tion among high-end crim­i­nals, who rely heav­i­ly on encrypt­ed mes­sages and emails, akin to mil­len­ni­als. How­ev­er, the author warns of the risks posed by sophis­ti­cat­ed author­i­ties capa­ble of break­ing encryp­tion, sug­gest­ing that many skilled crim­i­nals have fall­en due to the efforts of “nerds with lap­tops.” Thus, the impor­tance of hid­ing one’s dig­i­tal foot­print is high­light­ed. For instance, François Lou­bet employs com­plex meth­ods to mask the ori­gin of his emails, ensur­ing that even the most deter­mined hack­er would strug­gle to trace them back to him.

Despite these pre­cau­tions, the pro­logue notes the inescapable fact that indi­vid­ual writ­ing styles have unique sig­na­tures. Each person’s choice of words and rhythm can reveal their identity—making them vul­ner­a­ble. The text men­tions the con­trast between crim­i­nals and sci­ence, which often dis­rupts their plans. A piv­otal solu­tion is unveiled in the form of Chat­G­PT, which plays a cru­cial role in this nar­ra­tive. It allows Lou­bet to erase his dis­tinc­tive voice from mes­sages, pro­vid­ing an ele­ment of anonymi­ty. By prompt­ing Chat­G­PT to rewrite his com­mu­ni­ca­tions, Lou­bet effec­tive­ly dis­guis­es his iden­ti­ty.

Thus, one could encounter numer­ous emails attrib­uted to Lou­bet but remain igno­rant of his where­abouts and true iden­ti­ty. While the activ­i­ties of François Lou­bet would be evi­dent, the mys­tery sur­round­ing the man him­self would per­sist, leav­ing author­i­ties with lit­tle to act upon. The pro­logue sets the stage for a sto­ry where eva­sion and clever dig­i­tal strate­giz­ing are cru­cial for sur­vival in the crim­i­nal under­world.