Case File: The Pattern
Police today dismissed media speculation that a serial killer is targeting organisations.Senior officers described the claims as "unhelpful speculation."
However, sources close to the investigation say detectives reviewing a number of unexplained disappearances have identified similarities they can no longer ignore. Different victims. Different circumstances. The same modus operandi.
Major Incident Room
What began as a routine review of unsolved cases became something altogether different.
By the end of the afternoon the Major Incident Room wall had disappeared behind photographs, witness statements, timelines and case files. Detectives had assembled everything from the disappearance of Accountability and Pride, to the suspicious death of Hope, the case of Accumulated Emotional Disappointment and the unexplained loss of Stability.
Each file had once seemed self-contained. Different departments. Different managers. Different explanations. Budget pressures. Restructures. Leadership changes. Poor communication. Nothing to suggest a connection.
The detectives stood back and studied the wall. Nobody spoke. Then someone noticed what everyone else had missed.
The same employer kept appearing in every case file.
Different victims.
Different circumstances.
The same employer.
That changed the investigation.
Case Review
The detectives stopped looking at the victims and started looking at what happened immediately beforehand. A promise. An announcement. A restructuring. Reassurance. Then disappointment. It happened too often to be dismissed as coincidence.
An anonymous source, who still works for the employer, told detectives:
"Every initiative was presented as a fresh start. After a while we realised they all felt strangely familiar. The names changed. The PowerPoint changed. The outcome never did."
For the first time, detectives wondered whether they had not been investigating separate incidents at all, but different symptoms of the same underlying problem.
Forensic Evidence
Unnamed forensic psychologists reviewing the files reached an unexpected conclusion. There was very little physical evidence. The evidence was emotional.
One reportedly remarked:
"We've been treating this as though there's only one organisation here. There isn't."
The psychologists proposed what detectives now refer to as Working Theory No. 2 – The Two Organisations Hypothesis.
According to the theory, every employer contains two organisations.
The formal organisation appears on organisation charts. It writes policies, approves restructures, allocates budgets and measures performance.
Alongside it exists another organisation. Invisible but no less real. It is built from trust, hope, pride, memory and experience.
The formal organisation makes decisions.
The emotional organisation decides whether people can live with them.
Trust weakened after every broken promise. Hope faded after every abandoned initiative. Pride disappeared when employees no longer recognised the organisation they had joined. None of these emotions vanished overnight. Each incident left the emotional organisation slightly less healthy than before. Individually the losses appeared insignificant. Together they formed a pattern.
Persons of Interest
Detectives have again questioned the usual suspects: change programmes, endless restructures, leadership roadshows, employee surveys and corporate values.
None appeared to have criminal intent. That is no longer the point.
The investigation is increasingly focused on whether decisions that made perfect sense within the formal organisation repeatedly inflicted damage on the emotional organisation.
One important development has already emerged. Cynicism, disengagement and resistance are no longer being treated as suspects.
They are now regarded as evidence.
Investigation Status
The prime suspect remains at large. Police continue to stress there is no evidence of deliberate intent. Nevertheless, detectives believe similar offences may have occurred in organisations across the country.
One officer close to the investigation admitted:
"We stopped looking for individual offenders. We started looking for patterns."
Interpol has been informed. Detectives confirmed that files from overseas describe remarkably similar disappearances. The names of the victims are different. The pattern is not.
A response from Interpol is awaited.
Case File: Open.
Because detectives have reached one unavoidable conclusion.
There is no such thing as a victimless organisational crime.
