IT seems like everyone is an internet sleuth these days, trying to solve real mysteries and murders.
Now crime fans have the chance to see how good they really are at sniffing out clues by taking part in a fictional search for a killer on the Cold Tapes podcast.
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With a £10,000 prize on offer for the winner, the case – set 9,000 miles away in remote Antarctica – is worth solving.
To help readers who wish to take part, we have spoken to former murder squad detective Lyndon Smith to get his advice.
The ex-detective sergeant knows a thing or two about how to spot a killer, having worked on countless cases.
Lyndon, who was in the murder squad in London’s Met Police for a decade, warns budding Miss Marples not to jump to conclusions.
Just because someone lies, it doesn’t mean they are hiding their part in the murder.
And trying to rationalise someone’s actions could send you down the wrong path.
Lyndon explains: “We used to investigate a lot of gang murders. So these are young kids. You talk about serial killers. Some kids are 15 years old.
“I remember one of them saying, ‘my mum’s gonna kill me when I get home. I’ve been arrested for five murders.’
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“I can’t put myself in that person’s position and think what would I’ve done in that situation. I’ve had a different background. I’ve had a different life.
“So you’ve got to be very wary of doing that.”
How to crack the case
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Instead of thinking ‘what would I do?’ Lyndon recommends listening to what the 16 suspects in the Cold Tapes murder case have said.
They are all stranded on a remote scientific base on the most southerly continent where temperatures dip to minus 60 degrees.
The listeners will have to rely on the evidence streamed on the podcast weekly in order to work out who the base killer could be.
They will have the fictional DCI Tessa McCallister to aid them in their investigation, with the determined cop asking the questions.
Lying doesn’t mean that you’ve done something, does it? People lie for lots of reasons
Lyndon says: “Don’t think ‘what would I do?’ Think what they said. What can you prove?
“Cross-reference it, what everyone else said, and work out the details of where those little clues are.
“You’ve got to listen to the details. What’s being asked? What’s being answered?”
With 20 hours of audio material to delve into that is a lot of information to retain.
Lyndon suggests putting together a “matrix” – which is more simple than it sounds.
He smiles: “It sounds fancy – it’s a spreadsheet. Get your spreadsheet open, put all your 16 suspects. Get columns down.
“Where did they say they were? What did they say they were doing? What time? Who were they talking to? And then you cross reference it all.”
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But just because their times don’t add up with the stories, it doesn’t mean they are the murderer.
Lyndon says: “Lying doesn’t mean that you’ve done something, does it? People lie for lots of reasons.”
Another key piece of advice is to get to know as much as possible about the victim.
Lyndon comments: “The saying is that if you want to know someone died, learn how they lived.”
Lyndon would have been under a lot more pressure if a murder had happened at the London Olympics in 2012.
He reveals: “We were with the Olympic homicide team. So if there was a murder in the Olympics, we would go and deal with it.
“I think we were told you’ve got an hour to deal with it, because the Olympics won’t stop. We were told an hour. Enter, do it as quickly as you can.”
Thankfully, no one was slain at any of the stadiums.
TV detectives far from reality
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These days Lyndon, 58, who started out in the military police before joining the police three decades ago, runs his own company called Consulting Cops.
They advise TV shows and other broadcasters on the realities of day-to-day police work.
Unlike on telly cop shows such as Luther or Death in Paradise, where one detective inspector is dealing with almost all aspects of a murder case, the real world is very different.
The detective chief inspector is largely office bound and it is detective sergeants or detective constables who tend to interview witnesses and knock doors.
He says the DCI “sits on top of a murder inquiry. You’ve got 30 or 40 people under you working like beavers trying to gather all the information, and that DCI at the head is going to absorb all that information.
“Make a decision. We’re going to arrest this person.”
Lyndon, who retired from the force six years ago, continues: “DS is probably the last rank where you actually have a big hands on role, the DCI and the DIt, here’s a murder happen they’ll go out and visit the scene.
“They might not go back to that scene again, whereas the DS will be out in the streets.”
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