City Mouse Severance

Date: May 29

Time: 05:58

From: Administration

To: All Staff

Subject: Bernard’s Passing

Body:

<Attachments: BernardOBrienMemoriam.jpg; roses.gif>

It is with the heaviest and saddest of hearts that we announce the sudden and tragic passing of our Chairman and beloved friend Bernard O’Brien. His long legacy of devotion and dedication to his clients and staff were only surpassed by his loyalty and commitment to his wife Debra, and daughter Sarah. He was 64 years old.

Seymour Hitchens will be handling his duties, until a new CEO is elected. We ask that everyone respects the O’Brien family’s right to privacy at this time. If there is any need for communication with the O'Brien family, please speak first to Terrance August in Public Affairs, ext. 44111.

There is a bouquet in the lobby being sent to the family, and also a card for anyone who wants to sign.

Sincerely,

Maria P

Administration

<Location: Inbox>

Date: May 27

Time: 22:05

From: Bernard O’Brien

To: Seymour Hitchens

Body:

Seymour, I am currently waiting in the conference room 2508 as promised. Please get here ASAP. There are two final things we need to discuss regarding your severance.

Sincerely,

BB

President and CEO

OBHTECH Inc.

<Location: Trash>

Date: May 29

Time: 18:52

From: Edward White

To: Sarah O’Brien

Subject: Re: message on card

Body:

Hi Sarah,

First of all, I’m really sorry about your dad. I understand this is a very difficult time for you and your mother, and that you two need your privacy.

But can you please have your mother contact me as soon as possible? I know this might sound crazy, but tell her not to use her regular email, but to make a throwaway. Or just help her to contact me on the game server handle I wrote down on the sympathy card.

P.S. Under no circumstances should you tell Terry or Seymour either. This is very important. Thank you.

<Replying to>

i should have known u didn’t really want to play when I saw that ur join date on the server was todays date! :/ why the secrecy

<Location: Inbox>

Date: May 29

Time: 23:51

From: Edward White

To: Debra O’Brien

Subject: Re: This is Deb

Body:

Just meet me at the 24 hour drugstore in 15 min. The big one next to the subway. Please take something other than that red Mustang. Be careful!

<Replying To>

Sarah is doing as good as she can be. I’m letting her stay up for now. There’s one safe Terry doesn’t know about. He’s just finished now for the night, and left. It’s been a long day for everyone. Of course I can meet up right now. But Ed, hold on, what are you talking about here? Does this have anything to do with Bernie’s death?

<Replying To>

Hi Debra,

Terry is a good man, he is just doing his job in public affairs as instructed.

Thanks for connecting here, sorry to proxy through your daughter like that. How is she? Bernie and I used to talk about her video games, and her online safety.

Does Terry have access to your safe? I have a USB drive to give you ASAP. I can’t discuss it here, but it contains documents, security footage, and financial records. The password is the gamer handle I wrote in the card, and the barcode numbers on the back of the card. It will total about 30 characters long. I have a copy myself, and I don’t want to bring it directly to the police yet. I have a bad feeling about them. Can you meet me somewhere privately so I can hand it to you?

<Replying To>

Hello Ed,

What’s this about? Did Terry do something?

Debra

<Location: Trash>

Date: May 30

Time: 00:11

From: Debra O’ Brien

To: Edward White

Subject: No Subject

Body:

ED! There were people watching the house! They wouldn’t let me leave! They came out of nowhere and tapped on my car window. It was very scary. Then Seymour called me on the phone and said that it was all for my safety, and asked where I was going. I made something up. All I could think of to say was that I had to buy some tampons for Sarah, and that it was an emergency. They said they would buy them for me and made me go back inside. Is there anything else you can do?

<Location: Inbox>

Date: May 30

Time: 00:53

From: Edward White

To: Debra O’Brien

Subject: Box of tampons

Body:

Deb, I think I got there just in time. I hid the USB drive in the purple brand tampon box that was on sale, and bought all the others like it on the shelf. It’s inside the box.

Was he that big guy with a pony tail? I’ve never seen him before. He saw me put all the other boxes in my cart and laughed at me. He bought the last box that I left for you on the shelf.

P.S. Please delete these emails and your account immediately! I’m going to put the original USB drive in my safety deposit box Monday morning. Then I will talk to the police. So sorry about everything.

<Location: Inbox>

Date: June 1

Time: 09:01

From: Edward White

To: Sarah O’Brien

Subject: CHECK THIS OUT!!!!

Body:

<The content of this email has been flagged and automatically removed by OBHTECH inc. for the following reasons:

!Obscene Images

!Death Threats

!Classified Information Shared

!Possible Phishing Attempt

!External links to Malware

!Foul Language

This incident has been categorized as: High Threat.

High Threat incidents are automatically reported to the police.

No action is required by you, the recipient, at this time. This is incident number 14062.

If you have any questions or concerns about how emails are monitored at OBHTECH Inc., please contact Edward White, Head of IT, at ext. 08800 >

<Location: Quarantined>

Date: June 4

Time: 10:00

From: Seymour Hitchens

To: All Staff

Subject: Staff meeting

Body:

<Attachment: car2.jpg>

Hi everyone!

A lot of you had questions at our recent staff meeting, and it ran a few minutes over time. So below, for our memory’s sake, are your most pressing questions you had and my responses here:

Question #1: Should we be looking for a new job?

Answer: Not at all! OBHTech Inc. has always taken good care of its personnel. Did you know that in 2021 we were rated among the top 100 companies to work for? That was in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown, and we had zero layoffs during that time. We aim not only to keep all of our staff, but to keep all of our staff content and proud of their work.

Question #2: Rumours about embezzlement and dealings with China. Is the FBI going to come to my house too?

Answer: This is very difficult for me. The more attention you give to false accusations, the stronger they sound. This is likely a ploy by one of our competitors to sow doubts in our clients heads. Our legal team is on top of it, I can assure you.

There is no reason for the FBI to visit anyone. But if they do, tell the truth! You have nothing to hide at all.

Question #3: Where is Edward? Is he guilty?

A: As per company policy, the circumstances surrounding Edward’s dismissal must remain confidential. You may have seen some shocking allegations on the local news, but here in the United States you are innocent until proven guilty. Let’s not jump to any conclusions about him yet. That being said, if you see him at all, the FBI has stated not to approach him or even speak to him, but to call 911 immediately. He is still just a fugitive at this point.

Also, with that in mind I wanted to put some internal gossip to rest. You know the one I mean. The one about the car. In the image attached, you will see that the blue car in his parking spot earlier this week is clearly not Edwards. If you look closely at the gas door, there are some small led lights surrounding it. This was a feature exclusive to the 2022 model, which has since been recalled. Edward drove the 2023 model, not the 2022. I have contacted security and they have identified the owner as an intern who has just started working in the office across the street, but was too embarrassed to admit that he parked in the wrong building. His vehicle was towed before we could straighten the situation out, and I have personally taken care of his expenses at the impound lot.

Thank you all for your attention to these matters.

Best Regards,

Seymour Hitchens

President and CEO

OBHTech Inc.

<Location: Trash>

Date: June 5

Time: 11:06

From: Debra O’Brien

To: Terrance August

Subject: Still don’t believe me?

Body:

<Attachment: 202606090012a.jpg>

Terry,

The articles on this website are paywalled, so I have copied and pasted the bulk of this one here, so you can see who it really is that you work for:

Homicide Count for 2026 to reach 100 as Human Remains are Recovered from River

If your boss tried to write you up for being late for work yesterday, you can tell him it was because of another murder. The Willis Avenue Bridge was shut down Thursday morning for approximately four hours to recover a submerged vehicle and human remains. Investigators declined to comment, but several onlookers interviewed stated the person had been bound with cables on their hands and feet. The identity of the victim is unknown at this time.

This is Ed’s car.

<Location: Projects>

Date: June 7

Time: 20:05

From: Terrance August

To: Debra O' Brien

Subject: Re: No Subject

Body:

Well Deb, exactly what I said would happen, happened. I spoke with Seymour in his office privately, and showed him the documents you printed for me. All he did was wave it off, told me to leave, and threaten to fire me. I need more to work with than this. The police have been useless too.

<Replying To>

I know Seymour. He's not a true Psychopath. He loved Bernie like a close friend. He has just been dealt a bad hand his entire life. Surely you could appeal to their friendship, and the company they worked so hard to build together?

And don't talk to me about leaps of faith, I'm putting my life on the line here too!

<Replying To>

Deb I'll talk to him like we discussed. But you need to understand, I'm putting my entire career on the line here. I'm taking a huge leap of faith. The accusations I'm making are very strong, and if Seymour is responsible for Ed's death, then he could be a psychopath, and capable of anything.

<Location: Projects>

Date: June 8

Time: 02:01

From: Terrance August

To: Debra O'Brien

Subject: No Subject

Body:

Deb, whatever you do, don’t call my phone. People are walking around outside my hotel room door, whispering and stopping, like they are listening. I don’t think I lost that person who was following me earlier. I looked through the peep hole and saw that dude with the pony tail you showed me from your Door-Camera footage. It’s the same guy. The other guy with him whispered chiave. They are coming back in a minute with the key to the door I think. The fire exit is blocked, so I am hiding under the bed. I did my best to make the room appear like I left already. I'm switching off my phone now. If something happens to me, just know that none of this was ever your fault.

<Location: Inbox>

Date: December 20

Time: 19:09

From: Jackie Jay

To: JamesTheCrimeGiant85

Subject: Latest YouTube Video

Body:

Merry Christmas!

At least that’s when this video will be finished by lol.

James,

I’ve edited the video several times, and I’ve been able to narrow it down to two versions. One is at our standard length of 60 minutes. But the other version is about 80 minutes. I know our viewers are more hesitant to watch our longer videos, but hear me out here.

A title for the video could be: “The City Mouse and the Country Mouse.” Get it? Computer mouse? Eh? Ok. Here are the Video’s time stamps:

[0:00] INTRO we start with the interrogation room footage and the turning point in the interview, as usual. A voice says: “Try this one.”

This is our hook. Been proven to work.

Then our introduction, channel logo, etc and some music.

[1:00] We introduce the two founders of OBHTech and their bio’s,

[1:00] BB and his humble beginnings in Jackson Missouri,

[6:00] SH and his fight for survival in Brooklyn New York.

Agent Grant enters the interrogation room and reads Seymour his rights. He’s pretty handsome without that pony tail, isn’t he? I heard he took the wig off Scooby Doo style when he had to blow his cover.

[11:00] The founding of the company in 1982, and the first major disagreement of the two founders in 1984, resulting in Seymour’s Election to CEO. The one about ethically sourcing their silicon.

[18:00] We explain Seymour’s failure to adapt and compete with the new market of personalized computing, and Bernie’s reelection as CEO in 1992.

I should mention that throughout this history lesson of the company, we occasionally cut back to the interrogation room. Agent Grant will mention one of these details with Seymour in the interview, pausing the image on the screen to explain how he words it. He is talking about every good company decision as if it was made by Seymour. He is flattering him slowly. Like boiling a frog.

[30:00] The Dot Com Boom in the 1990s begins, and so do Bernie’s health problems. Seymour is reelected.

[40:00] The social media era of the 2000s takes off. I shortened this to five minutes, because everyone knows what social media is. OBHTech leans into more software development, and Bernard meets his wife Debra. We have paparazzi footage of them at Central park. It’s adorable.

Meanwhile, Seymour outsources the staff and lays off several employees.

[45:00] Bernard returns to OBHTECH and is reelected to CEO for the last time. We have some public footage of him walking with his cane into the building. I play some old western movie music over it. The sheriff is back in town.

[50:00] The rollercoaster starts. In May this year, Bernard discovers evidence of Seymour’s embezzlement, and of buying Silicon and Lithium from black market sources in China. Seymour is forced into retirement. I left out the Moscow connection, it is just too speculative. We are running a true crime channel, not a conspiracy theory one.

[51:00] We pan over a stock image of an empty office at night while explaining that Bernard dies allegedly of a stroke sitting alone, waiting in a conference room, trying to give his friend one more chance.

[52:00] The company’s head of IT, Edward White, is accused of sending explicit images to a minor (among other things), and his body is recovered from the river a few days later. All I could find was a still image from a local newspaper of a crane pulling his car out of the water.

[53:00] In the interrogation room, we show Agent Grant holding up a USB stick and we pause the video and zoom into Seymour smiling. He knows it was destroyed in the ocean with Ed. Grant puts on a show that everything is on here and he will prove how guilty he is. Agent Grant is a really good actor here. He plugs it into the laptop to show Seymour the evidence that will seal his fate. I adjusted the volume of the video here as best I could so you can hear the alert sounds of the computer failing to read the ruined USB.

[55:00] We pause the frame and zoom into Seymour and see his devilish grin he just can’t hide now. We explain his body language, he is relieved and completely relaxed. His guard is let down. He thinks he got away with everything. Agent Grant even begins to cry. He excuses himself, and leaves the room. He deserves an Oscar. Seriously.

[55:30] He comes back inside the room with Terry. “Try this one,” Terry says. He hands Agent Grant another USB. I had to zoom in a lot to show the USB stick in his hand. It is grainy, but worth it. I only wish we had an angle of Terry’s facial expression, because he was glaring at Seymour the whole time.

[56:00] Terry and Grant go back and forth, going through the files and explaining out loud each crime being uncovered, and how many years in prison it is worth. They are talking about Seymour like he isn’t even there.

[57:00] Seymour finally cracks and confesses to everything. Murdering Bernard with Carbon Monoxide gas, local mob ties, Edward, the whole lot.

This is where the two edits of our video differ the most. The longer video does add some extra history, but Seymour begins to rant for almost 10 minutes straight here, and that is the bulk of the extension in length. For some new viewers, this may get tiring. But I personally feel it is worth the watch. He deserves every minute of his humiliation.

The last minute, [59:00] or [79:00] depending, closes with a montage of him in handcuffs, his sentencing, and brief clips of the victims' family’s statements.

So that is the bulk of the two versions of the video. Which one should we upload on Christmas Day?

JJ

<Location: Inbox>

Date: December 24

Time: 7:10

From: JamesTheCrimeGiant85

To: Jackie Jay

Subject: Latest YouTube video

Body:

<Attachment: Cheers.gif>

Hi JJ,

I watched both videos two times now, and I agree with you.

Let’s upload the longer one. It is Christmas after all.

Cheers!

JG

<Location: CrimeVideos/December2026>