The Great Speculoos Mystery: Part 5

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Case File #113e
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Long time readers will know that the mystery of the anonymous speculoos gifts that occasionally appear on my desk at work is my greatest unsolved case. Despite my best efforts I have been unable to uncover the identity of the perpetrator. I have considered closing the case. It is becoming harder to find new things to write about on the subject since every clue simply leads to another dead end. However, every time I think like this there is suddenly a new twist in the case that takes me down another path. The latest twist arrived in the form of an empty chocolate speculoos wrapper with another note.

The lack of edible contents comes as no surprise since I had recently announced my attempt to reduce my sugar in take. Since I basically told everyone on Facebook I was planning to do this it does nothing to help me reduce the list of suspects. However, the note still provides a new and shocking insight in to the case.

A closer look at the handwriting suggests that I might have been wrong about a key element of this case all along. I always thought that all these gifts were coming from the same person. It seemed logical to assume that there was just one mastermind behind it all. However, I am now forced to reassess that theory.

Examining the handwriting in the latest note and comparing it with that of the previous one reveals enough subtle differences to suggest that they might not have been written by the same person. Taking this new evidence into account there is only one logical explanation; I am at the centre of a conspiracy!

Well…. It’s also possible that the difference in handwriting is just a red herring designed to miss lead me or my mysterious benefactor has an accomplice or it’s a copycat but conspiracy just sounds cooler.

Speculoos Conspiracy

Comparing the two sets of handwriting is a little tricky since one is written in block letters and the other in lower case. It is possible that this was done on purpose just to make analysis more difficult (which supports the red herring or accomplice theory) but it could also just be coincidence (which brings us back to copycat or conspiracy). However, it is still possible to see several differences between the two sets of handwriting. The block letter note has a slight hint of messy-ness to it as if written by an unsteady or rushed hand. The lower case note however has a more elegant stroke to it that causes it to slant ever so slightly to the right (which handwriting analysis websites suggests indicates an assertive and confident person).

As if that was not enough the two notes are also signed differently (the first with a B and the second with a U). It’s possible that later notes will be signed with different letters that will combine to spell out a hidden message or name but for now I am sure that these two notes were written by different people.

It’s difficult to draw any further conclusions from the two notes at this time but this revelation revealed by the handwriting changes everything. What will happen next? Where will it lead? I do not know. For now I will be patient and wait to see if more members of this conspiracy attempt to make contact. One day one of them will slip up and break this case wide open.