The laptop screen glowed on the coffee table, the tinny voice of a YouTube conspiracy theorist filling the room. The video quality was grainy, the kind of channel Zoe usually mocked, red strings on corkboards, sensational music, words like “They Don’t Want You To Know This!” flashing in bold letters.

But the images playing were different this time. Raw footage, shaky cell phone captures bodies pulled from alleys with claw marks across their torsos, traffic cams showing shadowy shapes ...