Start with the source, not the theory
Somatry puts the investigation in the records: messages, interviews, gate logs, bank records and other documents. Before deciding what a detail means, ask who created the record and what it actually captures. A person describing an event is different from a log recording an entry.
On a first read, follow the whole document. A dramatic sentence can pull your attention away from a quieter detail elsewhere in the file. On a second read, look for names, times and claims you can compare with another source.
Keep a claim separate from an observation
Consider this invented example: a message says, “I have been home since six,” while a gate log records an entry at 18:20. The message establishes what its sender claimed. The log establishes what was recorded at the gate. Before treating them as a contradiction, check the date, which gate is involved and whose entry the record identifies.
A contradiction is a reason to investigate, not a complete solution. It may challenge an alibi without proving the method or motive. Write your conclusion narrowly: “These records do not yet agree,” rather than treating one discrepancy as an answer to the entire case.
Compare details across the file
Look for the same event described in different records. Does an interview refer to the same meeting as a message thread? Is a transaction relevant to a stated motive, or does it merely happen near the same time? Put the records side by side in your reasoning and identify the exact connection.
An absence also needs care. A document that does not mention a person is not automatically evidence that the person was elsewhere. Work with what the file supports; do not fill gaps with an imagined event just because it makes a theory easier.
- Who created this record?
- What date and time does it refer to?
- What does it directly establish?
- Which other record supports or challenges it?
Flag evidence for a reason
In Somatry, press and hold a detail to flag it. Only flagged evidence can go into your report. Preserve a record because it supports an answer, challenges a claim or helps fix the sequence of events. The important part is understanding why it matters.
Before moving to the report, revisit the flagged evidence and explain each connection in a sentence. If your explanation depends on something the record never says, return to the file and test the assumption.