'Serial' Recap: Adnan Syed, Jay, Hae Min Lee, And The Whole Case So Far Explained In One Interactive Infographic

Few words make our blood boil like "next time, on 'Serial.'"

For those of you who haven't had your last six weeks of sleep utterly derailed by a 15-year old murder case, "Serial," a new podcast spun off (and spun, and spun, and spun) from "This American Life," was made to be obsessed over. In it, journalist Sarah Koenig guides us through the indisputable facts and contradicting narratives surrounding the 1999 murder of high school student Hae Min Lee and the conviction of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, who has been serving a life sentence for the last 15 years.

It does to us what crime shows like "True Detective" did to us, except it burrows even deeper into our constitutions because it's, well, true. Or at least, as true as four conflicting accounts of a murder and the disposal of a body can be. "Serial" is non-fiction disguised as crime fiction -- "Rashomon" for the Ira Glass set -- and accordingly, it has listeners sifting through the details for a very real devil. While most of us listening at home (or in our cubicles, or on our commutes) don't have access to the mountains of evidence Koenig alludes to on a regular basis, we're still asking ourselves the same fundamental question: Is Adnan innocent? And if he is, who did it? Or if we'll never know the answer when the series comes to a close in six or seven episodes, is just knowing that he didn't do it enough?

And what does Koenig think about all this?

To recap the first six episodes of "Serial" seems easy enough since it only involves four people -- for now -- and one murder. Hae disappears from school on Jan. 13, 1999. Her body is discovered on Feb. 9. Due to an anonymous tip, Adnan becomes the prime suspect in her murder. The prosecution's entire case hinged on the testimony of his friend, Jay, who claims that Adnan killed Hae in broad daylight, showed him the body, and that they buried her together. His testimony is corroborated -- barely, but in fundamental ways-- by cell phone records.

Though Jay recounts the entire day of the murder, the entire case hinges on just 21 minutes -- the window of time in which Hae is killed. About those 21 minutes, precious little is known.

The first episode, "The Alibi," lays out the day of the murder and Adnan's alibi that would clear him of killing Hae. Adnan says he was in the library after school and a letter from a friend, Asia, a year later, corroborates that story. But she never testifies because Adnan's defense attorney never reaches out to her.

Episode 2, "The Breakup," examines Adnan's emotional state after he broke up with Hae. Koenig looks at Hae's diary and talks to friends about Adnan and Hae's relationship.

Episode 3, "Leakin Park," investigates the strange case of Mr. S, a maintenance worker who discovered Hae's body in the woods. This discovery seems to come against all odds: The body wasn't easy to find, and what Mr. S was doing a hundred feet from the road in a random spot is also called into question.

Episode 4, "Inconsistencies," is all about Jay's two taped interviews with police. It shows how some key elements of his testimony changed, and changed, and changed from his initial interrogation from police to trial.

Episode 5, "Route Talk," features plenty of discussion of cell towers, pings and phone calls but rather than being tedious it's compelling in its attentiveness.

The latest episode, "The Case Against Adnan Syed," looks at what Koenig describes as "a smoking gun phonecall."

**If you're here for our interactive infographic, go ahead and scroll down to the bottom of the article. But if you want to milk the most out of your "Serial" experience, keep reading. We have supplementary material to ease your fall down the rabbit hole.

Digging Deeper (without Getting Dirt on Your Clothes)

If you're already obsessed with "Serial," that probably means you've discovered the Internet. Reddit has become something of a cyber-precinct for this investigation -- check out this thread in particular, which is replete with theories, episode discussion and full transcripts.

Rabia Chaudry, the woman who brought the case to Koenig's attention, is also blogging about the case and each episode.

Slate's even created its own meta-podcast to discuss the podcast.

The Baltimore Sun's reporting of the case from 1999 and 2000 can also be found online. The Sun convered Adnan's arrest, personal memories of Hae from friends and family, Adnan's conviction and his sentencing.

**But if you came here for our interactive timeline, scroll no further. Take a look below at everything we know so far, and keep watching this spot. As we know more, we'll add more: