Helen Major is a non-fictional account. The adventure began in August 2008 when A. M. Szaflarski placed classified ads in The Vancouver Sun and The Province newspaper.

The ads varied week to week but essentially called for information about ‘secret locations’ in Vancouver, serving as a platform for a series of interviews. While the ads were intentionally ambiguous, they garnered few responses—except for one persistent individual: a woman who identified herself as Helen Major.

The project takes an unexpected turn when Helen fails to show up for all of her scheduled appointments with Szaflarski, transforming what was meant to be a straightforward interview project into a detective story.