Which suggested that the question was less whether it was the right thing to do and more what was stopping her. Amber had been through the entire training course specifically because she wanted to join the FBI. She’d gone into it motivated, and she’d pushed hard to overcome her weaknesses so that she would be able to pass the course. Why was she getting cold feet now?

  Amber knew at least part of the answer to that was, as she found herself sketching out a few more parts for the puzzle box, that it would mean changing everything about her life, everything that she’d defined herself as up to this point. Amber had loved puzzles for as long as she could remember. She’d been nerdy at school, finding solace from the fact that no one seemed to want to be her friend by going deeper into solving problems and playing games. She’d gone to college but had spent as much time on its chess and quiz teams as she had in the classroom. Amber had aced the course because of how easily she retained information, but the whole path of her life had seemed set.

  Now, she was going to change it completely. Amber wouldn’t be a puzzler anymore. She would be an FBI agent who maybe solved a few puzzles or played a little chess on the weekend. It was such a fundamental shift to who she was that even now, Amber wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted it. Wouldn’t it be better and safer to plunge back into the world of puzzles, to be the puzzler who helped the FBI solve a couple of murders and give herself over to designing new ones full-time?

  Amber was still contemplating that when her phone rang. She picked up and was surprised to hear Agent Palliser’s voice on the other end of the line.

  “Ms. Young, how are you? Have you made up your mind about my offer yet?”

  “I …” Amber didn’t know what to say. She got the feeling that Agent Palliser wasn’t going to hold her offer open forever, but she still couldn’t commit to saying yes. “Not yet.”

  Maybe it would make things easier if Palliser said that the offer was no longer on the table. Maybe that would make Amber’s mind up by default, leaving her forced to plunge back into the world of puzzles, with her stint helping the FBI only an exciting memory.

  “Well, you can’t take forever, but you can have a little longer. For the moment, I have a suggestion. A case has come in, one that I believe that you might be able to help with.”

  That made Amber pause, leaning back in her seat.

  “What kind of case?” she asked.

  “A pair of murders,” Agent Palliser replied. “Murders that exhibit … unusual characteristics. Agent Phelps has stepped up for you on this. He says that he believes you would make a good partner. Given the difficulty I’ve had getting him to accept a partner, I’m inclined to listen.”

  That put more pressure on Amber. Simon was starting to go from someone she had worked with a couple of times to a friend, and she didn’t want to let him down by saying no. She just didn’t feel like she could say yes to joining the department straight away either. Maybe this murder was the perfect middle ground.

  “So, you want me to come help you investigate two murders?” Amber said. The idea of being called in to help out like this was a little surprising, when she hadn’t gotten the impression before that Palliser liked her very much.

  Agent Palliser answered. “You’ve done it before. Call it a trial run. You won’t actually be an agent for this one, so it will be the same as the last time you worked with Agent Phelps. It will probably help you to make up your mind, and at the very least, you may be able to help Agent Phelps catch a killer.”

  Amber hesitated for a moment or two. Was she really going to just jump onboard to investigate a couple of murders, leaving behind everything that she had going on?

  “This is the part where you say yes, Ms. Young,” Palliser said. “Let’s put it another way, what else would you be doing if you weren’t doing this?”

  Amber wished that she could think of something better to say than the truth.

  “I’ve been trying to catch up on some puzzle projects that I need to finish.”

  “So, that’s what you’re thinking of doing rather than joining my team?” Palliser asked. She made it sound as if she couldn’t imagine how anyone could ever consider choosing Amber’s current life over working for her.

  “I … maybe,” Amber said. She wanted to be as honest as possible with her potential boss, and right then, there really was a chance that Amber might turn around and plunge back into the world of creating puzzles.

  “That would be a waste,” Palliser said. “Your scores at the academy show that you’re well above average in terms of your analytical skills and your capacity to follow the trail of evidence, while your efforts in bringing two killers to justice have shown that those skills are applicable in the field. Are you really going to waste that by going back to making puzzles?”

  The problem was that Amber didn’t think of it as a waste—couldn’t think of it that way. She produced things that brought people joy and challenged them. More than that, it had been a part of who she was for so long that she wasn’t sure how to do anything else. Such a complete change in who she was seemed almost impossible right then.

  “Let’s be clear about this, Ms. Young,” Agent Palliser said. “I could have invited anyone to join my department. Any of your fellow trainees would have jumped at the chance. Even most experienced agents would have. So, this hesitation of yours … it is not a quality I admire. I’m only indulging it because Agent Phelps thinks you are worth the effort and because your successes so far suggest that he is right.”

  “Thank you,” Amber said, unsure of what else she was meant to say in response to that.

  “But let’s be clear, my patience is not infinite. If you are not prepared to help with this case, I’ll have to conclude that you were never really serious about joining the FBI, and I will make that clear to anyone who asks me.”

  Meaning that Amber would never have the chance to join it at a later date. Doing this was the only way of keeping her options open. Besides, wasn’t it a good thing to get to work with Simon again? To maybe see what it would be like for her, working as an agent?

  “So, I’ll ask you one last time,” Agent Phelps said. “Are you going to do this? Are you going to accompany Agent Phelps to Guisborough to solve these murders?”

  Amber took a breath. She had to do this.

  “Yes, I’m in.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Why are we going so fast?” Amber asked.

  Amber read the case file on a tablet while Simon drove out towards Guisborough. He was driving with a speed and urgency that made Amber wonder what the rush was.

  “There have been two murders in two days,” Simon replied. “And serial killers don’t usually slow down or stop without a reason.”

  Amber knew that much from her training. One of the things she’d had to work on was learning about different kinds of crime the FBI covered, along with how the investigations typically went. With serial killers, they kept killing until they were caught, until life events forced them to stop, or, in rare cases, until they achieved some particular objective. Even in the latter case, the urge to kill could often be so great that they simply couldn’t keep themselves from continuing.

  “Refresh me on the details of the file,” Simon said. Amber wondered if he was doing it because he genuinely didn’t have every detail committed to memory yet or because he wanted to check that Amber was taking it all in.

  If it was the second reason, then Amber wanted to show him that he didn’t need to worry about her. She might be here as a consultant again on this case, rather than as a full agent, but she was going to make sure that she did the best job she could.

  “The first victim was Constance Banks, seventy-one years old, of 16 Clearview Crescent, Guisborough. Her thirty-year-old son James Banks came over to see her after the two of them had argued, and he let himself in using the key that he kept for emergencies when she didn’t respond. A next-door neighbor reports hearing him calling out for his mother around 11:30 am. According to the report, James claims to have found his mother dead in the kitchen in the middle of a pool of blood, with an inkblot pattern similar to one used in the Rorschach test set a couple of feet away, in the pool of blood. The cops responding believed that she had been stabbed multiple times.”

  Amber did her best to read all of that in as neutral a tone as possible, trying not to let it show in her voice that just reading about such a violent murder was a little disturbing.

  “Why ‘claims’?” Simon asked. “What would your suspicion be if it were just this murder? What do you think the local cops thought?”

  “I don’t have to guess at that because the notes are in the file,” Amber pointed out. “They initially thought that he was an obvious suspect, since they’d found him in the kitchen, covered in his mother’s blood, and he freely admitted that he was there because the two of them had argued. I guess … my guess would be that they thought he came around because he wanted to make things up or have the argument again, or whatever, then when his mother wouldn’t let him in, he used the key to get inside, argued with her again, and stabbed her in a fit of rage.”

  She glanced over and saw Simon nod. “It was a plausible theory, except that the coroner’s report shows that the weapon used to kill her doesn’t match any of the ones in the house, and that Constance Banks had probably been dead for at least an hour before her son got there.”

  “So, you have read the whole file,” Amber said. Clearly, Simon was already on top of most of the details.

  “I want to make sure that I didn’t miss anything,” Simon said. “I also want your take on all of it. You have a way of fitting patterns together that takes you places other people don’t go. Tell me about the second murder.”

  Amber kept reading, looking through the crime scene report for the murder that had happened only yesterday.

  “The second victim was Raymond Werdly, forty years old. He was found dead in his home by his wife after she came home from a night shift at the local hospital. Again, the police on the scene saw multiple stab wounds and a large amount of blood. The MO made them think that there was a link between the murders even before they found the card with the inkblot that had been taped to the inside of a kitchen door.”

  That was a detail that made Amber pause. “Is that why you want me with you on this one? The inkblot patterns? Do you think that there might be a code or a pattern to them beyond them just linking the crimes?”

  “I don’t know if there’s a pattern for you to find,” Simon said. “But if there is, then I’m sure you’ll spot it.”

  Amber hoped so. There were pictures of the cards in the file, but they weren’t sufficiently clear for her to get every detail. As far as she could tell, they were just inkblots. She would have to do more research to establish their usual meanings and their background. If the killer was using them to send a message or try to hint at where his next kill was going to be, then Amber would need to work out that pattern.

  “So, the inkblots show that both murders are by the same killer?” Amber said.

  “That and the ways the murders were done,” Simon replied. “Two murders, both with a killer stabbing his victims multiple times from the front. He broke into the houses but didn’t leave evidence.”

  “Meaning that he knew what he was doing or took the time to learn,” Amber said. She thought for a moment or two. “He also probably picked out his victims in advance, for a reason.”

  “What makes you say that?” Simon asked, although he sounded as though he agreed with her.

  “If the choice of victim didn’t matter, then he would just stab someone in the street,” Amber said. “He wouldn’t go to the trouble of breaking into a house, which has to be more difficult than simply finding someone in a secluded spot. There’s only one part I don’t get if that’s the case.”

  “What did the two victims have in common?”

  “Exactly! A forty-year-old man and a seventy-one-year-old woman. There’s nothing in the police reports to suggest that they knew each other, but … well, is it possible that this isn’t a classic serial killer? That this is someone leaving behind the inkblots because they mean something, but that he’s really focused on killing people to achieve something specific?”

  Amber saw Simon thinking for several seconds.

  “Honestly,” he said, “I don’t know. I don’t think we can know, not without more information. It’s possible that this is all related to something specific, to both victims having crossed the wrong person or knowing something they shouldn’t, but it’s just as possible that this is someone looking for a particular victim type who is going to keep killing until we stop him.”

  Amber wasn’t sure which of those to hope for. A killer who was simply insane might keep killing indefinitely, but he might also make more mistakes. One who was trying to silence witnesses or get revenge for some perceived wrong might stop after only these kills but might also be much better at slipping away without being caught.

  “For now, I think we’ve gotten everything we’re going to get from the files,” Simon said. “I have another question for you, Amber. Why didn’t you accept Agent Palliser’s offer straight away?”

  That caught Amber by surprise. It was a sudden change of direction, and one that sounded like Simon wasn’t going to let go of it.

  “I—it’s hard to explain,” Amber said.

  “Try.”

  “It’s potentially a huge change in my life. If I become an FBI agent, then it takes everything that I thought I knew about myself and flips it around. I’ve spent my whole life becoming one person and now after a few months of training, I’m meant to be someone different?”

  “But you did the training,” Simon pointed out. It looked as though he might be about to say more, but his phone rang. Simon set it in a holder and put it on speaker to answer it. “Hello?”

  “Agent Phelps, it’s me.” It was Palliser’s voice. Amber found herself wondering if some new information had come through on the case, or if she’d simply decided to call to make sure that Amber was aware of the limits of what she was allowed to do without having a full job as an agent.

  “Is everything all right, ma’am?” Simon asked.

  “I have some bad news, and I thought that you should hear it from me. Colm O’Rafferty has escaped.”

  Amber caught the sudden burst of worry and anger that flickered across Simon’s face.

  “What? How is that even possible? He was being held in one of the most secure federal penitentiaries we have.”

  “He somehow arranged for a transfer,” Palliser said. “With O’Rafferty, nothing is impossible. He was on the way to his new facility when the prison van he was in was attacked, we think by cartel members out to kill one or both of the other criminals being transported with him. Somewhere in it all, the van went over a bridge into a river.”

  “You said ‘escaped’ not ‘dead’,” Simon pointed out.

  “Divers went down to check the wreckage. They found the bodies of two prison guards and the two other prisoners. Colm O’Rafferty’s body was not in the vehicle. It’s possible that he was swept away, but …”

  “But it’s him, and he wasn’t. Do you need me to head back to help with the manhunt?” Simon asked.

  “No, that’s a matter for the Marshals. I want to make that clear, Phelps.”

  It sounded to Amber as though Palliser was worried that if she weren’t firm about it, Simon would hurry off to try to catch O’Rafferty.

  “I’m telling you as a courtesy, but you need to focus on your case. I figured you deserve it since you were involved in catching him in the first place.”

  Palliser hung up, and Amber found herself looking across to Simon, waiting for an explanation.

  “Who is Colm O’Rafferty?” Amber asked.

  “One of the first cases I worked at the bureau,” Simon answered. “A killer with a fondness for games and puzzles. The shrink who examined him says that he’s a highly intelligent sociopath who gets off on manipulating and tricking people before he kills them. We only caught him the first time by accident because a witness got away from a house that he was breaking into to kill someone.”

  It wasn’t the words that affected Amber so much as the note of fear in Simon’s voice as he said them. She hadn’t known him to be afraid of anyone, but this O’Rafferty person seemed to achieve it.

  “But Palliser wants us to focus on this case?” Amber said.

  “You heard her.” Simon nodded to the road ahead.

  Amber could see a town in the distance, buildings rising up like jabbing fingers against the sky, framed by a small scattering of hills that lent it an uneven appearance.

  “What’s our first move when we get there?” Amber asked.

  “We need to talk to the local PD, see if there’s anything about these murders that didn’t make it into the files.”

  And in the meantime, they could only worry about the fact that there were not one, but two serial killers out there.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Simon was determined not to waste even a moment as he pulled up outside the Guisborough PD. With an active killer who had murdered two people in two days, every minute was precious. He all but leapt from the car, hurrying towards the police department’s entrance with Amber following close behind.

  Simon had been glad when Palliser had acceded to his request that Amber become his partner. He hadn’t thought that she would since it would mean taking on someone newly trained in a department where any failure was literally a matter of life and death. Yet Palliser seemed to recognize just how well he and Amber worked together, and that her problem-solving abilities could be a valuable addition to his own more direct and action-oriented approach.

  Now, Simon just needed Amber to realize it too. He hadn’t expected her to be ambivalent about signing up to keep working with him. He’d seen how much she’d come alive during their previous cases, and he’d thought when she’d signed up for training at Quantico that she was all in on becoming an agent. Now, it seemed that she was having cold feet, and Simon couldn’t really understand why.

 

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