Page 30 of Absent Remorse

“I’m already through two layers of the puzzle,” Amber said. “The first layer required me to touch it at precise points. The second required me to set a series of watches to times in a sequence based on pi, and—”

“And this layer?” Agent Palliser asked.

“I … I’m not sure yet,” Amber admitted. “Ithinkthere might be a clue in the symbols on the previous layer, but I’m still trying to work out the order of them, and then I’d have to work out what they all mean.”

“You think they might be symbols,” Agent Palliser said. She didn’t sound impressed. “And in the time it’s taken you to work this out, another individual has been killed.”

“Ma’am,” Simon cut in, “that isn’t fair to Amber. She has made more progress in a short time than I suspect any of us could have.”

“Except thatwewould have cut into the cube before this,” Agent Palliser shot back.

Amber saw Simon shake his head. “There’s still too much of a risk that it’s booby trapped. We could lose whatever’s inside, and any chance of catching the killer.”

Palliser didn’t look happy about that, either. “Aiden Merr was well connected. I’m getting flak from a lot of important people over this. We need it wrapped up, and if you can’t do that, then … well, I’m not the one who brought a trainee into this as a puzzle specialist.”

“Noted,” Simon said, in a clipped tone.

Agent Palliser turned and left the office. It left Amber staring at Simon.

“What was that last part about?” she asked. She might know puzzles, but the inner workings of the FBI’s politics weren’t her forte.

“Palliser was warning me that if we don’t find the killer, it will probably cost me my job,” Simon said. “Not to mention any chance you have of becoming a full agent.”

That seemed harsh, when Amber and Simon had been putting so much work into finding the killer and when they’d already made as much progress as they had.

Amber turned back to the sections of the puzzle scattered across the floor, hoping that she could make the kind of progress that Simon’s boss was looking for. If she could only find the way these sections of the puzzle fit together, then they might finally be able to find an answer to all of this.

“Amber, leave all of that for a moment,” Simon said. “Help me try to find anything here. Palliser won’t understand you opening another layer of the puzzle, but she might understand you helping to find a more conventional lead.”

Amber really didn’t want to leave the puzzle, not then, not when she still didn’t have it all together. She still couldn’t work out where, or evenif,the knives from the scenes fit into it all, even though she was sure that they must. If they weren’t at least a clue to the arrangement of the remaining pieces, then why had the killer included individual designs on each of them?

“Amber, please,” Simon said.

Amber knew that he was trying to make sure that she maintained her involvement in the case, but she still found it hard to step away from the puzzle. Was she getting too obsessed? Was her absolute focus on the puzzle getting in the way of actually solving this case?

“What are we looking at?” Amber asked.

“It’s the case files again,” Simon said. “I’m looking for any connection there might be between the three women besides the gym. If there’s anything else, then there might be a point of connection to Aiden Merr as well, something we can use.”

Amber tried, but she’d already looked at these files. She hadn’t been able to find a connection in them then, so why should she spot anything now?

Amber skimmed over them, taking in the details of the deaths of Aiden Merr, Alicia Greening, Mandy Grieder, and Amy Rose Ferne. Wait,AmyRose?

“Oh my god, I’ve been sostupid,” she said.

“What? What is it?”

“Look at their names,” Amber said. “Their full names.AmyRose Ferne. And Mandy? That must be short for Amanda, right? It’s so obvious that it’s practically idiotic. One of those patterns where a puzzle setter has gone for something deliberately obvious so that no one will notice. He’s choosing victims with names beginning with A.”

It was a simple, obvious pattern, one that took only a second to spot now that Amber had the information she needed.

The only problem was working out what thepointof it was. It didn’t seem to get them anywhere, just knowing that fact. It didn’t seem to provide any clues to the identity of the killer, or to why he might be doing this. Maybe it had something to do with the puzzle, but even then, Amber couldn’t see the relevance to a layer of the puzzle that was all to do with symbols that had nothing to do with the English language.

“A?” Simon said. “You’re sure?”

He sounded as if something had clicked for him, some memory had sparked the way it did for Amber when she realized the solution to a puzzle.

“You can see it for yourself,” she said.

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