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Amber winced at those words, at the thought of Joseph asking after her straight away as if she were the most important thing in the world. Any other time, it would have been a touching moment, a reminder that Joseph was thinking about her. Now, it was just a reminder that she couldn't be there with him. That she was an FBI agent, not just a doting girlfriend who could run to his bedside to check on him. She had to be here, in Verdice, chasing a killer.
That reality brought a wave of guilt to Amber. Not only was Joseph in hospital because of her, but she couldn't even be there with him. She couldn’t tell him how sorry she was that he’d been hurt. She had to be in an entirely different city, hunting a murderer. Before, Joseph had complained that Amber spent too much time away and put herself in too much danger. Doing that while he lay in the hospital only made it feel worse.
"Thank you for letting me know, Dianne.” Amber struggled to keep her voice level, to not let any of the pain she felt come through. “I'll get back to DC as soon as I can."
Amber hung up and just stood there for a few moments, trying to push back the emotions she felt. It wasn't just the guilt; it was the mixture of it with the relief that she felt that Joseph had woken up, everything she felt for him, and her worries about what still might happen to him before she got back.
Simon was there then. Amber hadn’t heard him approaching her. Of course, he would follow when Amber ran off in the middle of talking about the investigation. He put a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with concern. "Is everything all right?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's just Joseph. He woke up for a bit this morning, and Dianne, his sister, called to let me know. When Joseph woke up, he... he wanted to know where I was."
Simon's expression softened, obviously understanding exactly what Amber was going through in that moment. "I'm sorry, Amber. That must be hard for you."
Amber nodded, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. "It's just... everything. I'm worried about what might happen to him before I can get back to DC."
"I understand," Simon said, his voice gentle. "But right now, as hard as it is, your focus needs to be on this case. You're not there with him because you're trying to save lives. We need to catch this killer before he hurts anyone else. And when we do, then you can go back to DC and be with Joseph."
Amber nodded again, taking a deep breath to steady herself. Simon was right. There was too much at stake to take her focus off this case now. They still had to find a way to locate the man who was doing this.
"All right," she said. "What do we actually know about this killer?"
"We know he's fascinated by the bridge problem," Simon said. "We know he has some kind of link to Mia Wilson, Kelly Wasner, and Victoria Crossing. Since they're all from the university, that suggests that he's somewhere there."
"Specifically within the math department," Amber said. That part mattered. It cut down the space where they would have to search. “Especially since it’s a mathematical problem.”
"And my guess is that he has a fascination with puzzles more generally," Simon said. "Otherwise, why do it all like this?"
Amber wasn't entirely convinced by that since what puzzler would set something like this? But for now, it seemed like the best path to follow.
"All right," she said. "How do we find puzzlers within the university?"
"We start by checking out the math department," Simon said. "We'll look for any professors or students who have a particular interest in puzzles. We can also look for any puzzle clubs or groups on campus. Maybe they'll be able to point us towards any of their members who are behaving oddly or who might be able to do this."
"Good idea," Amber said. "But we also need to keep in mind that he might not be affiliated with the university at all. He might just hang around therebecausehe's so interested in this math problem."
"That's true," Simon agreed. "But I still think that it's a good place to start."
They started to look for answers, Simon looking at the math department, Amber trying to look for puzzlers within the university. She found a few different societies there. There was a chess club, a board game club, a quiz society. Amber started to look for any commonalities between them, but also for any contact details.
She found a number for the secretary of the university's puzzle society and called it.
"Hello?"
"I'm looking for someone from the university puzzle society," Amber said.
"You called the right number. I'm Kevin, the head of the society."
"My name is Amber. I'm with the FBI. I was hoping to ask you a few questions about your society," Amber said, trying to keep her tone professional.
"Of course, I'd be happy to help in any way I can," Kevin replied. "What would you like to know?"
"I was wondering if you've had anyone new join the society recently, probably someone from the math department, probably someone in particular who stands out as a particularly skilled puzzler," Amber asked. "But also someone who doesn't quite fit in. Maybe someone who makes any female members of the group feel uncomfortable? Is this description reminding you of anyone?"
She knew it wasn't as simple as that and that killers could hide pretty well, but she suspected that if this killer was lashing out at so many women, there was a chance that he would make them uncomfortable in other areas of his life. They reacted to him, and then he took that as a sign that he should hurt them.
“I’m not sure…” Kevin began.
“Kevin, just think. Does my description remind you of anyone?”
