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“Agents, thank you for coming in soquickly,” Palliser said. She looked over at Amber with a note of concern.“Agent Young, are you all right? I know that this is another victim you haveties to. If you want, I could arrange a leave of absence on compassionategrounds.”
Amber shook her head. That was onething she didn’t want. The last thing she needed right then was to sitat home, knowing that a killer was out there somewhere, targeting the peoplearound her, yet not being able to help. Doing that would drive her mad, wouldleave her feeling helpless and afraid of what would happen next.
“I’d rather keep working,” Ambersaid. “I can help with the Sinead Ballor case, ma’am.”
Palliser nodded, but she lookedworried. “I know you want to, Young, but Mallory is trying to keep you awayfrom the case again.”
“Ma’am, you know that Mallory won’tbe able to solve whatever puzzle the killer has set in time,” Simon said.
Palliser nodded. “I get that. I’lldo what I can with it, and if you have any useful information, I’ll pass italong, but for now, it’s better if you keep clear of him.”
“Ma’am-” Simon began, obviouslytrying to argue Amber’s corner further.
Palliser held up a hand, though.“I’ve made my decision on this. I know Agent Young’s skills could prove usefulin trying to catch this killer, but we won’t get anywhere if you and Mallory atare at odds the whole time. As I understand it, the killer’s puzzles are aboutthe identity of his next victim, yes?”
“Yes,” Amber had to admit.
“And you’ve seen everything at thecrime scene this time?” Palliser asked.
Amber nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Then keep working on that aspect,but let Mallory work on trying to find the killer from the physical evidence.If you get results, we’ll be ahead of the killer before he strikes again.”
Amber had to admit that her bosshad a point. Her greatest skills lay in puzzles, and she didn’t need to beanywhere near Mallory or his case to work on this one.
“In the meantime,” Palliser said.“I have a case for you both that might suit your skills.”
She gestured to the screen, onwhich a the picture of an Asian-American woman was currently showing. She hadstrong features, dark hair, and her smile in the photograph seemed to warm upthe whole image.
“This is Alice Chan,” Pallisersaid. “Twenty years old. A swimmer who was tipped to be a part of the nationalteam.”
“Was?” Simon said. The implicationsof the question were obvious. He was asking if this was a murder case.
Palliser nodded. “She was founddead in the town of Keystone, slightly further down the coast, two days ago, inunusual circumstances.”
“How unusual?” Simon asked.
“The local PD say that strangesymbols were found all around her body, and that some kind of code was foundnear her,” Palliser said.
That last fragment of informationimmediately caught Amber’s attention.
“So the symbols made them thinkthat this was probably a serial killer?” Amber guessed.
Palliser nodded. “And thussomething they would need FBI help with.”
“And the code is the reason youthink it should be Amber and me investigating?” Simon said.
That drew another nod from theirboss. “It’s the kind of case you’ve had success with before.”
Amber smiled slightly at thethought of some of their previous cases. At the thought that she and Simon hadbeen able to stop killers and bring some measure of closure to the families oftheir victims.
For so long, she’d had troublethinking of herself as really an FBI agent. She’d been a puzzle editor beforeshe joined the agency, and she still loved solving puzzles, but this was acontext where what she did had a chance to make a real difference. Amber justhoped that she and Simon would be able to make that kind of difference here.
“Is there anything else you cantell us about the case?” Simon asked.
Palliser shook her head. “There area few more details in the file, but I’ll forward that to you both. With thebody only being found this morning, the local PD haven’t provided muchinformation yet. You’ll have to get that from them on the ground. So, will youtake the case?”
Amber looked over to Simon, whonodded. It was obvious that he was willing to take this on if she was. Ambersuspected that he would probably think that being on this would be good forher, stopping her from obsessing too much about the murder of Sinead.
