Liberty Gray

I didn’t know why I was scared. I shouldn’t have been. We were so close to catching this unsub! But I was scared, and for many reasons. What if this was the wrong person? What if the person kills Chang and Byrd before they can catch him? What if that scary private investigator stops the agents and he gets away?

As you can see, I was panicking. I have a right to be panicked! I was on this boat with a murderer! Of multiple people! That makes him a serial killer, doesn’t it? Anyway, I was nervous, anxious, scared, terrified, and all of those other synonyms.

Agent Chang had told me not to see any of them (meaning him and Byrd), because they might be following the unsub or something like that. So, maybe I could talk to Dr. Rice.

I found Dr. Rice on the top of the ship, enjoying the fresh air. There was a chessboard on the table in front of her. She noticed me.

“Everything okay?” She asked.

“Yeah.” I said.

She seemed to be able to read minds. “What’s going on?”

I sat down on the beach chair next to her. I heard waves gently crashing below the ship.

“It’s just,” I began. “My mom died.” I said.

“Oh,” Dr. Rice said. “I’m sorry.”

“And now that I’m on a ship with a murderer, it just hits a little close for me.” I said.

Dr. Rice leaned towards me. “Close in what way?” She asked. Then, she seemed to understand. “Oh, was she – “

“Yeah.” I said.

Dr. Rice’s face was full of interest, curiosity, concern. “Did they ever find who killed her?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

Dr. Rice set her jaw. “If the case is cold, you might have to find out for yourself.”

I shrugged. “That’s what I’m planning to do.”

Dr. Rice made a sly smile and took a card out of her bag. “Here’s my number. Call me if you find any leads.” I took the card. “And remember.” She said. “You are not alone.”

I didn’t understand what that meant, but I smiled. “Thanks, Dr. Rice.”

“Please,” She said. “Call me Juniper.”

I nodded. “Okay, Juniper.” I pointed at the chessboard. “Who are you playing against?”

“Myself.”

I nodded. “That’s probably pretty hard.”

“You have no idea.” Juniper stared at the chessboard as if she were trying to control it with her mind. “I’ve put the white side at a zugzwang.”

“A, what now?” I asked. For some reason, chess had always appealed to me, though I never really got around to learning.

“It’s when you’re at a disadvantage.” Juniper explained. “And any move you make would put you in deeper trouble.”

“So, white is bound to lose, then?” I asked.

“Pretty much, yeah.” Juniper said. “Now white has a choice. I can forfeit

and let black win, or I can continue playing anyway.”

“Oh.” I said. “Where’d you learn all of this stuff?”

“I played chess with a friend.” Juniper said. “We were kind of like, the nerdiest nerds in history.” Juniper picked up a pawn and started to examine it. “My friend, she had an eidetic memory, though I don’t know if it always worked. And I could pretty much solve any puzzle or problem given to me.”

“What happened to your friend?” I asked. “You’re talking in past tense, so...”

Juniper set down the pawn. “Her brother was murdered.” Juniper said. “And she was the prime suspect. I encouraged her to run, and she’s been hiding ever since.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say. I turned and saw agent Byrd walking towards us. I put Juniper’s card in my pocket.

“Hey.” Byrd said. “It’s not Knox.”

“How do you know for sure?” Juniper asked. Then her eyes widened. “Wait, is he still alive?”

Byrd shook his head, his eyes downcast.

“Another person?” I asked.

Byrd nodded. “I talked to the private investigator, Aspen Hunt, saying that I’m a former agent. I had her put people at all of the crime scenes, just in case our unsub wants to revisit them.”

“That’s probably not going to happen.” Juniper said.

“Yeah, I know, I guess it was also to keep Hunt busy. I don’t want her getting in the way.” Byrd talked with a lazy, relaxed vibe. He barely opened his mouth when he talked, making his words sound different. Wants to becomes want’sta. Getting becomes gettin’. Juniper’s words come out sharp and clear. She has a got to get things done kind of attitude.

“So,” I said. “How are we going to do this?”

Milo Chang

Milo was on a call with Sami Lopez, the technical analyst, and his boss, Nathan DeVito.

“Did you guys finish the case?” Milo asked.

“The case went cold.” DeVito said. “We couldn’t get any closer because all of the evidence was contaminated.”

“Oh.” Milo said.

“How’s it going over there?” Sami asked. “You must feel like it’s the boat version of Murder on the Orient Express.”

“It’s not good.” Milo said. “We don’t have any leads.” Milo was standing outside of Calvin Cox’s room, making sure that, one, he was safe, and two, he wasn’t the unsub. “And the unsub knows where both of our rooms are.”

“Have you ever thought about anagrams?” Sami asked. “That could be something to think about.”

“That could work.” DeVito said. “The unsub might feel confident and make his name have some type of meaning.”

Milo shrugged, then realized that they wouldn’t be able to see that. “I guess I can see something about that.” He said. “But an anagram of what? One of Clark’s clients?”

“If they were Clark’s clients, the unsub could have known them as well.” Sami said.

“But I suck at anagrams.” Milo said.

“What about Corey’s girlfriend?” Sami asked.

Milo stood straight. “He has a girlfriend?” He asked. “And he told you and not me?”

“Well, not girlfriend,” Sami said. “But they’re awfully close.”

“Oh,” Milo said. “You mean the Dr? Juniper Rice, right?”

“Bingo.” Sami said. “She’s his type, right? Smart, sassy, not afraid to kick any butt.”

“Huh.” Milo said. “I guess. Is she good at anagrams?”

“Chang, you’re the one that’s on the boat with her, not me.”

“Oh.” Milo said. “Good point. I’ll catch you guys later.”

“Sami is out.”

Dr. Juniper Rice

Dr. Juniper Rice was still sitting on the roof of the ship, thinking about her conversation with Liberty Gray. Had she told her the right thing, telling her to find out for herself? That could get her in some serious trouble. She could be prevented from doing it by law enforcement. Or, even worse, she could be targeted by her mom’s murderer.

Juniper tried her best to seem cool, suave, relaxed, not fazed by anything. But there were times when she couldn’t hide behind that veil, times where she had to do something, and she had to care about it.

Juniper remembered when she and Corey had first met. They were talking about the Zodiac Killer. How ironic it was that both of them were now stranded on a boat with a murderer.

Juniper didn’t know what to do, and she hated it. She needed to have a plan. Plans were the key to finding anything.

“Hey.” Milo was next to Juniper, and she silently chided herself for letting him sneak up on her so easily. “You good at puzzles?”

Juniper smiled. “Thought you’d never ask.”