The Fifth Seat

The name on the employee list stayed with me all night.

Daniel Mercer.

Waiter.

Resigned the morning after the charity gala.

No forwarding address.

No emergency contact.

It was as if he had walked out of the hotel...

and disappeared from the city.

People don't vanish.

They leave traces.

My job was to find them.

The next morning, Adrian met me in the parking lot.

"I found an address."

I looked up from my notebook.

"For Daniel?"

He nodded.

"It belongs to his grandmother."

"Let's go."

The apartment building stood on the edge of Old Noctis.

Its walls were cracked with age, and ivy crawled over the balconies like it was trying to swallow the building whole.

An elderly woman answered after the second knock.

"Mrs. Mercer?"

She studied our badges before stepping aside.

"If you're here about Danny..."

Her voice trembled.

"...you're too late."

My stomach tightened.

"When did you last see him?"

"Three weeks ago."

"The morning after that charity event."

"He came home frightened."

She looked down at her hands.

"He packed a small bag."

"He kept looking through the window."

"As if someone was following him."

"What did he say?"

She hesitated.

"Only one thing."

I waited.

"He said..."

"'If they find me, tell them I never saw his face.'"

A chill crept down my spine.

"Whose face?"

She slowly shook her head.

"He wouldn't tell me."

Back in the car, neither Adrian nor I spoke.

Finally, he broke the silence.

"If Daniel witnessed something at that gala..."

"...someone wanted to make sure he stayed quiet."

I stared out the window.

"No."

Adrian frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"If they wanted him dead..."

"They would've killed him immediately."

"They let him disappear."

"Which means they were looking for him."

"And they still might be."

Before we could return to headquarters, my phone rang.

Director Hale.

"Where are you?"

"Old Noctis."

"Come back."

His voice was unusually sharp.

"Now."

The atmosphere inside the Bureau had changed.

Officers rushed through the halls.

Phones rang nonstop.

Someone was crying.

Adrian caught the arm of a passing detective.

"What happened?"

The detective looked pale.

"We found another body."

Silence.

My heart sank.

The conference room doors opened.

A crime scene photograph appeared on the screen.

Male.

Late twenties.

Hotel uniform.

A silver name tag.

I recognized him instantly.

Daniel Mercer.

Adrian whispered,

"We were too late."

No.

Something wasn't right.

I stepped closer to the screen.

Daniel wasn't holding a chess piece.

Instead...

One had been placed on the chair beside him.

A black knight.

The first time the killer had left the piece...

away from the victim.

"Zoom in," I said.

The technician enlarged the photograph.

Everyone in the room focused on the chess piece.

Everyone...

Except me.

I wasn't looking at the knight.

I was looking at Daniel's left hand.

His fingers were curled tightly into a fist.

"Has anyone checked his hand?"

The medical examiner looked confused.

"Not yet."

"Don't open it here."

Every head turned toward me.

"Take photographs first."

"If I'm right..."

I swallowed.

"...Daniel died trying to tell us who killed him."

The room fell silent.

Director Hale looked at me.

"You think he left us evidence?"

"I think..."

I couldn't take my eyes off the photograph.

"...the killer made one mistake."

And for the first time...

I believed we had a chance to catch them.

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