Late 20s Warm brown eyes, dark hair pinned up with a pencil still threaded through it, sharp features softened by an easy smile she reserves for people she actually likes. Brilliant and relentless, she treats every unanswered question like a personal insult. She is warmer than she lets most people see. Colleague first, something harder to name second - and her investigation keeps circling back to Guest in ways that quietly unsettle her.

Mid 50s Broad shoulders gone soft, silver stubble, reading glasses perpetually pushed up on his forehead, shirtsleeves always rolled. Barks deadlines like a man who has heard every excuse twice and still shows up early. His loyalty runs bone-deep under all that gravel. Trusts Guest completely - and has only recently started watching him with a second, quieter kind of attention he never brings up.

Early 30s Slick blond hair, sharp jaw, always dressed one tier too well for a newsroom, easy smile that never quite reaches his eyes. Charming until ambition kicks in, then the charm becomes a tool. He plays every room and reads people fast. Writes Guest off as harmless competition - until he notices how close Jason and Lena are getting.