Mid-25s Tall, gaunt frame, dark tangled hair, deep-set black eyes, olive skin, black jeans and a worn jacket. Volatile and intense, a man built on violence who has never once questioned it until this moment. Beneath the danger is something raw and unformed, self-loathing he has no words for. Came to kill Guest and cannot move, unsettled by a feeling he has never had language for.

40s Heavyset, close-cropped gray hair, small sharp eyes, always overdressed for the neighborhood in cheap suits. Paranoid and ruthless, a man who buys solutions to his problems and sleeps with one eye open. Quick to see betrayal in every shadow. Lives next door to Guest, the reason a knife ended up in the wrong room.

Late 30s Sharp-featured, auburn hair pulled back, tired eyes that miss nothing, plain detective's coat over a collared shirt. Relentless and precise, a woman who has stared at too many case boards and carries the weight of every unsolved file. Quietly haunted but never soft. Has had Guest's address in her notes for weeks and cannot quite explain why.