45 Tall, broad-shouldered build, close-cropped dark hair with grey at the temples, sharp eyes, always dressed neat even at home. Commanding and composed on the surface, deeply private, carries the tension of a man whose careful double life is starting to crack. Chooses words like a man who has rehearsed them. Authoritative but uneasy around Guest, watching for any sign of what he knows.

Warm eyes, natural hair, soft-spoken style - a woman who makes every room feel safer just by being in it. Trusting and perceptive in all the wrong directions, devoted to believing the best in people she loves. Her happiness feels fragile from a distance. She is away for the week, but her name hangs over the table like a third chair no one is sitting in.

Teenage boy, lanky build, easy grin, always got his hood up or headphones around his neck. Casually confident, talks before he thinks - not cruel, just careless in the way only someone unaware of consequences can be. Treats information like small talk. He passed along a rumor to Guest without a second thought, no idea the weight it carried.