Locked in the study with Brady and Knox until sunrise, Gigi studies the room while Knox tears apart the wooden chest their team found in the desk compartment. Using a mirrored plate, Gigi scans the rectangular study, noting the empty high shelves, ornate moldings, desk, throne-like chair, and painting on the back wall.

Knox snaps at Brady, and Gigi deliberately addresses the tension because the three of them must function as a team. Knox insults Gigi as a liability and assumes she was handed her place in the game because she is Grayson Hawthorne’s half sister. Gigi pushes back, explaining that she won a wild card ticket herself and reminding Knox that her efforts helped locate the bag he stole.

Brady reveals that some wealthy families sponsor players, influence the game where possible, and bet on outcomes; Knox, Brady says, is connected to the Thorp family. Knox does not deny playing to win, but his contempt for “spoiled little girls” prompts Gigi to prove her competence by rapidly listing observations: the room’s measurements, the painting’s unusual signature, nine carved moldings, and symbols that Brady identifies as connected to the nine Muses.

Gigi then demonstrates how many uses the mirrored plate could have and points out further possible puzzle elements: Scrabble tile values, poetry magnets that may not all be magnetic, locked drawers, a hidden drawer, her knife, and the fact that Knox’s chair is made of swords. Brady acknowledges that Gigi is not “just a kid,” and Gigi lists her many skills, from code and breaking in to visual memory and misdirection.

To improve teamwork, Gigi asks Knox and Brady to name their specialties. Knox cites logic, weakness-spotting, shortcuts, pain tolerance, sleeplessness, and doing what must be done, while Brady names symbols, ancient civilizations, rituals, tools, languages, eidetic memory, and pattern recognition. Knox unexpectedly adds Brady’s knowledge of constellations, music, and fighting, revealing a deeper shared history. As Gigi turns to compare the Scrabble tiles with the painting’s signature, Brady throws the magnets to Knox and quietly says, “Severin sends his regards.”