The Grandest Game, #1
The Grandest Game
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
CHAPTER 22: GIGI
Overview
Gigi’s attempt to reclaim Knox’s stolen bag leads her from Knox’s room into Brady’s, where she finds a personal photograph tied to the mysterious Calla. While exploring the house, Gigi discovers locked, puzzle-like doors and empty lower levels that suggest major hidden game spaces. An overheard argument between Knox and Brady reveals they have a shared history involving last year’s game and Calla’s disappearance, raising the stakes around both men’s motives.
Summary
Gigi breaks into Knox’s room to recover the bag and Objects he took after their beach confrontation. She finds his vest but no bag, concluding that Knox must have hidden it somewhere on the island after retrieving it from the ocean, where Gigi had thrown it to escape him with the duct tape and knife.
Hearing the shower running in the neighboring room, Gigi suspects Brady might have reached Knox’s room before her and stolen the bag. Despite knowing this is a bad idea, Gigi searches Brady’s room too. She does not find the bag, but she discovers a worn photograph of a teenage girl with mismatched eyes holding a bow, immediately recognizing that the picture is personal rather than part of the game.
After the shower stops, Gigi flees and ends up exploring the lower floors of the house. On the second floor, she finds three blank walls and two strange, locked doors: one covered in gears and another made of golden marble with a vault-like dial. Nothing opens, convincing Gigi that the doors are part of the game ahead. On the lowest floor, she finds only four white walls, despite the outside of the house suggesting there should be more space.
From the stairwell above, Gigi overhears Knox and Brady arguing. Their conversation reveals that both men were connected to last year’s game and that Brady blames Knox not only for what happened then but also for Calla, the girl in the photograph. Knox says Calla left, while Brady insists she disappeared and that someone took her. After Knox storms away, Brady descends, finds Gigi on the landing, and instead of confronting her, notices the drawings on her arms and asks whether they are a map.
Who Appears
- GigiBreaks into rooms, searches for Knox’s bag, explores hidden floors, and overhears crucial history.
- Brady DanielsOwns Calla’s photograph, argues with Knox, and catches Gigi near the lower stairs.
- KnoxGigi’s rival; hides the recovered bag and is blamed by Brady for Calla and last year.
- CallaMissing girl in Brady’s photograph whose disappearance fuels Brady’s conflict with Knox.