Max sits in Olivia’s office with a straight face, seemingly unperturbed or unaware of the, in Olivia’s eyes, premature accusations against him. Olivia’s office is full of plants and decorations. There is a colorful painting of Jack hanging on the side wall, and in the corner near the door is a small statue of a mermaid. After her break-up with Jack, and Olivia joined the police force, she brought Jack’s art into the office because she couldn’t tolerate his things in the house. Here, Jack’s pieces gradually took on a different meaning. People usually express their admiration, or at least look around curiously, but Max didn’t say anything when he entered. Olivia noticed that he only ran his hand lightly along the plants, as if he were stroking a pet. Unusual.

Yesterday, Malcolm received the report from his high school stating that he had stalked a girl his senior year to the point where she was afraid to go to school. At the time, Max had been given a personality test which concluded that he had mild antisocial tendencies and that the stress of the finals year had exacerbated the problem. Malcolm considered this a red flag and had asked Olivia to have Max undergo a comprehensive psychological evaluation. Olivia had objected that it would be better to send Max to an outside psychologist for evaluation, but Malcolm said that it would take too long and that he trusted her more than some expert he did not know.

“Max, before we officially begin, I want to know if you are comfortable,” Olivia asks to break the ice, “do you like my office, or would you prefer to take the test in a meeting room?”

Max shrugs and says indifferently, “I am fine.”

Olivia sets a pitcher of water on her desk and secretly chuckles at Max’s stoic response, she does not immediately take it as an indication that something is wrong. She actually likes Max, but she reminds herself to remain impartial and objective. She observes Max while laying out the questionnaires on the table, “I am going to ask you to fill these in first, then detective LeGrand will join us for a little chat. Are you okay with that?”

‘I am an INTP-A,” Max says, ignoring Olivia’s question. “That stands for the Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking and Prospecting personality type,” he adds pedantically, as if Olivia were unaware of the Myers-Briggs personality classification.

Olivia has to laugh a little at Max’s weightiness, which seems disarming to her. “I know a thing or two about it, we let new colleagues take this test during the application procedure. So Max, besides introverted, you are also analytical and inquisitive. I guess we can shake hands, I am also an introvert, but of the feeling-judging type.”

Max nods affirmatively, “I figured you were an INFJ. The rarest type, or so they say.”

Olivia does not want to elaborate further; it is not appropriate in this setting to share personal details, as Max is not only a witness, but also a suspect, and she should be aware that this may be a manipulation on Max’s part to influence her. She slips the questionnaires under Max’s nose and leaves the office.

She finds Aron and Michael in the hallway, standing at the coffee machine in animated conversation as Aron relays the bizarre developments at Ben and Carlita Meister’s house. Demi and he had both fallen ill and Malcolm had taken them to the hospital for a checkup, but with flimsy explanations about low blood sugar and sensitivity to the sun, the doctor had quickly dismissed them. “I insisted that there had been something in the drinks, but the quack laughed it off as a Texas sunstroke!”

Olivia and Michael exchange a glance, the doctor had probably been right, but they keep their opinions to themselves and let Aron blow off steam.

Aron is aware that Michael and Olivia do not believe him. Let them, they don’t know anything, they weren’t there. “So Liv, do you think Malcolm’s suspicions are justified?” he asks to change the subject. Aron has never spoken to Max, but he cannot imagine that a student in his twenties could be involved in a complicated plot involving a missing girl and two murders. And obviously, he’s upset that Malcolm doesn’t see that the Meisters should be high on the list of suspects.

Olivia taps a cup of coffee from the machine. “I don’t know, Aron, and I am not going to speculate at this point. We’ll see.” says Olivia evasively.

Michael hints that he thinks Malcolm might be right. “I know Max a bit by now, he often hangs out with Legrand’s daughter. He’s a quirky bloke, and this report from his school about him stalking a classmate is a red flag. It’s legitimate to investigate him further and we have to consider that Kelly might be in danger.”

“But I thought you said the extreme religious motif was the common thread? Or do you really think that Max is connected to CalielXX? That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?” Aron asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Thomas is on the phone with his parents as we speak, to see if Max grew up in a strict religious environment. We can’t rule anything out at this point,” Olivia says. “Malcolm expressed his doubts about Max going to so much trouble to get here and that he is staying in the most expensive hotel in Palomino. And where was Max when Soleil disappeared? He could have misled us about his arrival date.”

“What do you expect from this test, and more importantly, can we do anything with it, if it proves necessary?” Aron asks.

“It could provide strength in a court case, potentially, but only as supporting evidence. And don’t worry, we’ve been transparent with him about the process and he has signed an agreement. By the way, this could mean that he is either completely innocent or overly proud. Criminals often overestimate themselves.”

“Don’t we need proof of his involvement before we subject him to further investigation, and would a court agree to this reverse order?” Aron doesn’t let up, he clearly disagrees with Malcolm’s decisions. “Now here’s my problem, we have two witnesses; Max McLaren and Grayson Ferguson, both of whom spoke to Soleil just before she disappeared, and both of whom were suspiciously eager to travel all the way to Palomino to help us with the investigation. And then we just focus on Max and leave Grayson out? Make it make sense!”

“Malcolm says he checked Ferguson out, but hasn’t found anything suspicious,” Olivia responds in defense of Malcolm, although she has asked herself the same question. Aron makes her uncomfortable right now, is he hostile or just frustrated?

“So the Chief has been doing background research, which is not a chore he should be doing,” Aron supposedly nods in appreciation; “wow, Malcolm’s really putting himself into this case, I have to say.”

“Which is just as well, Sanchez, because we are terminally shorthanded,” Michael bounces back.

“Anyway, I have to get back downstairs since our beloved Chief has me digging through stuffy old file cabinets,” Aron says curtly, “Gbye y’all.”

Olivia is still thinking about Aron’s uncharacteristic demeanor as she walks back to her office. Max has apparently finished filling out the questionnaires, because he is sitting with his arms crossed, waiting. When Olivia takes the papers back from him, he says, “I really liked Soleil, she was nice to me.”

Olivia nods, “We can talk about that later Max, Detective LeGrand should be here any minute, he’ll be joining us since I’m only the communications officer and not a real detective.”

The moment Olivia says this, Thomas barges in and jovially shakes Max’s hand. “Hey Max, how are you? I hope you don’t mind if I join you?”

“Liv, I envy your office, it is a haven of calm,” Thomas says to Olivia, who can’t help but smile, the goofball keeps his cowboy hat on inside, too.

“Please don’t consider this an official interrogation, but we want to talk some more about the day you met Soleil and about your stay in Palomino,” Thomas reassures Max.

Max has met Detective Legrand before and is again impressed by Thomas’ exuberant appearance, with his cowboy hat and thick mustache, he looks like a character from a TV series. Max smiles a little stiffly and politely asks how Kelly is doing.

“She is fine, son, but I never let my stubborn daughter out of my sight, and when I am not around, our watchdog keeps an eye on her,” Thomas replies with a hint of warning in his voice. He doesn’t understand why the girls like him so much, Gina even has a crush on him. Thomas sits down next to Max and asks if he would mind if he recorded the conversation on his phone.

“Why?” asks Max. “I already told you everything. Do you consider me a suspect?”

“No, Max, but frankly, we just can’t seem to solve the puzzle, so we need to start talking to people again to see if we missed anything,” Thomas tries to be as transparent as possible, because he feels that Max would know if he were to make up a story.

“Okay, I get it. I like to solve puzzles too, although I don’t think I can help you. There is no detail that I left out the last time we spoke.”

“I want to be honest with you, Max. I just called the hotel to confirm your arrival date. We just wanted to make sure everything checked out,” says Thomas upfront.

“Then you know I told you the truth,” repeats Max cordially.

Thomas nods. “Can you tell us something about your upbringing?”

This question gets Max excited, “Are you profiling me, like on TV?”

This also elicits a laugh from Olivia. “Max, we can’t fool you, can we? But you are right, we need to put your test in perspective for a fair evaluation”.

The interview proceeds smoothly, Max answers Thomas’ questions truthfully, or so it appears to Olivia. He doesn’t feel offended by any of the questions and shows little emotion. Olivia thinks she already knows what is different about Max, and she is curious to see if the test will confirm it. After Max and Thomas leave, she decides to do the evaluation right away; it will take an hour or two to properly process the questionnaires and write her conclusion. Her first inclination is that he has a mild form of Asperger’s, but now that she knows his family background, his social awkwardness could also be the result of neglect. In any case, it seems that Max can be taken off the list of suspects, since Thomas was able to confirm that Max was nowhere near Palomino the day Soleil disappeared. And Max wasn’t raised religious, in fact, the only time the McLaren family went to church was at Christmas. Max reiterated that his mother spent Sundays at the casino while his father fumbled around on the golf course. No need to go to church and too much money to spend, Max had said, and he wasn’t ashamed to ask his parents to pay for his expenses.

Olivia massages her forehead, procrastinating to write the report, but Malcolm expects it on his desk by tomorrow morning. She stares absentmindedly at Jack’s mermaid statue, which he always boasted was his masterpiece. In response, Olivia used to taunt that she’d take him to Disneyland if he’d come with her, back to the States, and then a quasi-argument would follow about what art really means, about the difference between artistry and gaudy gimcrack.

She picks up Max’s file again. Hey, his birth date! Why hadn’t they looked into that before? Max is a Capricorn, shouldn’t they have focused more on zodiac signs to begin with? She throws a message into the group app, which is soon followed by her teammates’ lame jokes and memes. Jennifer is a Virgo and sends in a smiley face with a halo. Hehe, Olivia thinks, a little offended, this is not helping me.

“What are the suspect’s zodiac signs; Brooks, Zoe and Jake and the Meisters? she texts back, ignoring the ha-has flying back and forth.

Then Malcolm calls. “Olivia, I don’t think there’s any point in staring blindly at the stars, pun intended. How does it help us?”

“The spread in the campervan was intended for Severe Scorpio, if we identify all the Scorpios involved, at least we have additional information,” Olivia says, but without too much conviction in her voice. Malcolm is probably right; astrology is not going to save the day. “Okay Malcolm, never mind! Say, what sign are you anyway?” she asks jokingly, trying to hide her embarrassment.

‘Hold on to your hat, Miss James,” Malcolm says with a laugh, “I am a Scorpio.”

“Okay Malcolm, that makes sense?” Olivia says sheepishly.

“I’m not a total moron about the topic, I happen to know that Capricorn corresponds with the Devil card in Tarot. So if I have to convince you to keep an eye on Max, this might help; if you remember the campervan spread, the Devil card was placed in the mid-position.”