This is my first CM fanfiction! And it will become VERY Reid-centric.
JJ is still present! *sniff* *sniff* I miss JJ. The team in this fanfic consists of: Reid, Morgan, JJ, Prentiss, Hotch, Rossi and Garcia.
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds…
JJ rushed through the BAU without saying anything and ran into Hotch's office. The team could already guess they probably had a case waiting for them, yet another person had committed the horrifying crime of killing another human being. Trying to keep their hopes up, they said nothing about it and stared at their computer screen without actually reading its contents. Less than a minute later, JJ walked back out and signaled the team into the conference room. Reid instantly turned off his computer, assuming they wouldn't be returning there for some days, picked up his go-bag and paced toward the conference room. Morgan forcefully stood up and pushed his chair back under the table hanging his jacket over his shoulder. Prentiss turned off her computer and headed to the room with the round table where they heard the most terrifying real-life stories anyone could ever imagine. Rossi had spent most of his life doing this sort of thing and had had more than one hundred cases, but every case still got to his very core.
Once in the conference room, JJ pointed her remote control to the plasma screen and started presenting.
"Three women between the ages of fifty and sixty have been killed in the past three weeks, one each week." Morgan was the first one to talk:
"One a week? That's not much of a cooling off period." JJ nodded
"First victim was Sarah Fisher, 56, found in Salt Lake City, Utah. She had been stabbed multiple times. Second victim Eleanor Powell, 52, found in Pinal, Arizona, had been stabbed numerous times. Third victim, Veronica Evans, 59, was found in Riverside, California, and like the other victims, she had also been stabbed several times." In between victims, JJ pressed a button on her control remote and several crime scene photos appeared on the large screen. Confused, Rossi asked:
"Wait, they were found in different states? How do we even know it's the same guy?" JJ subtly pointed the remote in the direction of Rossi and said:
"That's where it gets out of the ordinary; a family member of all three victims received a phone call from a man whom is most likely our UNSUB, apologizing for the victims' death seconds before he killed them." "Creepy." Reid frowned and Prentiss asked:
"So, Rossi, now do you believe it's a serial?"
"Well, since the signature is pretty unusual, I'd have to say yes. Who called us in?"
"California PD. Wheels up in 30 minutes." Hotch concluded "We're going to all three states together, first Utah, followed by Arizona, and then California, got it?"
"Got it." Morgan said as he headed outside of the conference room towards his desk and shut his computer off.
"See, I knew you should have turned off your computer earlier." Reid said as he stood next to Morgan, ready, with his go-bag on his shoulder.
"Yeah, okay, but you didn't tell me that, now did you?" Morgan smiled when he realized he had managed to shut the genius up.
For the next thirty minutes, the team ate something small, drank something, went to the restroom, took a nap, and finally, went to the airport and got on the jet.
Reid, Hotch, Morgan, JJ, Prentiss and Rossi were all sitting around a laptop screen listening to Garcia, whom, besides their age and gender, had found absolutely nothing the three women had in common.
"Sarah Fisher was a hairdresser; she had two kids and was divorced twice. Eleanor Powell was a stewardess, had no kids and was single at the time of death. Veronica Evans was a lawyer; she had one child and was happily married to an accountant." Garcia said upset.
"So," Morgan understood "the only thing these murders have in common is the signature, the MO and the fact that the victims are middle-aged women?" The chocolate-colored man asked frustrated. "Not even their hair color or body type coincides!"
"No, yeah, I don't know. It's all I can find, sorry." was the response he got from Garcia.
"Babe, you know that doesn't get us anywhere. Keep digging."
"I know, I know! I will. Garcia out." The computer screen went black.
The chocolate-colored man leaned back in his chair frustrated and yawned. It was almost ten o'clock in the afternoon and the team was getting weary.
It was early in the morning of Wednesday, the UNSUB would probably strike again within 4 days. The team had slept in a hotel in Utah and had booked three rooms for one night, because they knew they would spend the next night in Arizona. Morgan and Reid had slept together in one room, Hotch and Rossi in another and finally Prentiss and JJ in the last. They were all up and ready by 6 o'clock in the morning and they were on their way to the local authorities' department by 6:30, after breakfast. The local authorities' Sheriff welcomed them and introduced himself.
"Sheriff Daren Rogers, you can call me Daren, nice to meet you" he said. Daren Rogers was a married middle-aged man, he was tall and skinny, greatly respected by all his officers and he had been running the local police for almost six years. He shook everyone but Reid's hand, whom simply waved to him, and he waved back. JJ was the one to introduce the team to the sheriff while they all shook hands with the sheriff then proceeded to asking "You here for the Sarah Fisher case, right?" Hotch answered the Sheriffs' question:
"Yes, that's right." The Sheriff, whom still doubted about if there even was a case, asked:
"So…are you sure this is a serial? I mean, they were found in different states." Reid instantly came back.
"We are well aware that this is a special case, but as you probably already know, a family member of each victim received a phone call apologizing for the deaths of the fatalities prior to their actual decease. It also seems that these phone calls were made seconds before the time of death of the victims, according to forensics. Besides, all victims are middle aged women, and they were all stabbed repeatedly. "
"Yes, we are sure." Morgan simplified. Sheriff Rogers seemed a little astonished by the strong informed answer and gave in accordingly.
"All right. So, you want me to take you to the crime scene? There's not much left since the murder was three weeks ago, but maybe you will find something that can help you." Hotch nodded, certifying the Sheriff's question. And Rossi added:
"I'm sure there will be"
They all –including the Sheriff- got in Hotch's car and drove to the crime scene with Daren's lead. They arrived in about fifteen minutes. The house was average; not too large, not too small. It was a yellow-brownish color, and had a black roof. There was no garage and no car, the garden was pretty large and had lots of flowers.
"He got in through the back door," Daren said "she left it unlocked."
"You think he knew that? Maybe he watches them before he kills them." Prentiss asked.
"I don't know, could be." Hotch answered "Sheriff, was there any evidence that he tried to get in through somewhere else before trying the back door?"
"Not that I know of." Daren took out his cell phone "I'll ask." He then stepped away further from the team, where there was less noise. The team walked toward the house and Rossi cut the crime scene tape with his penknife. The first visible thing once inside was Sarah's blood. All over the living floor, and walls. Sarah Fisher had been stabbed eighteen times with a kitchen knife the UNSUB had found on-scene.
"Definite overkill. He could have anger management issues. And the stabbing suggests impotence." Reid said, while he frowned and looked closely at the crime scene, his hands gripping firmly onto his bag.
"Everything seems to be in place. It doesn't seem he stole anything." Morgan added, while he looked at a framed picture of Sarah and her two children, which he had found on top of the fireplace.
"So, he does this solely for the killing. It's not that his intention was stealing and things got out of control" Rossi clarified.
Morgan spoke again "She doesn't seem to have kept close relations with her ex-husbands. I can find absolutely no pictures of them."
"Well, I don't blame her! Her second husband filed for divorce five weeks after they married, and got away with half her money!" Prentiss said, rising her voice and feeling sorry for the dead woman. Just then, Daren walked in.
"There was no evidence that our guy tried to get in any other way" he said.
"Okay, thanks, I think we've seen everything" Hotch answered "Sheriff Rogers, thank you very much for everything. We'll drive you back to your department." Daren nodded:
"All right, keep me updated."
"Well, I talked to some acquaintances of Eleanor Powell through the phone-" Morgan interrupted:
"You find anything?"
"I was just about to tell you, hot stuff. You know, for such a handsome man, you really are impatient." Garcia said smiling.
"Sorry, Baby Girl. Can you tell us now?" It took only that for Garcia to realize Morgan was not in the mood.
"Yeah, umm, it looks like she got out of an abusive relationship less than a year ago."
Upset, Hotch asked: "Anything else?"
"But of course, my horse!" Hotch's grimace was immediately replaced with a surprised look "Veronica Evans separated from her husband two years ago, and she never saw him again."
"That's it! That's what they have in common!" Rossi exclaimed, and the whole team, including Garcia through the computer screen, looked at him with a questioning look. "They have all been wronged by men!" The team gazed at each other deductively, and Rossi proceeded "Sarah Fisher's second husband only married her for money; Eleanor Powell was in an abusive relationship and Veronica Evans was abandoned by her husband to raise her child alone!"
Ten minutes later, the plane landed in Arizona. It was already late, so the team just went straight to the hotel they had booked. After having eaten something at the hotel's restaurant, they all fell asleep unusually early. Tomorrow they would visit Eleanor Powell's deathbed.
OK, I know this first chapter is pretty boring, but it will get interesting. And Reid-centric.