Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.
Author's note: With the kind help of Sienna27 I've corrected some phrases in chapter 3 & 8.
The institution
According to a North Indian folk tale one day a saint was taking a bath in a river when he noticed a scorpion, drowning in the current. The holy man lifted it out of the water. Almost immediately the creature stung him, but nevertheless he carried it to the safety of the shore. Asked why he had rescued the ungrateful thing, he answered that the scorpion had only followed its nature, as he had followed his: It was the nature of a scorpion to sting and the nature of a saint to save lives.
"Did you know that Iowa is unofficially known as the "Tall Corn State"?, Reid asked Morgan who was standing next to him.
"No, but it doesn't surprise me", the agent replied, taking in the environment. They were gathered on a narrow asphalt road practically in the middle of nowhere. All around them were giant cornfields, stretching up to the horizon in every direction. "Have you ever read "Children of the corn"?", he asked Reid.
"The story is set in Nebraska", the young doctor answered matter-of-factly, only to add, much less self-confident: "We'll be finished here by sunset, won't we?"
Morgan chuckled. "What, are you afraid of "He Who Walks Behind The Rows"?"
"I don't think a supernatural being did this", Rossi chipped in, coming up behind them. "Everything is very clean. One shot in the neck of the kneeling victim. Looks like an execution to me."
"Then we should find out what the unsub thought he was punishing him for…", Derek suggested.
"We're dealing with a very organized, extremely self-controlled perpetrator who has killed four times yet", Reid recapitulated. "Always the same MO, no detectable escalation. The unsub stops his victims under some kind of pretext, which tells us his appearance is unobtrusive, harmless, probably even appealing. The victims weren't tortured or sexually molested…"
"I don't think he spends much time with them", Rossi took up from there. "He forces them to kneel down, shoots them, drives away. Could be a matter of only two or three minutes."
"So the act of killing doesn't seem to be that important to him…", Reid continued. "Although the fact that he makes the victims kneel down indicates that he wants them to feel inferior, dominated, weak… Besides that he doesn't hide the bodies. They were all discovered along this particular road, in plain sight. Maybe he wants to deliver a message…"
"The big question is: Does the unsub pick his targets randomly or does he explicitly set out to kill these special individuals? What do we know about our newest victim?", Morgan asked Hotchner who was joining them, accompanied by Prentiss and JJ.
"Leland Bornholm, a traveler, just like the other three", Hotch recounted what the sheriff had just told him. "But that's about the only thing they have in common – different ages, hometowns, professions, social backgrounds, hobbies and they didn't know each other as far as we can tell yet."
"Four victims in eight months", Morgan mused. "Varying time spans in between. Is the unsub a local or a traveler himself?"
Aaron Hotchner took a long look up and down the deserted road. "This doesn't strike me as one of the area's main artery roads. An unsub waiting for a random victim would probably have to be very patient. It's vital that we establish where he takes up the pursuit of his targets."
"According to this credit card receipt Bornholm refueled his car about 15 minutes before it happened", Prentiss said, studying a piece of paper bagged in a clear plastic folder. "Let's talk to the gas station's staff, maybe they remember something." Hotch nodded in agreement. Prentiss motioned Reid to follow her. Together they walked to the second of the two government SUVs they had picked up after their arrival. They were still loaded with bags since they had headed straight from the airport to this new crime scene.
Morgan grinned at his young colleague's badly hidden relief to be getting away from the cornfields. "He still scares way too easily", he thought, wondering if he could turn this into some sort of prank next Halloween. Garcia would surely come up with a suggestion…
"Four victims in eight months." Rossi slowly adjusted his sunglasses. "What were all these travelers doing out here?"
Hotch wanted to reply something, but Reid, standing next to the SUV and staring at something, interrupted him: "Everybody come here immediately!", he shouted.