It is dark in a very affluent suburb of Baltimore. Outside of a very stately looking home there is a flurry of activity. Surrounding the house, in every spot of yard and driveway visible, there are the flashing lights from police cars, ambulances and CSI units. Police tape outlines the property and many of the assembled law enforcement personnel are working crowd control. In addition to the throngs of neighbors trying to glimpse a clue of what has disrupted their neighborhood, the media has already arrived on the scene. Two black SUV's with flashing lights pull up to the scene and the police officers already there clear a path. Out of the first vehicle appear Hotch, J.J. and Rossi. From the other emerge Morgan, Prentiss and Reid. J.J. immediately heads to deal with the locals and try to get some handle on the media.
The rest of the team enters the front door to find themselves in what had once been a nearly majestic foyer. It is now the first indication of the horrors this home has seen in the recent hours. Everything has been destroyed. There was once a table upon which sat an antique vase. It was now merely a pile of glass strewn splinters.
Prentiss: What hit this place?
Rossi: Not what, who.
Hotch: This is the second scene like this in as many weeks. The first one police thought was personal against the family. Between the level of rage seen in the vandalism and the extent of the overkill, that was a fair assessment. It's still possible that this is personal but it's now also likely that there are more families to be targeted.
Reid: Who are the victims?
Hotch: Cliff and Bonnie Dawes and their three children, Meghan 12, Andrew 8 and Erin 2. While it is still very preliminary, the M.E. believes all victims died as a result of multiple blunt force traumas just like the Harrigan's who were killed last week.
The team fans out each heading to a different part of the house. Morgan has entered the living room. The body of Cliff Dawes has already been removed as have those of the rest of the family members. It is clear where Dawes was at the time of his death by the large pool of blood on the couch. The TV and stereo are smashed as well as all of the end tables and all picture frames and vases. Morgan calls to Reid who is just outside the living room.
Morgan: Doesn't look like robbery was a motive since they destroyed anything that would be of value to take. What are you seeing, Reid?
Reid: I'm heading through the hallway to the kitchen where Mrs. Dawes was killed. There is no visible blood anywhere except in the kitchen. It looks like Mrs. Dawes was loading the dishwasher when she was attacked.
Looking at the floor there is a large pool of blood amid shattered dishes and spatter along the cupboard doors. Morgan appears in the doorway of the kitchen.
Morgan: Are you seeing what I'm seeing?
Reid: If Mr. Dawes was attacked first, Mrs. Dawes would have heard the commotion and tried to escape or intervene or call for help. She wouldn't have just kept loading the dishwasher.
Morgan: And if Mrs. Dawes was attacked first then Mr. Dawes would have left whatever he was watching on TV to come to his wife's rescue.
Reid: Multiple unsubs. Let's head upstairs.
Moving through the house there is more and more destruction in every room and corridor. There is scarcely a piece of furniture undamaged and every picture, vase and knickknack has been shattered. At the top of the stairs, Morgan and Reid approach the first door. Hotch is already inside. It is Meghan's room. It once resembled the room of every twelve year old girl in America. There were bright colors, Jonas Brothers posters, ballerina figurines and the bed had once been covered by stuffed animals. Technically all of those things are still there although torn, broken and the stuffed toys disemboweled and coated with Meghan's blood.
Hotch stands in the middle of the room looking at the crime scene photos.
Hotch: She was still asleep when she was killed.
Morgan and Reid look at each other.
Morgan: Three.
Hotch gives a questioning look.
Reid: Three unsubs. At least. We know that Bonnie and Cliff Dawes had to have been attacked simultaneously because neither showed a reaction to the other attack.
Hotch: I see what you mean. If they had been killed first, Meghan would most likely have hid.
The three agents move to the next room which once was the domain of Andrew Dawes. Young Andrew was apparently the all-American boy. Sports posters cover the walls, or they did before being slashed and shredded. On the bed is a Baltimore Orioles bedspread. It is covered in blood. Rossi has been taking stock of the scene.
Rossi: Over there, along that wall was the shrine to Cal Ripken, Jr. At least the kid knew and respected history. He was sound asleep when he was killed.
Morgan: That makes at least four.
In the next room the scene gives every agent pause. Prentiss is already inside.
Prentiss: Is J.J. outside with the press?
Hotch nods.
Prentiss: Good. She doesn't need to see this. Erin Dawes wasn't any older than Henry.
The room was once pink and perfect. Baby dolls were lined up on a low shelf along one wall; low enough that little Erin could have reached her own toys. There are stuffed animals everywhere and possibly every Fisher Price toy ever made. It was not hard to picture the joyful nursery this room had been. Now, however, it was a place of horror and chaos. The dolls were broken, stuffed animals dissected and all other toys smashed. The white crib with the ruffled pink blankets was now a pile of bloody splinters.
Prentiss: Poor thing. At least she didn't see it coming.
Reid: That means at least five.