Reid walked into the darkened basement with his gun drawn, rushing down the steps with Derek closely behind, "CLEAR," they holstered their weapons and stared at the room before them. At the centre of the rotting walls was a life-sized bronze bull with a fire roaring underneath it, now he knew what the smell was. Derek ripped a fire extinguisher from a wooden pillar next to a table scattered with books and letters while Reid ran his index finger down several of the covers, Greek mythology, just like the last crime scene. But this time it was different, the un-sub didn't have time to clear out all the evidence, the letters on the table in the corner of the small room were all hand written. Pulling on blue latex gloves, Reid pushed back his hair and began reading, they all seemed to have some sort of obsession with a woman, probably his next target,"Hey Reid, take a look at this," Derek signalled Spencer to the bull without taking his eyes off of it, he pried open a large door on the length of the bull with a crowbar. It hit the ground releasing steam and the fowl stench of burned flesh. They both looked in horror as a seemingly immolated body rolled lifelessly out of the opening and made a soft 'squelch' sound on the concrete. Reid and Derek shared a look, the un-sub had evolved , this time resorting to extreme torture," Any ideas?" Derek questioned while turning away from the spectacle and walking back up the stairs,
"Uh, yes actually. In Ancient Greece they would use a torture method called the 'Sicilian Bull' in which they would place a criminal inside and light a fire underneath to burn them alive. Because of the hollow brass their screams would sound like bull noises, that must be what the neighbours heard," It was so confusing to Reid, it was a high risk area for torture and yet he still got away with it. All the crimes had something to do with Ancient Greece, bloodless crucifixion, forced suicide, and now this. The only links between the victims was their knowledge of Ancient Greece and they were highly intelligent. No criminal record, nothing that would make them deserve what they'd been sentenced to. They walked out of the house to give the Forensics team time to work when Hotch called them over,
"I had Garcia search for people similar to our victims in the area and we got a hit, Garcia send them the address," He had heavy bags under his eyes and looked worn, the un-sub wasn't giving the team any time to rest,
"Gotcha sir!" with a few keyboard clicks Reid's cellphone buzzed and Hotch continued,
"Her name is Chey Griffiths, a Doctor with several PhDs and masters degrees including biochemistry, history, English, psychology and is highly knowledgeable about Ancient Greece. She lives in a high risk area but that won't stop him, Reid I want you and J.J to go there right away, the un-sub is meticulous and controlled, he'll wait until he kills again." J.J nodded at Reid and led them both to the SUV parked in the small street, he looked over her profile and was surprised. She was overly qualified to be a marine biologist, it also seemed she moved to America to become a professor at Harvard, but some of her file was missing. Her early 20s was completely gone, Garcia couldn't access that part of her history. Hopefully they wouldn't need it.
It took them 20 minutes of driving and throwing theories back and forth before they reached the address, it was a simple white stone bungalow with a large garden, it was an upper class area. There was a motorcycle in the brick driveway behind a small black gate. The curtains were completely shut around the house and there was no sign of any distress or residents inside. J.J was the first to walk through the gate and knock on the oak door, it took a moment for the door to open to reveal a 5'3 woman with long brown hair and dyed green tips. She had blue eyes to complement her pale complexion and a curvy figure clad in black jeans and a grey turtle neck jumper, "Hi Dr. Griffiths, I'm SSA Jennifer Jareau and this is Dr. Spender Reid, we're with the FBI and we'd like to ask you a few questions," J.J and Reid both presented their badges, Chey inspected them quickly and deduced that they were no threat,
"Sure," she moved aside to let them in, Reid noted that she didn't look or sound surprised. She didn't fidget or show signs of nervousness, it was odd. The Doctor walked them to a room with a couple of white love seats and matching armchairs. The decor was mostly white and pastel colours, a modern minimalist theme, "Can I get you anything?" she wrung her hands together and when they refused she sat down comfortably, reaching for a bottle of hand sanitiser, applying it and returning it to the table. They were all over the house. Reid also noted that there were sharp objects almost strategically placed on tables, but in positions where she could easily grab them and defend herself, smart. J.J leaned forward slightly,
"Dr. Griffiths," J.J put on a warm smile and continued,"I'm sure you're aware of the recent murders of three professors," She paused and waited for a response, she watched Chey for any physical change. She was good at keeping her face neutral, however J.J did notice her sit up slightly and use her foot to casually push something under her seat. It was subtle, but they were profilers.
"You think I'm next, don't you?" Chey took a deep breath, she knew she was next. But she still hoped that her suspicions would be ill met. Reid also leaned forward and continued on for J.J,
"Yes we do, Dr. Griffiths, and so do you," Reid saw the tell-tale signs, she was a smart woman, her knowledge about Ancient Greece could have made her a suspect, but with her small build it wasn't likely. Her eyes widened slightly. They'd been there less than 5 minutes and he read her like a book. She cursed herself for not packing up her research somewhere other than under a seat.
"You're mistaken," Spencer's eyes narrowed, Dr. Griffiths was challenging him. He stood up and casually walked around the room,
"For one, you have weapons in easily accessible places, you have multiple locks on all the entrances to your house, my current count is 12, and you kicked something under your chair like you don't want us to see it. Not to mention the Greek Mythology books piled up on the table next to you," he finished in a matter-of-factly tone and a smug look on his face, he turned to face her, she looked slightly taken back. Chey got up from her seat to look at the opposing doctor, she would admit that he earned his title, the way he phrased things called for a high I.Q, she could respect that.
"Look," Chey began, she didn't want the FBI to ruin her plans to catch her killer, them just being in her house compromised her research into him, "I may know...of some things, I could have been aware that I'm on his radar and it's possible that I've been looking into it bu-"
"How long have you know?" He interrupted her, she didn't expect that question,
"When the killings started, I thought it was a fluke. But by the second I knew," She stopped and looked blank for a second, contemplating something. When she heard of the killing method she went to see herself. She drove to the building and looked at the back entrance. On a wall of graffiti was a scruffily drawn owl. She would have forgotten about it if it was at any other crime scene. But she knew this was relevant, it was referring to Athena. The un-sub could've symbolised any God but they chose Athena. It was no coincidence that a month after Chey moved the killings started, and then Athena, the killer was leaving her clues. He wanted her to find him, but she needed to work for it. She was so close to finding him too, she knew so much and she just needed one more thing. One more clue and she would have him. She couldn't let anyone get in the way of that, she couldn't let anyone else die. Griffiths continued, almost ignoring her previous statement,"I'm sorry Dr. Reid, I've told you everything I know, you should investigate elsewhere," she sounded sincere as she locked eyes with the taller man. He stole a glance at J.J who stood up and made her way to the door,
"Thank you, Dr. Griffiths, make sure to stay available in case we need to contact you," Reid looked between the two women, and then made his was to leave. Dr. Griffiths was holding back. She knew a lot more than she was giving away. Once they were back in the SUV Spencer turned to his partner," She knows something J.J," he couldn't hide the anger in his voice, he couldn't believe how stupid people could be,"We need to get in there and see what she has, we should get a warrant,"
"She thinks she can catch the killer herself, she thinks we'll compromise her. She might have been to the previous crime scenes, but she hasn't been to the third. Dr. Griffiths wants to help, Spence, she is smart. We just need to force her a little."