Entry.
Time: 10:40 p.m.
Date: 10/14/12
Interrogator: Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid
Interrogatee: Florist, Robert Cross
Reid: Is there something I can get you before we begin?
Cross: Nothing.
Reid: Calm down. There is nothing to be afraid of.
Cross: …
Reid: What's your name? And how old are you?
Cross: My name is Robert Cross and I'm 28 years old.
Reid: Alright, Robert. I want you to place your hands on the table and close your eyes.
Cross: W-why do you want me to do that?
Reid: I want you to think of your past. And chances are that what you remember or have oppressed in your mind could affect you. And if that happens, I want to stay here by your side.
Cross: What would you do to protect me…Dr. Reid?
Reid: I will hold your hand, Robert. And will be by your side throughout.
Cross: You have lost your marbles, agent. Everything in the crime scene points to me as the killer. Fingerprints…gunshot residue. Even CCTV footage. Still you sit here by me, offering me guidance…for what?
Reid: I'm looking for motive, Robert. You haven't told us that. You killed three different people every four days in the past two weeks. You're a textbook serial killer. Yet there are so many things that don't make sense. We need you to tell us.
Cross: Motive…right. That one gets me too.
Reid: … We want to know why you killed them. McKenzie Raul, Mark Shubert and Tracy Homburg. The same MO and pattern…yet it doesn't correlate with any motive we can think of. All three victims were found with their head's smashed with a knife found at the precincts of all three crime scenes.
Cross: …So you guarantee this will help?
Reid: There's a chance.
Cross: And what if it doesn't?
Reid: It would leave you with memories. Things you had chosen to forget forever.
Cross: …
Reid: …
Cross: Let's do it.
Reid: Close your eyes and take deep breaths. Put all your concentration in my voice, Robert. Don't let go of it.
Cross: …
Reid: I want you to go back to the night of the first murder. Why did you kidnap McKenzie?
Cross: McKenzie is my uncle. My own blood. I did not kidnap him. He had visited my apartment for some advice.
Reid: What sort of advice?
Cross: He…he was having some issues with his boyfriend, Jesse.
Reid: Why you in particular?
Cross: We've shared a bond over the years.
Reid: For how long, Robert?
Cross: Since I was five. He saved me from drowning in the Miami Beach.
Reid: Describe that incident, Robert.
Cross: … It was a cool evening. Almost dusk. And we were buying flowers for dad's birthday party. McKenzie had planned a big surprise. Although it was a great day, Uncle McKenzie was fussing over something. He was angry…and was cursing all over the place.
Reid: Why was he angry?
Cross: He had a fight with dad…fight with daddy. Daddy had said something rude to him and had asked to take me out for a walk.
Reid: Did you know what McKenzie and your father had argued about?
Cross: No…I was out playing on the sand box when they had that row.
Reid: Alright…you were on the beach with McKenzie…go on.
Cross: We were walking by the shore…I kept running away from the water line every time a big wave came up. McKenzie just followed me angrily. We continued walking in silence for the next ten minutes…
Reid: Then what, Cross?
Cross: He…he pushed me inside. I did not see it coming. Gr-grabbed hold of my neck and held my face down. I began swallowing the salt water…I tried to kick but McKenzie was too strong for me…and then … … … … he suddenly released me. Everything happened in a flash!
Reid: Weren't you rushed to a hospital?
Cross: I don't remember…I woke up and was on my bed. Nobody knew anything about the attack. Later that evening McKenzie came to my room saying that someone had hit me on the back of my head and that I had passed out when he wasn't looking.
Reid: Can you think of any possible reasons for why McKenzie would want to kill you?
Cross: He hated Daddy…
Reid: Alright, Robert. Let's go back further than that memory. What do you remember of your mother?
Cross: None…I was born to a dead mother.
Reid: I understand. However, what happens is that from the time you were four months old in your mother's womb, you develop the sense of hearing. The brain starts to memorize events that your hear through the womb.
Cross: …
Reid: You need to help yourself out here, Robert.
Cross: What do you want me to do?
Reid: I want you to further calm down and try to remember. There is nothing to be afraid of. Robert, try to think, what happened when you were born.
Cross: …blood. Lots of it.
Reid: I want you to distinguish the parts you see within the blood.
Cross: There is …something leaving me…long. I like it. It's strengthening me. …
Reid: It…it must me the umbilical cord! You're doing very good, Robert! Now try to remember the noises that you heard…think hard.
Cross: A woman's voice…my mother! Mother is screaming!
Reid: What is she screaming for, Robert! Listen.
Cross: She's saying… No…no…please don't do this. Please…for the sake of Christ! Dr. Reid!
Reid: Yes, Robert! I'm right here with you…focus…tell me Robert…do you hear a name? Whom is she talking to?
Cross: I can't hold on Dr. Reid! She's in pain…He's hurting her! She's losing beats…blood. Lots of blood.
Reid: Stay for a while longer…please. I need you to hear his voice…
Cross: Mark! Mark! Please don't do this…don't…Help me! Somebody! Mark…my kid…please for his sake! No! Help me Pl-
Ten Minutes Later.
Cross: What happened?
Reid: You passed out. Are you feeling alright? Do you remember anything?
Cross: No…tell me Dr. Reid. What happened really?
Reid: You answered most of my questions.
Cross: Huh.
Reid: Why did you kill McKenzie?
Cross: It wasn't intended. I said it a million times. He came in that day wanting some advice and then pulled out a knife. He started shaking and said something about I cannot keep controlling him forever. It had to end. He had to end this…
Reid: And then he attacked.
Cross: Yes…and I panicked and grabbed a vase and smashed it against him. I swear to God, Detective, I did not intend to kill him! You've got to believe me. He wanted to hurt me…I had no other go!
Reid: I do.
Cross: Ple…wait what? You believe me?
Reid: We found records …McKenzie had ushered many death threats to your father. Various means…gangs, assassins etc. He had killed about three people before.
Cross: …oh…well. He doesn't have to worry about that now. His wish is fulfilled.
Reid: Yeah Robert. You killed your Dad next…Mark Shubert.
Cross: …
Reid: You acted on instinct. He killed your mother 27 years ago. She had discovered his affair with his mistress.
Cross: Oh my God! I can't believe this! …How can I kill someone without being aware of it?
Reid: Twenty seven years of emotions and feelings bottled up came out when you watched McKenzie die. It simply rushed as a burst of energy. You went to meet him at his apartment in Manhattan and somehow subconsciously you slipped into a trance. Your mind wanted to kill the killer of your mother. So you did. You smashed his head against his bedroom wall.
Cross: But…How did a knife get there?
Reid: Instincts again. You placed a knife besides his body. Our minds like to follow a pattern so that it can associate better. Humans are a kind that enjoy following habits.
Cross: Wow.
Reid: …
Cross: Mrs. Homburg…you still believe that I killed her too.
Reid: Actually, not anymore. The forensic reports came in while you had passed out. According to which she slipped on a banana skin accidentally while chopping onions for dinner. You were nowhere near her apartment as you've mentioned in your alibi that night.
Cross: Ridiculous.
Reid: …
Cross: So what now? Imma still go to jail. Killed daddy, didn't I?
Reid: You'll be provided a good lawyer, Robert. As long as the FBI's BAU is concerned…you're innocent of all your charges. You should be free to go.
Cross: I don't know what to say…
Reid: You've got answers to your questions now. I hope you're happy about it.
Cross: Thanks…a lot.
Time: 11:03
Exit.