(So I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who asked for a sequel to "Deception", thanks for reading and reviewing it.
I hope you'll enjoy this as well.
It's pretty much essential to read the first part to follow.
There's no time-jump between this story and the previous one).
Spring is on the way; summer is on the way; storms are on the way; wars are on the way.
Sorrow and happiness are on the way; they are all on the way, they are coming!
Everything is on the way!
Life is a highway; while we are moving on the way, all else is coming towards us!
Devil is on the way; angel is on the way!
Stay firm on the way!
Mehmet Murat ildan
For a moment neither of them talked. But while Reid was hoping to silently express his gratitude for commiserating with him, she looked uneasy, as if she was thinking of the best way to phrase something.
"Something tells me you didn't come here just for moral support", he said.
She played with the zipper of her bag and finally took a file out of it and handed it to him.
"Actually I came to give you this".
Inside was the picture of a young woman and he recognized it as the type of photographs the M.E takes before an autopsy, although the cause of death wasn't evident in the picture.
"She died about 12 years ago, she was found strangled in her boyfriend's apartment", Prentiss said.
"Did the boyfriend do this?", Reid asked, not quite seeing where she was going with this.
"No he had a solid alibi; police cleared him immediately because he wasn't even in London when she died".
"Wait, she died in London?", he asked, surprised.
"Yeah, back in 2003, and the case is still open", she nodded, "and when and where she died is particularly relevant in this case…Guess who was going to the same school during that time".
"Lester?", he asked, reading his way through the case file.
"She spent two semesters there on boarding school, and she left two days after the murder", she said.
"Convenient", he agreed, "how come we didn't uncover that during our initial background check?".
"INTERPOL's database covers more ground. But Lester was never a suspect, she was only 16 then", Prentiss said.
"How did you make the connection?".
"Look at the victim's name", she said, pointing to the file.
"Elizabeth Dickson".
"Lizzie Dickson", she nodded with a sad smile.
"It's one of the pseudonyms Lester used during the robberies", he said.
"That was pretty reckless of her, linking herself to the crime like that".
"It's pride. She couldn't take credit for it back then but now she wants us to know what she did", he explained, "I don't see how this helps me though".
"It doesn't", she admitted, "but when I looked into this, I came across something else. Two weeks ago, a teenage girl went missing from the same school Lester and Lizzie Dickson went to; the father received a ransom demand, 15.000£ for his daughter's life. Three days ago there was a second abduction, another teenage girl; she went to a different private school than this one though, but she was returned for the same amount".
"You think Lester's involved in this?", he asked.
"The girls appeared to have been both tased and drugged. The second victim, Allison Moore, couldn't remember anything of the last 24 hours".
"It sounds familiar", Reid said darkly.
"And we know she likes to operate on her own turf. She goes to places she feels connected to, first South America, and now London", she said with some excitement, "that's where you need to go, Reid. To finally put an end to this".
Her optimism was contagious, and for a moment he felt just as keen as she was to get there, until doubt and caution took over.
"How do you expect me to get there Emily? I can't just grab a flight in my situation. I don't even have a passport".
"Don't worry about it, I've got everything worked out", she simply said.
"We don't even know for sure that she's there", he persisted.
She reached into her bag again and took out a photograph that she placed in front of him.
"This was taken at Heathrow three weeks ago, right before the kidnappings started", she told him.
Reid recognized Lester immediately in the picture, although she looked as if she was trying to avoid the security camera. Her hair was a lot shorter and brown this time, but he had no doubt that this was her.
Prentiss got up, gathered her things and stared at him.
"Coming?", she asked.
Prentiss did have everything worked out. A car was waiting outside; it took them to the nearest airport which they reached under an hour.
Her very own plane was waiting for them. "One of the perks of being in charge", she said as they boarded the aircraft.
After takeoff, they started looking at the elements of the case. Spreading autopsy reports and crime scene pictures on the small tables felt like a typical day at the BAU and they both relaxed and allowed themselves to focus on the evidence alone.
"You know, I'm still a little baffled by the way Lizzie Dickson died. Lester strangled her manually, there's a level of violence and intimacy there that isn't a normal component of her M.O. She shoots her victim, she likes to keep a distance with them", Reid said.
"She was a teenager. Serial killers' first crimes are often sloppy, they haven't perfected their yet", Prentiss theorized, "she probably didn't plan this".
"I think having a personal connection to Lizzie is what made her lose control", he said, "Lizzie Dickson had the perfect life, her family was wealthy, she was close to her parents, popular in school..".
"Meanwhile Lester went from one home to another, she suffered abuse from her stepfather and her mother eventually sent her abroad to get her out of her hair…I can see her killing Lizzie in a jealous rage", she nodded, "maybe that's also why the victimology of the kidnappings is similar. She goes after young girls with everything to live for, that's not by accident".
"You didn't tell me that the first girl she kidnapped died", Reid said, going through the files.
"Sarah Grimes", Prentiss nodded, "she never showed up to her morning class. The father got a note a few hours later, ordering him to wire the ransom to an offshore account. But the Scotland Yard inspector who handled the case advised the father not to pay the ransom because the kidnapper didn't send any proof of life. Police thought they'd be able to trace the offshore account back to the kidnapper in time to find her, but the lead fell through, and Sarah was found dead two hours after the deadline".
"She was found floating in the Thames, right?", he asked, looking at the report.
"Yeah, she was dumped a few blocks from where she disappeared as a forensic counter-measure , so I doubt it will help the geographical profile", she explained, "She was stabbed, she wasn't drowned".
"Stabbing isn't part of Lester's M.O".
"No but a water-based dumpsite does point to a female unsub", she said.
"And it probably erased all physical evidence".
"When the second victim disappeared, this was attached to the note", she said, handing him a polaroid picture of a young girl, holding a newspaper.
"Proof of life", he nodded.
"The date on the paper corresponded to the day she disappeared", she explained, "the father made the money transfer and she was returned to the same street she vanished from. There was no sexual assault or any major injuries, only bruises, common with physical restraints".
Reid looked at the polaroid picture, he could imagine Lester taking a sadistic pleasure sending it, knowing what effect it will have on the girl's father.
"The police tried to follow the ransom money, but it travelled from one fiscal paradise to another", Prentiss added.
"Who's handling the case now?", he asked.
"The inspector who handled the first abduction was taken off the case and put on mandatory leave after the police was slammed by the press. They were heavily blamed for the death of the first girl", she said, "Scotland Yard still has the case officially, but INTERPOL was asked to take the lead due to the international money trail, and if Lester's involved then we definitely have a role to play".
"Where do I fit in all of this?", he asked sadly.
"I can't have you on officially", she said apologetically, "but I want you there with me. No one knows this unsub like you do".
Reid nodded and turned to the window.
The only times he'd been out of the country it had been to investigate BAU cases, he'd visited both Canada and Mexico that way. Flying under the radar to investigate murders and kidnappings wasn't the way he envisioned himself seeing London for the first time. Under different circumstances he would have taken one of this tours that retrace the murders of Jack the Ripper, or perhaps caught a Shakespearian play at the Globe theatre.
Some of his sadness must have shown on his face as Prentiss put a hand on his arm and smiled at him.
"Hey, it's going to be okay", she said softly, " you're gonna get your life back, trust me".
Urgh, not a fan of that chapter, I feel like I just included as many expositional elements as possible, hopefully the following ones will be more fun.
(By the way, I'm French and I'm writing about two Americans investigating crimes in London. So obviously if anything just feels wrong, either about the language (spelling, grammar etc)…or the details of the story, I'd love to hear about it).