"Good Morning – Good Morning, My most favorite group of intrepid adventurers," Garcia began once the team was assembled around the conference table. "It is my duty this lovely fall morning to tell you that your presence has been requested in The Silver State – That is Nevada for those of you who don't know. And, Reid, I know this is going to disappoint you (and probably Rossi as well) but you will not be headed to the shinning oasis that is Las Vegas. Instead, you will be heading to the northwest part of the state, just north of Reno and not too far from the California boarder. It appears that the Washoe County sheriff believes he has a problem."
"What kind of a problem, Baby Girl?" Morgan questioned.
"If you will all look at your tablets or, in the case of Dr. Reid, at your paper file, you can see for yourselves," Garcia replied.
"Is this right?" was JJ's first reaction.
"You have got to be kidding!" Morgan added as he studied the screen.
"Garcia, does this mean that we are going to be looking for – " Reid's eyes were sparkling as he stopped to catch an excited breath.
"Bigfoot?" Lewis filled in. "We are going to be looking for Bigfoot?" She looked questioningly at Hotch for confirmation.
"I vaguely remember seeing something that resembled Bigfoot once upon a time," Rossi reminisced. "However, I was about three sheets to the wind that evening."
"The Washoe County sheriff is investigating three murders with similar MOs," Hotch spoke up firmly. "And, I believe it is a little early for us to begin speculating on the identity of the unsub. Now, Garcia, if you will review the case as it currently stands?" He stared intently at the tech.
"Yes, Sir, Of Course, Sir." Garcia quickly put some pictures up on the flat screen. "Let me go over the information we have already received from the sheriff."
"Approximately six months ago the body of Frank Carpenter was discovered at the edge of the Lake Tahoe State Forest," Garcia began as a picture of a sandy haired, middle-aged man took center place on the screen. "The county coroner determined that he had been deceased for less than 24 hours when his body was found and that his death was caused by blow to the back of the head. In the area around the body – these – were discovered."
The next picture which appeared in the center of the screen appeared to show numerous large footprints in the dried mud which had been made by – A bear? A dog? Definitely something non-human.
"Okay," Morgan began. "How do we know that this isn't a practical joke of some sort?"
"A dead body is no joke," Lewis pointed out.
"And he was killed by a hard blow to the back of the head," JJ added. "That doesn't seem to point to a practical joke gone bad."
"Was there a reason he would have been in the area?" Hotch was paging through his file.
"He was a land surveyor," Garcia said helpfully. "And he was there to determine the exact location of the property line for a piece of land that was being sold."
"Well, disregarding the 'paw prints' it certainly appears that whoever did this knew what they were doing," Rossi observed. "It only took one blow to the head and it was over with."
"There were no signs of a struggle nor were there any defensive wounds." Reid was reading from the autopsy report.
"Was a weapon found?" Morgan asked.
"The deputies didn't think to look for one until almost 24 hours later when the autopsy report came back," Garcia reported. "However, when they returned to the scene they did manage to find a large rock which fits the general description of the murder weapon. Unfortunately, it has been a rainy fall up there and any evidence which may have been on the rock was washed away."
"Amateurs," Rossi huffed.
"You need to remember that Washoe County doesn't deal with a lot of murders," Reid spoke up. "So they don't have a lot of experience."
"Also, the initial thought was that he had suffered a medical episode of some sort, fallen and hit his head," Garcia added.
"There is more?" Lewis assumed.
"You are correct in that assumption," Garcia put another man's picture up on the screen. This man was considerably younger, dressed in fishing gear, and holding up a sizeable trout. "It appears that Mr. Carpenter wasn't the only one to be wandering through the woods where they shouldn't have been."
"Here we have Brandon Fisher," she explained. "And, approximately three months ago, his body was found at the edge of a small lake which, while not actually in the state forest is fairly close to it. Again, the coroner determined that he had been dead not more than 24 hours before being found and that cause of death was a blow to the back of the head. And, again, these were found in the vicinity."
The picture which appeared on the screen again showed numerous large paw prints.
"That's the same MO," Lewis observed. "However, the tracks – "
"These prints do seem to be considerably more defined," Reid was staring intently at the picture. "And, judging from the position and size of the large toes, it appears that there are only two feet involved."
"So, this creature, whatever it is, stands upright on two feet?" JJ suggested.
"How do we know that this isn't just some unfortunate local dude with feet too large to find shoes for?" Morgan demanded.
"Wouldn't the locals know if there was someone like that wandering around through their woods?" Rossi asked. "At least, I assume they would know."
"All areas of the world have their folktale monsters," Reid began. "In the woods of North America Bigfoot or Sasquatch is most prevalent while in the Himalayan region of Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet the legend of the Yeti is prevails. Like the Loch Ness monster, all of these creatures can be classified as cryptozologic beings."
"Let's not get too far off track," Hotch quickly broke into the narration. "Garcia, I believe there was a murder weapon found?"
"Right you are, Mon Capitan," Garcia replied as she put a picture on the screen. "This time the deputies began their search immediately after the body was found and located this rock which not only had blood on it but also, as you will notice, is the right size to fit into a person's hand."
"An average sized person," JJ observed. "So we are looking for a normal sized person with large feet."
"And no shoes," Morgan added snidely.
"I would assume there is yet another victim?" Rossi brought up another page on his tablet.
"There most certainly is," Garcia confirmed as the picture of a serious looking, middle-aged man wearing glasses appeared on the screen. The picture appeared to have come from a security badge.
"Meet Lyle Wright," Garcia instructed the team. "Our most recent victim. His body was found two days ago in the woods located in a far corner of the campus of LCW Research. Which, for those of us that don't know, is a manufacturer of customized medical devices. However, the location was not far from the state forest nor from the lake where the previous body was found."
"He was an employee there," Lewis commented as she read from her tablet.
"He most certainly was," Garcia replied. "He has been employed there for a little more than five years as a modifications engineer – Whatever that might be. And, as far as the sheriff can tell, he and the other victims all led fairly normal lives – work, home, families, hobbies. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Except that they are all now dead," Rossi commented dryly.
"Which is why we are on our way to Reno and then up into the mountains," Hotch informed the team. "Wheels up in thirty."
