Miami, Florida
It was midnight. The Copycat Butcher was just about finished his work for the night. Nadine Michaelsen, a black widow was dead and all packed up; ready for disposal. Earlier that day, he read in the papers that his three previous victims turned up in Maine. That wasn't exactly what he hoped for, but the result was the same; his work made it to the papers. His plan was finally starting to come together. It was only a matter of time before the bodies were identified and the connection to the Bay Harbor Butcher was made, especially when Miami Metro finds his latest effort. The fact his work is in the news already is actually a good thing; chances were good that bitch Hanna McKay would see it and connect the dots. The goal here was to draw her out of hiding in Buenos Ares so he could finally catch her and be the big hero that brought her to justice.
There was a reason that Jacob Elway chose the Bay Harbor Butcher MO as a lure. After the murder of Dr. Evelyn Voegel all of her records mysteriously vanished. Since it was known that both Deb Morgan and her brother Dexter started seeing her right before she died, it made sense to see if either of them, especially Dexter, would eradicate those records for any reason. He knew that the both of them were helping Hannah get out of the country; and that Dexter had a particular motivation to help her since he was banging her. Elway still had some great connections with the cops; including the cyber crimes department. Using those connections, he was able to dig up the good doctors' back up files. He figured he'd find some dirt, but what he found was mind blowing goods.
James Doakes was not the Bay Harbor Butcher. Dexter Morgan was; he framed Doakes when the Sergeant was getting too close to learning the secret. What was even more mind-boggling was the fact that Evelyn not only knew about that all along, but she had actually helped Dexter to become the sick bastard he was. She and Harry Morgan developed a kind of code of ethics to prevent his being caught. According to Voegels' notes, both Hannah and Deb were aware of Dexter's extracurricular activities. Now Hannah was in the wind with Harrison. Deb was dead. The easiest thing to do to draw Hannah out would be to use this knowledge for leverage on Dexter or to simply turn him in. The problem with that angle was Dexter Morgan died in Hurricane Laura. That left just one option; convince Hannah that Dexter was alive and back n action. That was the purpose of the bags with felon body parts. He deliberately botched on weighing the bags down; he hoped they would wash up her in Miami. His guess was the Gulf Stream carried them and then a North Atlantic current caught them, hence how they ended up in Maine. It didn't really matter now.
Elway pulled his truck up to the beach. Stepping out of the driver's seat, he went around to the back and dragged Nadine's body bag out. Then he moved the bag down to the shore, just out of the reach of the tide. The dump would be found by the first jogger at dawn or some shit like that.
About an hour past Dawn – even before the morning briefing of the homicide department at Miami Metro – Detective Sergeant Joseph Quinn was standing on the beach with his colleagues; Lead Forensic Investigator Vincent Masuka was working his lab geek magic inside the tape posted around the trash bag filled with body parts while he and Scott Hamelin, his partner since Deb was taken down by that sick fuck shot her waited and Duncan Shaw pulled up. Quinn knew Scott briefly from Narcotics; he was a rookie there when Joe first got transferred into homicide. Shaw was some super cop detective that Lt. Miller hired in from San Francisco. It was a little after hurricane Laura that Angel got promoted to Captain, Miller to Lieutenant, and Quinn finally got the bump up to Sergeant. In a lot of ways, it still seemed a little surreal to him. It wasn't until Batista urged him to try for and eventually want to move forward in his career that he even thought about it. Then it was after Deb that he really wanted to put an effort into not only advancing his career, but to fly straight as well.
"It's about time you decided to show up." Quinn called out to Shaw.
"I was following up on a lead on the Cooper case." Shaw replied. "You know that .38 we fished out of Loggerhead? That kid intern found a match on the serial number. Turns out it's registered to a guy named Charles Duggan. I looked into reports and what do you know? Duggan just so happened to report his gun stolen about an hour before the ETD of our guy Jason Cooper."
"That's convenient." Hamelin said.
"That sounds good." Quinn agreed. "Now how about we focus on the case we got right here?" He craned his neck over to Masuka. "What do you got, Vince?"
Vincent Masuka stood up, exhaling sharply. "What I have here is a masochist's masturbatorium of a mess." He replied. "It's hard to tell for sure if the severed limbs are post or ante mortem until I get these to the lab, but I can say whoever this is did a real hack job. We also got a single stab wound to the chest; right in the heart. So take your pick for cause of death. If you want to know where I put my money, though, I'd go with heartbreak hotel."
"I guess it would be too much to hope for any identification." Quinn said.
Masuka shook his head no. "She's nude." He said. "I'll check for fingerprints and trace DNA, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. If it's how it looks, this body washed up from the sea. The water most likely eradicated everything."
"Hey, I got a wallet over here!" Scott called out from a nearby bench. He brought it over, opening it up as he walked up to the group. "Here we go!" He said, producing a card. "Everybody, meet Nadine Michaelsen; age 45."
"Holy shit," Shaw said. "That black widow bitch just got out on bail pending her trial." Nadine Michaelsen was Duncan Shaw's first collar in Miami. Her husband died in the hospital after suddenly falling ill, and Nadine inherited a medium-sized fortune as the grieving widow. In cases like this, the spouse is always a suspect. In short order, Supercop Shaw put it all together and got his first solved as a detective with Miami Metro. As little as Quinn liked Angie Miller, she did know how to do her job as Lieutenant. Shaw was every bit as good as his record indicated.
Nodding, Quinn announced it's about time to get back for the morning briefing.
On the Plane
The jet was just about to touch down when Garcia popped onto the screen, looking a lot less cheerful than her normal self. Prentiss knew that look all too well; it meant that whatever she found was unpleasant.
"What have you got for us, Garcia?" Prentiss asked.
"Well, my beautiful minds, the State ME just delivered the DNA identification on the three bags of bodies for us and I am sending those to your devices...now." She said, tapping a key which sent the information to their devices. The first one they were looking at was the older Latino.
"Ladies and gentlemen let me introduce you posthumously to one Hector Corazon. He was a vet with the United States Marine Corps, served in Somalia until his unit got shelled, leaving him the lone survivor. He came home to Miami Florida where in a fit of PTSD he attacked and killed his next door neighbor. Upon realizing what he had done he turned himself in and his lawyers pleaded his case to a lesser sentence. Up until three weeks ago he was undergoing treatment. When he missed two consecutive sessions without a call his therapist reported him missing."
The next image was of the Caucasian.
"Is that who I think it is?" Rossi asked.
"If you're thinking that it's Alex Oxford aka One Shot Oxford, then you would be correct, Rossi." Garcia said.
"Hold up," Alvez interrupted. "Who is One Shot Oxford?"
"Alex 'One Shot' Oxford," Reid answered. "He's a suspected professional hit man, thought to have several connections to a number of terrorist organizations."
"He's been on the FBI'S ten most wanted list for at least five years." JJ added.
"The last time I checked he was thought to be hiding out in various places in Central America." Rossi said, "Haiti, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, places like that."
"It would be easy to get into Florida from any one of those places." Reid pointed out. "In fact, someone could very easily set themselves up with a hideout in the Everglades and be able to move back and forth almost at will."
The image changed again, this time to the African-American kid.
"This, ladies gentlemen, is the most horrible one of all." Garcia said. "Meet Norman Grant. Last year he got involved with a Miami street gang and shot and killed a liquor store owner in an attempted robbery as part of his initiation. Because he was a minor his sentenced was reduced. He barely got out of Sunshine State Youth Correctional Facility when he met with this unpleasant end one week ago."
"Hold on," Alvez said. "All three of these victims have some kind of criminal record and live in or at least near the Miami area. I gotta say this is looking more and more like a copycat of the Bay Harbor Butcher."
"For once in a very rare occasion we agree Newbie." Garcia said. "And that theory is made all the more likely with this piece of work found in Miami this morning." She added a new image to their screens, this one of a woman who looked to be somewhere around 40. "Miami Metro Homicide found Nadine Michaelsen on the shore right around Dawn; her limbs and head parted from her torso, and handbag with a wallet including her ID found on a nearby bench. As it turns out, Nadine was out on bail pending her trial for poisoning her husband in order to obtain the estate. Detective Duncan Shaw, the arresting officer, was able to confirm her identification on site."
The plane finally touched down in Portland, Maine, where the team was to rendezvous with the Sherriff and from there be escorted to Ogunquit. Emily had to think fast; who was going on to Miami, and who was staying here in Maine? For reasons never really made clear, Dave seemed to have a distinct dislike for Miami, so keeping him in Ogunquit made for an easy choice. That meant she would go on. She still wasn't sure if Reid was fully ready for a full investigation, but she would need him to go over all the files on the Butcher that Miami Metro had. She reasoned she could keep watch on him there; maybe keep him busy in the station. JJ might not be from Maine, so just like all of them she would be from 'Out Of State', but she did grow up in a small town, so she was likely able to adjust her behavior to their small town culture, which would put local law enforcement at ease about Federal Agents invading their town.
"Garcia, contact Miami Metro and let them know we're coming and will need all information they have on the Bay Harbor Butcher. Dave, you and JJ go to Ogunquit work on the body discoveries there. Alvez, Reid, and I will wait until the jet is refueled and go on to Miami; the fact that another body turned up there says this copycat is most likely operating there."
