DISCLAIMER:
I own nothing. All rights remain with ABC Studios, CBS Television Studios and The Mark Gordon Company. Neither I, nor this story, are affiliated with above mentioned companies or any of their associates or subsidiaries, nor do I receive any monetary compensation from the publication of this narrative.
A/N: I apologize for the delay, Dragon Age 2 came out and I got sucked into my game for a bit.
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Witch Hunt
Chapter 2: The Crafted
The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky as the BAU team settled down to breakfast in one of Willow Creek's three restaurants. The thin brunette made her rounds refilling everyone's coffee, which Reid and Morgan had commented was some of the best coffee they've had. The waitress smiles, thanks them and throws a little wink at Morgan before turning her attention to her other tables.
"Did you two get to talk with Madison?" Prentiss asks, as she dives into her scrambled eggs.
"That reminds me." Hotch says to himself s he pulls out his phone to call Garcia to request a full background on Madison Wilcox.
"No, we didn't get back until after ten, so we're going to do that today." Morgan answers, reaching for a piece of toast.
"So what was this … thing you guys found last night?" JJ asks.
"It's a circular wooden plaque with glyphs and pictographs covering both sides. On one side of the first piece we found I recognize the symbols as Egyptian hieroglyphs and on the second I think they're Aztec." Reid answers. JJ quietly excuses herself in order to answer her ringing cell phone.
"Both cultures had pyramids, god-kings and a strong belief in the afterlife." Hotch points out.
"But Egyptians did not practice human sacrifice. And neither culture laid out their dead, or offerings in such a manner." Rossi pointed out.
"And something else, they were buried beneath the bodies, I only happened to come across the first one by chance." Reid adds.
"So it's possible these things are personal to our unsub." Morgan suggests.
"A serial killer who leaves trophies instead of taking them?" Prentiss sounds doubtful.
"Guys, they found another body." JJ says upon her return from her phone call.
.~*~.
The Reid, Morgan and Rossi hovered over the body while Hotch and Prentiss took in the surroundings and JJ spoke with the sheriff and local reporter working her magic to try and keep this story from making the evening edition.
"Do we have an ID on her yet?" Morgan asks, carefully looking at the candle in her hand.
"Um, yeah, JJ says her name is Spring Fitzgerald she's a college student in the next county." Reid answers.
"Are all of our victims from the same county?" Rossi asks.
"Yes." Reid answers.
"So our question should be what is in this county that keeps them coming back? It has to be something more than just a comfort zone." Rossi says, more to himself than to his team.
"The candle is still lit." Morgan notes a little surprised by the discovery.
"Well, with this type of candle and the fact that it is burned half way down it would stand to reason that the glass is acting as a barrier to the wind." Reid theorized, doing his best to wait patiently for his team to finish so the coroner could move the body and Reid could look for another plague buried in the ground.
Morgan carefully opens the victim's mouth and pulls out a small slip of paper. "Keeper of the gate, master of all fate. Accept this offering, know this prayer." Morgan reads aloud.
Finally the ME was allowed to move the poor woman's body so that Reid could begin examining the ground. As expected there was another piece of wood covered with even more peculiar symbols.
"You know, Madison might be able to help you guys with these symbols. She's rather knowledgeable in the…weird." Sheriff Williams suggests as he leans over Reid's shoulder curiously looking at the strange object. He is so engrossed in the thing that he misses the odd expression Reid gives him regard his choice of words.
"Well?" Prentiss asks, returning from her search for tracks or footprints.
"I don't know any of these symbols, but the Sheriff thinks Madison might be able to help." Reid says, slipping the item into an evidence bag.
"Getting her help will probably be quicker than trying to get a translation from Quantico. Sheriff would you please call her and her meet us at the station?" Hotch says upon his return.
"Sure." The sheriff then excuses himself as he pulls his cell phone from his pocket.
"Any luck on your end?" Morgan asks.
"All bad." Prentiss answers, revealing they found no footprints or tire marks fresh enough to be the Unsub's.
"Guys we may have a problem." JJ says upon rejoining the group. "The paper was cooperative enough to not cover the story; however, the local church has a website and someone started a blog about the murders. There are a lot of references to the 'godless overtones' in the murders and questioning how long a 'god forsaken heathen' will be allowed in their town." JJ reports as she quotes the language from the papers in her hand. "The reporter was kind enough to print out he blog in question…over half the town has read and commented on it."
"Do we know when it was posted?" Hotch asks.
"Last night around 10, posted anonymously." JJ answers.
"We need Garcia to track who posted it and speak with them." Hotch orders. Morgan is the first to pull out his phone to contact the BAU's resident cyberspace goddess.
"She's on her way to the station, should be there in 15 minutes." The sheriff reports, returning his phone to his pocket and oblivious the recent news JJ brought.
"Good, let's get going and meet her there." Hotch orders, leading the way to black SUVs the team drove.
.~*~.
"Sheriff, can you give me an idea of what is in the next county?" Reid asks as the group makes their way from the parking lot the police station.
"It's better to ask what isn't in the next county. They have a community college, shopping centers, movie theaters, hospital. Heck even our MEs are in the next county. About half the town works in the next county."
Hotch's phone rang, Garcia was on the other end bubbly announcing that she not only found the blogger, but his current address, which she sent to his phone and was in the process of doing a background check of the guy.
"Prentiss, Rossi, come with me; we're going to go talk with Joshua Miller, the man who posted the blog. You two work with Madison about the symbols." Hotch says, immediately turning around and heading back towards the SUV.
Once in the office Reid placed a pin indicating where Spring Fitzgerald body was found and a second pin indicating where she lived, again she did not live in Willow Creek. Reid studied the map closely his mind working fiercely to find a connection.
Morgan was up front, speaking with the Sheriff when Madison walked in. The sheriff smiled and greeted her with a warm friendly smile before introducing Derek Morgan.
"I assume you are here about the murders?" she asks.
"How do you know about the murders?"
"I read the church's blog." She answers with a shrug.
"But aren't you pagan?"
"Yes, but I often contribute to the church's bake sales and charity drives. Just because I don't share their faith doesn't mean I don't want them to succeed. What kind of person would I be if I could help but didn't?"
"Well, we appreciate your help with this." Morgan says leading the way towards the room the team had set up in. Madison pauses at the door a sudden thought causes her to hesitate.
"Are you OK?" Morgan asks, noting her uncertainty.
"Um…I'm not going to be looking at bloody bodies or dismembered…bits am I?" there is real genuine concern in her eyes. "I don't think I could ever get that out of my head."
"There are pictures of dead bodies, but no blood and they are all in one piece, I promise."
Madison visibly relaxes and follows Morgan into the small room, where she is introduced to Dr. Spencer Reid. The first thing she notices are the three women posted to the corkboard. She stares at the pictures with the flower wreaths on their head and the white gauze gowns.
"Odd…" Madison mumbles to herself.
"What?"
"The way they're dressed it reminds me of how young girls would be dressed for the Maypole, which is a fertility ritual." She moves closer to the board looking other items posted up on the board. "This is part of an invocation and has nothing to do with fertility." She adds pointing to the scraps of paper retrieved from the women's mouths. "Were all of the women were holding and surrounded by brown candles?" She asks, quickly reviewing some of the notes.
"Is there significance to brown candles?" Reid asks.
"Brown candles represents rebirth. But with these candles it takes days to burn down to this level." She answers her eyes dancing about the board, trying to make sense of what the unsub is trying to do.
"What invocation?" Morgan asks.
"Resurrection…This is the black arts." She points to the scrap of paper. "This is candle magic, several paths can and do use candle magic. But this guy is mixing fertility with rebirth and resurrection…which by the way are not the same thing."
"What do you mean?" Reid asks.
"Rebirth has to do with life going on after death, like the spring following winter or even the soul continuing after the body has died. Resurrection is the bringing of the dead back to life. These two ideas don't belong together."
"What about these?" Morgan asks pulling her attention to reason they called her.
"Wow." She says, her attention immediately upon the three plaques laid out on the table. "Just…wow. You have Egyptian, Aztec, Norse, Ogham Script, Greek and Native American. This is all over the place." She says flipping them over.
"Can you decipher them?" Morgan asks.
"Some of it. Do you have some paper and a pen I can use?" she asks, slipping out of her jacket. Morgan grabs a notepad a pen and hands them to Madison just as his phone goes off. Morgan steps out of the office to talk to Garcia. Without another word she jumps into deciphering the Norse Runes.
"You can read all of that?" Reid asks, in reference to all of the plaques before her.
"Enough to give you an idea about what they are saying. Language was my strong suite in college. I love languages, but I can read far more that I can speak."
"How many can you read?"
"Fifteen." She answers, not looking up from her translations, Reid's eyes widened in surprise.
"Um…" he says after a moment of silence to build his courage. "Are you a witch?" Reid gently asks.
"That depends on your definition of witch." She answers, still not looking up.
"Well, the dictionary's definition is a person, usually female, who practices or professes to practice magic or sorcery, especially black magic, or is believed to have dealings with the devil. An ugly old woman. A Wiccan priest or priestess. A fascinating or enchanting beautiful woman."
Madison finally looks up and Reid immediately wonders what he did wrong. She stands up and walks towards Reid, her honey colored brown eyes holding his as she speaks
"Well, I am not a follower of Wicca, nor am I a practitioner of the black arts, so are you saying I am an old ugly woman?" she asks, Reid finds him backing away until he bumps into the wall.
"No…I…no." he responds without hesitations.
"Then are you saying I am a young beautiful woman who has enchanted you?" she asks in a husky voice, her body mere inches from his.
"Um….no?" he uncertainly answered.
"Pity." She says in a quiet voice.
"Then according to the dictionary, no I am not a witch." She backs away, and turns toward the coffee pot. Reid is instantly captivated by her impossibly long red hair. Morgan enters the room and quietly makes his way to Reid.
"Just so you know kid…women don't generally appreciate it when you stare at their ass."
Reid felt the heat rush to his cheeks. "I wouldn't…. I wasn't… I mean it's just…I've never seen hair that long." He protests softly. Her hair is indeed long ending just below her backside. Reid quickly turns his attention back to the board as she turns to return working on her translations. While she works Morgan presents her information about rebirth and resurrection to the team. With that in hand Hotch feels they were ready to present the profile to the force. The team speak, each adding information about the unsubs. They inform the group that they are looking for a couple who recently lost someone close to them going so far as to indicate that they are looking for a man and woman either siblings or husband and wife. They would be equal partners and most likely have an 'us versus them' mentality, meaning that it's more difficult to turn one against the other during interrogation. They would have knowledge of embalming and see these women as object, hence the embalming. They went on to provide tips on how to approach the couple and what to look for in the way of vehicles and possible occupations.
"Mrs. Wilcox?" Prentiss asks, poking her head into the room.
"Madison, please. Mrs. Wilcox is my other Grandmother."
"Madison, it's been four hours."
"Holy wow! I just got involved…but this is really…different. Look at this." She says pulling out her pages of notes.
"What am I looking at?" Prentiss asks fully stepping into the room.
"These symbols are Runes, but the Vikings did not have a written language until the church stepped in. They had Runes, but Runes were used for divination, they're not an alphabet. It wasn't used as an alphabet until later." She set the piece aside and grabbed another piece which looked to be little the random lines. "And this is Ogham again using for a culture that did not have a written language, the Celts."
"What else have you learned?"
"I've only fully translated two tablets, but they are both the tales of a living god coming back to life after their death. I've only partially translated this one…" she says grabbing a plaque and flipping it to the Greek letters." …this is the tale of Persephone and Hades which is linked with spring retuning after winter or the dead coming back to life. And I would bet…" she indicates to the Egyptian hieroglyphs "…my next royalties check that it is the story of Isis and Osiris. This is Native American; again, only as an educated guess, would be a tale of Coyote who dies numerous times and returns. The ones I can't translate I bet my professor of comparative religion can, but I'd wager they are all tales of the dead coming back to life."
"What does that tell you about our unsub?" Prentiss asks curious for the woman's opinion.
"Your killer is not a pagan; they are mixing beliefs that wouldn't be mixed. You're looking for someone who wants someone back and thinks magic is the answer."
"But it won't work."
"Of course not. All of these stories are about the gods, not mortals. Death is a one way ticket...there is no coming back. But I should probably be getting home, do you need me to come back tomorrow and finish the rest?"
"No I don't think so, but will you be available if we have questions?"
"Sure, the Sheriff has my cell phone." She explains, slipping on her coat, not bothering to pull her hair free. "I should probably get going." Madison says picking up her purse and heads out the door. She is gone for only a few minutes before she comes storming back in complaining about 2 flat tires.
"Two?" the Sheriff asks.
"I probably ran over some nails or something when I went to the hardware store. Do you think I can get a ride home?" She asks.
"We can take you." Reid volunteers before the Sheriff can say another word. "I mean, Morgan and I were heading that general direction anyway, we can take you. Right?" He looks to Morgan for confirmation who pauses for only a second before agreeing.
"If you guys don't mind that would be great. I'll call Rob in the morning and get my car towed, ok?" she asks the Sheriff who nods. Morgan leads the way towards the SUV, informing Reid in a quiet, yet firm voice that he is sitting up front.
The drive was pleasant, Reid managing to keep a fairly constant conversation going by asking her about the translations and what she saw in the images on the board. Reid had even, and completely unintentionally, made her laugh. Reid made a mental note to ask Morgan what he said that was amusing.
"This is my house." she says, pointing to the small two bedroom home on the left. The porch light dark, which didn't alarm her, after all it was about time to change the bulb. What alarmed her is that the front door was open.
"My door is open." She says, needlessly pointing to the door.
Without another word Reid and Morgan left the vehicle, weapons in hand, Morgan took point while Reid instructed Madison to wait in the car.
The pair carefully push the door the rest of the way open, grey primer still evident covering the offensive graffiti. Morgan went in first, clearing the room to the left of the entry way while Reid took the right. After a few minutes they clear the house and Reid returns to Madison indicating that they didn't find anyone.
"Thank you." She says a touch of fear in her voice as she places a hand on Reid's arm. As if on cue, Morgan still standing on the porch, suggests the Madison take a quick look around for anything out of place.
She takes a few moments to search her house, finally stopping in the front room announcing that nothing seems to be out of place. The words are barely out of her mouth before the front window explodes inwards, showering her with glass. Reid grabs her and pulls her to the floor, shielding her with his body; while Morgan runs outside, gun in hand. A second projectile is hurled into the house and shattering against the far wall. Madison shrieks, and grips the back of his shirt tighter. Reid can hear Morgan barking orders and tires squealing; as he looks over his shoulder to see flames consuming the back wall.
"Madison, we need to get out of here." Reid says, watching the flames spread quickly though out the older home.
"Reid!" Morgan shouts upon entering the now burning house. "Come on, kid the whole place is going to go up!" Morgan exclaims as he grabs Reid's arm, hauling him to his feet. Both men alarmed at the rate in which the fire consumed the front room.
