The police office was in organized chaos. Everyone was busy, hurrying around the room with documents or issuing orders. The team had driven past three cop cars on patrols, there were roadblocks stationed at every exit into the city, check points set up throughout the city, and a group of officers were sent out to canvass the neighborhood going door to door. People were acting as if martial law was in effect, and no one could rest until this girl was found.
"This girl is high priority." Emily stated as they made the way into the room.
"All missing children are." Hotch responded, but he knew what Prentiss was referring to. They had been briefed on the plane Marissa Elizabeth Holmes was the only child of a London government official, Mycroft Holmes, they had little information concerning him or his job, but it was made clear that Marissa's safe return was of the utmost importance. World war three could start and it would be a secondary concern to locating this single child.
"Agents." The police chief, a well built man with a thick red beard, greeted them. He was dressed in the standard beige uniform, though the uniform was pressed and clean he looked tired and worn. "I'm glad you made it here as quickly as you did. We've got an amber alert in effect, tripled the number of officers on the street, set up a tip line, school phone lines and home phone lines are set for the ransom. I also got the mayor and five officials breathing down my neck."
"You're under a lot of pressure then." Rossi stated impressed by how quickly the local officers had reacted to the situation.
"I could ask for an armored tank right now and have it within an hour." The chief answer flatly, his voice lacking any humor or exaggeration.
"Reassure the mayor that we are doing everything possible to get Marissa back, but right now we need to talk to her friends and family." Hotch instructed as he took charge of the situation.
"Her family is flying in from London now, we got her teachers and classmates giving their statement but she doesn't seem to have any friends." The man replied pointing towards the interview rooms, more than willing to deviate the responsibilities of the case to Hotch and the rest of his team.
...
"What did you get out of the classmates." Hotch asked as the joined him in the makeshift office, which consisted of three case boards in a small conference room.
"Not much," Morgan stated. "She's a loner, kind of weird, got into trouble for mouthing off, but no one knew of anyone that would want to hurt her." He listed what her classmates had told him.
"There's no record of her being in any trouble." Hotch said as he looked over her file, in fact there was no disciplinary actions of any kind in her record.
"Apparently whenever she got into trouble she would send a text and the problem would just go away." Morgan explained further. There was a slight edge to his voice not liking the way these private school types could get around the rules, but he in no way wished any harm to come to her.
"Have Garcia look into her phone records, see who she was speaking with." Hotch directed as he turned to the others. "Did they have anything else to say about her?"
"Just this." Prentiss said as she opened her note book, wanting to get what one student had told her word for word. "God help whoever has her, the girl is a complete psychopath and if you don't find her you'll be finding her kidnappers dead in a ditch somewhere."
"Her class mates have a positive view of her." Rossi stated humorlessly.
"It's strange." Reid added.
"What's strange?" Morgan asked, turning to the boy genius who was staring at the girl's picture on the board.
"That she doesn't have any friends. Physically she he very attractive: symmetrical face, dark hair, and bright eyes. Also, her extracurricular activities are extensive: she's on the archery team, science club, debate team, top of her class in math and science. She should have some friends." Reid explained further.
"Maybe she's shy." JJ suggested.
"Or maybe the other kids are jealous, I've see her IQ scores." Emily theorised, obviously impressed, it wasn't a big leap for jealously to arise when the schools expectations on education creating a competitive atmosphere. If the school hierarchy was a pyramid, based on grade point average alone then Marissa Holmes would no doubt be at the very top. And that would likely cause problems for those below her.
"Maybe the dean can tell us more." Hotch suggested as he went to interview the head of the school himself.
...
"Miss Monette, thank you for coming in." Hotch greeted the women as he stepped into the small office. The women was well put together, dressed in a tailored pencil skirt and blazer, with a stern face that no doubt was used to keep the teenagers in her school in line.
"It's not a problem anything I can do to help, Marissa is one of the schools brightest students." She replied politely.
"What can you tell me about Miss Holmes?" Hotch asked wanting to get a better idea of victimology other then what was described by the other students.
"She is a bright young girl, brilliant in math and science, but she keeps to herself most of the time. I honestly don't know how much help I can be." Miss Monette explained.
"The other students say that she often got in trouble for talking back at teachers, yet no disciplinary actions were ever filed, why is that?" Hotch asked, pursuing the usual line to questioning.
For a moment Miss Monette was silent, contemplating what to say, her jaw locked as the muscles in her body went rigid. "Miss Holmes is a genius, unfortunately she thought so as well." Miss Monette explained, her tone indicating slight resentment towards the girl. "She often spoke as if other opinions were too far below her to even take seriously, she would correct teachers on trivial matters, and the only time she ever showed courtesy to others feelings were when she was manipulating them to do something for her."
"Why was none of this in her file?" Hotch pressed on.
"Her father is a prominent figure in our school. Mr Holmes wanted to deal with any behavioural problems himself." The women explained. "I think he had begun to get through to her, she was becoming more considerate to the teachers at least."
"Is there anything else, I should know?" Hotch asked.
"No, nothing I can think of."
"Thank you Miss Monette." Hotch said as he went to show her out. The profile was quickly coming together, the daughter of an important diplomatic figure was often a target for kidnapping, add that to her personality she was most likely a risk taker who believed she could handle everything herself.
The two had only steeped out of the small office when the atmosphere of the room change, the steady noise of the officers working stopped as all eyes fell forward.
Three men walked into the room, a short blond haired man with an uneasy expression, his gaze shifting back and forth to the two men in front of him.
A taller man with a head full of curly black hair, cloaked in a heavy black coat with a deep blue scarf, and his hands folded behind his back.
The third man was several years older than the first two, but when he entered his presence commanded the room. Dressed in a professional suite and held an umbrella as a walking stick the man lead the group, his expression calm but his eyes were hard and sinister.
The other police officers moved out of the way as they passed, instinctively sensing that they were not here to play games.
"Who are they?" Hotch asked.
"Marissa's father, her uncle, and a family friend." Miss Monette whimpered her gaze had fallen to the floor as soon as the group had walked into the room, her once confident voice faded to a mousy whisper.
"Ms Monette." The elder of the group greeted as walked up to the headmistress, completely ignoring Hotch.
"Mr Holms." She answered robotically, using all her will power to look the man in the eye.
"Would you care to explain to me exactly what happened this evening?" He asked, tapping his umbrella on the police station's tiled floor. The quite tap that the steel tip made somehow seamed threatening when combined with his intense gaze.
Hotch looked at the man, his dark eyes glared at her with such force that they could cut through steel.
"Mr Holmes, my name is agent Hotchner." Hotch introduced himself, saving the women from answering the question. "We are doing everything we can to find your daughter, but time is of the essence and it would help if you could answer a few questions."
"Of course agent." Mycroft answered smoothly, a politician's polite mask firmly in place. "But once I answer your question, I wish to be fully informed to what is being done to locate my daughter." That was not a question but an order.
"Right this way." Hotch nodded, unsure what he was in for.