Reid's voice: "Murder in the murderer is no such ruinous thought as poets and romancers will have it; it does not unsettle him, or fright him from his ordinary notice of trifles; it is an act quite easy to be contemplated." –Ralph Waldo Emerson
The team is getting settled into the local police station. J.J. is tacking up crime scene photos on the board. Her breath catches in her throat as she sees the carnage in the nursery of the Dawes home. She quickly composes herself knowing that such a sight is difficult for everyone on the team. She also makes a mental note to remember to call home before Will puts Henry to bed. She is brought from her thoughts by the sound of a throat clearing behind her. J.J. turns to see an exhausted looking man in a rumpled suit.
J.J.: Detective Kremer? I'm Agent Jareau. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet at the scene last night.
Det. Kremer: I was helping my guys canvas the neighborhood. I want to thank you though for taking over that media circus.
J.J.: Well my title is media liaison. It's sort of my job. Most localities, especially smaller communities like this one, aren't really prepared to deal with the kind of media spotlight that comes with something like this.
Hotch approaches the pair.
J.J.: Det. Kremer, Agent Aaron Hotchner.
Hotch: Over there are Agents Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss and Dr. Reid. We've got a basic profile if you can get everyone together for us.
Det. Kremer: Already? Wow, you guys don't mess around.
Hotch: We can't afford to.
Hotch: The profile we are giving is very preliminary but with what we believe we are dealing with here, we don't really have the luxury of time.
Rossi: While the early indications were of some sort of personal attack against a member of the families, there is enough of an indication that this is not the case.
Det. Kremer: What sort of indication?
Morgan: We're looking at a minimum of five unsubs. The attacks on the Dawes family last night had to have occurred almost simultaneously.
Prentiss: Looking at the pictures and autopsy reports from the Harrigan house, there had to have been at least four unsubs there as well.
Rossi: If this were some sort of personal score to be settled with a member of the family, a group wouldn't be perpetrating the attacks.
Reid: It's also highly unlikely that the whole family would have been slain.
Hotch: We believe we're looking for a group of thrill killers.
Det. Kremer: You're saying they're just doing this for fun?
Prentiss: It's far from unheard of.
Morgan: The group we are looking for is most likely comprised of young men in their late teens.
Reid: There will undoubtedly be a leader of the group. This person will be a few years older but probably still not over 25. The other boys might have thought of even talked about killing but would most likely never have taken that step without the leader.
Prentiss: I know the images that come to mind when we say things like group of boys killing. You think gangs and delinquents and lower class. These boys are smart and probably no one you would ever suspect.
Rossi: For all of the destruction and what might seem at first glance to be disorganization, there was no trace of forensic evidence; no prints, hairs or fibers.
Hotch: This shows not only premeditation but a knowledge of police procedure and thought given to forensic countermeasures.
Reid: In some ways this is reminiscent of the Leopold and Loeb case; two young college graduates who set out to commit the perfect murder pretty much just to be able to say that they had.
Morgan: These kids don't have records. Your canvasses are coming up empty because they don't look out of place. No one is going to take notice of these kids.
Det. Kremer: So how are we supposed to find them?
Rossi: You don't start killing with whole families. You work up to it.
Reid: They most likely started with smaller crimes. When they weren't caught, it emboldened them. They have killed before. Those murders would have been single victims with lower risks of being caught. Each crime has gotten progressively bolder as they gain courage.
Det. Kremer: We haven't had a murder here in maybe ten years—until the Harrigan's that is.
Hotch: Morgan, call Garcia. Have her check Baltimore and other nearby communities for unsolved crimes that might fit these unsubs.
Morgan walks away from the group dialing his phone.
Prentiss: It's possible one or more of our unsubs was watching the commotion last night. We should scour the news footage and see if anyone has any cell phone video that we can look at.
Rossi: You've probably already interviewed at least one of them during the canvas.
Reid: There is no doubt that they will try to inject themselves into the investigation in one way or another. They can only be sure of how perfect their crimes are if they know whatever we know. They will want constant reassurance of how smart they are.