Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews you guys have given me! Tlcroft, thanks for pointing that out, I changed it immediately!
Also, thanks again to RussellCraig, you're amazing!
I hope you guys like this second chapter as well!
Chapter 2: New Ideas
"The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one - Margaret Atwood"
- Emily Prentiss
- San Francisco-
"The name's Woodrow Nicholls, but you can call me Wood, everyone else does." Nicholls was the lead detective working the murders. It was he who went to his boss and lobbied for the FBI's assistance. He'd been a homicide detective for a long time, and he'd seen plenty of horrible things, but this killer, what he was doing to the women, was in a category all its own.
After shaking his hand, Emily made polite introductions. The detective led them through the bullpen area toward the conference room where he had things set up. "I'm sorry to call you in on a Saturday, but seeing as this killer strikes every Friday, I didn't think we could stand to wait much longer."
"It's fine," Emily assured him as the team gathered around the table. A board was already set up, lined with pictures of the victims, both the smiling variety and the gruesome crime scene kind. "What's the status of the most recent scene?"
Nichols looked at the board, at the pictures of Emma and Mattie. "It's untouched as you requested. The M.E. came and took the bodies for autopsy, but the rest of the house is exactly as it was found."
Emily rewarded this news with a warm smile. "Thank you Wood."
The cop blushed slightly before speaking. "So, do you have any idea why he's killing them in different ways? What's the point? It seems like a lot of extra work, if you ask me."
"Actually, we can't say with any degree of certainty that our unsub is male," Reid pointed out, continuing the lecture he'd begun earlier. "For all we know, it is possible that our killer is female, or perhaps even a team or couple. Statistics tell us that 65% of men use a gun while 52% of all female killers prefer to use poison. Since our killer used both, it is too soon to rule out either gender entirely."
JJ rested a hand on Reid's arm with a sincere smile, quietly shushing him. "Did the unsub leave anything behind at the scenes?" JJ asked, eager to change the subject. Her eyes flickered to the board and she cringed. She couldn't imagine what those women must have been feeling in their final moments, or perhaps she just didn't want to.
"No, not a single piece of trace evidence was found at any of the three scenes. All we can say for sure is that it appears the women opened the door willingly. There are no signs of any forced entry," Nicholls explained, opening a file in front of him. "Our techs did find one minor connection. Apparently, all of the victims visited a bar called 'The Café' in Union Square over the past few weeks. Also, I'm not sure if it's relevant but all three couples were engaged."
"I'll have Garcia run a check on that café," JJ offered as she dug out her phone. "Maybe our killer picks the victims at that bar and becomes friends with them before killing them."
Emily, who had been watching the board, turned to the team. "Alright, JJ and I will stay here and work on the geographical profile, while we wait for Garcia to look into the café. Tara, you and Reid, go to the M.E.'s office and see if the autopsies can tell us anything new. Alvez, Rossi, why don't you walk through the most recent crime scene and see if you can learn anything about our unsub."
"You know, being the boss is really growing on you," Rossi said with a laugh, earning a mock glare from the brunette and smiles from the rest of the team.
-ME's Office-
Tara and Reid entered the medical examiner's office and the assistant pointed them in the right direction. "You must be Dr. Hopper," Tara said with a smile as they entered his tiny office. "I'm Dr. Lewis and this is Dr. Reid, we're with the FBI."
"Yes, I was told to expect you. I'm Dean Hopper; and you're here to see the bodies." He moved out from behind his desk and confidently led the agents down the corridor, expecting them to follow. "I really thought I'd seen everything, but this is one sick son of a bitch. Once I heard you guys were coming I held off releasing the earlier victims back to their families, I thought you'd want to see."
"Thank you," Lewis said sincerely.
On six identical slabs the bodies were waiting, each covered by a sheet to provide some measure of dignity, if such a thing was possible.
"What can you tell us about these victims?" Reid questioned, following the examiner to the first couple.
"Obviously, they were killed by gunshot wounds. Based on the number of pellets found, I'd wager a guess that each victim was shot twice. They died quickly. Although the removal of the heart shows hesitation, the cuts were clean, suggesting a very sharp blade was used, perhaps a scalpel."
"Do you think our killer has a medical background?" Tara wondered aloud.
After a moment of consideration Reid shook his head. "I don't think so. The cuts are too long and uneven for a formally trained student."
Lewis nodded in agreement. "You're right, if he had a medical background, we'd expect the cut would be smaller and more precise like a surgical procedure." She paused to take a look at the damage to the victim's chests. "Did you find any DNA on the victims?"
"Nada." Dr. Hopper confessed as the group moved to the second set of victims. He lifted the sheets to just above their breasts, revealing their chalky faces and unmoving shoulders. He took a hold of Amelia's jaw to open her mouth slightly. "These victims were killed with arsenic. I found five times the fatal dose in each victim. I think he made them drink it." He settled each sheet over the victims again before proceeding, "After they died, the heart was cut out with less hesitation than the first time."
Reid stood with his arms in front of his chest. "Well, that would mean our unsub has access to arsenic. That suggests he or she works in a lab or knows someone who does. Bullets are far easier to acquire than arsenic and yet our killer poisoned them anyway, even after the gun worked fine. It's not logical."
"And it doesn't bring us closer to delivering a workable profile," Tara added with a sigh. She led the way to the final pair, the most recent victims. Rather than wait for the doctor she peeled back the sheet and examined the wounds herself. "I don't see any doubt or hesitation," she notes, looking to Reid for confirmation. "Our unsub is starting to like it. And he clearly has no shortage of rage."
"You are correct," Dr. Hopper agreed, reviewing a clipboard before setting it down and looking at the bodies directly. "These two women were each stabbed ten times, far more than was necessary to subdue or even kill them."
"Overkill," Reid noted, giving a name to the behavior the doctor was describing.
"Without something to compare it to, it's difficult to say what type of weapon was used, but if I had to guess I'd say it was a regular kitchen knife, the kind we all have."
Reid was becoming agitated at the lack of progress. "Which doesn't help us." While his coworker and the medical examiner watched Spencer Reid turned on his heel and marched from the building, leaving the door open behind him.
"Don't mind him," Tara said quickly when they were alone. "Dr. Reid is brilliant but the cost of all that extra brain power is his social graces." She followed the medical examiner back to his office and gave him her card. "If there's anything else you might find. Please give me a call."
-Crime Scene #3-
"Mathilda Greensburg and Emma Rockford were found early this morning by Emma's mother. When her daughter didn't open the door, she looked through the window and saw… this," Nicholls explained, waving his hand dramatically at the carnage. "Based on the pools of blood we believe one of the victims, Emma most likely was stabbed here, in the hallway. Mathilda's body was in the kitchen. There are signs of a struggle, and it looks like Mathilda put up a fight."
Rossi and Alvez moved around the space slowly, taking note of every detail. Emma's dried blood was a dark red pool on the floor. Inside the living room, lamps and books were scattered around in random patterns. Alvez went to the kitchen, where Mathilda's body had been. Her blood was a horrific contrast against the white cupboards and tile floor.
Rossi appeared beside him, his dark eyes asking a wordless question. "So, my guess, our girls were just finishing dinner when the unsub arrived." To prove his point, he guided Rossi to the dirty dishes and the largely finished meal on the table. "Emma gets up to answer the door, which explains why she died in the hallway."
"Mathilda hangs back, maybe to finish eating or to start cleaning up. She has no idea there is trouble until it's too late," Rossi continued, picking up where Luke left off. "Maybe she sees the unsub, or maybe Emma's body, but either way the chase is on. They crash through the living room and Mathilda ends up cornered in the kitchen."
Alvez knelt near the spot where Mattie died. "Look at this blood splatter," he points out to Rossi and Nicholls. "There is cast-off on the ceiling. I think she was trapped here and the killer raised the knife over his head and brought it down hard and fast. He'd have to, to get a stain on the ceiling."
Once they'd reviewed where the bodies were found, the profilers shifted to a more subtle analysis of the home. There were plenty of photos, pictures of the women alone and together. A large photo collage took up almost an entire wall in the living room. "They were happy together," he stated, looking at all the different pictures. Some were from parties, laughing, drunken selfies, and even a few shots of paint-smeared grinning faces during some sort of renovation. They'd clearly been taken over a period of years. He could literally see the women growing up as his eyes scanned from left to right. On a hunch he took out his phone.
"Oracle of all knowledge, at your service," a cheerful Garcia answered. He could already hear her fingers typing away.
"Garcia, I'm at the most recent crime scene. This couple, they seem really happy. Can you look into the others? Look for any affairs, appointments with divorce lawyers, unexplained bar tabs or hotel charges."
He could hear the skepticism in Penelope's loud voice. "Um, sure, of course I will, but is there something specific you want me looking for?"
"I'm not sure yet," the older agent admitted before he noticed Alvez and put the phone on speaker so he could join the conversation.
"Do we have any other connections between the victims, other than that café?" Luke quizzed, hoping she had updated information.
"Nothing that I can find, and if I can't find it, then chances are it isn't there to be found."
Both Rossi and Alvez smiled before they said goodbye and hung up. "It's that café, it's got to be," Alvez guessed.
"I'm starting to think you're right. Whoever the unsub is, that café is important somehow."
"To make matters worse, given the weekly cycle of these crimes, the killer is out there now, looking for another couple," the local detective pointed out.
On the way to the car, Rossi got a call from Reid. "Did you find anything at the M.E.?" he asked, hearing the hope in his own voice.
"Nothing we didn't already know," the younger agent admitted with a grunt. "It doesn't make sense. No matter what television says, killing someone and leaving no evidence is hard and exceedingly rare. How is this unsub doing it?"
"I don't know, kid, but they all make a mistake sooner or later, this one will too," Rossi predicted. "We're on our way back. Hopefully when we put everything we know together, we'll see something we didn't before."
-Police Station-
Emily walked into the conference room, with two coffees in hand. JJ was bent over a file and refused to look up as Emily entered. Tilting her head, the brunette tried to catch JJ's eye but failed. "You okay?" she ventured cautiously, placing a coffee on the table for the younger agent. Setting her own cup down Emily dropped a hand on JJ's shoulder. She felt Jennifer tense, and her heart dropped to her shoes. Normally the blonde never reacted so negatively to Emily's presence. What was going on? "You can talk to me you know."
"Just drop it, Emily," JJ retorted bluntly, keeping her face buried in the pages of her file. JJ felt like she was balancing on the edge of a knife. She was still furious at Will, she missed her sons, and she was worrying frantically about the potential victims. This killer didn't have much of a cooling off period, and JJ knew that meant more victims. She needed to help, to do her part to catch the unsub and get justice for the victims. She couldn't do that, if she was thinking about her personal problems. She couldn't do that, if Emily was looking at her with concern, bringing her coffee and touching her shoulder. Her focus needed to be entirely on the case. "I just went through all the files. Thought I'd see something, but there is nothing new. Different murder weapons, one woman's heart removed from her chest, and placed in the other woman's hand. Their bodies positioned together, even after they were killed separately."
Taking a seat next to JJ, Emily took her time before answering. She wanted to talk to JJ as a friend, and make sure the blonde was okay, but she couldn't, at least not yet, because there was a serial killer, and a case and nearly no evidence. History told her that JJ would open up to her in her own time and not a minute before. Pushing her would only make her more defensive and that was the last thing Emily wanted. "With any luck, Garcia and the others will bring good news."
Just mere minutes later, they heard Rossi's voice in the hallway. "Thanks for the ride," he told Nicholls before making his way to the conference room the girls occupied. Alvez followed a few steps behind, taking a seat across from Emily. He was just about to open his mouth to discuss their findings when Garcia's face appeared on the screen to Emily's right.
"Your favorite analyst has arrived," she cheered, waving exaggeratedly from her lair. Taking note of who was present and who wasn't, she questioned the boss. "Where are my favorite doctors?"
"On their way," Emily said with a hint of annoyance. She loved Garcia, but sometimes she just wanted to hear what she found.
At Emily's insistence Garcia began, relaying everything she'd done to try and locate the unsub or connect the victims. Midway through her summary Reid and Lewis arrived, taking their seats and joining the briefing in the middle.
"Okay, get this," the technical analyst started as Andie's and Emma's driver's license photos joined her on the screen. "None of our victims have criminal records. The only thing I could find was a parking ticket for Andie and a speeding ticket for Emma. They're squeaky clean. I hacked their social media and there is nothing to suggest any of the girls had enemies of any kind."
Alvez stood from his chair, running a hand through his short hair. "So, they really were as happy as they appeared to be. Did they have anything else in common besides that café?" he asked, repeating the question he asked her earlier.
"I'm still coming up blank there. I checked everything, and I mean everything. They never went to the same school, they never had the same doctor, their workplaces are all over the map. I mean Amelia and Jane both played tennis, but I think that's more of a coincidence than a real lead."
"Another dead end," Tara said, speaking for all of them as she got up to search for a coffee. "We're getting nowhere."
Emily looked at JJ, who had been quiet for the entire length of the briefing. Her worry for her friend multiplied. Something was really bothering the blonde and while Emily had her suspicions that it involved Will she couldn't be certain. Did they have a fight? Was something wrong with the boys? Emily could only hope JJ would open up to her soon, because seeing her best friend so pained was difficult, more difficult than Emily wanted to admit. She was pulled from her thoughts by someone saying her name, "Hmm?"
"You zoned out for a minute," Rossi informed her, with a smug smirk. Looking around Emily could see she'd missed a very important conversation. Everyone was looking to her for comment, or approval and she had no idea what to say.
Mercifully Tara took pity on her and filled in what she'd missed. "We were just discussing the pros and cons of putting someone in undercover at the café. It's the one place we know the unsub hunts and time isn't on our side in this one."
"Oh, right, yes, well.. great idea," Emily stuttered, putting her weight on her elbows as she leaned across the table. "We'd need a couple, not just one agent," Emily pointed out as she struggled to get a handle on the meeting again.
"And it obviously can't be Rossi, Reid or me," Alvez reminded them.
For a moment, JJ, Emily and Tara all looked at one another in question but no one spoke. Rossi's mouth turned into a private smile as he watched. "I think it makes the most sense for it to be Emily and JJ," he said confidently when the silence had grown almost painful. "You two have known each other far longer than either of you have known Tara. If it needs to be convincing, it'll be easier for you two."
"I don't know, Rossi," JJ said quickly, tossing a file onto the table. "I've never gone undercover before." In her mind, JJ immediately thought of Will and what he'd say if he heard about this plan. She tried not to imagine his rage, but could, all too clearly. "Maybe we shouldn't do this. Going undercover isn't what we normally do. Can it really help us that much?"
"It's worth a shot," Tara chimed in, pointing to the file JJ had just tossed aside. "Right now, it's all we've got."
Emily was more than a little conflicted, about the strategy but she couldn't deny Tara's words were true, they really didn't have much else. Short of waiting for the killer to strike again, this seemed to be the best option. "Ok, well I'll get Garcia started backstopping our identities and we can discuss the plan in the morning." While Emily was fine with the idea, she could see JJ was less sure. She wanted to talk to the blonde privately, to give her the chance to escape, if she wanted it. Emily would do almost anything to catch the killer, but she wouldn't force JJ into a situation that made her uncomfortable. Some lines were just too far.
Looking at her watch she stood and gestured for the others to do the same. "Why don't you all head back to the hotel and get some rest, it's been a long day and I think tomorrow will be even worse."
A squeaky sound came from the monitor, reminding them that Garcia had been listening the entire time. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun," Garcia predicted with a squeal. "I'll have everything ready to go by morning," she promised. "Ohh lookie here, I think I found the most perfect house for you guys and it's a bargain."
Emily couldn't help but laugh at her friend's enthusiasm. "Calm down Penelope and don't buy anything!" she demanded.
Emily dismissed the team but asked JJ to stay behind. When they were gone, leaving just Emily, JJ and a monitor showing Garcia's smiling face, Emily's voice softened. "You don't have to do this Jayje. If you don't want to, I can go with Lewis, or I'll go alone…"
It might have been her imagination but to Emily JJ looked both relieved and pained by the offer. "Is it our best chance to catch the unsub?"
"Yes," Emily told her truthfully.
"Then I'll do it."
She studied JJ's blue eyes for a moment before turning to Garcia. "Alright Garcia, put an offer on the house and get to work on our aliases, but don't you dare give me a stupid name. Remember who is now responsible for your paycheck."
After a quick round of laughs and a few more instructions for the computer-goddess Emily told Garcia to go home, and sent JJ to the hotel with the others.
Alone she hurried to the police department ladies room. Standing in front of the mirror she put her hands flat on the counter and tried to support her unsteady legs.
Keep it together, Emily, she said to herself after a deep, cleansing breath. Just pretend you don't have a secret and she'll never know. Normally Emily thrived on compartmentalization, but this case was making that nearly impossible. Going undercover and pretending to be in a relationship with JJ would be a challenge under any circumstances, after all she was a beautiful woman and Emily could see that as surely as anyone. Complicating matters even further were the very real feelings Emily had for JJ. She had no shortage of tricks for pretending like Jennifer Jareau didn't tempt, tease and torture her every single day, but secretly Emily wondered if her tricks would be enough this time.
She had also seen the conflict in JJ's eyes. Was it the same battle Emily had waged? That seemed unlikely but Emily allowed herself to wonder. If there was an upside to the situation she'd gotten herself into it was that Emily would now have an excuse to be close to JJ. Hopefully she could figure out what it was that had the younger agent so on edge lately. With an unexpected wave of confidence, the source of which she couldn't identify, Emily relaxed. She could do this.
A/N: Any thoughts? ;-)