Questions 3
Sorry for the character change on the summary – maybe I should plan or get further in before I start to publish. At the mo I just go with the flow; will get better at this – promise.
Rossi looked over at the unit's latest recruit, Amy Garton, as she drove the SUV. He could tell she was tired before they really got started with this case. Hotch had said he suspected she hadn't slept on the flight and he tended to agree with him. Rossi, like Hotch, knew all the details of what she had been through; yet he was convinced she could do this job and with such conviction he had managed to convince Hotch to get her onto the team. He hoped to hell he was not wrong!
Their journey to the first crime scene was the shortest out of all of them, but seemed so long as they travelled in silence. They would be there and back to the feild office before Prentiss and Hotch even reached theirs. Rossi knew why Hotch had paired him with Garton but why the first crime scene he didn't know; luck of the draw maybe. He flicked lazily through the crime scene photos hoping they were good as there would be little left at the scene of any use. The first murder had been over a month ago. An alley like this would be disturbed within a short time of the tape coming down; if it hadn't been disturbed before the police had got there. He also knew that because it was the first crime the chances were that things may not have been dealt with as neatly as they liked; after all the cops would have assumed, wrongly, that this was just another dead prostitute. They did not know they had the first piece in the jigsaw puzzle of a serial killer.
Rossi looked up as Garton stopped the vehicle.
"OK, we're here." She smiled at him, well at least her mouth did, her eyes were so lifeless they seemed dead.
"Ladies first, I insist" he really wanted to try a lift her but at the moment couldn't even fathom how to reach her. Since Hotch and him had spoken to Amy before the flight she had completely shut down, the complete lack of any sign of emotion worried him. "So your average alleyway, nice selection of dumpsters, full to over flowing of course. No additional lighting, so appropriately dark at night. Not much sign of people sleeping rough here, so main traffic being people coming out from the buildings to dump rubbish or have a cigarette break." Rossi run the commentary as he looked round the alley on their way to the scene. "The body was found here by this dumpster." He added as they got to the specific crime scene.
Rossi and Garton had walked just over half way down the alley. They both stared at the dumpster as if it was suddenly going to give them something amazing.
"Why this far down?" Garton questioned looking back towards the opening of the alleyway.
"Good question. Thoughts?" Rossi wanted to push her in the hope that she could work through this.
Amy continued to look back towards the SUV. "Ok near the start of the alley it's a quick dump. Back your vehicle up, body out, go. That would tells us the unsub is disorganised maybe even opportunist. But this far up." Amy turned to look toward the blue dumpster in front of them, "Our unsub knew what he was doing, may even have chosen this spot for a reason. He didn't want the body to be found too quickly and didn't want it disturbed either. Therefore he is more organised and had planned what he was going to do. Did he lay her out in a specific way?" Amy knew she was being tested; she had to get her head together and get on with her job. Rossi found the photos of the body in situ and shared them with her.
"He took his time. She wasn't just dumped. Anymore?" Rossi wanted to encourage her.
"So why here?" Amy nodded towards the building "We could get Garcia to do a check on the use of this building in the past see if there is a connection back to the club she was talking about. Most of these are restaurants, bars and clubs; so it could be." Amy signalled up and down the alley, photos in hand. "The positioning of the body; bearing in mind the violence involved in her death, the unsub has taken great care. Before getting here; he has dressed her again, smarted up her hair, make-up even. Then put her down carefully as if asleep, even partially covered her. Signs of remorse maybe?" Amy was looking intently at the photos, she needed to focus. "Yet he's still throwing her out with the trash" she added almost as an aside.
"So what does that tell us?" Rossi was really impressed. This was why he had badgered Hotch to get her on the team. He had seen some of her previous profiles and knew she had a talent but she hadn't shown it fully to the team yet. Maybe Hotch was right, this case would make or break her and his bet was now on make.
"That no matter how she dresses herself up or where she lives she is a prostitute, same as the girls who work this alley; and in his eyes that's the lowest of the low." Garton passed back the pictures and looked back up the alley. "You know he took a hell of a risk carrying her all the way down here. At anytime, anyone could come out of any of these doors. That is really confident for a first kill." She added as they walked back towards the SUV.
"So either he has killed before or the location is as important part of the ritual as the kill." Rossi summarised. He couldn't help but smile, he could help her through this if Hotch let them work together. The master and his protégée went to talk to the locals.
