Previously:
The silence that followed his presentation was almost deafening. Spencer, finally remembering where he was, sank onto Tony's chair and waited for the lead agent to start yelling at him…
Now:
But the yelling never came. Instead, Kate cleared her throat.
"Ahm… Spencer? How did you come to these… khm… conclusions?"
The lead agent was still contemplating him thoughtfully and suddenly, just maybe, he didn't look so condemning anymore. That alone gave the young BAU agent strength to answer.
"Well, I profiled him."
"But how? How can you know all this stuff without any evidence?" – Pressed McGee, clearly at a loss.
Spencer smiled.
"Oh, but we do have evidence." – He said.
"We do?"
"Yes! It's all around!" – Now he was passionately explaining again, imagining he was teaching a class of students eager to learn He was waving around his hands and pointing at various pictures he'd put on the whiteboard. – "It's in the way the crime was committed. The when and how are very important as well; the MO is incredibly telling. Victimology, patterns, behavior… I mean, that's why the FBI has us: the Behavioral Analysis Unit! That's what we do: we examine the small details even the most seasoned CSI agent might miss or dismiss as unimportant. We draw conclusions; founded ones, mind you. We use the profile to understand why the UnSub did what they did and how they did it. What was their motivation? When will they strike again? Who's the next potential victim? And most importantly: how can we catch these UnSubs?"
Tim furrowed his brow…
"The 'un…' whats?"
"The Unknown Subjects. UnSubs. That's what we call the suspects."
"Why?" – Kate inquired, now very interested. She had studied some profiling before but she'd never really seen its uses; truthfully, until now, she had thought it was just bogus. Now she was actually starting to understand its importance.
"Hmm… I don't really know. It's been done for ages." – Reid shrugged. – "Anyway, my conclusions are quite simple: how do I know he's wanted to be a marine? Well, that is the reason for him working out; thus I know his physique; that's the reason he lives nearby, watches, lurks… Also, he must be strong to carry out these kidnapping and to place the bodies like that, but he can't be bulky and big because it's clear he can hide well. I know that because he catches his unsuspecting victims unnoticed. He's probably handsome or at least likable-looking, because he doesn't stand out; he's not suspicious. I know he's not interested in torturing them because all three bodies turned up within a day after being abducted and with no signs of torture whatsoever. They were simply killed. So why could this be? Because he wants to be rid of them. It's very telling that he takes those who are in uniforms, so I know it's personal and related to what the uniform represents. It's got meaning. Motivation. It's also important to note none of the bodies turn up wearing the uniforms; by the time he deposits them, they're dressed in civil clothes. Why do I suspect he's colorblind? Because of the clothes being so ill-matched it actually hurts the eyes. Just not his. And that can be the reason he's not accepted to bootcamp. His age? It must be right for enlisting because he's still hoping but he can't be very young because he's been trying long enough to have failed quite a lot. So, here's your profile."
Again, silence followed his lecture but this time, Spencer didn't feel so bad about it; for, on the face of the great Leroy Jethro Gibbs, he could see something akin to… awe!
In the end, the lead NCIS agent presented Reid with a very rare smile.
"It's impressive. Good job, Agent Reid!"
Spencer blinked.
"It is?"
"Don't make me say it again, Agent Reid. I'm not in the habit of repeating myself." – Gibbs said but his eyes remained friendly and open, telling Spencer he wasn't really angry. This was good to know because an angry Gibbs was a frightening Gibbs. – "All right, people: I'm going to tell Abby about what we've just learnt, maybe it will help her narrow down the search somehow. You go and talk to the witnesses. The profile gives us a huge advantage but never forget Rule #3!"
"Rule #3? What's rule #3?" – Spencer asked.
Kate and McGee exchanged silent glances, so it was the lead agent who answered.
"Gibbs' rules. You'll need to learn them if you want to operate with this team."
"Ahm… All right. So, where can I find them?"
"Nowhere." – Kate answered.
Now the youngest profiler was confused.
"Nowhere? But then how will I learn?"
Gibbs smiled.
"You are here. You observe. You learn. The others will help you. Be mindful of Rule #9 before going anywhere. I don't like that you're never prepared. No gun, no knife? You're just asking to be attacked, boy. I will make you a real agent if this is the last thing I'll do because I strongly believe in Rule #5."
"What-"
"The others will tell you! Don't waste my time with nonsense!" – The boss bellowed.
"I'm sorry…"
"Rule #6! Never say you're sorry! It's a sign of weakness. Are you weak?"
"Wha- I mean… I'm… No, I don't think I am."
This didn't seem to be the right answer.
"You don't 'think' you are? Don't you know?"
Spencer, who had a feeling he was finally starting to figure the boss out, looked straight into the man's eyes and said with as much confidence as he could muster.
"I know I'm not weak."
This seemed to satisfy the leader, because he turned to his other two teammates expectantly, instructing them without words like always.
"Yes, Boss. We're on it." – McGee said quickly, holstering his weapon while Kate grabbed the car keys.
When Gibbs disappeared in the elevator, the dark-haired woman asked Spencer:
"Hey? You coming? We'll tell you all about the rules in the car."
"Oh, yeah, sure… Which witness do you want to talk to first?"
The two NCIS agents smirked, obviously enjoying his cluelessness.
"We're not going to talk to anyone. Not together, at least." – Tim explained. – "There are three witnesses and three of us. So, what does that tell you?"
"Ahm…" – Reid didn't know what he was supposed to say to that. Surely they didn't mean…? – "I don't know because it's required that at least two agents be present at all times and that means-"
"Jesus… Kate! The boy is really going to quote the agency rulebook?" – McGee said in a mock-horrified voice, clearly enjoying the fact that for now, he wasn't the youngest or the newest on the team. For a while, he was the one who could pick on the 'Probie'.
"No, it can't be!" – Kate clapped her hands to her heart. – "He wouldn't do that to us. Especially when he knows by now that we operate by Gibbs' Rules solely!" – She then shook her head. – "Come on, Spencer! It's so much quicker this way! Each of us takes a witness and we'll be done in an hour! We go everywhere together, it takes the whole day!"
"Okay, but won't Agent Gibbs be angry-"
"No. Trust me: he'll be proud." – Tim patted his shoulder. – "You'll learn, Kid. Let's go."
Spencer wondered if it would be the right time to tell them that he'd never been allowed to talk to a witness alone…
BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU
"So, Agent DiNozzo-"
"Call me Tony." – Tony had decided to let them call him so, since he figured if he'd be with them for a month, listening to 'Agent DiNozzo' the whole time would be incredibly awkward…
"Tony." – Morgan smiled in an annoyingly knowing way. – "I hear you did an exemplary job yesterday at the crime scene."
The NCIS agent didn't know what to say to that; Morgan was the last person he'd expected a praise from.
"Ahm… Thanks…" – He muttered.
"So…" – Elle began. – "At NCIS you do the job of the CSI team as well?"
"No, not really… I mean, yeah, maybe we do…" – It was kinda hard to explain, Tony found. What had been absolutely normal for him before suddenly seemed to only be one possible option amongst many others; before now, he had never really thought about what and why they did and how it could be done differently. – "We do arrive at the crime scene with them and we bag evidence, take photos… Usually, I do the sketches. I like doing it myself because then it's easier for me to use them later." – He added as an explanation, seeing their awestruck expressions. – "Why, is there something wrong with that?" – If he sounded a bit defensive, he couldn't help it.
"Why, no; of course not!" – Hurried Elle to reassure him. – "Actually, we're impressed."
"Yes." – JJ continued. – "We usually arrive at the crime scene afterwards, when these things have already been done. I wouldn't know how to sketch to save my life." – She admitted with a small laugh.
Morgan nodded.
"As you saw, we deal with serial killers; so when we get a case, we usually have one fairly new murder along with more cold ones as well that match the new MO and the local PD only now makes the connection. Sometimes, we don't even have the opportunity to see anything on site anymore because some murders were months or even years ago. I think it would be easier if we could work like you guys do though because like this, if the local police did a sloppy work, that's what we have to deal with."
"I used to be a police officer before joining NCIS."
"I didn't mean to say they all do a sloppy work, I just meant-"
"I know what you meant." – Tony didn't want to sound too huffish or anything but his voice indicated clearly that he considered the matter closed; just in time before he'd accidently tell them what he thought about the work the mighty FBI sometimes did…
The profilers exchanged a glance as if they had a very good idea what he was thinking but then decided to drop the subject.
Right then, they arrived at the place where the first victim had been found over half a year ago.
"All right." – Morgan. – "JJ and Elle: go talk to some neighbors. Tony, you and I will walk through the scene to see if the initial investigation missed some important aspect."
"Why don't we split up?" – Suggested the NCIS agent, unconsciously mirroring his far away colleagues thought about time-efficiency. – "Then we could cover more ground quicker."
The FBI profiler looked at him in surprise as if Tony had just declared the sky was green.
"We never do that." – He countered. – "It would be foolish and dangerous. We always work in pairs. Don't you?"
Tony shrugged, having already noticed how different the two agencies were and not having the patience nor the energy to explain their ways. It wouldn't matter anyway; rule #38 said: Your case, your lead. Even if this wasn't NCIS he was going to follow this directive and respect this team's working methods because he was only a guest here and would – hopefully – be home soon.
"I think the suspect came from there." – He said instead, turning into the indicated direction. – "And dragged the body all the way there…" – He turned to the other side, tracing an invisible line with a finger. – "Just to stop by that bush there."
"How do you know that?"
"Because that's the only way it could have happened."
"The police thought he came from that other street to jump her."
"Yeah, well: you did say yourself the police do a sloppy work sometimes… Oh, and I also think the victim knew her killer, so she most probably wasn't jumped at all. They might even have been walking together. Just like by the newest case; they weren't strangers. I think our suspect-"
"UnSub." – Morgan corrected almost automatically not entirely surprised when Tony ignored him altogether.
"- only kills those he has prior connection with."
"I agree. It appears to me as if they were quite close, it's possible that they dated." – And then the BAU agent smiled cheekily. – "But how do you know that, Agent DiNozzo? Are you secretly becoming a profiler?"
"Don't even say things like that, Agent Morgan!" – Groaned Tony exasperatedly before walking back towards the SUV where he could see JJ and Elle already waiting for them.
"So, guys. Did you learn something?" – Elle questioned as soon as they were close enough not to be overheard by curious passersby.
"Yeah. Sherlock here determined that the police were wrong: the Unsub knew the victim. They were probably walking together and arrived from a different direction than originally thought." – Morgan summarized their findings and ignored the way Tony rolled his eyes at the unwelcome nickname.
JJ nodded.
"This seems more logical. Mrs. Peers in number 2234 seems to remember seeing a 'cute young couple' walking hand in hand exactly where you thing they were."
"Let's head back and talk to Garcia. I saw some CCTV cameras around, maybe she can get us the recordings."
NCIS * NCIS * NCIS * NCIS * NCIS * NCIS * NCIS * NCIS
"So… ahm… Mrs. Hendriks… You called the police when you found the Sergeant-"
"Yes, and it was so horrible!" – The elderly lady nodded and wiped her eyes with a bright pink handkerchief. – "I was walking Mr. Pickles like every morning. He likes to get out early, you know."
"Who?"
"Mr. Pickles. My dog." – She said, nodding her head toward a miniature dachshund sleeping soundly in front of the door, clearly not interested in the guest enough to stay awake for long. It was fine with Reid; dogs generally didn't like him and he wasn't particularly fond of them either. – "And then I saw him… He was young. Not like you, sonny, but still way too young to die." – Spencer smiled sheepishly, waiting for her to continue. – "He was just lying there with blood all around and… he was… he was…" – She started sobbing loudly. – "DEAD!"
"I can imagine how frightening this must have been, Mrs. Hendriks but please… can you remember any details? Was anyone else there? Did someone appear suspicious or strangely nervous perhaps?" – Reid tried, inwardly cursing the whole situation. He shouldn't do this alone. Actually, he shouldn't be doing this at all: normally, it was JJ or Elle talking to distraught women. Or Hotch, or Morgan or sometimes even Gideon. Anyone but him. He, with his incredible people skills certainly shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a person when they were this hysterical! – "Did you notice anything unusual?"
As soon as he had finished the question, he knew it had been a mistake: the elderly witness cried harder than ever and Spencer was afraid she'd throw up or pass out soon if she continued like this.
"Unusual? UNUSUAL? Do you think finding a corpse is not unusual enough?" – She lamented, motioning toward the kitchen with one hand. – "Fetch me a glass of water, sonny, won't you? I don't feel too well…"
"Sure…" – The young profiler hurried to do as he'd been asked, all the while wondering if there was a way to flee from this situation, even though he was fairly sure there was a Gibbs Rule against giving up on an assignment...
Kate and Tim had dutifully listed the rules to him on the way here but he wasn't sure he had caught them all. He had an eidetic memory, meaning he remembered everything he read on a paper or wrote down for himself. This talent didn't extend to everything he'd ever heard. Mostly, his memory was just fine with that as well though, as he was often asked to recite something word to word to the team they'd been told during the investigation. But these rules… these rules didn't make any sense. No sense at all. Thus, it was also more difficult to remember them.
He knew there was a rule – number 15, perhaps – that said 'always work as a team', and yet, here he was, alone. Maybe these rules only applied when it was convenient? This was also probably the reason it was strictly forbidden to write them down – that way, they could change them whenever they wanted and nobody would be any wiser.
If it were his team, they would come to help. No, correction: he wouldn't be alone in the first place. Gideon and Hotch seemed to have made it their personal mission to walk Reid through his time learning social interactions and help him out in certain occasions. Especially occasions like these. And if for some reason neither were available then he could always count on his 'big brother' Morgan to step up and support him. Now though… Now these were quite unusual circumstances with a team he didn't know and with people who didn't seem to want to coddle him at all. Who treated him like they treat each other: normally, with no exceptions made only for him.
Actually, maybe this wasn't such a bad thing after all…
"Your water, Mrs. Hendriks." – She thanked him kindly and sipped quietly for a while. When she had calmed down a little, Spencer tried again with a bit more tact than before trying to remember how JJ always talked to the grieving families. – "Mrs. Hendriks… Sergeant Alvez was 26 years old and had a fiancé. They were planning to get married next spring and wanted at least three children. All his plans have been destroyed because somebody decided to kill him. We don't know who, we don't know why. But we want to catch this person so he can get his rightful punishment. And we need your help. Please. We have reason to believe the Sergeant had been deposited there only minutes before you found him. It's probable that you interrupted the killer. Think about it: did you notice something?"
At first, the elderly lady looked shocked. Then horrified. And in the end, she nodded thoughtfully, as if only now giving the matter real thought.
"Actually… There was someone. A man. He seemed to be in a hurry and even shoved me a bit when he passed." – She said. – "I thought he was very rude but didn't think… Didn't know… Oh, Dear, do you think he was the killer? He could have killed me too!" – She stood and started walking up and down in the small living room, wringing her hands agitatedly. Her dog looked up curiously but then decided it wasn't worth the trouble and rolled over to continue his sleep. – "I was in grave danger and I didn't even know it"
Reid wanted to remark that in a big city like that, they were all literally in grave danger at all times, with all the lunatics walking around everywhere... But he somehow didn't think that would make her feel any better and he was pretty sure neither JJ nor Elle would try to use this argument. So he cleared his throat and said instead:
"No, no, ma'am. I can assure you, he wouldn't have hurt you. We profiled he's only hunting for marines… But please, can you give me a description? Anything?"
"Oh, well, maybe I can try… So…"
By the time she was done with her explanation, Spencer had a pretty good idea what the UnSub looked like. Waling back towards the car with a self-made sketch he felt proud and more confident than ever. He had done it. He had spoken to a witness completely alone and hadn't made a total fool of himself!
Wait until Gideon and Hotch heard of it…
BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU * BAU
Standing in the living room of the witness who they hoped would help them learn more about their second victim, Tony sighed. The CCTV cameras – and the curious woman named Garcia – had done wonders to their theories. Now if only they could prove it to be true for the second murdered woman as well…
"So, Ma'am…" – He began unsurely. There was a reason he usually let Kate handle crying witnesses. He was lots of things but, sadly, 'tactful' wasn't among them. – "You knew Claire Winston?"
The woman who was in her late sixties, early seventies, nodded and blinked away some tears.
"Yes. She was my neighbor and she often helped me do the shopping or just came over to talk… I'm somewhat lonely, you know…"
"I'm… khm… very sorry to hear that…" – Gideon had insisted on coming with him, claiming just like the others before they'd never let an agent work alone, but then why wasn't he helping!? What was the use of him if he just sat there quietly and deliberately let Tony suffer alone? These people were nuts, for sure! – "Did she have a family of her own or was she living alone?" – He fished for more information about their victim.
This seemed to have worked because the woman blew her nose then shook her head.
"No. Poor thing was lonely, too. I guess that's why we liked each other's company so much…"
Tony looked at the senior profiler for some kind of support but the man was pointedly ignoring everything that was going on and only stared off into space as if his mind were at a completely different place. Great… And they called this teamwork!? At NCIS at least everyone did their own jobs and didn't just tag along and pretend to help!
So, it was him asking a question again:
"She didn't even date? Did she go out sometimes?"
First, the elderly woman shook her head but then, as if only remembering something, she took a deep breath and said:
"Actually… Yes. Sometimes. Not a lot, mind you. She wasn't that kind of woman, you have to understand. Not easy."
"Of course."
"But she was lonely. And wanted to start a family. She was already nearing thirty and was afraid she'd run out of time, so… She started that… thing… you know, using her computer, looking for someone. She used to say the word… Ahm… Tender, or something…?"
"You mean: Tinder?" – Tony guessed, and huffed annoyedly because, of course Gideon would choose this moment to listen in on the conversation and if it wasn't enough, the old man even had the nerve to smirk!
"Oh, yes, yes! That's it. Tinder. She told me stories about some young men she'd talked to but it seemed like it wouldn't work for finding a real boyfriend." – She explained before starting to sob.
"Did she tell you about whom she was meeting the evening before she died?"
"Oh, yes. She told me everything, you know? She was almost like a daughter to me. My own daughter, Monica… She doesn't even visit me. She comes for Christmas and calls for my birthday but that's it. She moved to Canada over two years ago. Has a husband and my two grandchildren there. Soon, they will alsp have their own families and I'll never see my great-grandchildren. They don't need me-"
"So… What did Claire tell you about her date?"
"Well… She said he might be The One. She said he looked very handsome in the pictures and was very nice-sounding; because they had talked over the phone; and she also said he seemed like a real gentleman."
"In what way?" – Tony inquired. He, per definition, had a very good idea what a gentleman was like but still, he couldn't imagine how this could shine through when you were only writing online or talking on the phone without actually meeting someone. Didn't anybody want to have normal relationships anymore?
"Well, for example, he let her dictate the pace. He let her choose when and where to meet, what to do and when to go home. She said he was the first who didn't push her more than she was comfortable with. The only one who didn't seem to only want… well… you know. That." – She actually blushed a bit at that and Tony knew very well what she was referring to.
So, the killer was charming and had a good knowledge of how women work. He manipulated them. He probably even liked 'hunting' more than the actual act of torture and killing. He was definitely already stalking his next victim and it was only a matter of time before they'd fine a new body.
As soon as they'd said goodbye to their witness he told Gideon that.
The senior profiler nodded thoughtfully.
"If it appears too good to be true, then it usually is." – Was the only thing he said in a cryptic way.
Tony didn't understand what that meant but didn't really care either. He seethed.
"By the way: thank you for all the help in there!" – He said angrily.
Gideon didn't seem fazed.
"Anytime."
The NCIS agent gaped: what was wrong with that man!?
Without missing a beat, the senior profiler climbed into their SUV and Tony had to hurry to do so as well for fear the old man would leave him standing there without a second thought.
He hoped the others had made some headway identifying the man.