Author's Notes:
Special thanks to RainnyLuby for the great review for the last chapter.
Rossi turns to the detective and asks, "This is the first crime scene, right?"
"Yes, based on the autopsy the murder happened late December 1st but they weren't found until the next day." Detective Peterson says.
As they reviewed the entry point, Emily says "It looks like the unsub gained entry by knocking out the pain of glass in the back door so brut force probably means he's never done this before or at least he's not experience enough to know how to pick a lock."
"There is no security system installed either." Peterson offers.
"So he also got lucky that the break in didn't set off an alarm so that adds to the theory of limited experience breaking an entry." Rossi continued.
As they moved into the house, nothing on the ground floor seemed to be out of place. The house was in relatively clean state of affairs but there were dirty dishes in the sink. "Detective was this how things were found when your team went through the house?" Rossi asked.
"Yes, nothing was disturbed and it didn't appear anything was missing. The family confirmed this too."
"Theft wasn't the goal here. He was looking for the family so when he didn't find them downstairs he moved upstairs." Emily theorized.
As they moved up the stairs, the situation changed quickly though. "The pictures being out of place on the stairs means that there was a struggle. Most likely the mother heard the glass shattering downstairs and made her way out of the bedroom to find out what was going on. The unsub and her met on the stairs and he over powered her here." Rossi said.
"Once he had her under control, he probably threatened her to keep quite so that she didn't wake her son. She probably thought if she went along with things that he wouldn't hurt her son." Emily replied as she canvased the stairs for anything that may have been missed.
"She probably hoped he would take what he wanted and leave but she didn't know he actually wanted to torture her and then kill both of them." The detective stated.
As they moved into the boys room, they didn't find anything out of place except the covers on the bed. A review of the bathroom didn't yield anything either. The master bedroom was a different story though. It was clear the mother had been tied spread eagle on the bed from the remains of the rope still attached to the bed.
"So he most likely dragged the mother back into her bedroom and then tied her to the bed. Once she was secure then he went to subdue the boy." Rossi supplied.
" He took the boy from his bed, brought him in here and tied him to the chair there. From the report, he was gagged so he couldn't make a sound but he had a perfect view to watch as the unsub tortured his mother." Emily replied.
"From the coroner's report, we know that he first beat and then raped her. Then he moved on to the boy and slit his throat. The final act of rage came when he slit the throat of the mother." The detective said.
"From the spray of blood, both kill slashes were quick and sure. He was sure in his actions. This was premeditated. He knew exactly what he was going to do when he came here that night." Emily replied.
"The CSI team wasn't able to find any traces of DNA which means he wore a condom and gloves to make sure he didn't leave any finger prints or semen behind so he's smart and thorough in his planning." Rossi stated.
"The one thing that bothers me is that we are in the middle of a housing complex. If the unsub had planned this kill, wouldn't he have selected a home that was in a more remote location instead of squarely in the middle of hundreds of other houses?" Emily said.
"True but in Orange Country that is a little difficult." The detective responded.
"Right but with all the other planning I would think the location would also cross his mind which means that he was picking woman based on them filling a role. We know they all look a like and have the same family status but is there anything else that sets them apart from other single, young, blond women with young boys?" Emily asked.
"And there lies the million-dollar question? Let's head over to the other crime scene." Rossi responded. He hoped they would find something there because right now they were playing catch up.
The fifteen-minute reprieve for Hotch and JJ had been interrupted by a couple local police officers that had a few questions about the FBI but at least the conversation hadn't been about their current case.
The two agents were currently sitting in the interview room with Judy Peters, a close friend of Missy Williams. "Thanks for coming, Ms. Peters." Hotch said.
"Not a problem. I want to help find Missy's killer." Ms. Peters said.
"Ms. Peters, does Missy have any relatives near by?" Hotch asked.
"No, both of her parents are deceased and she was an only child. As far as I know she has an Aunt back in Indiana but she hadn't seen her in years."
"When was the last time you saw Missy?" JJ questioned.
"I saw her and Taylor the night before they were killed. We had dinner together at Thai Explosion to celebrate her promotion. She was promoted to store manager at Barnes & Noble at Southcoast Plaza."
Hotch knew it was probably a long shot but he asked anyway. "Did she say whether the competition for the position was tight?"
"She said that there were a few other people from within the company up for the position and also one or two other outsiders going for the position. I don't know if the competition was heated or not though."
"Was there anything else that was new in her life?" JJ asked as she took notes to have Garcia look into the promotion.
"No. She wasn't seeing anyone. She kept saying she needed to focus on her career first and once things settled down she would start focusing on herself. "
"And Taylor's father, where is he?" Hotch questioned.
"I don't know where that bastard is." Judy replied angrily.
JJ recognized the sound of a seriously pissed off friend so she tried to tread lightly as she asked, "Can you tell us what happened with their relationship?"
"Mark and Missy met in college, fell in love and where married shortly after Mark got out of law school. They had both planned to focus on themselves and their careers first but God wasn't onboard with that plan. Missy got pregnant shortly after they got married so she placed her career on hold while she cared for Taylor. The rat bastard though didn't help out much and his eye began to wonder. He had an affair with his secretary and when Missy found out he blamed it on the fact he was stressed and didn't want to bring his problems home so he often talked to his secretary and eventually one thing led to another. Missy forgave him but he did it a second time before Taylor even turned one. At that point, she filed for divorce and kicked him out of the house. The law firm that Mark worked for didn't like the situation. They preferred their lawyers happily married so they fired him. At that point, he ran off to Texas to a new position and supposedly a new girlfriend. Missy got her divorce from the scum but he's been a deadbeat father. He hasn't visited his son in over a year and as for child support it's been hit or miss.
"So do you think he could have in any way been a part of their murder?" Hotch asked.
"I doubt it. Mark is an asshole but he wouldn't kill anyone."
"Do you have an idea what her plans were for the next few days?" JJ said.
"No, I'm sorry."
Hotch replied, "No worries, Ms. Peters. I believe that is all the questions we have right now. Thank you for coming in. Let me show you out." Hotch lead Ms. Peters out of the room but returned quickly to JJ.
As Hotch closed the door, JJ asked, "So what do you think?"
"We'll need to check out the competition for the promotion and the ex-husband just in case."
JJ agreed with Hotch's assessment and informed him, "I'll talk to Garcia while you talk to the last family."
"Sounds like a good plan. The rest of the team should be back soon and we can go over everything."
JJ moved back into the makeshift war room. As she sat down at the table, she called Penelope.
"Sweetie, I don't have anything yet on the items you gave me earlier."
"That's fine. Hotch and I have some more information for you to track down. Missy Williams was recently promoted. She was up against several people who we need to talk to so we can ensure they were not involved. We also need to know more about the messy divorce. The ex-husband may have wanted her gone. Hotch and I agree it's a long shot but we need to rule it out."
"Ok, JJ. Anything else?"
"Not for now. Thanks, PG."
