The team entered the station in Michigan greeted by stern glares from most of the officers, then a warm howdy and gripping handshake- Chief John Barrock, a small chubby man with a very noticeable receding hairline; very joyful as he greeted each team member.
"…and finally Dr. Spencer Reid" Hotch introduced Reid last, as he snapped out of his daydream to make eye contact with the small, happy man. Spence felt himself give a small smile, greeted with a awkward little wave- before hands diving straight back into his pockets.
The team began to set up in the small dusty room they had been supplied with, windows wide open and a small breeze entering through the slits of the blinds.
"Ok so Rossi, Reid and Morgan you go to the last crime scene. Myself and Alex will go to the latest victims family and JJ you stay here and finish setting up.." With that the team split, and went off to their assigned targets.
Reid, Morgan and Rossi turned up at the last crime scene, a swampy pond just off the side of a road through some trees… the youngest victim had been dumped here shortly after her life being taken.
"So the Unsub tortures and kills her, then dumps her in this spot? It's somewhere slightly hidden, so clearly he didn't want her found; she was found faced down-" Morgan began, rein acting the scenario.
"So clearly signs of remorse" Rossi hadn't spoken since the case began, he finally said something.
"Who found her?" Reid spoke softly, looking around- clearly you can't just stumble upon the body from the road above.
"Some couple walking their dog discovered her, so called the woman screamed and tried to save her" Rossi looked confused,
"Wait tried to save her?" Morgan had stumbled upon Rossi's mistake.
"She was still alive when he dumped her?" Reid felt anger boil inside him, she had the chance to live- and no one was looking for her.
"He burned that message into her skin, alive?!" Morgan was furious, he stood up and began to pace the small pond trying to calm down.
"How can no one have been looking for that little girl?! She was seven, and no one wanted her? That poor little girl, lay here beside this pond after being abused and tortured! Fighting for her life and no one was looking!" It was always hard knowing that if they had been called sooner, that little girl could have been saved.
Hotch and Alex had just arrived at the victims family, as they walked up to the rather large building they discovered- no one was looking for this little girl…
"Hello, I'm SSA Hotchner, this is SSA Blake we're with the FBI- may we come in?" As Hotch looked beyond the woman there was laughter, screams and voices from everywhere- children running around the house.
"Sure, come in" the woman didn't sound too pleased as she stepped aside to let them in, but did so anyway as she led them to a rustic looking office room.
"You're here about poppy? Shame I heard about her death… always knew she'd end up dead or in jail" the woman didn't sound surprised, upset or even bothered.
"You don't seem concerned about Poppy?" Alex was straight in there, she didn't understand how someone who dedicates their life to helping children can not be, even a tiny bit upset with the death of one of her children.
"We always knew Poppy would end up dead or somewhere along those lines" she spat, looking around as to not make eye contact.
"How do you mean?" Hotch replied, slightly concerned.
"She was a weird child, never spoke, never interacted with the other children- she'd sit in her room or under the tree's outside all day… waiting"
"Waiting for what?" Hotch seemed concerned, the story of this little girls disappearance was becoming more of a worry.
"Waiting for her dad to turn up whisk her away again, he left her on my doorstep when she was just a baby- tried to raise her best I can.. Guess she was just a bad egg" The woman shook her head tuting as she got up walking out the room.
"Ok that's everything we need for now, we'll be back soon if you need to talk to us please- don't hesitate to call us" Alex politely handed a card to the woman, as herself and Hotch eased their way out the building.
Back at the station the team had finally come together to discuss what they discovered; Rossi and Reid had given their details on what they discovered at the crime scene whilst Hotch let the rest of the team in on what he and Alex, discovered at the children's' home.
"So the woman was defiantly suspicious then?" JJ asked concerned, just as Hotch was about to answer JJ's question; Morgan's phone began to ring.
"Hey baby girl, what you got?" Morgan held the phone out from his ear, placing Garcia on speaker phone.
"So I dug around about this children's home and in the past month there has been more runaways than I've had take-a-ways"
"Ok so there's clearly some connection, the disappearances could be connected somehow but we don't know that yet- that place just could be really crap?" Morgan spoke calmly, as he looked to the team in confirmation.
"Well that's all I've got for now, I'll keep digging. Stay safe my angels" As the phone went dead the team stood in silence, they had a lead now.
"So what, the person killing all these girls is a middle aged woman? Who runs a children's home, that contains mostly girls?" Alex was now sat in the corner of the room, the entire team was trying to piece together this new information they had.
"So were looking for a middle-aged angry woman who is taking her frustration out on pre-pubescent teenage girls?"
"No. We're looking for someone who has lost a child, probably a pre-pubescent teenage girl and is now suffering. Maybe it's an anniversary or birthday; that's what's triggered the killings?" Rossi spoke once again, standing up taking a sip of his coffee; the team all nodded in agreement.
Was the team getting closer to catching this killer? Or was they heading in the wrong direction?
- I do apologize if I upset anyone by false information, misspelling and incorrect grammar use but I am writing this along-side my college papers and so forth.. It's hard at the moment, so please keep reading and thanks for the lovely comments :) Enjoy + Review!