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Chapter Four:
"That boy should have never gotten parole," Alicia Magnus said. "He's behind the death of my husband, I just know it."
"What makes you say that?" J.J. asked.
"He wanted to kill more kids, and my husband stopped him," she said. "He is out for revenge."
"He's been out for nearly three years," J.J. said. "Why would he go after your husband now?"
"I don't know," she said impatiently. "That's for you to figure out, isn't it?"
J.J. stood up. "Thank you for your time Mrs. Magnus."
"Just catch the boy and put him back in jail," she said and left.
J.J. left and Prentiss approached her.
"What are your thoughts?" she asked.
J.J. shook her head. "There's a lot of pent-up resentment, but no proof that Spencer Reid was involved."
"I don't think Magnus died of natural causes but I don't think Reid was involved," Prentiss said. "Everything we know about him suggests he would have killed him in a less obvious way," Prentiss said.
"I agree," J.J. said.
Rossi and Alvez appeared with Spencer Reid. They had seen a recent mugshot of him but it was still hard to connect the photo of the boy with long hair to the young man with muscles bulging under his shirt. Rossi nodded to Prentiss as they went into the interrogation room.
Prentiss watched the interrogation while J.J. headed in the opposite direction to interview another family member.
"Just, so you are aware," Rossi said as he took a seat. "You are not under arrest though have the right to have an attorney present."
"I understand," Reid said. "I am a person of interest in this case by virtue of proximity to the case. Particularly, the death of Roger Magnus and while the police haven't released how the men were shot I'm guessing it involved one shot to the abdomen and one to the head. My signature."
"Do you always follow the news closely?" Alvez asked.
"I like to stay informed," he said simply.
Rossi pulled out a piece of paper.
"We need to know your whereabouts for the following times and dates."
He shook his head. "I have no verifiable alibi for any of these times. I was at home reading at these times or asleep for the first one."
"So, what do you like to read?" Rossi asked.
"A little bit of everything," he said with a shrug. "Mechanical engineering books, the history of the geography of Finland, and a biography of the Elisha Graves Otis, the inventor of the elevator break."
"That is quite a variety," Alvez said.
"I like to be informed about a variety of topics," he said.
"Do you carry an ill will toward Roger Magnus?" Rossi asked.
"No," Reid said. "In prison I made peace with the fact that Magnus was only doing his job in trying to protect the students while my goal was to eliminate those who were causing the most harm to the school."
"Do you regret killing Johnathan Croft?" Rossi asked.
"Every few years while I was in prison, profilers and other specialists would come in and try to get me to answer that question. The truth is, I don't know. I used to be certain it was the right thing to do. But as I have developed emotionally, I can where what I did was wrong but I still can't let go of the idea that what I did was right at the time."
"Thank you for your time Mr. Reid," Rossi said. "I'd advise you to stay in town."
"I have no plans of leaving," he said. "But can you answer me this: What happened to Jason Gideon? He used to visit me every few years in prison until about seven years ago. He then only sent eight letters with no return address. He promised to speak at my parole hearing but only sent a letter."
"He was murdered by a serial killer three years ago," Rossi said.
A look of sadness came across his face.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said.
"That's all for now, Mr. Reid," Rossi said. "We'll have an officer escort you out."
"Thanks," he said and got up. He then left.
Rossi looked to Prentiss as he left the interrogation room.
"I couldn't get a clear read on him," she said.
"He was expecting us to come for him and had an answer for every question," Alvez said.
"Exactly," Rossi said. "But my instincts tell me he has nothing to do with all this personally. But someone wants to recreate these crimes either to honor or frame him."
"Let's check on what Simmons has been up to," Prentiss said.
"I'll be there in a minute," Rossi said.
He dialed up Garcia.
"This is your Oracle speaking, how can I help you?" she said.
"Can you take a few minutes and go into the deep archives?" he asked. "Look for a file on Spencer Reid by Jason Gideon and fax me copies of what you find."
"Sure thing," she said.
Rossi joined the Prentiss and Simmons to see what he'd been working on.
"I dug into, their personal lives from high school," he said. "Alex Trenton was the leading touch-down scorer on his football team. William Wren was an honor student part of the homecoming court all four years."
"Nerd, jock, the UNSUB's collecting high school stereotypes," Prentis said. "Who will be next?"
"The time between murder is forty-eight hours," Simmons said. "But I expect that to shrink with our presence here."
"Agreed," Prentiss said.
"Absolutely," Rossi said as his mind lingered on Spencer Reid. Gideon during the brief times he spoke with him over recent years never mentioned visiting him. He wondered what was hiding in those archives.