CHAPTER SEVEN: "Seven Uncouth Children

October 16th – Plane to Las Vegas


"So what do we have?" Rossi asked, flipping open the file in front of him. The plane leveled out, the captain announcing that seat belts could be unbuckled.

"We've got three dead so far," Hotch begins as he walks around the plane quickly, handing out files. Hotch and JJ sat across from one another in the arm chairs while Prentiss and Morgan sat opposite them. Rossi and Reid sat slightly farther down the plane, Reid on the long couch and Rossi across from him on the shorter love seat. "Louisa Frankland, Jonathan Black, and Henri Duchamps."

"French. Fantastic…" Prentiss muttered under her breath, causing Morgan to let out a short chuckle.

"Frankland was taken on September 8th. She was found on the 15 th, 7 days later. Black was reported missing on the 22nd and he was found seven days later. Duchamps was taken on October 6th and his body was found, again, 7 days later. The ME reported that Frankland was dead for only 4 hours by the time she was found while Black and Duchamps were dead for 24 hours and 48 hours respectively."

"So our unsub keeps his victims for a week, dumps them on the one week mark, takes a week break and then starts over again." Morgan speculated aloud, flipping open the first file in front of him, cringing as he looked at the body of Louisa Frankland. "That's really specific. OCD? A strict job? I mean something has to be going on that makes him stick to his schedule so precisely." He looked up as Reid and Hotch nodded with him agreement. "Is he OCD about his victims too?"

"Louisa Frankland worked at Everette-Duvall Law Firm. Jonathan Black was a specialist in psychology; he was member of ASAM, American Society of Addiction Medicine, certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology as well as by American Board of Addiction Medicine. Duchamps was a French businessman involved in a large iron distribution company that started in France and just opened a sort of "branch" office in Las Vegas to start selling out to US consumers."

"Black was a psychiatrist that specializes in patients with addictions, using Buprenorphine to "cure" patients. A lot of people have problems with such doctors. Fighting one drug addiction by giving them another." Reid shook his head and purposefully avoided eye-contact with all team members; he didn't even bother to hide it by looking the file or playing with his bag at his side.

"I'm a little lost." Morgan said, glancing between Reid and Hotch. Hotch shrugged his shoulders and waited for Reid.

"Dr Black, like most doctors in ASAM, prescribe Buprenorphine to their patients; it's a semi-synthetic partial opioid agonist. Doctors like Dr. Black use it to help wean patients off their addiction. It's commonly used for those who have a high tolerance to their opiate of choice. Granted itt's also used to treat moderate pain in non-opioid-tolerant patients. It's broken down into sub-groups. Buprenorphine HCI and Naloxone HCI are used for addictions. Temgesic is used to treat intense pain in N.O.T patients. Buprenex is placed under the tongue to treat acute pain in N.O.T patients. And Norspan and Butrans are used in patches, like nicotine patches, but for chronic pain."

Morgan stared intently at Reid throughout his little rant. He watched as his hands moved back and forth animatedly in front of his face, his eyes shifting around the plane. He wasn't sure whether or not Reid was ranting simply because he was Reid or if he was ranting to avoid the thoughts that would probably be running through his head once he stops thinking. Dilaudid. But Morgan knew those thoughts would go unsaid and that Reid would probably sneak out to go 'see a movie' or call up Sophia if it becomes too much. Pushing those thoughts aside, and hoping they'd never pop-up again, Morgan focused back on Rossi's voice.

"There's a lot of damage done to these victims. I mean, I'm not sure if torture is even the word: burns on the legs, stab wounds on the arms, rope burns on wrists and ankles, bruises everywhere, broken fingers. These murders were personal and most likely revenge-driven."

Morgan hummed in agreement. "It's not overkill though. None of these wounds are lethal. It's all towards pain and torture, not murder. What was the cause of death?"

"Cyanide poisoning." Hotch answered, looking around at the teams reaction. The only one who didn't seem terribly surprised was Reid. "Any ideas?"

"Morgan said that he's OCD yet their wounds are not consistent. Frankland has less wounds than the other two while Black has a lot more than all three. It's probably more likely that he has some sort of schedule to follow in his personal life. He also has to be a loner of sorts since the dumping and kidnapping follows a perfect schedule yet he can keep his victims for a week. That means no unannounced visitors, no family." Prentiss suggested.

"With the extent of this torture he's got to be sadistic. It's not a means of murder; he picked a quick and less personal way to kill them. He's doing it for enjoyment. And maybe that's why Frankland had less injuries. Either she wasn't giving him the enjoyment he wanted or she 'gave up' and stopped fighting." Rossi posited.

Reid furrowed his eyebrows, something obviously bothering him. Hotch glanced over to him as Rossi spoke, interested more in the facial expressions Reid was making than anything else. It was clear that Reid disagreed with something that had be said but didn't feel confident enough to say anything and Hotch had learned from experience that it's better to wait Reid out than to ask him now.

"All of our victims had a note attached to their body. One phrase was written on it; "Sju Ofin Barns." Our unsub has a calling card." Hotch finally said after watching Reid quietly for two minutes.

"That just sounds like jibberish." Morgan said with a small laugh.

"It's Swedish. It means "seven uncouth children." Maybe we're looking at an unsub who really believes in the 'White Man's Burder.'" Reid answered quickly, not looking up from the file in front of him. His tapped his fingers quickly against his bottom lip as he flipped to the next page still unsure as to what wasn't sitting right with him. It wasn't necessarily what Rossi said but something felt like it was missing. He stared at Louisa Frankland's file, sensing there was something there that wasn't right.

"Again, a little lost." Morgan said, poking Reid with his foot and drawing him away from his thoughts.

Reid sighed and looked up from the file. "Uncouth means lacking good manners, uncivilized, unsophisticated."

"Only Duchamps was a foreigner so it can't be anything about taking over or fixing other cultures." Hotch said with a shake of his head.

"The seven…think we should be expecting four more?" JJ asked, flipping over one of the pictures to read the crime scene notes.

"I don't think this signature really means anything. It makes no sense." Rossi said with a huff. "None of them could even be remotely described as 'children;' Louisa Frankland had a husband and two children, Dr. Black had three kids in their mid- to late twenties, and Henri Duchamps was 58 years old with an ex-wife and one step-son."

"Alright. We've got two days till another victim is taken. When we get there we'll meet the local LEOS before splitting up. Reid and Morgan, you'll go interview Frankland's family. Rossi and Prentiss, you two will go interview the co-workers of Dr. Black first and then see if you can locate his kids. JJ and I will interview Duchamp's the ex-wife and his business partner."

With that everyone went to their own corner of the plane, each differing in how they preferred to spend their last two hours.


A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Works be stressful to say the least. I honestly can't say when the next chapter will be up. It's being written as we speak (or read) but I can't say for sure when it'll be edited and posted. I really wish I had the time to write since the second half of the story is written already. Please keep the reviews and good vibes coming :)