When the team arrived in the conference room, both Strauss and Hotch were already there, standing at the front of the room and looking unusually grim.

"Ms. Garcia," Strauss handed the tech a piece of paper. "If you could go to this address, and put the file up on the screen?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Garcia glanced at Hotch, who nodded his approval, as she began attacking the keyboard of the in-room computer.

When Garcia pulled up the designated file, a series of women's pictures appeared on the flat screen. All ages and types appeared to be represented, but together they formed an attractive and prosperous-looking group.

"Focus on the first picture, please," Strauss instructed Garcia.

Once the picture was in place, Strauss began. "This is Valerie Prescott," she told them. "Wife of William Prescott, Under Secretary of The Department of Agriculture. Approximately six weeks ago, she was apparently kidnapped as she left her office in downtown D.C. When she didn't arrive home at her usual time and her husband couldn't reach her on her cell phone, he went looking for her. He found her car, with her purse and cell phone still in it, in the parking structure of her office building. He promptly notified the D.C. Metro Police. Arrangements were made to intercept a ransom demand, but one was never received. She remains missing."

"How come we are only hearing about this now?" Blake spoke up. "In a kidnapping the first 24 hours are crucial."

"The Metro Police were hoping that the kidnapper or kidnappers could be quickly located and arrested when they made contact," Strauss explained. "However, as I said, there was never any contact made. She remains missing."

"The second picture," Strauss told Garcia.

"This is Eleanor DuValle," Strauss began once the picture was up. "Her husband is Robert DuValle, Legal Counsel with the Banking Subcommittee. Almost five weeks ago, she left home in the early morning to go to her health club. After she completed her daily routine, she changed her clothes and headed for her car. Somewhere between the door of the health club and her car, she was apparently abducted. Again, the assumption was that she had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom. Again, nothing was ever heard from the kidnappers. She also remains missing."

"Both these women are married to powerful men," Reid observed. "Are you sure this isn't someone attempting to make a political statement?"

"If that was the case," JJ spoke up. "They would have notified the news media by now."

"Again, why are we just now being notified?" Morgan demanded. "To be effective, we would have had to get started as soon as anyone noticed she was missing."

"Metro PD has been waiting for the kidnappers to make contact," Strauss explained, obviously frustrated.

"Next picture, please," she told Garcia.

This picture was of a well-preserved woman, who appeared to be in her late 50's.

"Victoria Gainsville," Strauss introduced her. "She is married to Charles Gainsville, Deputy Secretary of Department of Commerce. She disappeared about four weeks ago, on her way home from visiting her sister. Again, her car was quickly located along with her purse and cell phone, but that was the extent of it. No ransom demand, no political statement, and no body."

"I see a pattern," Blake spoke up. "These women are being abducted a week apart, in alphabetical order of the agencies their husbands work for?"

"That appears to be the case," Hotch spoke up for the first time.

"That means that our next abductee is from the Department of Defense?" Rossi commented dryly.

"And went missing three weeks ago?" JJ added.

"Unfortunately," Strauss agreed as Garcia put a picture of a young, blond woman up on the flat screen.

"Sheila MacKay," Strauss continued her dialog. "Her husband is an Assistant Secretary for the Department of Defense. She went missing three weeks ago after spending the morning shopping with friends. Again, no one has come forward with any information, and there has been no ransom demand and no body."

"And – ?" JJ asked.

"That's the current situation," Strauss told the team. "We, the BAU, have now officially been called in."

"After this length of time?" Morgan demanded. "That means, when everything goes south, we're the ones left holding the bag."

"It's been three weeks, and there hasn't been any new abduction," Rossi observed. "Does that mean that the unsub has abducted whoever it is that they really wanted, or does it mean that security has been stepped up for the spouses of employees of the Department of Energy?"

"It could be either," Hotch explained. "Security has been stepped up for all spouses of the top levels at the Department of Energy, as well as the Department of Education, and the Environmental Protection Agency. That could be making it harder for him to locate a target and abduct her."

"Has anyone bothered to look at the women who have been abducted?" Blake suggested. "Maybe Rossi is right and this is a case of hiding the real target among a group of like individuals."

"The backgrounds of all the missing women are being thoroughly investigated," Strauss assured the team. "As of now, nothing has turned up to indicate that any one of these women would be a target, and all of their husbands have been cleared."

"This is a very disciplined unsub," Reid began the profile. "They are probably also extremely intelligent. He may have taken a break in order to lull the authorities into complacency."

"They are most likely a white male in the 30 – 40 age range and, presumably, extremely fit, if he is abducting and controlling all these women," Blake continued the profile.

"What about someone with OCD?" Rossi asked. "This alphabetical order thing screams that."

"Is this person a collector?" JJ guessed. "No bodies have been found. Maybe this unsub is warehousing these women somewhere."

"That would require a large, secluded building," Morgan pointed out. "And, it would have to be within driving range of D.C."

"Whoever this is, they have no preference as far as appearance is concerned," Hotch contributed. "All ages, hair colors, etc. are represented."

"Has anyone considered that this unsub might be getting upset because there hasn't been any publicity?" JJ pointed out. "That could be making it even worse for these women."

"Whatever is going on, we need to figure it out and locate this unsub quickly," Strauss declared. "As you can imagine, the pressure is on from higher up."

"What about the higher-ups from the FBI?" Reid asked. "If the unsub can't get to anyone from any of the 'E' departments, maybe they'll skip a letter intending to come back later."

"Warnings have gone out to all upper echelon FBI personnel," Strauss assured him. "And, security personnel have been assigned to some of the more prominent spouses."

"We need to build a profile of this unsub ASAP, so let's get started!" Hotch declared, handing a marker to Garcia.