A/N: Well would you look at this, two updates in one month! I was reading over the whole story a few weeks ago and I noticed how badly edited it is. I don't have a beta so all the mistakes are my fault. I want to apologize for them and any that I make in the future, because who am I kidding, there will be some. I also want to say that I suck at profiling, that's why I put off writing it for so long. So when I was writing this chapter, I really didn't know what I was doing, even though I've seen pretty much every episode of Criminal Minds. So . . . Yeah. Happy reading!
Morgan and Prentiss got back to the police department to find the rest of their team sitting around the table. Morgan had tried to make light conversation on the ride back but Prentiss wasn't in the mood for talking. While she seemed to be feeling better, Morgan didn't think she was one-hundred percent yet.
"Morgan, Prentiss, we're just about to start the preliminary profile," Hotch informed them.
"Do we even have enough for that?" Morgan asked and glanced around.
"The officers here are starting to doubt us," Rossi replied. "They don't think we need to be here."
"And Strauss is giving us until tomorrow to come up with some new leads. If we don't have any, then we have to move on to another case," Hotch added.
"Alright then let's get started," Prentiss said and sat down.
"The UNSUB is most likely white, between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five," Rossi began.
"He displays traits of an organized offender, as well as a disorganized one," Morgan continued.
"The blitz attacks suggest that he lacks the social skills to charm his victims, yet some of the victims invited him into their homes," JJ said. "He waits until he's alone with his victims, so he's patient."
"Nothing was stolen from the victims and there was no sexual abuse, so this is violence for violence sake," Reid added.
"There was a brief cooling off period, in which time he moved towns," Hotch stated. "Now he seems to be accelerating, but he's not getting sloppy."
"He leaves the bodies in somewhat public areas, so he's not afraid to get caught. He won't have a criminal record," Rossi said.
"He has a high level of precision and there's no experimentation which suggests he's fully evolved," Morgan said.
"But guys," Prentiss injected. "What about the fact that the murders that happened on the same nights were all really close together? Some of them were on different sides of the towns. How could one UNSUB get from place to place so fast without being seen?"
"Prentiss has a point," Hotch sighed.
"Okay, so what if it is a group?" Morgan asked. "It's the same murder weapon each time, so how do they work?"
"They could have made copies of the knife," Reid suggested. "Given the right tools, it is possible.
"Okay, so what changes in the profile?" JJ asked.
"We're most likely dealing with a pack mentality. Each person rationalizes their own behavior off the others," Rossi said.
"They're still white, between the ages of twenty-five to forty-five, there's no experimentation so they're not juveniles, and there doesn't appear to be any ideology," Prentiss said.
"How many UNSUBs are we dealing with though?" Morgan asked.
"Judging by the stab wounds," Reid replied and pointed at the pictures. "Maybe three or four. Some of the cuts are deeper than others, so one person is stronger than the others. And as Prentiss pointed out, some victims were killed by a left handed person, while others by a right handed person."
"There's at least one male in the group, if they're not all male, because a woman wouldn't have the ability to overpower some of these guys," Morgan voiced.
This warranted a few glares from JJ and Prentiss but they said nothing.
"They're definitely organized," Rossi said. "They wait and prowl the streets looking for victims at night."
"There was no vandalism," JJ reminded the group. "They went straight to murder, they leave no evidence, and they're not afraid of getting caught. They must have done this before."
"But Garcia already checked for similar cases and there aren't any," Morgan said. He really hated this case; it was just so damn confusing.
"Well there was something that brought them together," Hotch said. "They don't stand out in the community; they're a part of it. However, they're killing in a small area so someone will recognize them."
Morgan sighed and looked around. That was the best they were going to get for a profile and they all knew it.
"Alright, let's go give the profile," Hotch instructed and rose from his seat.
"Which one? The single UNSUB or the group?" Prentiss asked.
This caused Hotch to pause. "Let's go with the group profile," he replied.
….
After giving the profile and talking to the local cops, the team established that there weren't any violent gangs in the area.
"This just makes no sense," Morgan huffed. "We've gone through all our leads and come up dry. There's got to be someone in this town who noticed something strange."
"What about people who are new to town?" JJ suggested.
Hotch called an officer over. "Do you know of any new residents in the town?" he asked.
"I don't believe anyone's moved here in the last few months," the officer replied. "The most recent people to come to town are the IRS agents. They got here last year and stay at the bed & breakfast for some reason."
"Do you know where their office is?" Reid asked.
"I know it's not in town," he said with a shrug.
"Thank you," Hotch said as the officer returned to his work.
"Why is it that everything seems to lead back to them lately?" Rossi pondered.
"Morgan, you asked Garcia to look into them right?" Hotch asked.
"Yeah she should have everything by now," Morgan replied and pulled out his phone.
"Prepare to be amazed!" Garcia answered.
"And why is that Garcia?" JJ asked with a chuckle.
"Because I finally found the IP address on the hacker!" she replied.
"Can you get into their system?" Reid questioned.
"Sadly Boy Genius, I cannot," Garcia admitted. "This computer system has Zatak Subsonic security systems that are even beyond my level of expertise."
"So where did they hack you from?" Prentiss asked.
"A warehouse barely outside of Univille."
"Did you find anything on the owners?" Hotch asked.
"The only thing I got is that it's owned by the government. The rest is super-secret that I can't get to," Garcia told them.
"Who else has told us that their work is classified?" Rossi responded.
"The Secret Service agents," Reid answered, not realizing the question was redundant.
"Have you gotten their files yet Garcia?" Hotch asked.
"Yes I have, and I must say, they certainly are some interesting reads."
"Okay, we already know a little about Claudia Donovan so let's start with her," Hotch instructed.
"Claudia Donovan, twenty-two years old, parents deceased when she was very young, was in her brother's custody until he disappeared for twelve years, then spent time in foster care," Garcia recited. "At age 19 she checked herself into a psychiatric care facility for four months then checked herself back out, but you guys already knew that. She's taking online university courses as well. She appears to be living at Leena's Bed & Breakfast at the moment."
"She's the youngest, right?" JJ asked.
"Yep."
"So what made her join the group? How did she get the job as Technical Analyst? Because they probably weren't accepting applications with what they do."
"JJ's right," Morgan agreed.
"Oh wait, I have something that might answer that," Garcia said. "Claudia's brother studied under a Professor Reynolds who had ties to Arthur Nielsen. Her brother worked with Arthur Nielsen for a while before dropping off the map."
"Maybe Claudia met him at some point in the past, and then when he needed someone, he sought her out," Prentiss suggested.
"That might be an option," Hotch said with a nod. "Let's move on to Arthur Nielsen."
"Whatever you say Boss Man," Garcia replied. "Special Agent in Charge Arthur Nielsen works for the Secret Service, sixty-four years of age and . . . Huh."
"What is it Garcia?" Morgan asked.
"The farthest back I can go into his background is to when he's twenty-six years old," she replied.
"Why is that?"
"There's nothing there before then."
"What do you mean?" Hotch asked, growing concerned.
"Arthur Nielsen must be an alias."
Everyone looked at each other; that wasn't good.
"What do you have on him?" Prentiss asked.
"He's part of a classified division of the Secret Service," Garcia said. "He was employed around the same time the alias was made. I have no home address, but he does own a 1957 Jaguar XJ150 Cabriolet and a 1969 Chevrolet El Camino."
"And he's the one in charge?" Rossi asked no one in particular.
"There must be someone above him," JJ stated.
"Probably," Morgan agreed. "Who's next on our list Baby Girl?"
"Myka Bering, thirty one years old, grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado," Garcia began. "Joined the Secret Service right after she finished school and was assigned to Denver, Colorado. While there, she had an affair with her partner Sam Martino, and it ended when he was killed trying to apprehend a criminal."
"Is that when she got reassigned to South Dakota?" Reid interrupted.
"Surprisingly no," Garcia replied. "She was transferred to the Presidential Protective Division, was on the fast track and served as Shift Lead. But then, after saving the President at an event a little over a year ago, was immediately transferred to an undisclosed location."
"I'm guessing that undisclosed location would be here," Prentiss commented.
"It would appear so Sugar Plum," Garcia said.
"Alright, what about Lattimer?" Hotch prompted her to continue.
"Pete Lattimer grew up in North Canton, Ohio. He's a recovering alcoholic, has one ex-wife, no kids. He was a Marine before joining the Secret Service. He was working the same case as Bering the night she saved the President and it appears that he too was immediately transferred after that incident," Garcia told them.
"Who ordered the transfer?" Rossi asked.
"I can't get much on it because it's classified as top secret. The only thing I have is that it was authorized by a single name, Frederic."
"Didn't the order to let Wells go, come from the same person?" Rossi looked to Hotch.
Hotch pulled the paper out of a folder and read over it. "Rossi's right. This Mrs. Frederic must be the one above Nielsen."
"So whatever's going on here, these people are a part of it," Morgan deduced.
"But they're Secret Service," Garcia reminded them. "They wouldn't just start killing people for no reason."
"We don't know what they would or wouldn't do," Reid said. "They certainly have the know-how to commit these murders and get away with it."
"We don't even know what their division is assigned to do," Prentiss said.
Hotch sighed. "Is there anything else Garcia?"
"Well we do know what the murder weapon is," Garcia said happily.
"What is it?" Reid asked.
"It's a one of a kind knife, made by James Bowie," she told them.
"The Bowie knife was named after him," Reid began his rant. "He died in the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. There are many museums exhibits dedicated to him that carry his weapons. So the UNSUBs could have broken into one of the exhibits and stolen the original knife, or copies were made and sold to other exhibits and they intercepted the shipment. That would explain how all the wounds were made by the same weapon."
"Garcia, can you-" Hotch started.
"Cross reference the murder weapon with other knives in the museums?" Garcia guessed. "I already did that. This knife isn't listed in any museum logs. I did however find a living relative to Mr. Bowie who lives Feather Head."
"Alright, Rossi and Reid, I want you to go talk to the relative in Feather Head, see if they know anything about the knife. Prentiss and JJ, go talk to the owner of the bed and breakfast, see if she knows where we can find Lattimer, Bering, Donovan and Nielsen. Morgan, you and I will go over the crime scenes, see how long it takes to get from one to the other."
The team nodded and headed out to do their designated tasks.
A/N: Let me know who you want to see next. Oh! I also started another crossover fic with Criminal Minds and Haven, so if you watch both those shows you should check it out and let me know what you think of it. And if you don't watch Haven, I highly recommend you start watching it.