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It was almost a repeat of the night before when Reid entered the interrogation room with Hotch and Drake. Sherman Jasper sat in the same chair with chains on his ankles and his hands shackled to the table. His lawyer sat next to him and scowled at them as they came in.
"Drake, I should've known you'd be behind the harassment of my client. I demand you remove his chains or I'll file suit against the department.
"It's nice to see you too, Dennis. Did we take you away from your million dollar clients?"
"Do we need those?" Reid commented to Drake.
"Nah, I don't think he's going anywhere."
Drake unlocked the chains and Sherman rubbed at his wrists. His face was milk white pale and his eyes were red. "I didn't do anything."
"Be quiet, Sherman. I told you not to say anything to the police."
Drake observed the lawyer, who was fat, with blond hair combed over his receding hairline, and who wore an expensive tailored suit the color of wheat. It was perfectly fit to his portly figure. He wore a watch on a chain and reminded Drake of Sir Wilfred in "Witness for the Prosecution." Sadly, the lawyer wasn't as charmingly funny, as the crotchety Barrister of the movie.
"Sherman is a witness to a crime. I can add a charge of obstruction to his assault charge like that," Drake, snapped his fingers.
"Gentlemen," Hotch said. "We only want to ask Mr. Jasper some questions.
Dennis Jones sat up straight in his chair, as Sherman stared at the scarred table and appeared to ignore them. "It's my job to protect my client."
"Oh get off it," Drake said as his temper snapped off its leash. "You know we're within our rights to question Mr. Jasper. It's in his best interest for you to advise him to talk."
"I saw the monster," Sherman said suddenly.
"I told you to keep your mouth shut," his lawyer shouted.
"What kind of monster?"
Reid sat right across from Sherman. Hotch noticed for the first time that Reid had a coin in his hand and he was making it dance across his knuckles. The brass caught the light and it made the lawyer blink.
"What's he doing?"
"Sorry," Reid said, but he didn't sound sorry at all. "Sometimes my hands need something to do. It's just simple prestidigitation."
He made the coin disappear and Sherman clapped. "Where did it go?"
"I'll show you, if you tell me about the monster."
"Now really," his lawyer began.
"Mr. Jones, please let my agent speak. He's not doing your client any harm. The faster we get what we need, the quicker you can get out of here."
Jones wiped his forehead with an actual handkerchief. "Fine, but if I say we're done, then we are done. Is that understood?"
Hotch raised his eyebrows and Reid nodded. "It's fine."
"I want to see the coin," Jasper was saying and he pouted at Reid.
"I told you, I'd show you the coin after you tell us what you saw the other night. You said it was a monster."
"It was a monster," Sherman insisted. "It was black like the sky at night after the sun goes away. It had wings and it just swooshed right down out of the sky and then there was fire."
He started to laugh. "The fire was pretty. Can I see the coin now?"
"In a minute. Did you see the face of the monster?"
Reid hunched over the table and talked as though there were no one in the room with them.
"Didn't have a face. It was just a shadow. Monsters always hang out in the shadows. They play in closets and hide under the bed. They wait until you're alone and then they come out. I don't like the dark."
He began to rock back and forth in his chair. "That's enough," the lawyer snapped. "We're done here."
"Hey, Sherman," Reid said softly.
He reached out and then pulled his hand away for the man's ear. "It was right there in your ear."
He held it up and Sherman laughed delightedly. "Can I have it?"
"No, it's very special to me, Sherman, but I found a quarter in your ear too."
He held out the coin to the man, who took it and began to try to copy Reid's hand movements. The coin dropped from his fingers and clanged on the table. It began to spin, much faster than accounted for the force of the fall. It spun around and around and when Reid tried to grab it, it rolled off the table and bounced to the floor.
"NO!"
Sherman dived for it. Hotch and Drake grabbed him as he stumbled over his chains. "Leave me alone," he screamed and tried to throw them off. It took his lawyer entering the fray to calm him.
"I found it," Reid said and held up the coin.
He gave it back to Sherman. "Mine," said the man happily.
"Yeah, it's yours to keep," Reid said.
"Are we done here?"
Hotch looked at Reid and the younger man nodded his head. Drake snapped on the handcuffs and unlocked the leg chains from the table.
"We're done."
"Then, detective, I'll see your arresting officers in court."
"I'll give them your regards."
When the prisoner and the lawyer were gone, Reid put his medallion back in his pocket.
"Well, I see we have something in common," Drake said and pulled a similar coin out of his pocket. "How long?"
"Almost four years," Reid said with a sad smile.
"I just got my one year about three months ago."
"It never gets easier."
"No," Detective Drake said. "It doesn't, but at least I've got friends and family."
"Yeah," Reid glanced at Hotch who glowered, but there was something in his eyes that Reid knew. He smiled at the Unit Chief and Hotch smiled back.
"Wow, I thought your face would crack if you smiled."
Reid threw a startled glance at the Detective. Hotch not only smiled, he chuckled a little.
"Not quiet," he said then the mask slammed shut again. "Come on, let's get the team together. We need to decide on a profile and it's not going to be easy."
CMCMCMCM
Morgan was in the act of answering his ringing phone when the rest of the team entered the conference room. "Hey, baby-girl, I'm gonna put you on speaker phone."
"Hello, my loves," said Garcia. "I have some information for you regarding the families of the victims."
"Tell us," Hotch said grimly.
"I found a sealed record regarding Thomas Sanderson, Tracey's older brother. Apparently, he was accused of raping a Ruby Miller."
"You didn't think it necessary to tell us about this," Hotch turned to Detective Drake.
"I didn't think it was important."
"How could you think it wasn't important?" Morgan asked testily. "The older brother of the first victim was accused of a very serious crime."
"Ruby Miller had cocaine and alcohol in her system that night," Detective Drake said. "She couldn't positively identify her attacker after a lineup with Sanderson. There was no physical evidence backing up her claim. It was known that she had a crush on Tommy. She used to follow him around like a puppy."
"You're saying that what he did was okay because the poor girl had feelings for him that he didn't return," Blake demanded.
"No! I'm not saying that. Why are you attacking me?"
"Because you kept vital information from the investigation."
"Hey," Drake stood up and moved to the far wall. He held up his hands. "That record was sealed because Ruby was a minor at the time. It wasn't my place to bring it up."
"I find it interesting that Ms Miller had drugs in her system and there's no evidence of a crime."
"What are you trying to say?" Drake shot back at Rossi.
"It wouldn't be the first time a wealthy family made something like a rape charge go away."
Detective Drake returned to his chair. His posture relaxed as he addressed Hotch. "I know what you're thinking, and I happen to know that the Sandersons and the Millers financial records don't show anything unusual like a payoff."
"I'm sure that's the point," Morgan said.
"Should I call Emily? She told me she was going to talk to them." Reid asked Hotch.
Hotch glowered so hard his dark eyes began to spark. "Yes, I think that's a very good idea. Drake, I'd like you and Blake to go see the Millers. We need to know if this rape truly happened, or was it a false accusation."
Drake nodded. "I know Mr. and Mrs. Miller pretty well. I'll try to smooth things over."
"We'll delay giving the profile, such as it is until we hear from Emily and talk to the Millers," Hotch said. "Garcia, what else can you tell us about the sealed file?"
"Only that what the detective said is true, the case was closed due to lack of witnesses, evidence and a corroborating statement from the victim. However there is something I found that could be relevant."
