The Interregnum: Chapter11
by Helena Fallon
Disclaimer: See Chapter1
Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages so that only the sender and receiver even knows there is a hidden message. Steganography can be used for a number of illegal activities, for example hiding records in financial fraud, industrial espionage and communications between member of criminal or terrorist organisations.
Rick and Ronald Felton stared at the very young looking Dr. Reid as he scanned over the technical report the department had recently produced.
"So you didn't find anything?" he asked again.
"No, we checked the usual way like we do for you people, you know the trails left in the hard drive for porn sites and e-mails that looked suspicious, but Austin Shields's computer was very ordinary for a man. I mean there was the occasional visit to a girlie site, like the 'Playboy' equivalent on line, but nothing like hard porn and certainly nothing to do with children or we would have alerted you people," Ronald said defensively. He felt annoyed by this young man and liked to think that his over-worked department were efficient considering the resources they had.
"So you used the standard steganographic detection software?" Reid pressed the balding bespectacled forty something.
"Yes, but it has its limitations and works best if we have some clues as to the kind of cryptography that might have been used on the computer in the first place."
Reid looked up and felt that the lack of sleep was making him appear over critical of this department's efforts.
"Yes," he conceded and saw that the admission made Ronald relax a little in his office.
"But you didn't try anything more advanced?"
"Dr. Reid we didn't and this was an older type of machine. If it was a specially written programme with its own hidden key, undetectable to any of the detection software available to us, then we are never going to find it. With newer machines it can be even harder because of their greater storage capacity…it's easier to hide and of course it could always be hidden on an external hard drive so not even within a desktop machine."
"Look, I have contacts with people developing this detection hard ware, do you mind if we take this out of the evidence vault so I can see for myself. Perhaps by getting a feel for the machine I might be able to use some of the advanced ideas that are being explored at the moment but haven't been made widely available to forensic teams yet. If all else fails, it might give me some ideas to take to those people developing new detection ware and they might have some suggestions to try."
"Fine…As far as I'm concerned as long as you people follow the correct protocol that's all that matters in court. You can have the use of one of the rooms here but you know that it cannot be removed from this department. I wish you luck because I had Riley working on that computer for four days and he's good," replied Ronald turning to get the necessary forms to release the computer into the care of Katie's new deputy. Rick eyed Ronald sympathetically and wondered what Reid was really thinking because he felt that there was much more to this than the deputy was letting on.
The two men went to an empty workroom and waited for the computer to be brought to them. Then Rick watched Reid silently as he set up the machine but in the end Rick's curiosity got the better of him.
"You weren't being totally open with Ronald back there," Rick suddenly said and Spencer smiled at the instincts of this experienced agent.
"No, I wasn't, but I've had several ideas and I was telling the truth about wanting to get a feel for the machine. I want to start by looking at this machine's history, it just might help us to link this case with the Tortes."
"How, besides the brother who obviously gave Shields the paint box on a former visit?" asked Rick.
"Don't you think its odd…the attack on Rankin was totally unprovoked but Shields risks a murder rap…why? On the surface he's photographing his girlfriend's sons and not even using the internet to circulate the material but offering to sell it on the open market in his local area. Now that might imply incompetence or lack of experience in 'dealing'. I know Shields's defence is that it was his first time but something doesn't feel right. I wonder if Shields was in a bit deeper but then broke the rules so his payment was to get rid of Rankin," Reid replied and his long fingers played along the keyboard and began to look at the past use of the machine that was revealed on the screen.
"Now look at this, the most frequented site visited, besides his email address, is Tortes Mail Order Spares!" said Spencer with a smile.
"Well, he is a car mechanic," replied Rick but then he instantly regretted the remark because this was Shields's home machine not the computer at the garage where he worked.
"But was he doing repairs in his spare time for an extra income?" Reid asked as he suddenly turned to a department computer and began to type and brought up the Torte site.
"Interesting," he said softly as if to himself but Rick was puzzled, what could Reid see on this very ordinary looking site that he could not.
"It looks very normal to me?" Rick said.
Reid looked up and smiled but Rick thought that the man didn't look as boyishly young. Suddenly, the eyes held a different quality as if they looked unfathomable and it made Rick feel uncomfortable.
"Yes, but then al-Qaeda and their terrorist supporters have been reported using porn sites on the internet to send hidden messages within the images," Spencer replied as he turned once more to scroll down the pictures of the spare parts available online along with their price and postage rates. "It looks so innocent doesn't it? But before spending time trying to find a steganographic detection program that might work on this, I'm going to hack the Torte customer data base." Reid announced confidently.
"Hack the customer data base…I'm trying to make a connection here Spencer?" Rick probed hoping the man before him would join a few more dots for his tired brain.
"I want to see if there is a connection with the names that Danielle has identified on her data-base and those on this site. If there is, then it could be pure co-incidence or it could point to a more sinister reason. Can you find me a spare external hard drive so I can down load any data I find from my hacking."
"Yeah, of course," answered Rick feeling that he was just beginning to realise why Dr. Spencer Reid was considered a genius. He went back to find Ronald who took him to the store cupboard where clean external drives and the smaller memory sticks were kept.
By the time he returned to the workroom, Reid had hacked into the Torte site and discovered two areas of interest. The first was the customer base that recorded who had actually bought spares and another area that listed the number of hits for a particular product.
"Brake pads for Volvos seem very popular and the wing mirrors for Lexus cars…I never knew they were so vulnerable," Reid said and grinned at Rick, "I own a very old Volvo that Jo's father has in his garage because he wants to restore it to pristine condition. But Alan has never remarked that the Volvo's brake pads were a weakness. Jo drives a new Lexus, and I have her old one, but she has never said that it has needed its wing mirrors replaced and she does a lot of driving especially when she's viewing prospective properties to renovate. Besides which, if the mirrors had a design fault it could have been easily fixed."
Rick connected the external hard drive to the machine and Spencer began to down load customer files from the site.
"Didn't take you long to hack into their site and you've even got the so called secure credit card details," remarked Rick as he looked at the first page of customer details in alphabetical order that was displayed on the screen.
"Now we need to check the other computers that have been seized in the Rankin case to see if the Torte site is popular with them as well. I'm sure that Ronald will want us to do this as quickly as possible, because of form filling for him, but if we share the work…"
"I understand, you want to see if the Torte site is on the 'most visited," replied Rick with a smile, and thought to himself that Reid was working up a storm to prove a point but if he was right they would need the evidence for the court case.
Ronald Felton let the CACU men get on with whatever theory they were working on. As long as they didn't expect his over-worked team to help after all the standard reports they had produced. His department had been one of those that had lost people due to the recent cuts. Felton had lost two very experienced men who had been re-deployed because of their expertise, one to New York and the other to Los Angeles.
After satisfying themselves over the 'popularity' of the Torte site, Spencer explained that there had to be another common factor that allowed you to read the hidden messages embedded in the innocent spares site. Rick and Spencer then spent time going through the lists of DVDs, memory sticks and external hard drives that had been found in the homes of the men arrested at Rankin's illegal club. They broke off for a late lunch and went back to the office to raid the CACU fridge for more food and much needed coffee. While taking this essential break, Spencer went to the deputy's office to run the customer name list against the names Danielle had identified in Gerald and Nigel's material.
He connected the external hard drive and deposited the information onto Danielle's computer. The task done, Reid keyed in the password to give him access to the Gerald data. He then ran the down loaded Torte data against Danielle's for any comparable hits. The computer revealed the connections and Spencer saved the details of the matching names. Spencer had particularly noticed Henry Duke's name and filed the information away in his brain. He then began to repeat the process for the Nigel data.
"I think we may be getting somewhere," Spencer said his big brown eyes shining at the connection he had just made. "Of course it could be pure co-incidence that the clientele of Rankin's Club were ordering car spares from the Torte site, but I think that site needs some in-depth investigation."
"But Ronald said they don't have any of the really advanced stuff…"
"I was going to try some of the stuff I know about and see if any of the programme algorithms I'm acquainted with work on this site. I suspect that they are using advanced cryptography that is not detectable by the usual steganographic programmes and that includes the more advanced ones available to the Bureau's Forensic Computing departments. I have worked on embedding data so its not detected before so I'll need to play around with this. It could take me months or it might prove to be one of my crazy ideas that goes no where."
"You remember all this advance code detection stuff in your head?" asked Rick in awe of the man tapping away at the computer. The men in the CACU all considered themselves very good with computers and methods of detection and site tracing but Reid was going to be playing in a different ballpark.
"My first doctorate was in theoretical mathematics," Spencer replied.
"How many doctorates do you have?"
"Three, the second is in theoretical physics and the last one in criminal psychology but I have interests in many areas," Reid answered as he began to speed read the screen of the names listed that were cross referenced with Nigel's material. Brian Rankin, Austin Shields and there was the rogue Bureau man. Reid felt that perhaps he was beginning to see a way into the forbidden maze. But he had also just produced a mountain of details to be further looked at in depth. All these names would need to be checked, even if they had innocently purchased the most popular products, there were weeks of work from just a few minutes of hacking. It could all be a false lead but Danielle would be kept very busy on the research. However, Reid had a gut feeling, and thinking himself into Rankin's shoes, if he wanted to keep special material secret then he'd certainly make sure that it was undetectable from the programmes specialist forensic units worked with. It really meant that he might end up writing his own programme to break the code…but then he liked an intellectual challenge. He saved the evidence for Danielle and closed down the computer programme.
"So," said Rick biting into a ham roll with mustard oozing from its sides, "You see any common DVD or memory stick that might let us into the hidden Torte site?"
Reid picked up his hot coffee and wondered how much to tell Rick but the older man was still talking.
"The films on DVD seemed to be just that, some pirate copies of commercial films and some standard porn, some more specialised stuff which we have still to go through and see if we can identify the children. Robert and Mike have been busy with the ones we'd not seen before but there is months of work…" Rick continued as the deputy didn't seem to be answering the question he'd asked.
"Yeah, but I'm going to gamble that it would be something that looked totally innocent because that way no one would guess its significance," replied Spencer sipping a second mug of coffee since returning to the office.
"Any suggestions to narrow the search…I mean you were speed reading your way through the listed stuff?" asked Rick hopefully.
Spencer looked up and smiled. Rick thought how impossibly young this man seemed and then he noticed.
"When did you get married to Jo?"
"Christmas Eve…just immediate family at her parents' home," he grinned thinking about the time it had taken Rick to notice.
"Lovely lady that…you make sure you treat her right…Just wait 'til I tell the rest of the guys…Anyone else noticed?"
"Adam did when he first showed up this morning," Spencer said and glanced at the office clock that told him that had all happened over 9 hours ago now.
Rick yawned, "Sorry, Spencer, guess the lack of sleep is finally catching up with me,"
Spencer couldn't stifle his own response, "I think we both need some sleep but at least I snatched a few hours before you got back. Why don't you go home and we'll see what tomorrow brings our way. We can't do any more with Rankin. Let's leave Shields to stew a bit…He doesn't want to talk to us but perhaps the next time we see him we will have something to prise the clam open with."
Rick didn't need much encouragement to go home and Reid leaned back in his chair thinking about the case and the descriptive lists of the things seized. The evidence amassed from the raid was enormous and only brief descriptions had been made as the evidence was logged and given an evidence identifying number. The DVDs, portable external drives and USB flash drives that contained child pornography had an asterisk against them and these were destined for investigators whose purpose was to identify the children involved. However, Spencer was convinced that what he was looking for wouldn't be embedded in one of these. He needed more coffee and he would continue to review the lists again while waiting for news of the Philadelphia trip.
An hour later he received a call from Tony, who said they were heading back but they had not been able to get anything out of the Tortes, even if their instincts told them that they were hiding something. Gary Shields admitted to taking art materials into the prison for his brother but maintained that he'd not even opened them and just passed them over to be checked by the authorities. In effect they couldn't tie them to the attack on Rankin although Barbara felt she had rattled Lisa Torte's cage.
Spencer told them all to go home and write up their reports tomorrow when they all felt refreshed. He locked the external drive into his desk drawer along with the 'seizure lists' and decided to head home himself for the comfort of his own bed.
It was nearly 5:30 by the time he walked into the house and the smell of vegetable lasagne made his stomach sing with anticipation. Jo appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Thanks for the call, I put the lasagne in the oven as soon as I knew you were on your way but it'll be another 15 minutes," she called down to him.
After hanging up his warm charcoal overcoat he went up stairs to see what she was doing. Jo wasn't in the bedroom so he went up into the attic room, which she had taken over as a studio workspace. He stood by the door and could see that she was wiping her thick brushes after cleaning off the acrylic paint. To the side was a landscape canvas, he judged it to be around 4 foot high and 5 foot wide, but he knew the view that was taking shape. It was a composition of the 'Whiteoak Canyon' and one of its waterfalls.
"Do you like it?" she asked as she placed the clean brushes in an old blue jug.
"I can sense the movement of the water already," Spencer replied and knew that this was a totally new canvas.
"I started it today and it's really taking shape much faster than I imagined. See how I keep myself totally wrapped up in my work while you're at yours," she said with a grin.
"You only started it today?"
"Mmm but I've been thinking about it as a composition since before Christmas and it really has been painting itself. I thought we could give it to Morgan as a wedding present, especially as we won't be in the country for their wedding, it might make up for being on our belated honeymoon."
"That's very generous of you considering as this is going to appreciate in value," replied Spencer and privately thought that Morgan would probably be having a large and exuberant wedding. Spencer Reid was relieved that he wouldn't have to lie himself out of attending if he was genuinely out of the country."
Suddenly Jo had come over to him and put her arms around his thin waist; his gun dug into her a little as she hugged him.
"Sorry, I ought to take the holster off and…"
"You all right, you look very tired and very far away?" Jo asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, it's not a case I want to talk about but someone we had on remand got stabbed and this case just seems to be getting more complicated by the day," he replied and bent his head a little to smell the rosemary based shampoo she used. It was all very comforting and far away from the murky world of his work. His stomach rumbled and Jo giggled.
"Let's go and see if dinner is ready," she invited and her warm comforting presence broke free and made for the door.
Tuesday, December 27th.
The new day brought in more agents. Reid got into the office by 8:45 to find that Danielle had already arrived.
"Barbara told me what happened yesterday and I bumped into Ronald Felton in the car park as I arrived…seems you and Rick spent sometime in his department…"
"Yeah, I had a few ideas and I've got some more connections for you. But unless I can actually prove that the site address for the Tortes Spares Company is not as innocent as it looks, then I'm on a wild goose chase," he replied honestly as he unlocked the draw to his desk to take out the 'seizure lists'.
"I hacked into the Torte customer base and put what I downloaded onto your computer under 'Torte Spares' These are the corresponding identified names on the customer base together with their credit card details, one list under Gerald's material, the other Nigel's…"
Danielle smiled, "I see I'm going to be busy and you have saved me some digging," replied the fellow deputy with a grin of anticipation.
"I've also created a new file with the complete customer data base I hacked into…those names just may turn out to be useful for another time…It's under the file name of 'Torte Christmas'.
"So what are you going to do today?" Danielle asked eyeing the pile of paper in his hand.
"I'm looking for the innocent key to enter the forbidden Torte world," he replied softly, "But it may take me some time…There's a lot of stuff and I've got to find the common denominator."
"Right, so I'll continue trying to identify the last of Nigel's data and then I'll start building up a financial picture of our clientele. Are you going back to Forensic Computing?"
"Only if I find something I want to look at in their evidence vault but I can work through this lot up here until I identify something suspicious. I'll get the men and anyone else who's in, and not working on a specific task, trying to identify the children on some of the child porn DVDs taken from the Rankin operation. Are the men in yet?"
"Not that I've seen but they'll have their reports to write up over yesterday first…By the way, Spencer, when did you get married?"
The CACU was quietly working, although not all the staff had returned to work that day because some had taken part of their holiday entitlement to have a few more days with their families. It was fortunately one of those days when 'follow up' could be pursued without the interruption of a new case. After lunch, Spencer went back to the Computer Forensics department and Ronald stiffened as soon as he saw his tall and skinny frame walk through the doors.
"Dr. Reid," he said mildly but the bespectacled blue eyes flashed, "How can we help you today?"
"I need to view some of the evidence taken from the Rankin clientele and Austin Shields…I've got the evidence ID codes," Reid added helpfully.
"Right, we'd better fill in the forms…" and turned with the young deputy at his heels, "Do you need a work room to view this or do you want to work in the more open area?"
"A private work room please," Reid requested and began to fill in the necessary paper work.
There were more than 20 probable pieces of evidence that Reid wanted to personally check. These were all small portable external hard drives, the place where you might place photographs or a film sequence. The brief descriptions depended on the individual who did the preliminary cataloguing of the remanded prisoners' seized possessions. Usually in these cases, the cataloguing technicians were just looking for porn and anything looking innocent just got a few words to give an indication of content. From one evidence list, Reid wanted to look at 'Holiday in the Fall 2006', but this might not correspond to material another cataloguer had listed as, 'Maine Holiday 2006' and for another it was 'Road trip in the Fall, 2006'. Reid was hoping that the Fall and the year were more than just co-incidence and had selected material that indicated these variables in the brief descriptions provided by the different cataloguers.
It took Ronald and another of his staff 30 minutes to find all the evidence bags he wanted and then there was the strict procedure to follow for the opening and resealing of these. However, once in a room with a computer, Spencer checked all 23 suspect home-movies and photographs, all stored on portable external hard drives and felt a glow of satisfaction when the majority proved to be the same material. He officially noted his findings for a future report and made a copy from Rankin's evidence to take back with him to the deputy's office before the evidence was all replaced back into secure storage.
Ronald Felton was intrigued by the quiet and intense young agent. Dr. Reid seemed very single-minded, like so many of the very talented experts at the complex, but there was something that was also very secretive about his present work. It was the nature of Computer Forensics that some units kept their cards close to their chest and had to do so for very legitimate reasons of safety for their own personnel, but also in case they inadvertently leaked information and an investigation was compromised. Ronald was very discreet and knew not to ask but he sensed that the CACU were deep into a big case and he didn't want to consider the workload that would come his departments way when the investigation finally broke.
Danielle looked up as Reid returned to their office looking very pleased with himself and carrying a small square portable external hard drive in his hand. He had been out of the office for nearly five hours and it was now nearing home time.
"Another piece for the puzzle?"
"I sincerely hope so," replied Reid as he went to his own computer and brought up the Torte site.
"This seems to be a commonly possessed store of photographs and some film of an innocent holiday spent in New England in the Fall 2006. It was on 20 portable hard drives, and all of those external drives were a different make so it was not initially obvious that it might contain the same material. A cataloguer would be working against time, just doing a list, and because it was not obviously porn they probably overlooked it and didn't even register the fact that they might have seen some of the visual images before. But now I've got to see if it helps us go any further." Spencer explained as he concentrated on his machine.
Spencer kept the site on screen and then plugged in the external drive into the USB port. He manipulated the cursor up to the file icon and clicked, scanned down the revealed choices, and clicked again on 'Save As' to activate the external drive. Suddenly the pictures on the site began to fade a little and a new box appeared in the centre of the screen that demanded a 'Password'.
"Spencer," said Danielle's voice purring to his side, "That's not supposed to happen."
"No…I've found the way in but that was the simple bit now comes the real challenge," replied Spencer feeling a glow of satisfaction deep inside him that his idea was bearing some fruit. "Now I've got to find the 'password'. If I was running this site I would personalise it for every user so I could keep tract of who was using my site but also make it more difficult to enter it and reduce the risk of unwanted visitors."
Danielle stretched her legs under her desk and stared at her fellow agent, "You got any ideas?" she asked softly sensing that she was out of depth over the actual breaking of the password but she might understand the theory.
"I don't want to just go all trial and error because I think this whole organisation is very clever and, out of necessity, exclusive. If I just start experimenting then 'central control' may pick up that someone is on to them and everything will just disappear and all that we have done so far will not go any further. No, I really need at least a couple of the 'clientele', who had this 'external key', to supply us with their passwords…Then I could compare and see the common denominator and use it as a clue to the cryptography used. A clue to the steganography being employed will help me prepare my attack. That way, once I'm into the site, I will have a greater chance of hacking their memory banks and getting to the real people behind all of this." Reid replied and wondered if Danielle understood much about encoding material on computers.
"So you're going to look at the clientele we have in custody, specifically those who had this material and lean on the weakest to tell you," Danielle answered her eyes shining at the prospect of making quite a few leaps before Katie returned.
"Yes…but of course it could all take weeks. They know who has been arrested and may even have people keeping an eye on them. The clientele we arrested may have been threatened already to keep quiet. Also anyone we approach for the access password could get it back to the organisers that we're onto them. Afterall, they got at Rankin and that may be a warning to the others arrested with him and it's still unclear why Shields was prepared to risk a murder rap."
"Yes, that's weird isn't it and he's still keeping quiet. You could try Henry Duke, he wasn't arrested in the club raid but I did identify him from the visual evidence and the people behind this organisation don't know we have that," Danielle suggested.
"Yeah, I've been thinking about him, he seems a weak link, even if he was doing the 'it's my first time' act. But I've got to get someone else aswell and I may go and personally see Austin Shields…Being seen by an CACU agent would be feasible for his crime but I could also twist my own knife in a little."
"Spencer!" Danielle exclaimed in surprise at the implied vehemence to his words.
"This is about destroying the lives of children and I'll not give up so easily if I think I can psych something out of an offender… I will use every method open to me within the law." Spencer said in a quiet firm voice and Danielle thought how hard the usually beautiful and sensitive chocolate brown eyes had become as he spoke. It was a common look in this department when its agents were on the scent of a lead. Danielle nodded in understanding; there really wasn't anything to say because they both knew that they had to act with care so as not to tip off others and they had to be firmly within the law or risk losing a case on a technicality.
Spencer yawned.
"Oh don't," said Danielle and then reacted with her own sympathetic response.
"Sorry, you'd never think just looking at numerous 'home movies and photographs' would be so tiring but I need to bury myself in some non-work activity and I need another good night's sleep too…"
The ringing phone halted Reid's sentence as he picked up the receiver.
" CACU, Dr. Spencer Reid speaking," he said all business and Danielle couldn't help the rueful smile that crept across her face. She understood exactly how her fellow deputy felt but any call might send them out again to help a child no matter how tired they might be feeling.
"Yes, I see, when was this?…No, I'm sure everyone did all they could. Thank you for informing us so quickly and yes we will of course want copies of the surgeon's report and of the autopsy. Thank you," Reid replaced the receiver and looked into Danielle's questioning eyes.
"Rankin died about 5 minutes ago, massive organ failure, the hospital think it's due to an infection from the wound," Reid said dully while his mind whirred on considering the consequences. The man had never regained consciousness following his operation and it was now clear that someone had wanted him permanently silenced. He would have to tread carefully in case he put any other 'clientele' in danger with his determination to crack the Torte web site.
"We haven't got the forensics report back on that weapon yet but it was probably contaminated in the hope of an infection. But what matters now is that Austin Shields is facing a murder conviction and he really hasn't got a way out of that as it was all recorded and witnessed." Danielle stated evenly.
"Yeah, I'll tell Roy," Spencer replied as he dialled the number.
"I'll go and tell the rest of the Unit," said Danielle pushing her chair away from her desk. This was going to really subdue the Unit after they had been so upbeat about the raid on Rankin's illegal club. As she walked towards the area where the men tended to group their desks, she wondered how Katie was coping with flu and when she would be back.
Arthur walked briskly along the corridor towards Max's office for the 8:45 meeting they had planned for this first Wednesday after Christmas. As he approached the open door he could see that Don had beaten him to the coffee.
"Morning, Arthur!" Don cheerfully said as he saluted him with his mug of coffee as he sat down on the couch.
Arthur grinned and closed the door and went over to get his own mug to join the other two.
"I won!" he said triumphantly as he poured the black liquid.
"See, I told you he'd gloat!" replied Max to Don.
"So where is the money from our wager destined?" asked Don stretching out his athletic frame a little as if he was feeling some stiffness.
" The Women and Children's Refuge Shelter in Richmond…What have you been up too?" he asked Don as he came to join them.
I was helping Beth move apartment and pulled something in my back…its just a twinge but I had some physio on it yesterday and I'm trying to convince myself that it's a lot better," Don confessed.
"Kids, we never stop helping them do we? Where's all those young men who usually hover round her?" Arthur asked with a smile.
"Gone home for Christmas and Beth wanted to be sorted and settled before the new semester starts."
"Max tells me that you have both seen Reid and the lady recently…I'm jealous, how's he doing and what's she like?" Don grumbled into his coffee.
Max and Arthur laughed.
"Well I finally met her at the College Park Christmas function. She's good for Reid, but…"
"But?" interjected Max wondering what Arthur had picked up that he'd not shared or was he too worried about observing Katie Cole to mention any doubts about Reid's partner.
"Oh…it's nothing serious Max," Arthur re-assured his boss, as he sensed him suddenly alert, and went on to explain, "Jo's an interior designer now you know what my Susan is like...I got dragged round before Christmas looking at furnishings…"
"Which room this time?" asked Max in sympathy.
"The guest I think or was it Daniel's…perhaps both! I just know when she's into 'decorating mode' that the whole cycle of 're-freshing' the house is about to begin again," Arthur said wearily and the other two nodded in sympathy, grateful that their partners were not so enthusiastic about décor in the way that it governed Susan's life.
"Don't feel left out Don. They were at my home the evening before they married and gave no indication of their plans!" Max said sipping his coffee. "Jo looks like her father and has the social gifts of her mother. She balances Spencer and it's wonderful to see just how steady and confident he is these days. Together they make an entertaining couple and my other guests want to meet them again."
"So Spencer's coping away from the BAU?" asked Don who had not seen the agent to speak to since Gideon was placed into his care after the New Orleans case.
"Fortunately Jo was already there as his live-in partner by the time Gideon left without warning. She is an anchor that is fixed into the solid stable ground of the Petersen family. The Petersens' have had their own trials over the years but they are a very strong family that comes together to help one another. I know that Judge Petersen thinks highly of the genius and Margaret spoils him with her own maternal love. He now has the very thing he needed…a stable family that gives him support rather than him feeling guilty about his mother and regretting not having the closure with his father. As far as the Petersens' are concerned he's one of them now so Spencer Reid has finally got his loving family around him." Max explained.
"You know the Petersens," stated Don and wondered how long and if he had known about Jo from the beginning of Spencer's relationship with her.
"I socially know Alan and Margaret Petersen, I do not personally know the son and his family and I'd not met the daughter until she came to my home. Alan did ask my advice when she was experiencing PTSD after being attacked in New York, and I recommended someone, but she is well over that now. She has a scarred and deformed hand from that time but her personality is warm and there's a side that hints at fun. But also, she's not in Reid's shadow…she has her own confidence in the work she does."
"You'd like her, Don," Arthur assured, "Jo's very easy to talk to and there was not a woman in that room that didn't know that she was Reid's partner and hands off!"
"Ah!" exclaimed Don with a grin.
"Oh I'd not like to get the wrong side of her…It's the Italian in her blood!" Arthur confided, "She's got these really dark eyes, they're bewitching…Spencer definitely fell under her spell but it's done him good."
"Here speaks the relationship expert!" Max laughed.
"I was right about the marriage!" Arthur snapped back.
"We're not going to be allowed to forget this," Don said to Max but they were both chuckling and each man was pleased at the outcome for the talented genius who had such a troubled background.
Arthur continued his assessment, "Reid's well thought of at College Park and he has stepped in to the deputy role really well. There has not been the friction that some younger agents might have created because he's been prepared to listen to the agents around him and thank them for their advice when given. Getting him out of the BAU will be the making of Reid, just like when he was on those 'group dynamics' courses. He mixed well in those professional situations because he could use his knowledge as a shield. But now he has Jo and she has given him the emotional confidence he needed. I hope you see him for yourself soon because he has grown so much, he's no longer hiding behind a string of facts is he Max?"
"Goodness, no. Spencer is still a genius but he doesn't need to play the geek. He's definitely emotionally confident these days so there is no need to hide behind the fortress of facts. I suspect that he actually enjoys wearing a wedding ring," Max answered smiling and thinking that Spencer would be one of those men to use the ring as a signal to any female predator to keep well away. It was also a sign to everyone else that he had a serious relationship and was proud of the fact.
"He can still put the geekiness on when he wants to you know, to diffuse a situation or lighten one to relax a group. But seeing Dr. Spencer Reid, with his new hair style and the confident way he strides into the CACU department, he's every inch the deputy of the Unit and he commands respect," continued Arthur warmly, "I was really impressed when I first saw him. Adam Priest told me straight away how Spencer had made the effort to be open with the Unit and it all helped him to fit in quickly. You know Jo joined him there the first day so everyone could meet her. Katie Cole was very impressed with that because it showed everyone that he had someone to go home to and she was prepared to stand up beside him. I doubt anyone will be surprised at College Park about the marriage."
Max smiled, "I told Katie when I saw her and she was pleased for them but not surprised. It was a typical Spencer move though…I wonder how long it took him to pluck up the courage to ask her?" Max mused aloud.
"Oh I'm not going there. I went through enough angst myself," Arthur confessed and Max smiled warmly at the portly psychologist who had a big heart and an unquestioning love for his beloved Susan.
"Yeah," agreed Don thoughtfully, "We're all fortunate to have priceless treasures as our wives."
"Yes, so we are…How is Debbie these days?" Arthur asked his colleague.
"She's still taking things slower than she used to but Debbie was just trying to do too many things, like she used to do before we had the girls, and it was just nature's way of saying whoa! Debbie now only works one day at the hospital and she has joined a pottery class and a reading circle. She has persuaded another of the neighbours to join her swimming at the local pool a couple of times a week and overall she's looking good. The doctors are pleased with her and very impressed with her recovery and the changes she has made to her routines. We're thinking of getting a rescue dog to take walking with us at weekends but that will mean that she'll have to take it walking everyday aswell! I've missed not having a dog around but the girls used to help with old Hero's daily walks when they were at school."
"You don't fancy a puppy then?" asked Arthur with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Don's home was immaculate especially now the children were grown up and not living at home.
"No, they have some really well trained mutts at the rescue centres. Some people abandon dogs when a relationship breaks, or they move and its no pets…so they don't all come their way because the owner has died."
"Yeah, my neighbour got a two year old beagle from the centre near Bethesda Hospital. The owners couldn't afford to feed it once they had a child and just wanted it to go to a good home."
"At least they didn't just leave it out on the highway," said Max picking up the file for the first case he wanted to discuss that morning. The other two men immediately became professionally alert.
"Now Katie Cole is responding very well to the programme at Lavinia House but we have to think about her long term future," said Max quietly.
"She's been a long time at the CACU," said Arthur softly, "Whatever is decided mustn't look as if she's being punished for her run in with the bottle."
"I agree, but she can't stay there forever and preferably I would like her to be moved by next Christmas, if not sooner," replied Max.
"She has excellent managerial skills and is very good at choosing the right people to take on a task." Don added.
"Yes, I think we have to keep our eyes open to see if she can be placed in position as an assistant in running a Field Office. We can still have her in for a while lecturing on her expertise with CACU work," suggested Max watching the other two men for their reactions.
"I would think that she would like to remain in the Washington area so she would be in easy reach of her brother and his family," Arthur reminded his superior.
"Good point, but do either of you have any suggestions?"
"These cut backs have affected the whole organisation and there is really no movement…People near retirement either went of their own accord or were pushed so I can't think of anything at the moment." Don replied.
"I know its difficult but the present situation is going to make a few of the senior 'managerial' agents think about the pressures they are under and think that taking retirement might be preferable than struggling on with the cutbacks. So I want you to keep your eyes and ears open to see if we can make an opening for Katie, and preferably one that takes her away from children, but isn't a backwater because she has very good people skills. Danielle is in the running to take over the CACU but her pregnancy affects the timing of all of this.
Now let's think about Louis Drayton, he's under a lot of pressure at the moment having lost his very competent deputy..." said Max changing the subject smoothly.
Meanwhile at 9:30 on a bright but chilly morning, Aaron Hotchner walked through the main entrance of the College Park Complex and took the elevator to Adam Priest's office. It was the first of his contact visits to see how Field Offices were coping with the first weeks of the cutbacks. Hotch was feeling pleased that his colleagues had given him the Maryland, Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey areas to cover. He also had to visit the Baltimore office today but he thought that he'd go there in the afternoon. Hotch had to admit that he was enjoying aspects of his present role at the Washington office. It meant he was usually working reasonable hours and he was enjoying seeing Jack and Hayley more. Hayley was very excited about Louise's pregnancy and it was the only dark cloud at the back of Hotch's mind; he prayed that Louise would keep her word.
The elevator doors opened and he stepped out into the bright corridor and the reception area for access to the Agent in Charge.
Three hours later, after a very detailed briefing and having personally spoken to the staff whose units had been affected, Hotch headed to the CACU. He had told Adam Priest that he'd like to have lunch with Reid and congratulate him personally on his marriage.
"Hello, can I help you, sir?" Dee cheerfully beamed at the neatly dressed, handsome and powerful presence before her. She saw his displayed ID but couldn't quite read the small print and thought that she really had to get her eyes tested in the New Year. However, Dee noted his wedding ring and instinctively knew that this was a happily married man who wouldn't like her flirting with him.
Aaron Hotchner gave her a warm smile, "My name is Aaron Hotchner and I'm with the Director's Special Task Team but I'm also the former boss of Dr. Reid and I want to surprise him," he confided in a soft voice that captured Dee's whole attention.
Dee beamed and gave her opinion on the new deputy, "Oh, we just adore him here, he sneakily got married on Christmas Eve you know…Did he do sneaky things like that when at the BAU?" Dee asked conspiratorially.
Hotch grinned, "Oh Reid always played his cards close to his chest but then he's a demon poker player and tried to keep his private life private in the BAU. It used to drive his colleagues insane…"
"So he hasn't changed for us then! Well actually that's not true because we met Jo on the first afternoon he arrived…Jo's got that natural style, gets along with anyone…"
"Hotch!" A familiar voice broke into the conversation at the reception desk and the older man turned and saw the slender figure striding towards him. He still dressed in 'Reid' fashions and colours. Today Spencer Reid was clad in brown cords, a fern green wool 'v necked' sweater and a pewter grey and charcoal tiny checked shirt. The loosely knotted tie was a plain bottle green silk but Hotch thought that Reid's ties had more of an expensive look about them these days. He certainly looked well, the hair was a neat length at the back but it had been carefully styled at the front and sides to make the most of his natural waves and thick silky texture of the hair.
What really surprised Hotch was the fact that Reid approached him with a huge grin of welcome and a natural ease, this was a man who knew his place in this department. It was the way Reid confidently carried himself; another new agent would have instantly known this was someone in a position of importance. 'Yes, that was it,' Hotch thought to himself. Reid now had that air of authority about him and Hotch felt some pride in how this agent had stepped into this position. It was only a matter of weeks since the break up of the team but Hotch was now looking at a deputy, not a junior agent, and he liked what he was seeing. At the back of Hotch's mind he registered that Max Pentall had been right all along about this genius. He had to spend sometime away from the BAU to really reach his true potential and under Gideon he would not have achieved that, nor with his former colleagues who viewed him as the baby of the group.
"How are you? Are you here working?" Reid asked as he grasped Hotchner's tentatively out-stretched hand into a warm handshake. Hotch smiled and thought back to how often Reid would avoid shaking hands but he had noticed that at this Field Office it was the normal greeting.
"Good, Washington is keeping me busy with meetings and networking and now I'm allowed out for the first time on the periodical fact finding visits."
"But the CACU didn't suffer from the cuts," replied Spencer wondering why Hotch had come to this department.
"I know but I thought I could persuade you to have lunch with me before I leave for the Baltimore office."
"Sure, that'll be good. Does Josh Kramer know you're heading his way?"
"No, I'll just turn up for an informal chat," Hotch replied and sensed something more here, "Do you see Kramer a lot?"
"We both live in Berwyn Heights and Jo gets on well with Shelley…Josh and I have that unspoken agreement of never talking about the job off duty. I think its good for Jo to feel she can chat with another agent's partner…you know the mutual moan over the coffee…" he replied with twinkling eyes. "Come and meet Danielle who's the real deputy around here. Katie's on sick leave at the moment with a bout of that awful flu that's around."
Spencer turned and led the way into the deputy's office to make the introductions.
Two hours later Hotch was driving towards Baltimore and he couldn't stop the smile of satisfaction that formed on his face. It was good to be out of Washington and it was even better to see Reid again. He had always liked working with the agent and seeing him once more renewed that feeling of the unspoken trust between them. Hotch thought that he'd probably have a fight on his hands to get Reid back to the BAU because the agent was certainly getting a reputation on his own merits and that meant more departments would put feelers out for him. Perhaps he would turn to academia because his book was being well received by the experts in the field. Reid had told him over lunch that he'd received several invites to give guest lectures at five prestigious universities with courses in criminal psychology. He had a provisional date for a visit to Cambridge, in England, because they were having a belated honeymoon in that country in April. Above all, Hotchner was pleased that a date for a Sunday lunch had been set for the end of January because he had a feeling that once Katie was back that part of Reid's free time would be spent giving lectures. It would be good for him and the FBI, of course, because it publicised the work of the specialised unit at Quantico.
After Hotch had left, Spencer continued his background searches into the past of Henry Duke and the other men identified as Rankin's clientele. Danielle and he were in agreement that Duke was a likely candidate to lean on but they needed to check to see if there was another weak link before tackling Shields. They both agreed to stay firm to their original tactic with Austin Shields. They had let the police inform him of the murder charge but Shields was stubbornly maintaining his silence on the matter. Meanwhile, the CACU had decided to let him stew until the coming Friday when Spencer would go with Carl to interview the oddly silent prisoner.
Duke was being held at a different holding facility and again the authorities reported that he had been a model prisoner but, unlike Shields, he had so far no visitors. It appeared that the girl friend had distanced herself immediately he was arrested and his family didn't want to be tainted by his behaviour either.
Spencer just wanted the clientele's password so he could analyse it to give him the necessary clues as to what kind of steganography to expect once he tried to hack further into the secret site. After his first doctorate, he had been approached to see if he was interested in joining a specialist group within National Security concerned with cryptography and the wider issues of steganography, but he had followed his interest in Physics not wanting to make such a far reaching decision so young. He had never told Garcia just how 'computer' proficient he was because he respected her wonderful abilities and didn't want his gentle friend to feel in his shadow, particularly after she had tried to hack into his personal medical record. Reid missed his colourful friend and was humbled by the message that she had sent him following his Christmas announcement. Jo said that they just had to invite her over one weekend but with Katie out of things at the moment it was difficult to make a firm date. He had sent Garcia an e-mail saying that they would like both she and J.J. to come for a meal and hoped that once into the New Year they would be able to have more idea of the workload and timetables to fit this in.
Meanwhile, back in Quantico, Agent Jennifer Jareau was summoned to Erin Strauss's office immediately after lunch. The young agent was not a great fan of the Section Chief, especially after Strauss's behaviour towards her in Milwaukee, but this was an order and the agent went smartly along to the woman's office. They had not actually seen much of Strauss in the BAU since the financial cuts as she seemed to be content to leave the day to day running of the unit to Barry. The BAU was universally relieved over this because the people respected Barry's quiet managerial skills and J.J. even more so since Hotch had been re-assigned. Barry and Morgan didn't hit it off but the older man had pulled Morgan into line, although no one knew what he had said to the agent behind the closed door of his office in early December, but it had certainly improved the atmosphere. They all knew that Morgan could be a pain when he was kept too long indoors but they all had to just get on with the work until the cloud they were all under was lifted.
Jareau entered the spacious office and sat in the seat offered before the older woman's desk. J.J. thought how much Strauss seemed to have aged since the changes had been implemented. All the senior personnel had more responsibilities since the cuts although the junior personnel all thought the cuts just acutely affected their own work load. However, as J.J. now observed her Section Head she could see that there were even more lines to the face than she had seen at the Christmas social event. To this agent's eyes, Strauss looked very tired; the make up couldn't quite hide all the darkness under her eyes. Looking at her fellow blond, the younger woman even thought that the grey hairs were just beginning to show through more aswell and the way that Erin Strauss carried herself these days was even more telling to the trained observer. The older woman's shoulders were more slumped and the head held less high despite her usual haughty look at underlings who crossed her path. Jareau's overall assessment of this senior agent was that since the cuts Erin Strauss looked weighed down by her work.
Erin Strauss smiled at the young blond, but J.J. didn't find it friendly because the eyes maintained their cold scrutiny of her. Jareau refused to feel intimidated by this woman and looked her steadily in the eyes.
"Agent Jareau, you are being wasted here at the moment. The Bureau has had an urgent request to find a suitably experienced agent to fill a post in San Francisco that has suddenly been vacated by an accident. It is only a temporary position so this is in effect a secondment until the agent returns to duty…"
Jareau was puzzled and wondered whose post she was going to be covering.
Strauss watched the poised young blond and thought her perfect for the position but smiled at the puzzlement that was in her eyes.
"Gavin Brinkley has had an automobile accident and smashed both his legs and punctured a lung. You will be in California for at least a few months but we have an apartment ready for you and you will be expected to start as soon as possible," Strauss continued and was pleased to see the eyes widen in surprise.
"We believe that you are capable of filling in at short notice, as you're probably aware, Brinkley was the media spokesman for the Organised Crime Division. It's a post that needs someone with a good knowledge of how to handle the media and not reveal too much about cases. The media on the West Coast are very vocal about some of the cases this particular Division has dealt with because they have recently touch upon drugs and the money laundering aspects of the crimes. It can get nasty because of the elimination of people, but your experience with the BAU should prepare you for that side of things," Strauss continued with an emotionless voice as if she was giving a lecture and Jareau thought how detached her superior sounded as she said the words. Suddenly the younger woman thought that sending Hotchner away was a deliberate ploy, by upper management, to eventually get rid of this irritating woman.
"When would I report for duty?" Jareau asked in her quiet but firm voice, hoping to give the impression that she was more than capable of doing the task handed to her.
"Tomorrow morning. Here is your plane ticket; your plane leaves tonight at 18:15. As I said a furnished apartment has already been found for you, it's 'safe' …Now where is the address I wrote down?" Strauss said and looked amongst the papers on her desk for the information. "You will be met at the airport on your arrival and you'll be taken to the apartment and collected the next day for work and the necessary briefing. The agent who meets you will answer any questions you're bound to have. Don't worry, agents dropped in like this are usually well looked after and they'll even provide you with a car…All you have to do, is do your job well. Any questions?"
"I will be leaving immediately?" J.J. tried to sound calm but this had come out of the blue and there was relief that she had no boyfriend commitments at that moment.
"I think you might like to just to pack a few things," Strauss replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
J.J. was annoyed with herself for giving this woman such an opening, "Of course, and to say a few goodbyes on the way out."
"Good," replied Strauss rising and proffering the airline ticket and paper with her new address on.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Jareau said crisply.
"See you in a few months," Strauss said as she turned to leave.
Jennifer Jareau walked back down the long corridor towards the BAU and went over the conversation once more. Well at least she was not going to seed but Morgan would probably be peeved that she was going somewhere different even if it was an emergency secondment. As she passed through the BAU doors she turned immediately towards Garcia's domain. She had to tell Penny where she was headed.
Danielle waited patiently as the fax printed out. She read the report and sighed, none of it surprised her but she hoped that Spencer was going to have more luck with his endeavours.
End of Chapter 11
