Chapter 11: Brainstorming
The team was once again gathered in the conference room, looking at each other in expectation. They had not called any official meeting and other units could probably use the place for official cases, but no one around the BAU had enough suicidal tendencies to make an entry on people who had not left the federal building for the past twelve hours, except to get some much-needed refill on coffee and food. Now and then, one agent would pass by the open blinds and observe the strange gathering and unhappy faces.
When he seemed to be finished with his usual one-word answers, Rossi pressed the speaker button and put the cell phone in the middle of the table, for all his colleagues to hear.
"Chief Jackson, would you repeat what you just told me… for the team to hear." His voice had an angry edge which almost sounded like exasperation.
"I am truly sorry, I don't know what happened. Joseph Schrader escaped two weeks ago, I don't understand why it is not in our files…" The man was stuttering in a pathetic way, as a result of Rossi barking on him for the last ten minutes. Although Rossi was usually very quiet and reasonable, such a direct proof of incapacity made him fly off the handle.
"Thank you, Chief Jackson. I would like you to check all the inmates present to see if no other mistake is lingering in your database." Without as much as a goodbye, Rossi ended the call and brushed a hand over his face.
"Right, so we have Schrader in liberty. At least we now know where Emily is headed." As he spoke, his eyes drifted over JJ, who was holding her head with both her hands, then Garcia, who was torn between the satisfaction of seeing that the mistake was not of her doing, and the horror of realizing that a dangerous psychopath was free to chase one of her closest friends.
"While you were talking, Sir, I checked once again Jeffrey Richards' file. It turns out he was working as a computer engineer before joining the state department." Garcia raised a finger to get out her information before anyone cut her off.
"Hence the 'mistake' in the database…" JJ answered, nodding as the full meaning of this new element reached her brain. "And he was probably the one to dig into Emily's file to find Lizzie…"
"Garcia, can you find all addresses linked to Joseph Schrader near Kansas city?" Reid asked, approaching the table. "If Richards' family is still alive, he must have an isolated hiding place. Concentrate on farms and industrial areas."
"Give me half a minute, little one…" she muttered while opening three windows at once on her screen.
"Oh, my… Either Schrader is a very common name on the countryside, or this man has a seriously huge family…"
"Look at the police register and State Department files, Garcia. There are probably contact details for the man." Rossi added, simultaneously grabbing his cell phone from the table. He speed dialed Hotch's number, hoping that they had already landed. Before their unit chief had the time to take the call though, Garcia had shouted out her satisfaction.
"I got four different addresses. Ex-wife, who filed a claim for harassment…"
"Hardly possible that she would let Joseph use her house." JJ interrupted, looking up at her colleagues.
"… Joseph's Schrader old home, but it now belongs to another family."
"Cross that one out." Reid declared, his eyes set on the screen to see ahead of Garcia's discoveries.
"… Then we have the parents' house, which is as isolated as it can be, right in the middle of nowhere. And the brother's exploitation, northwest from Kansas city."
"Exploitation?" Reid asked.
"Lamb breeding." Garcia answered automatically, although she doubted that this information was going to be useful for their case. Reid's imagination and curiosity really had no limits.
The younger agents were silent when Rossi suddenly spoke up. Apparently, he had managed to reach Hotch on his cell phone.
"Aaron? Yes, I think we've got a lead."