Murder in the Forest, Chapter Fourteen
The law enforcement group discussed the kidnappers, pausing briefly as breakfast was served. Jareau thought it almost macabre that she and her friends would eat this morning while evaluating dangerous men, takers of innocent girls and probably, the murderers of several other people, and who had tried to blame those deaths on a fanciful giant ape. Life is strange; she reflected and paid more attention to what Hotchner was saying.
"So, we see that whoever is doing this has to have a job that gives him reasonable freedom to take these women in broad daylight and transport them to wherever they're being held and keep them since. That's not a man who has to keep regular hours at work. And it probably infers that the person or persons aren't married. They couldn't keep the girls captive without a spouse becoming aware of it."
"What if one of these buckos is taking care of the girls and his mate comes and goes as needed? The videos said that the girls were being kept in cells. If that's so, they couldn't wander around and wouldn't have to be attended all the time. There may well be some schedule flexibility there, and one fellow may spell the other. They'd only need to be together at certain times. We've seen cases where serial murderers were married before." Blacklaws thought that seemed reasonable.
"Maybe," said a dubious Rossi. "I think it's likely that these men are single and they may have been driven to do this because they don't socialize well and had to take the girls to have, well, feminine company. I think they're antisocial, and probably also have a resentment of others who are more socially or financially successful than they are."
"I think they may be kind of ugly or fat or something, too," interjected Morgan. He had decided to keep a relatively low profile, but he was still on the job and he wasn't about to be upstaged by the tall South African who looked like a swashbuckling movie hero.
"They'd need to be fairly powerful physically," noted Reid. "The girls aren't as strong as men, but they'd be a handful for a man not pretty large and in good shape. They're being held as prisoners, not killed from ambush by a possibly smaller killer. And they may have had to be carried from a vehicle to where they are now. Probably, both men or however many there are participated in the actual kidnapping and transportation of the women. My guess is that at least one man is about six feet and both are probably fairly young, but old enough to have their heads on straight. They aren't impulsive. They planned well and are what we call 'organized' criminals. They planned in advance and brought the rope, gags, and whatever else they needed. They had a preplanned site to take the girls. This was hardly a spur of the moment thing, like an unorganized Unsub might do, if he stumbled across a chance to take a pretty girl."
"What's an 'Unsub'?" asked Hso. "You guys have used that term several times in the last couple of days."
Hotchner answered. "Sorry. It's just our jargon or tradespeak. It means, Unknown Subject. I think it's limited to the BAU. It's not used Bureau-wide."
"Nope," agreed Bill Waters. "I've been in the FBI for 12 years and in several field offices and I've never heard it."
Back to the profile," said Jareau, "I think we can agree that we're dealing with one or more men who are socially unsuccessful but who are capable of bonding to do something like this. What do you guys think: Is one dominant and the other his assistant? Father and son? An older and a younger brother? Some similar arrangement? They'd have to trust each other an awful lot to embark on a project like this. And they've probably been killing those other victims. Why did they suddenly switch from murder to kidnapping?"
"And where did they see the girls they took?" Seaver felt that she should contribute to the profiling. "Courtney worked in an environment where men saw her and might covet her. But she was taken at the same library where the other girl disappeared. She wasn't accosted in the parking lot of that strip club. And Melissa worked at an ice cream store, not generally a high-risk position where she'd be seen and targeted by kidnapers. But both did have jobs where the public could see them and both are blonde and about the same height, five feet seven inches. One has green eyes and one blue. But they're basically similar and are only a year apart in age. "
"Neither is a high risk person," continued Morgan. "They don't do dope, as far as we know. Courtney was having sex, but maybe only with her boyfriend and he checks out okay. They didn't hang out with lowlife. Both families are either rich or upper middle class. I guess that if they knew the families, the goons knew they could afford at least a pretty high ransom. But we still have them targeting these particular girls a week apart and taking them from the same location, in late afternoon. They were expecting them there then or they followed them and grabbed them at that library. That's pretty daring. It's a reasonably busy library. They could easily have been seen."
"Agreed," commented Rossi. "And that tells us that they are bold and aggressive. They may even like to challenge Fate. They made those videos and called to tell us where to find them. They didn't know at the time that the phone company was tracking those phones even before one girl called the station and told the officer on the desk where to find the phones. But they knew to keep the batteries out of the phones until just before they put them where they were found. They couldn't be tracked until then, So, they know cell phone technology well. They used the features to make the videos and they knew that we could track the phones even if turned off unless the batteries were pulled. They're sophisticated, technically skilled, and have a vehicle that will let them move the girls around without being seen. I'm thinking a van or an SUV. But they could have just dumped each girl in the trunk of a normal sedan. That library doesn't have cameras in the parking lot, and I bet they knew that. So, we have no real idea of what they're driving."
"I'm betting that it's a white van," said Ford. "After all, it seems as if we're always looking for a white van for involvement in some crime. Why not this one?"
That produced some grins, for anyone in law enforcement knew that feeling. Some who'd been on the job for a few years probably felt they could retire if they had a dollar for every white van for which they'd heard an alert.
"More likely than a red Ferrari, "agreed Hotchner. He was glad that the sheriff had a sense of humor. And that his own quip had produced some smiles. They paused as the waitresses came and brought more coffee in thermal jugs. Reid took the opportunity to ask for more maple syrup, his favorite and one that was depleted at their table.
"I just realized something," said Reid. "I noticed those handcuffs that Melissa was wearing. They've been in my mind and it just hit me that they're a type called Irish 8's, an older form that doesn't use ratcheting locks like modern adjustable cuffs do. They have to be the right size to fit the victim's wrists. They just pivot shut and lock from the side, maybe with a lock on each side in some. The advantage is that they hold the captive's wrists really close together, with no links between the bracelets. They give more control that way and if applied upright like these were, they can be used to fasten the girl's hands at waist height. There's no chance they can slip their hands around in front and the ability to flail around and jab an elbow in a captor's stomach is lessened."
Jareau smiled, her eyes twinkling as she teased the Boy Wonder of their number. "Why, Spencer, I didn't think you were the type to know so much about handcuffing women. How did you learn all of this stuff?"
"He has a point," observed Rossi. "And if these guys had those specialized cuffs now used mainly by people who are into collecting restraints or into BDSM, that's a clue to who they are. The public doesn't know about those things. Maybe if they are gamers in some medieval fantasy or saw them in paintings of pirates about to be hanged, they'd have seen them. But I bet it's mainly hardcore bondage freaks that use them now; I know they're still made. I stumbled across an ad video for them on the Net while I was looking for something else. We can call the makers most likely to have sold them to someone in Elk Pass. "
"Useful point," admitted Hotchner. "Ashley? Will you and Peter take care of that after you finish checking for lingerie purchases?"
Seaver and Blacklaws looked at one another and both blushed a little, especially Seaver.
"Hotch; I don't know who sells stuff like that. Are they in the Yellow Pages under Handcuffs or Restraints? "Seaver blushed again as she saw a couple of the men smiling at her.
"They advertise on the Net," said Blacklaws. "I've seen listings there. But there are a whole lot of sex toy shops that sell them. Might be hard to isolate them and see who has customers here. We could start with some of the few manufacturers. I think I know the main brand. I had a case where a suspect was into B&D and he had literature, catalogs. Had a lot of that sort of thing on his computer. One firm has a rather attractive blonde model that wears their products and narrates them on YouTube. We can start there."
"Call Garcia," urged Morgan. "She can find anything. And this will amuse her. She needs to do something useful to look better since I got her in trouble. Why not this?"
"All right," said Hotchner. "Morgan, you call her and give her the details and have her call Ashley when she has something worthwhile. This may be a useful avenue to explore. Grant, I don't suppose that any shops here sell such items?"
The sheriff shook his had. "Not that I know of. Not enough people into games that'd buy them, probably. But someone sure might mail order some. Are these novelty toys that are mainly props in sex play or are they serious items?"
Blacklaws shrugged. "I rather fancy that depending on the quality, that could go either way. But I feel sure that some are very well made and are as effective as the style ever was. I don't expect that these kidnappers bought the toy sort. I have a feeling that they're very serious about their equipment. I wonder what else they acquired to restrain these girls and where they're being held. It has to be in a quiet basement or in an outlying area, where if they screamed, no one would hear. But that leaves a lot of territory. And another thing, Sheriff: are we going to show the girls' families those videos and let them see their daughters humiliated that way, begging for their ransom? But they have a right to know what's happened."
"That's a damned good question, Peter. I'll finish thinking about it and tell you this afternoon. Until I decide, don't anyone tell them that we have news in the case."
Sometimes Grant Ford hated his job. It brought responsibilities that he'd rather avoid.
He shook his head ruefully and said, "This is just a hell of a situation. But we'll get to the bottom of it. I just hope that we're in time to save those families any further grief."