"I don't know why we can't go straight to the most recent site!" the complaint echoed through the sheriff's office. "The sooner I can observe it and run some tests the sooner I can reach my conclusions."
"It is getting dark out and there aren't any lights set up," Rossi's voice was uncharacteristically raised. "You won't be able to see well enough to make a thorough, unbiased investigation."
"Dr. Hayward?" Reid was already out of his chair and headed out the door of the conference room.
"But what if there is another sighting tonight?" the complaints persisted. "I'll miss it!"
"If there is another sighting, we will be notified immediately by the Sheriff's Department," Rossi was working hard to mollify the man. "We are connected to their early alert system and will receive one of the first calls."
"Dr. Hayward," Reid repeated as he approached the two men. "This is an honor! I have followed your work for many years!" Uncharacteristically, he held his hand out to shake with his idol.
"You are - ?" the scientist inquired. "I would assume one of the agents assigned to assist me." Rossi noted that Reid's hand went unshook.
"Dr. Spencer Reid," Reid glossed over the implication. "And, I do have several issues I would like to discuss with you."
"Dr.?" the UFO Expert questioned. "And what exactly would you be a doctor of?"
"Three PhD's," Reid quickly told him. "Plus, several undergrad degrees."
"From which mail-order firm?" was the next question.
As Reid stood staring open-mouthed at the scientist, Hotch stepped in. "Special Supervisory Agent Aaron Hotchner of the FBI Quantico Behavioral Analysis Unit," he introduced himself, holding out his hand to shake. "And, I assure you, Dr. Reid has received all his degrees from some very prestigious universities."
"Sorry," Dr. Hayward addressed the comment to Reid as he shook hands with Hotch. "My mistake. You have no idea of the extreme measure people will go to in an effort impress me."
"The rest of my team," Hotch skillfully directed the conversation. "You have already met Agent Rossi. We also have Agents Jereau and Morgan, and Dr. Blake."
"A sizeable group," Dr. Hayward observed.
"We already have three dead women," Blake told him. "We need to catch this killer before the number grows to four."
"And, I am sure I will be able to assist you as I continue with my own work on these sightings," Dr. Hayward confidently assured her.
"We have been reviewing what we know about the victims," JJ explained as the group moved back into the conference room. "Perhaps you would care to join us? It might help your investigation if you became familiar with the timeline involved."
"Of course," the reply came readily as the UFO expert automatically took the seat at the head of the table.
"Okay, Lillian Williams, our first identified victim," Blake began the review. "What do we know about her?"
"She was 35 years old, and had been married to the same man for the past 12 years with two young children. She stopped on the way home to pick up pizza on an irregular basis, so it's not likely that she was targeted. Definitely a low risk victim. However, her murder bears a remarkable resemblance to another case in Washtenaw County from about a year ago. Could this be a copycat murder where the unsub coincidentally disposed of the body in the area where supposed UFO sighting later occurred?" Morgan postulated.
"Or, could it be the same unsub as the previous murder?" JJ asked. "I assume the guilty person was never caught."
"What do we know about that case?" Hotch asked.
"So far, just what Dr. Warner told Blake and me," Reid replied. "We should be receiving a fax from her shortly containing the information she originally received."
"And, Garcia is also checking for us," Blake added.
Rossi glanced over at the UFO expert and noticed that he had angled his body slightly so as to avoid looking at the evidence board with its pictures of the victims' bodies. He nodded to Hotch, who smiled his acknowledgement, and then smirked to himself.
"Alright then, let's move on to our second identified victim, Ruth Snow," Morgan suggested. "What do we know about her?"
"Again, she was a low risk victim," JJ stated. "Married, three children, husband is a researcher at Center Line Labs. Abducted during a shopping trip to the mall. Again, it looks more like a crime of opportunity than a stalking."
"What about the husband?" Rossi asked. "I hate to sound suspicious, but – "
"Approximately 33% of all female homicide victims are killed by either their spouse or their significant other," Reid chimed in. "So, that is a reasonable question."
"Garcia did say he only had a partial alibi," JJ remembered. "We probably should take a closer look at it."
"The MO was different from the first victim?" Morgan questioned.
"Definitely," Blake told him. "The first victim was kept for about twelve hours, sexually abused, and then strangled, while the second victim had her throat cut within two to three hours with no sexual component. Without the coincidence of the locations where their bodies were found, my assumption would be that these women were killed by two completely different unsubs."
"Once we get the information on the Washtenaw County case, we can make a decision on whether someone needs to go over there and speak with their coroner," Hotch decided.
He looked at his watch. "It's too late to go any further tonight. Let's find our hotel and get something to eat. We can start again fresh in the morning."
"Excellent idea!" Dr. Hayward applauded him. "I do need to get my daily Blog out. My fans expect it of me."
"Blog?" Rossi questioned, alarmed.
"Would that include telling your fans where you are?" Morgan added.
"Well, of course my fans are interested in any sightings I am currently investigating," Dr. Hayward told them. "The fact that the federal government is again retaining my services will be of great interest to them."
"Might I make a suggestion?" Hotch was trying to head off a confrontation. "Could you perhaps not give the exact location of your current investigation? We would like to prevent having a hoard of people overrunning the crime scenes and interfering with our case."
"A group like that might prevent you from making a complete and unbiased investigation of the sites involved," JJ suggested helpfully.
"If you insist," the scientist demurred. "I'll just say that my current location is 'Classified'."