I don't own CM or any of its characters although I wish I did!
***
Chapter 14
BALTIMORE, MD.
There was no answer to Rossi's polite knock on the door of #249 Canyon Drive. The two-story brick house was in an affluent district of the city. It and the surrounding homes were large, most with three-car garages and perfectly manicured lawns. It seemed to fit the facade that Frenz was trying to portray: one of intellectual and financial superiority. Dave shuddered at the almost surreal, cookie-cutter perfection of the neighbourhood.
The agents dressed in flak jackets, un-holstered their weapons.
"FBI, open up!" shouted Morgan, rapidly losing patience.
Still no answer.
At a nod from Rossi, Morgan stepped back then drove his foot through the front door. It burst open under the pressure and Derek entered, gun held out in front of him, sweeping it from side to side. One by one the others followed. They were greeted by a large tiled hallway. A set or ornate stairs led up to the upper floor. Large doorways flanked the hallway and led to a study and living-room. The hallway itself ended at the kitchen, where another door was visible. Rossi and Gideon headed upstairs while Prentiss followed Morgan to investigate the ground floor and basement.
"Clear!" called Prentiss from the back of the house.
"Clear!" came the muffled voice of Morgan from the basement.
"Clear here too." said Rossi, emerging from a second floor bedroom and putting his gun away. "Okay, let's get to work. Prentiss, Morgan you take the main floor, Jason and I will stay upstairs. We'll work the basement together."
"Notice anything right off the bat?" asked Rossi as he and Gideon went through desk drawers in a make-shift office.
"He's very neat for a bachelor. His office at the University was the same. Books shelved in alphabetical order; definitely some obsessive behaviour."
Dave sighed. "It's nothing out of the ordinary given his specialty. Why don't you take the filing cabinet and I'll start on the bedroom."
Gideon nodded. The filing cabinet was as he expected. Neat, tidy, organized. He went directly to the folder labelled 'Receipts' and was surprised to find numerous gas receipts from Cootes Store. He removed them and replaced the file. Finishing the cabinet's inspection, he headed to the bedroom where Rossi was triumphantly holding a pair of latex gloves with a handkerchief.
"Where were they?" asked Jason.
"Taped to the top of his sock drawer." replied Rossi, putting them into an evidence bag. "Any luck with the files?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. I found at least a half dozen gas receipts from Cootes Store, dating back to a month before the first murder."
"So what's bugging you?" Dave had noticed Gideon's frown and less than enthusiastic tone.
"Up until you found those gloves, it was too easy. Our unsub is highly calculated and organized. He wouldn't let evidence be so easily found by looking it up in a filing cabinet."
Rossi nodded. "But Frenz is so arrogant he may have figured that nobody would get to the point of searching his home."
"True."
"And he is definitely hiding something. Why attempt to hide gloves in a drawer, otherwise?" Dave started down the stairs. "I'd like to know what his connection is to Cootes Sto-"
The rest of his sentence was cut off by a loud shout from Morgan.
"Rossi, Gideon, we've got him!"
The older agents descended the stairs to find Prentiss in the study, looking rather pleased, holding several newspaper articles in her hand.
"These were hidden in one of his photo albums." She said pointing to a bookcase. "They're all of the articles that have been written about the murders, including our press release."
"AND this was in a mug in the kitchen." Derek held out his palm. On it sat a single cuff-link bearing the now-familiar UMD initials. "There was just the one." He said meaningfully.
Jason started walking to the front door.
"Ok, we've got what we came for. Let's bring him in before he realizes that we're on to him."
***
FBI HEADQUARTERS, QUANTICO, VA.
Erik Frenz looked remarkably composed in spite of the drab surroundings of the interrogation room. If anything, he seemed bored. The team watched from behind the one-way glass window. Jason stood with his hands on his hips.
"He's supremely confident." he remarked. "No remorse whatsoever."
Rossi glanced at Morgan. "It's time."
Derek nodded and entered the room. He turned a chair so that upon sitting, he could lean his forearms on its backrest. He studied the man opposite him, who although outwardly calm, was tense and seething with anger under the surface. Morgan knew it wouldn't be hard to push his buttons, but getting a confession was going to be difficult. He was relieved they had found physical evidence.
"You won't intimidate me by flexing your muscles on a chair, Agent." said the professor, sounding bored.
Morgan said nothing.
"You've got the wrong man." Frenz's tone was friendly but his eyes reflected his hostility.
"Have we." Morgan did not phrase it as a question.
He continued to stare at the suspect. Unflinchingly, Frenz stared back.
Without breaking eye contact, Morgan asked "Why didn't you tell us about your visits to Cootes Store?"
"They were none of your business and therefore, irrelevant. You were asking MY opinion on the case, as I recall."
"Okay, but it's my business now. What were you doing in Cootes Store?"
The professor stiffened. "Visiting a friend."
"What friend?"
Frenz shook his head.
"We'll find out anyway."
"Be my guest, but you won't hear it from me."
Morgan pushed a sheet of paper across the table separating the two men.
"Where were you on these dates?"
The suspect sighed. "Without my day-timer, I am useless. Teaching, probably."
"Nope. We checked. You had no scheduled classes, tutorials or office hours. Care to try again?"
Dr. Frenz glanced at the paper. "If I wasn't teaching then I was writing... and before you ask, no, I do not write at the University. It is impossible to concentrate there so I would have been at home."
"Anyone see you?"
The professor glared at Morgan. "Stupid questions do not become you, Agent Morgan."
Unmoved, Derek changed track.
"It must have really upset you when you didn't get the Deanship." he remarked casually.
Not biting, the professor shrugged.
"I'd describe it as mild disappointment. I couldn't expect anything else given the stupidity of the committee."
Suddenly the door opened and Rossi entered the room.
"Professor Frenz, I'm SSA David Rossi, Unit Chief of the BAU."
He watched the professor's reaction carefully. Sure enough, he caught the subtle change in body language; his hands curled into fists under the table.
'He sure doesn't like authority. Let's push those buttons a little.'
Standing over the academic, Dave said in a neutral voice,
"Tell me Dr. Frenz, does the department know that one of their professors has a police record?"
Frenz's eyes narrowed.
"That was a long time ago... I was just a boy."
"Makes it a little hard to get into the FBI Academy." Dave said conversationally.
The professor shot him a dark look.
"If you think you have something, arrest me, otherwise I've had enough."
Morgan slammed a hand down on the table as he had seen Hotch do on many occasions.
"I've had enough too! So here's what I think. I think that you're a narcissistic sociopath who gets off on power and control. You can't stand authority so you try to eliminate it. When you didn't get the Dean-ship, you couldn't deal with it and started killing. You chose strangulation so that you could literally have the power of life and death in your hands. The Latin was to show off how bright you think you are. But that wasn't enough... you had to kill close to us as revenge for our rejection of you..."
Dr. Frenz actually started laughing.
"That's what you all think? Circumstantial at best, gentlemen. I must say, I'm very disappointed in the FBI if this is the best you can do."
"I repeat, what is your relationship to the town of Cootes Store?"
Silence.
"And why the suffocation ritual if you were just going to strangle them anyway?"
More silence.
Morgan exploded again, "You had motive, opportunity and know-how. We've got the physical evidence we need to link it all back to you so you may as well just tell us and quit wasting our time!"
Through gritted teeth, the professor regarded both agents with renewed hostility.
"I'm not saying another word until I have my lawyer present."
***