Author's Note: I'm so so sorry for the long time between updates. I was doing really go for a while there too! School is back for the summer and we are smushing in tons of tests before we go to clinicals so I have been BUSY! But I have also been thinking about the story so hopefully this next week of no tests will produce lots of writing! I am so thankful for everyone who follows this story and reviews. I am sorry I didn't send snippits last time. I honestly didn't have anything to send at the time! But here is a new chapter with alot of forward motion on the case! ;) Let me know what you think. I'll have snippits this time!
Chapter Thirteen:
Spencer woke up feeling more refreshed then he had in a long time. He forced his eyes open to look at the small brunette resting on his chest. She was perfect, funny, smart, strong. He couldn't ask for more. Except that maybe that they had met under different circumstances. If they didn't crack this case soon they would be forced to put her into witness protection and he would never see her again. Spencer hadn't mentioned it to her, but he figured it was at the back of her logical mind. We have to find him. He had been racking his brain for the last two days, trying to find any aspect of the case that jumped out at him. The unsub was an obsession stalker. He had met Amy, or had seen her briefly. Most likely they had met her within the last year; the killings had started only a week ago. The progression from stalker to murderer would have been slow, building until there was a stressor. The stressor would cause the escalation to killing.
Reid ran the list of names Amy had given them through her mind. No one stuck out. Everyone had been background checked. Anyone who sent up any red flags had been interviewed. There were no forensic clues, no fingerprints, hairs, or obvious evidence. The women had been taken, had the jewelry put on them, raped, and then murdered before having a body part removed from their body. That took planning. He would have had to lure them out of their normal comfort zone. He would need a quiet place to take them. Someplace quiet but close by. His brain quickly shifted back to the map he had been working on. He could mentally plot the places the prostitutes had been taken and where their bodies had been found. They were spread out with no obvious connections. No area of central importance. Maybe because there aren't enough victims.
It never felt right that this guy was a first time offender. He was smart. He had been able to mature over the years. Reid moved out of bed, making sure not to wake Amy. Throwing on clothes, he grabbed his phone as he made his way to the living room. If he could fill in the gaps in his map he would have a better idea of the unsubs location. He flipped open his phone and punched in the familiar number.
"Why are you up so bright and early boy wonder?" Garcia automatically chirped into the phone. "Amy, kick you out of bed already? Oh, and I did not appreciate the send off last night, by the way. Though, the girl has style."
"Not now, Garcia. I need you to do something for me." Reid ignored her kidding as he paced in front of the map.
"Someone hasn't had their morning coffee." Garcia commented, but Reid heard her typing. "What am I looking for oh wise one?"
"I need you to look for any cases in the last five years that have the same MO as the latest victims."
"I've already done this, G-Man. Nothing."
"Broaden your search range within 50 miles. This is a tight city but there are a lot of outlying towns and neighborhoods. We may hit something there. And look for prostitutes killed, not just the MO."
"Jack pot. I got about 26 prostitutes murdered in the last five years, starting in 2006. They are different precincts I can fax over the preliminary case files if Amy has a fax machine. I'll have the originals at the apartment within the hour."
"She has a fax machine. It's one of those printer all in one things. I don't know the number for it."
"I'm hurt you even think I need it. It will be faxing over in seconds."
"Thanks, Garcia."
"No problem, baby boy. Is this a good sign?" Garcia questioned her tone hopeful.
"It might be, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm just hoping that by adding plot points to the map I can get a correct estimation of the unsubs location."
"If anyone can crack it you can, Reid. We all have faith in you." Garcia stated softly.
"Thanks, Garcia."
"No problem. Garcia over and out!"
Reid was still shaking his head at Garcia's antics as he padded barefoot into Amy's kitchen to make coffee. Within seconds he had the coffee brewing and he heard the fax machine come to life. He poured his coffee as he waited for the pages to finish. He was on the right track, he knew it.
Reid picked the pages off of the printer and separated them into four separate piles, into the years of the murders. Within five minutes he had the two hundred and twenty eight pages read. He had just picked up the markers to work on the map when Amy walked out of her bedroom. She had thrown on clothes, but not much. The tight t-shirt and shorts were doing nothing for his attention span.
"Where'd you go?" Amy asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"I had an idea that I wanted to work on." Reid explained pulling her to him in a tight hug, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
"I will just have to get use to being abandoned in favor of brainiac ideas. I can handle that. Part of the sleeping with a genius package I suppose."
"I'm glad you can. I can't promise it will never happen," Reid sighed as he looked over the map.
"Please, Spencer. It makes you, you. I wouldn't have it any other way. Plus I'm hoping an idea means some end to this."
"It's just a theory. I found some more cases like this one that I'm hoping to connect."
"Well, that's good right? You can connect the cases and find him." Amy stated her voice trembling in her excitement.
"Not necessarily. We might have his previous victims but we don't know who his fixation was on during those years. The real connection would between you and the previous stalking victims. It would identify possible places that all of you frequent. Right now I just have proved that he has killed before." Reid watched as she nodded hiding her optimism. "What time is your professor coming over?"
"In an hour or so. I'm just grateful she's coming. I can get two tests out of the way. It will still be weird not to have thirty nine other students freaking out around me."
"You know all of the information. You will do great." Reid praised before shifting his eyes to his map anxiously.
Amy just laughed at him, "Get back to work genius. I'll make some breakfast."
Reid leaned down so she could kiss him and watched her walk away. Knowing that she could handle the job part of his life was a big relief. It was something Lila had never understood, even this little aspect. He shook his head to dislodge the blonde from his memory. They were nothing alike. He ignored his pessimistic tendencies and focus on the map in front of him.
In the time Amy had left he had filled in his map with an array of highlighters he had swiped from Amy's school supply basket. He had outlined the multiple cases into clear geographical profiles. Reid looked up from his work to see Hotch walking into the apartment.
"What did you find?" Hotch asked as he quickly crossed the living room to examine the newly covered map.
"I was thinking about the unsub this morning. For this unsub to be so evolved and clinical he had to have done this before, for years even. I had Garcia widen her search to the fifty miles around DC. Going back five years in the months of June and July there have been an escalation of prostitutes killed, about seven on average for those months. In the last four years all of the murders have involved mutilation of the body, specifically removing the limbs. I've plotted all of the places the new victims' bodies were found on the map." Reid explained motioning to the wall.
"How can you link the other killings in the first two years when they aren't the same MO?" Hotch asked critically.
"The unsub might not have removed any body parts but the rest is consistent. Same time of year, same victim population, and most importantly look at the victims," Reid stated his tone rushed in his obvious excitement. He turned towards the table thumbing through the files until he found the four he needed. He pulled the contents out of the folders but kept the pictures separate. "Look at the victims of each year," Reid pointed out making sure Hotch was noticing what he did. "The victims each look similar to each other. Blondes with tan skin in 2006, brunettes with blue eyes in 2007 and brown eyes in 2008, and blondes again in 2009. I think these victims are emulating whoever his object of obsession was that year. He is finding a new victim each year."
Hotch looked over the different files, flipping them quickly, "And these started in 2006?"
"Yes, the unsub probably got out of jail or moved around that time. There is no way he could have started just four years ago."
"But he changed his MO two years ago, there was no mutilation before then."
"We have theorized that the body parts and the jewelry are gifts. What if they are ways of getting the main victim's attention as well? Maybe he was getting her attention another way before, then switched to this," Reid sputtered frustrated as his words didn't come out as quickly as his brain wanted them to. "But it is the same unsub," Reid stated adamantly.
"It is," Hotch agreed looking over the files. "Good work Reid. We'll get the team together to interview people involved in the case. They are in different precincts, the police had no idea there were more. This is the break we've been looking for. Have you had any luck figuring out the women he was previously fixated on?"
Reid frowned, "Not yet. I've posted them on the maps color coordinating them by each year. All five years worth of victims are on the out skirt of this area." He showed Hotch the area he had circled. "It's about four square miles."
"Call Garcia and see if anyone off of our list lives in that area. And see if the physical descriptions of the victims match up with any women who filed stalking complaints," Hotch ordered as the team walked in. "I'll catch them up to speed and figure out where to send everybody."
Reid pulled his cell phone out as Hotch walked away immediately dialing.
"Diviner of all destiny, would you like your fortune?" Garcia's peppy voice answered from her secluded office.
"Actually I'd like you to run some information," Reid answered as he grinned.
"Good thing for you I'm a marathon runner on the knowledge super highway. What can I help you with boy wonder?"
"Can you run the names off of our master list against the map coordinates I just sent you?"
"Running at lightning speed. Okay at least half of the people on the list are within the parameters. It's a college area most of the students and professors are there."
"Eliminate all of the ones that live in the apartments. The unsub would need a lot privacy for these killings."
"Still have thirty on the list."
"Can you email it to me? I can at least compare it to what we already have." Reid had to admit he was let down. They had a lead but it might not go anywhere quickly. At least they had new people to interview that could open up even more doors.
"Will do!"
"And can you pull up the stalking complaints filed for those years and see if the physical characteristics of the victims match up?"
"That will take some time there is a lot of comparing to do and most of the police offices don't have electronic records of the complaints."
"Just let us know if you find anything."
"Sure. Garica off like a shot." She spouted before the line went dead.
Hotch and the rest of the team were congregated at the table when Reid turned back to them.
"We need to cover as many of these cases as we can. Four different years leaves us a lot of people to interview. Rossi and Prentiss take the 2006 files. Morgan and Reid see about 2007. JJ and I will check on 2008 and whoever gets free first can meet up with the lead detectives about 2009. We may not get it all done today but we should be able to get some new information," Hotch ordered. "We can meet back here around six."
"Bring you're appetites!" Amy called from the kitchen. "I've got a special race dinner lined up for tonight."
"Race dinner?" Prentiss asked her question directed at Reid as if he could translate.
"I have no idea," he admitted with a shrug. "But I'm not turning down Amy's food."
"Me either," Morgan agreed his tone eager.
The team was packing up when they heard a knock on the door. JJ looked through the peephole suspiciously. "I don't know who that is," she admitted shrugging.
"It's probably Amy's professor Dr. Benjamin. She was going to proctor two tests so Amy didn't fall behind," Reid answered.
"Like that girl could," Morgan snorted. "How many times has she been through those damn notes?"
"Four times. My average on a normal non house arrest basis is three," Amy answered strolling through the living room to open her front door. He wasn't quick enough to stop her but breathed a sigh of relief when she looked through the peephole. "It's Dr. B. Can I let her in?"
"Go ahead," Hotch answered. "JJ can check her purse and pat her down."
Amy opened the door with a smile. "Hello, Dr. Benjamin. Thank you so much for doing this."
"No problem, Amy," the older black woman answered politely as she took in the full room. "If you aren't prepared we can put this off. I think you have a pretty valid excuse."
"Oh, that girl is prepared up to her eyeballs," Morgan answered for her.
"And who are you?" Dr. Benjamin asked in surprise at the man speaking out of turn.
"Believe it or not that man is a federal agent," Amy joked winking at Morgan. "These are members of the FBI who are working on the case. That's Agent Morgan, JJ, Prentiss, Hotchner, Rossi, and Dr. Reid."
"Dr?" Dr. Benjamin questioned as she allowed JJ to take her purse. Her eyes flashed in interest at the possibility or another doctor in the room.
"Ph.D.s" Amy stated proudly. "In Math, Chemistry, and Engineering." She could see Spencer smiling as she explained. It probably was a pain in the ass to be questioned every day of your life. "If you guys are leaving can we use the table?"
"Of course," Spencer answered moving some of his papers, handing the folders to the different agents.
"There will be a police officer outside the entire time," Hotch advised. "We will meet back here at six, but call if you need anything."
Amy nodded as the team left the room surprised when Spencer remained behind. Confused she watched him step in front of her and stop. "Good luck," he wished, placing a kiss on her unsuspecting lips. He was gone before she could reply. She turned to face Dr. Benjamin her face still a mask of shock. Luckily, Dr. B was unloading her tests on the table and hadn't witnessed a thing. Something she was pretty sure Spencer had noticed. With a grin she took a seat at the table ready for the tests that faced her. Having a FBI agent, genius boyfriend really wasn't that bad.
Reid rested his head back on the SUV's leather closing his weary eyes. He was surprised at how tired he was. He could easily blame his late night antics with Amy but honestly once they fell asleep he slept better than he did on his own. He was surprised at that. Whenever he was with Lila his nightmares were more vivid and intense. He had chalked it up to not being use to sleeping with someone at night. But with Amy they were almost gone, just a shadow of their former selves.
"What pretty boy? Amy riding you too hard?" Morgan joked as he drove the SUV through downtown traffic.
"Shut up, Morgan," Reid half heartedly defended.
"Aw, come on man. Give me something to tell my Baby Girl."
"If Garcia wants to know something she can ask."
"Fine. If you are going to be no fun we might as well start in on this case. First up we need to interview the detectives involved in this precinct. I can't believe this guy managed to hit every local precinct without tipping anyone off."
"He's flying under the radar. I think that he probably was in jail before 2006. He got caught and became very careful. He knows that if they were in the same precinct it would have sent up a red flag. That makes the geographical profile a little tough because he is deliberately going outside his comfort zone. All of the profiles should centralize his location, though."
Morgan turned the SUV into the crowded police station parking lot. "Who is the lead detective on these cases?"
"Robertson. And JJ told him we were coming."
"Good. At least we won't have to bring him up to speed. JJ is a life saver."
"As always," Reid agreed. JJ often got overlooked when it came to accolades, but without her they wouldn't be able to do a tenth of the job.
Reid followed Morgan into the crowded police station that was buzzing with activity. He instantly took in the large room. The far wall had a bulletin board that a few officers were pulling miscellaneous papers off of. Just as quickly they were placing new pages on. Immediately Reid recognized them as pages from the file he had been pouring over that morning.
A short chubby man rushed up to them automatically giving his attention to Morgan. "I'm Detective Robertson you must be from the FBI."
Reid rocked back on his heels as he let Morgan make the introductions. "I'm Agent Morgan and this is Dr. Reid. I see you guys were alerted to the cases we want to examine."
"We pulled all the case files out for you guys and got some stuff together. We had no idea there was a serial killer in our city. It's got the guys reved up." Robertson exclaimed his eyes dancing wildly at the prospect.
Reid wanted to role his eyes. It wasn't often that they were assigned to help a detective who was eager to make their name on a serial case, but it did happen. How someone could be excited at the prospect of their name attached to a serial killers was beyond him. It was one of the many times he was glad he faded in the background.
"We don't want to jump to conclusions. It may just be a coincidence. We would just like examine the files and ask a few questions. I'm assuming you were the detective on the cases?" Morgan asked pointedly shooting down the detectives over ambitious ideas. While Reid was positive the killings were serial they didn't need to bring more attention to it than necessary. He looked at the now full board ruefully.
"Can we review the full case files before we talk?" Reid asked anxiously. He was itching to comb through the information and apply it to Amy's case.
"Sure, right this way," Detective Robertson motioned towards the board easily. "I pulled out each case file. There really isn't much there. At the time we just thought they were just prostitutes being killed. You know, an everyday kind of thing," He shrugged absently.
Reid bit his tongue to keep from commenting. It always annoyed him when people treated victims on a hierarchy. It was a person who lost a life it shouldn't be categorized. He normally ignored it easily, like a slight annoyance, but today when he was already tired it was damn aggravating.
He saw Morgan working his jaw as he looked over the meager case files. They weren't much thicker than the files he had looked over earlier. Each of the seven murders had maybe fifty pages to their folder. A normal case file had anywhere from two to three hundred. Reid rubbed his hand over his face before he sat down and pulled a file over to read through.
"Were any of Sheryl Moore's friends interviewed?" Morgan questioned Anderson as he flipped closed the file.
"No, it wasn't like we could leave messages at their work," Robertson snorted.
Morgan and Reid stared at him in disgust. "How about the other women?"
"Look, we interviewed people at the scene, but after that we moved on. We are already undermanned. We can't follow up every prostitute killed."
"Do you remember any other cases around that time? Maybe that got the same neglected treatment?" Morgan asked critically.
"I've given you what we have," Anderson said curtly.
"What about stalking cases?" Reid asked forcing the attention off of Morgan. "We are working on the assumption that these women were killed in place of another person. A younger woman with the same physical description as these victims. She would have complained of stalking, someone watching her, maybe vandalism or minor thefts."
"So, you do think this is a serial killer?" Anderson questioned.
"Were there any women who came in like that?" Reid pushed his annoyance clear.
"Not that I know of," he shrugged. "Those kind of cases don't get to me. Try the receptionist at the front desk. Most of the time people just file a report and its gets turned over to one of the cops to follow up on."
"How long does it take for a follow up?" Morgan asked critically.
"With the amount of reports and the few cops we have, it usually takes a month or two if it isn't life threatening."
"It was life threatening for this girl." Morgan pointed out as he pulled another file to read.
"I'm going to ask the receptionist," Reid stated as he pulled a good picture of Sheryl Moore and headed to the front of the overcrowded office. The guy was an ass but he wasn't lying about being short staffed. It was amazing the office was still running under the limited number of cops and detectives. The last thing they needed was to get distracted by a serial killer.
"Excuse me," Reid cleared his throat as he approached the elderly woman working the front desk. She was hurriedly typing information into the computer while trying to eat her lunch one handed. She looked at him not unkindly, but like she must look at most of the people in the office, like they were interrupting her very important work. "I heard you were the one to talk to about women coming in to file reports about stalking, minor thefts, maybe nuisance calls?"
"You mean the cases that aren't glamorous enough for those idiots?" She joked snidely not missing a letter as she continued to type.
"Exactly," Reid laughed breathing a sigh of relief.
"Well, what exactly are you looking for, gorgeous?"
Reid flushed nervously as he startled to rattle off the words that were becoming second nature. "We have a woman who is being stalked by a man who we believe is a serial killer. He is leaving gifts including some jewelry he has previously stolen. We need to see if there are any complaints of stalking, theft, hang up calls. Things that would bring in a young woman, enough that it would be scaring her."
"You have described most of the women who come in. But most of the girls can be ruled out."
"What do you mean?"
"The petty theft? 95% are complaints against roommates. I can pull the ones that aren't. If we eliminate boyfriends the stalking cases rapidly decline. And hang up calls, sorry those you won't narrow done much."
"But if maybe a girl came in complaining of a mixture of those? And if she looks like this?" Reid showed her the picture he pulled earlier.
She looked over the picture sadly before nodding. "I can find it. I may not have them all in the computer system but I have them all organized. It will take me a while to get through them. Do you have a specific time frame I need to look at?"
"2007. Specifically the spring and summer."
"Those are housed downstairs in the storage room. It will take me a while to get to it. Do you have a fax number I can send them? It will probably be around seven tonight. But I'll get you all of the records."
"I would greatly appreciate it." Reid praised as he looked over the massive amount of work she was already swimming in. "And pull any of the files that just stick out in your mind. Women you might have been struck by. You probably are the best gauge for knowing if something was legitimate or not."
"You don't have to give me a compliment I'll do anything you say, sugar," She laughed winking at him.
Reid shook his head as he wrote down Amy's fax number thinking this woman reminded him or one very annoying technical analyst.
So what did you think? Worth the wait? I like it personally. ;) But next chapter will really amp up the action! That is the plan at least! ;)