Part XXIX

They started running through some theories on the jet, Reid being the one who was talking the most.

"The fact that our unsub is using only wire and that there seem to be no other marks on the body seems to indicate that this particular unsub is of unusual strength, especially considering how physically fit each of the victims are. That should make our unsub stand out in a crowd."

Prentiss nodded, and then cut in.

"True, but at the same time our unsub is unassuming enough to not seem to pose as a threat, because the only way they could have entered is if they were let into the home voluntarily."

Then, the screen on the laptop on the table came on, showing Penelope Garcia.

"Hello, my lovelies...I have some good news for you."

"Go ahead and tell us, baby girl," Morgan said in his typical fashion and Garcia grinned.

"Gladly. Okay, so even though none of the victims have any social links, they all had one interesting little commonality between them..."

She paused, dragging the moment out, but then Rossi, in a warning tone said, "Garcia..."

"Alright, alright, my impatient Italian...all of our victims have histories of abuse."

They all looked at Garcia in confusion, and JJ spoke up.

"Wait, they were abused?"

"No, no, no, my blonde angel," she clarified. "You misunderstand...they were the abusers."

She paused for a moment, pulling up their files and then explained each one.

"Travis Doyle, age 37, was accused of beating his younger sister and breaking her arm, but was never convicted; Lawrence Jackson, age 35, was accused of beating his wife, and he, too, was never convicted; Daniel Messer, accused of beating his girlfriend; Richard Grayson, his sister. All of them never convicted."

They all looked at the cases on their tablets, Reid in paper, and they all looked back up at Garcia.

Hotch was the first to comment.

"How come this wasn't discovered by the police earlier?"

"Because they were never actually convicted, they have no real criminal records; hence it wasn't put as a link between all of our victims."

Hotch nodded.

"Thanks, Garcia. We'll call you if we need anything else."

She nodded. "Of course, mon Capitan!"

With that dramatic turn of phrase, she turned off the monitor, leaving them to digest that information and add it into their profile of the unsub, adjusting it as they needed to.

This changed things, that was for sure. No longer were they looking at random killings, but instead someone who fancied themselves as an executer of justice. Had they stumbled across a rogue crusader?


At the small precinct, Reid immediately started the geographical profile, JJ joining him as she had on their last case. She seemed to have knack for finding patterns, so she figured that it was better to play to her strengths.

She looked at each of the locations and was surprised by how close together they were.

"Wow...none of the victims were more than four miles away from each other. Isn't that kind of odd?"

Reid nodded vehemently, and then started to talk.

"Extremely odd, actually. The calculations alone on how unlikely this type of situation is are incredibly high. When a killer kills, they need to stay within or away from a certain zone, but in this case we know that our unsub is right in this area..."

He used a red marker and circled a tiny area of the map, an area that could easily be secured by roadblocks.

It was only a few miles square…but it still included several thousand people. And from what JJ had seen of most of the locals, a lot of the men looked to be pretty strong and fit; all of them easily strong enough to do what needed to be done to cut a throat with a piano wire.

That certainly didn't help to narrow their search down.

It was obvious that a lot of these men had grown up with the pastimes of hunting and football…and not much else. This meant that they were broad in shoulder and strong in arms…as well as well acquainted with rifles, bows, knives, and all other sorts of weaponry…

She glanced across the room, over to where Hotch and Morgan were talking to the local sheriff, and Hotch looked up and cast her a reassuring look, which she returned.

JJ looked back at the map, only to notice that Reid was giving her an odd look.

"What?"

He stared at her for another moment and then said,

"It's just odd. You and Hotch seem to be closer than normal…I've noticed that he's paired you with me both times on our cases, which makes me think that he's trying to protect you as I'm the last person, usually, to get into trouble…and I'm also the one who carries the biggest gun."

With that being said, he turned back to the map and continued on as though he'd said nothing, and JJ looked at him in surprise.

Reid was more observant of the two of them than she'd thought. Maybe she should be more worried about him and less worried about Garcia…but maybe, she should tell him?

"Hey, Reid-" she started, but he cut her off.

"Yeah, I know, JJ. You and Hotch have been dating. Seriously, though, do you think we should refine our search by criminal record or by non-convicted assaults? The first one would help us find our killer, but if we looked by non-convicted assaults, we just might be able to save our next possible victim…"

She stared at him in shock, but at the same time was slightly offended at how he had just brushed off the fact that her and Hotch were dating.

What, was that not big news in Reid's opinion?

"Reid, how'd you know-"

He cut her off again. "Is this really relevant right now, JJ? Now help me out here…which should we look for first?"

He glanced back down at the file, and then back up at the board, and JJ shrugged, unsure of what to say. "Uhh…I guess victimology would be best."

"I agree," was all he said, and soon it went silent between them as he began to work and JJ tried to process what had just happened. It had all felt sort of surreal, like he hadn't actually said the words, but she could still hear them ringing in her ear, so she said nothing and started to help him.


Part 29/?