2 day later the team were once again gathered and discussing the latest developments in the case.
'After refusing to get involved beyond gathering evidence, why would he show up at a fire scene?' asked Rossi. 'And how did he know that the benefit was going to be targeted? He had to have been on-site in order to appear so fast.'
'We still don't know how he is getting his evidence. Or what happened to make him start his crusade. We have more questions than answers at this point' added Morgan. 'We have no leads on JJ and Mr. Steele. We have no idea who this guy is. With all the cases so far how can we not know more?'
'The unsub is far more sophisticated than we previously thought' replied Hotch. 'I'm worried about JJ too but we need to stay focused. The unsub didn't appear to be specifically targeting Mr. Lynns. He tried talking him down which bought enough time for everyone to get to safety. He saved numerous lives.'
'Ms. Lance still has the phone to contact the Unsub. We know that she has asked for his help to get evidence against Cyrus Vanch, sufficient enough to send him back to prison.'
'Cyrus Vanch is a career criminal who ran a human trafficking ring. He was involved in drug running in Bludhaven and was connected to multiple homicides. He was sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences, for at least 52 different homicides' answered Lance, before continuing in disgust. 'After serving 8 months of his sentence he was released yesterday due to lack of evidence.'
'How did your daughter become interested in his case?' asked Rossi.
'She works at CNRI and they are representing a victim's advocacy group that was trying to keep Vanch locked up' replied Lance.
'Ok. A criminal like that fits perfectly with the unsub's pattern. Involved in multiple murders, human trafficking and drug running' concluded Morgan.
'He insisted that collecting evidence wasn't what he did but to hold onto the phone. That he would call back' replied Lance. 'We just need to wait. If he does get involved and collect any evidence he is bound to arrange to deliver it. We need to be ready when he does and maybe we can finally catch this nut-case.'
Before anyone else could respond Garcia interrupted them.
'Guys? You need to see this. This news report started running a few minutes ago' she began before turning on one of the screens in the room and displaying a news report in progress
'The FBI are continuing with their investigation into the disappearance of Walter Steele, CEO of Queen Consolidated and an unnamed FBI agent before Christmas. A member of the Starling City PD admitted that there are few clues to their location or the motive for the kidnapping. The case continues to mystify the investigators and the search is ongoing for further evidence to uncover new leads.
The unnamed FBI agent was in Starling City as part of a task force created to investigate the activities of Starling City's own vigilante, known as 'The Hood'. In the 4 months that he has been active, assaults are down, muggings are down. The murder rate has dropped by 16%. So in a clear quantifiable way he has been a positive force in this city. The vigilante has been striking fear into criminals across the city with many believing he is doing more good than harm, obviously not the same view-point being taken by the FBI.
While there has been no confirmation, unsubstantiated reports claim that the FBI believe that the vigilante was involved in the disappearance of Mr. Steele and their agent.'
'Where the hell are these 'unsubstantiated reports coming from? And why are they making it sound like this guy is a hero?' asked Morgan. 'He's running around attacking and killing people!'
'It's hard to argue with the statistics, if they are accurate' began Rossi. At the indignant look from Morgan he continued 'I'm not saying the guy is a hero by any means but he seems to be getting results, if making Starling City safer was his aim.'
'I'm more worried about details of the investigation being leaked to the press' replied Hotch. 'Plus the fact that they insinuated that 'The Hood' was responsible for the kidnapping of JJ and Mr. Steele. How he'll react to that accusation is anyone's guess.'