Once Robbins regains some of his dignity and barings, he and the other three officers head upstairs to start getting things ready for the ransom call that's supposed to take place that night. So we take the change and look over the other cases, trying again to find a connection. "Blunt trauma, stabbing…" Tench shakes his head, "The more bodies we get, the harder it is to see any pattern."

"Maybe that's what he wants?"

"If we can't pin down an MO it's harder to predict who, when, and where. So we can't rely on MO. I mean, two victims are female."

"We haven't seen a sexual predator cross genders."

"Exactly."

"Are you saying this guy is smart enough to know if he goes after girls and boys it'll make it harder to catch him?"

"Either that or he's just that fucked up." I shrug.

Barney calls out to us, having been on the phone, "Bill. Field office said your wife called."

Tench nods and walks over to Barney as he does, the Commissioner and Police Chief walk in. I look over to Ford, "City hall?"

"Show's on."

"Behavior yourself." i shake my head, "do not go off on a limb without clearing it with Bill and me, first."

Barney walks over to the Commissioner and Police Chief. "Chief Redding." Barney extends a hand.

Redding smiles and shakes Barney's hand, "Commissioner Brown, this is Special Agent Jim Barney."

Brown nods and shakes Barney's hand, "Agent Barney, I've been asking to meet you, or frankly anyone from the FBI, for a while now." I have to fight the urge to roll my eyes, there is no way he hadn't heard that Ford and I were looking into the case from Garland.

"Glad we can help." Barney nods before turning to Robbins, who is coming down the stairs, "this is Special Agent Robbins, Memphis Office. He's our kidnap specialist. He'll walk you through the plan."

At this point I have turned my back to the men, pinning a few things to the board, but I can hear Robbins, "We're expecting a call at 6:00 p.m. with the aunt's house next door. Now, she has the only phone in the family. We've got a trap and trace on the line. I'll coach the mother through the back-and-forth, keep our caller talkin'."

"And once the call comes in?" Brown asks.

"We got a dedicated radio channel with agents ready to respond."

Redding takes a deep breath, "And my men are planted throughout the area."

"He may be hoppin' phone booths."

"Thank you. And is the bureau offering assistance with the other cases?" I turn to look to Ford as I hear Brown ask this question.

Barney nods and walks over to us, "yes. Commissioner, I'd like you to meet Agents Tench, Ford, and Freeman. From the Behavioral Science Unit."

"Behavioral Science?"

"A new field of forensics Quantico's developing."

Tench stands and shakes Brown's hand, "commissioner. Bill Tench."

"And what is your part in the kidnap and recovery?"

'Basically support at this stage."

"We're not even sure there is a kidnapping." I can almost hear Ford roll his eyes as he turns to the board.

"You're not?" Brown looks over to Ford.

I take a deep breath, "what Agent Ford means to say, is that it doesn't fit the pattern."

"You see a pattern? Tell me more about that, please."

I turn to Ford, who nods as he turns back to Brown and the other men, "what's happening to these children isn't a random wave of violence. There is a definite method to victim selection."

I nod, "in these cases, he's showing an obvious predilection towards young boys."

Brown shakes his head, "you're saying he?"

Ford nods, "we believe, or at least I believe, you have a predator."

"Commissioner, this is early days." Tench shakes his head, "we have a lot of work ahead of us. We can't rule anything out."

I clear my throat, stepping up to the table, "there are other commonalities that suggest a single killer. All are from the same socioeconomic background. All the bodies have been moved and left to be discovered postmortem. Several were asphyxiated…"

"Hold on," Redding cuts me off, "who is this?"

Barney looks up to me, almost telling me not to make a smart comment, "this is Agent Freeman. She is one of the Agents with the BAU and for all intents and purposes our press isason for this case."

Redding shakes his head, a bit surprised that a woman is even there, "why don't you get us all a cup of coffee darling, let the men talk about all this nasty stuff."

Before I can say anything or move, Ford steps up beside me, "she isn't going anywhere."

Tench nods, "Agent Freeman is one of our best agents, if she isn't working this case, your chances of catching this guy will be sliced in half."

"So you can go get your own coffee." Ford places a hand on my back. I smirk over to Redding.

Redding nods, "alright, please continue, Agent."

"Thank you." I nod, "now these killings are personal and may be sexaully driven. Even thoguth we've seen no evidence or rape with any of these boys. We're learning sexual gratification can come from the act of violence alone." I look over to Ford, before back to Brown and Redding, "Agent Ford and I think this man is a hebephile. He's looking for pubescents."

"At least three of the victims are 14."

"Yes, but even the 14 year olds were small for their age. To someone driving by in a car, they would appear much younger."

"So, all the children: one killer." Brown looks up to me from his seated position at the table.

"We believe that to be the case. Yes."

"This is truly fascinating. I had no idea the FBI had this resource. Nor did I imagine it would be you. Ms. Freeman."

I shake my head, "it's the team. We'll be able to direct the investigation toward the highest-probability suspects."

"So you'll be looking for previous offenders?"

"Not necessarily."

Ford leans forward, placing his palms on the table, "I have worked up a profile. I'm fairly certain the unsub we should be looking for is black. There's no way a Caucasian, like your caller, could take children from these neighborhoods without being noticed. He might drive a vehicle disarming to kids. An ice-cream truck or a police car."

"Do you agree with this, Ms Freeman?" Brown looks up to me.

I nod, "I believe Agent Ford's hypothesis is sound. I know this can all sound conjectural, but I assure you, we conduct our work very methodically."

"I have no doubt. This has been… highly instructive. Thank you." Brown and Redding leave, shaking our hands before they do.

When they do I lean against the table and sigh. Ford rubs my back, "that went well."

Barney walks over to Tench, "your wife called twice while he was here. Use the phone in the back." Tech nods and walks off.

I look over to Ford, "I'm not sure how well, that went."

"No," Ford shakes his head, "it went great. You did amazingly."

I shake my hands, "I felt like I was shaking the whole time."

"Why? You've seen profiles before."

"Not on a huge children murder case."

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. Although Bill may have set a pretty high bar for you."

"Yeah, I know." I shake my head, "that's not helping either."

"Don't worry, Nancy." Barney shakes his head, "you'll do great."

"How do you know that."

"Because from the way Bill talks about this team, you're the heart of it."

Tench walks over to us, "guys, i have a mini family emergency."

"Is everything okay?" I turn to Tench.

"Nothing serious. Nancy's mom took a fall. But there's no one to look after Brian till tomorrow."

"Go if you need to." Ford nods, "we got this."

"I'm gonna catch a cab, jump on the next plane. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay," I nod, "be safe."

"Thanks."

I turn to Ford, "I think we should go talk to Mrs. Bell and the others. Let them know we are actually here now."