The Fox- 1:7
"He's so gorgeous." JJ said.
"Thank you." Hailey replied.
"Can I hold Jack?" I asked.
"Of course." Hotch handed Jack to me. I cooed at him. Earlier today, Hotch brought Hailey and Jack to work, and I won't complain. I did see him earlier, when Hailey was giving birth, but come on. He's just so adorable. I'm glad I'm his godmother.
"If you find baldness and wrinkles attractive." Reid said.
"Look at his little witty bitty nose." Penelope cooed. "Don't you want one of these?" Penelope asked Derek.
"Mm. I'll stick to practicing." Derek replied as he left. We all scoffed. I handed Jack back to Aaron.
"Congratulations." Elle said.
"Thanks. She's amazing. I'm a little terrified." Aaron admitted.
"You should be." I said, as we all laughed.
"Well, uh, we should get going." Hailey said.
"Pleasure seeing you, Mrs. Hotchner." Reid said.
"Bye Hailey." I said to her as she headed towards the elevator. Elle handed me a case file, along with Reid and JJ. "How bad is it?" I asked.
"The worst." Elle replied.
"Crawford family. Murdered 3 days ago." Gideon said as we entered the Conference Room.
"Saw it on the news." Morgan replied. I pulled out my bag of pretzels and started munching on them.
"They were found in the basement of their house." Gideon said as he sat down. I opened my file and started reading the pages about the case.
"Bags packed for a vacation they never took." JJ read.
"Report said it was a murder/suicide. Father stabbed the mom, then shot himself." Morgan added.
"That's the conclusion Maryland State police came to. The gun was found next to the father. Had gunpowder residue on his right hand." JJ explained.
"And now you must have some compelling reason to think that Chris Crawford didn't off his family?" Morgan asked.
"Yeah. Another murdered family. The Millers, found a month ago. The mother Reese Miller, her 2 children, and her new husband. Again, they were found in the basement and like the Crawfords, their suitcases were packed for a vacation." JJ answered.
"Both cases, the bodies were discovered 5 days after their vacations were supposed to have started." Gideon read.
"Yet the coroner determined that they had been dead only 24 hours." JJ responded.
"So for 4 days, both families remained in the house." Reid concluded.
"Location of the bodies, both cases, the basement. That indicates a level of organization."
"With a quick, but disorganized application of overpowering force." Morgan added to Gideon's statement.
"Some's doing a dam good job at making these look like murder/suicides, if they aren't it." I say.
"Possibly this man, Eric Miller. Biological father of the Miller children. Arlington P. D. Issued a bolo for Miller after the bodies were discovered." JJ said.
"Ex-wife Reese Miller had a restraining order against him for domestic violence." Gideon added.
"When'd she get remarried?" Morgan asked.
"The week before they were killed." JJ answered. I sighed.
"This is why most men are disgusting. Violent husbands believe their wives and children are property. Reese Miller getting re-married possibly made him snap." I said, in disgust.
"Well, the Virginia cops finally located Eric Miller last night responding to a drunken disturbance at a motel where Miller had been hiding out. When they found him they discovered blood on his black leather jacket. Belonged to his children." JJ said.
"Was any of his DNA found at the Crawford house?" Morgan asked.
"No." Gideon responded.
"Did he know the Crawfords?" Reid asked.
"If he does, he's not saying. In fact, he hasn't said a word since his arrest. Uh, the Arlington P. D. have asked us to interview him." JJ said.
"If anyone could apply overwhelming force, he's your man." Reid said to Gideon.
"I want you to find out. Talk to him." Gideon said to Reid.
"You- you want me to talk to him?" Reid stuttered.
"Yeah. Go with Harita."
"Me? But normally-"
"Yes, normally I would go with either one of you, but why not give it a change?" I sighed.
...
"I'm Dr. Harita and this is Spencer Reid. We're from the FBI" I said, as we entered the interrogation room, containing Mr. Miller.
"We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." Reid said, avoiding eye contact as he sat down. I leaned against the wall behind him.
"Got something you wanna ask me, boy? You look me in the eye, and you ask." Mr. Miller said
"3 days ago-" Reid got cut off by Mr. Miller.
"You're not looking at me." Reid looked him in the eye, briefly, and looked back at the file he just opened.
"3 days ago, the Crawford family was murdered."
"Is that right?" Mr. Miller asked.
"Did you know them?" Reid asked.
"What are you getting at?"
"They were killed in the exact same way that your family was killed." I said as Reid showed him the pictures.
"And? I've been slapped around all night by every cop in Virginia. What makes you think a damn photo is gonna scare me?" Mr. Miller shook the table, startling Reid. He then started raising his voice. "Is that what this is about, hmm? You think I'm crazy, man? You think I suddenly snapped and I slaughtered my own wife and kids? You think I did this? Huh? Is that what you think?" He shook the table again and stood up. The two other agents that were in the room grabbed a hold of him.
"Sit down, now." Hotch said as he and Elle bragged into the room.
"Is this your daddy?!" Mr. Miller exclaimed as I internely gagged. "I'm done talking to you people!"
"You don't have to talk. Just listen to us." Reid said. "On the occasions you assaulted your wife, you were intoxicated. Once the effects of alcohol wore off you were overcome by feelings of remorse."
"I'm gonna tell you this just one time. You shut your mouth!" Mr. Miller yelled.
"Genetic factors contribute to alcohol stress interactions." Reid continued.
"Your alcoholic mother was too drunk to stop the beatings that your father gave you." I said, as Elle and Hotch were whispering whether to end the interrogation or not. "At age 6, you were orphaned to a family where the abuse continued only this time, it was sexual."
"You shut your mouth, or I'm gonna rip your face off." Mr. Miller threatened, looking at me.
"The abuse continued well into puberty but my one concern is, Eric did you or did you not continue the cycle with your own children?" Reid asked.
"I never laid a hand on my children. You hear me?!" Mr. Miller outburst. Spencer and I looked at eachother confused. "I found them like that. Dead. Bloodied. My babies. My sweet, little babies. I was crazy out of my mind. I didn't know what to do. And I knew the cops were gonna blame me, and they have."
"So you ran?" Reid asked.
"So what've I got now?" Mr. Miller asked.
"You have your innocence. For the sake of your children they deserve the truth." I said.
"I can't get the image of my dead children out of my mind. Ty, my little boy, was clutching a piece of paper. I think it was a drawing. May- maybe a painting. Please. I'd love to know what he painted, Dr. Reid and Dr. Harita." Mr. Miller said. Reid, Hotch, Elle, and I left the room.
"Interesting interrogation technique. What did you hope to accomplish?" Elle asked the two of us.
"Well, he was closed off, defensive, hostile. We needed a way in. He's suffered a breakdown but we don't think he killed his family and we know he still loved his wife." Reid explained.
"Why do you say that?" Hotch asked.
"He still wore the wedding ring, even though he is divorced." I said.
…
"I believe the unsub had control of this family. He may have separated each family member. Tells the mother, 'If you scream, I'll kill your children.' Tells the children, 'If you cry, I'll kill mommy.' The suspect found a way of restraining them without leaving marks. Based on lividity the M. E. estimates that the father was the last to die." Gideon explains, as we were discussing how the unsub got away with his plan in the conference room.
"Which means he witnessed the whole thing. If he did spend time with both families he must've known he had the time to spend with 'em."
"Cause he knew they were going on vacation." Reid adds to Morgan's statement.
"Look at travel agents, relatives, work colleagues, contract workers, children's tutors." Gideon says.
"Gideon, we've been looking into the Crawford financials." Hotch says through the phone.
"Allison Crawford spent way more money than Chris could afford. They were in major debt." Garcia said.
"And Chris Crawford wrote a number of checks for a series of visits to a therapist." Hotch added.
"She had 2 cell phone accounts, one of them billed to a separate address in southeast Washington, D. C." Garcia said.
Well, time to get our vests on.
...
"Federal agents!" We all yelled, as Hotch kicked down the door. Hotch, Morgan, and I went down the hall, while Gideon and Elle went to the living room. I went to the second bedroom door while Hotch went to the first and Morgan went to the third. I kicked open the door, pointed my gun in front of me, and checked the room. I yelled "Clear!" and got out of the room. I followed Morgan and Hotch down the hall into the last door, where we heard some shattering. Hotch, who was in front of Morgan and I, jiggled the door, but it was locked. Morgan got in front of the door and kicked it open. We rushed into the room where we heard some barking and saw a dog. Morgan fell to the ground, trying to calm down the dog. I heard a whistle, and the dog ran out the door to the left. I pointed my gun to where the dog was going and found a huge man standing there.
"Freeze!" Hotch said, as we all pointed our guns.
...
"Wait so let me get this straight." I said. We were all in the conference room again. I was the only one who didn't go/see the interview with Frank, so Morgan and Hotch summed me up. "So Frank isn't the killer. Instead he went to the house, saw his sister, Allison, eating dinner with Sam and Emily. Instead of Chris, there was another guy in the room. Possibly the unsub."
"Yes." Morgan said. "Both families had a dog. And both houses had a dog door."
"Fielding said that the person he saw was small." Elle said.
"Yeah, well, in order to get through that door you'd have to be 5'4", tops, and real thin."
"'When you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'" Gideon quoted.
"Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character. Whoever did this isn't. We can be pretty sure he's probably found himself another family by now."
...
"He's been looking at those pictures all morning." Elle said, talking about Gideon. We were back at our desks, trying to get some information. It was my hourly snack time, and for today's hour snack was… a Clif bar! Yes, my addiction hasn't stopped.
"Well, I sure hope he sees a connection 'cause I've checked doctors, lawyers, travel agents, tutors contract workers. I got nothin." Morgan said.
"Why target those families?" Elle asked.
"Well, to know that, we have to know how." Hotch said.
"We know organized killers are often skilled workers with above-average intelligence. High birth status. And in most cases male." Morgan said.
"In the workplace, he's socially confident. And with women sexually confident, which is fucking disgusting." I added.
"Every offense is preplanned. Targeting the victim is almost as pleasurable as the actual kill. These guys, they're meticulous. It's a compulsion. Everything has to have its proper place."
"They do exhaustive amounts of research on their victims, watching their every move every last detail is observed. Everything, and I mean everything, has to be written ever so neatly in a book or a journal. When the kids are coming home from school. When daddy'll be home. Playtime. Suppertime. Bath time. Bedtime. Plan the work, work the plan."
"This is the way that he maintains control. It's also how he personalizes his target, so nothing's left to chance, and absolutely nothing is left out of place." Morgan said.
"So he plans the work and when he's good and ready, he works that plan. He takes great pride in his job. The workplace has got to be the connection." I concluded.
"Both are by Emily, painted months apart. This one is full of color, life. The one I found at Emily's house has lines, dimensions. No color. I believe Emily was coerced to make this. It's a point of view. It is his point of view. This is where the killer stood, just watched the family." Gideon said, after finally coming out of his room.
"Each of the dead husbands was missing his wedding ring. This is the unsub's trophy. He targets a family because he lost his own. For a few days, he gets to play daddy." Hotch said.
"And he can do whatever he wants because no one's gonna come lookin' because they're supposed to be on vacation." Elle added.
"Let's get forensics to check the inside of Chris Crawford's clothing. The suspect may have worn the father's clothes to complete the fantasy." Gideon said.
"So, why kill them?" Elle asked.
"Cause the fantasy can't last."
"Do we know anything that actually helps us identify this bastard?" Elle asked.
"Wait a minute. Chris Crawford worked for the IRS" Morgan said.
"And Reese Miller was a secretary at the GAO. That makes them both government employees." I added.
"Let's check out Chris Crawford and Reese Miller." Morgan said, as he, Gideon and I got up and headed towards the elevator.
...
"He had his share of problems at home." An agent who was escorting us said. "Who doesn't? But he didn't fix 'em by killing' his family."
"Were you aware he was in therapy?" Gideon asked.
"He mentioned a marriage counselor."
"He'd say who?" Morgan questioned.
"Nope. And I didn't ask. I don't like to pry."
"That's shocking, coming from an IRS Agent." I said.
"You mind if we go through Chris's belongings? See if he had any connection to Miller?" Morgan asked.
"You're welcome to look through anything you like." I started to dig through the pile of stuff, which was kinda overwhelming.
"Family therapists. They often use children's paintings to assess the family unit." Gideon said, after examining through a child's painting.
...
If I had to be honest, the digging through didn't help at all. Gideon got a call from Aaron, saying that they have a suspect, but it was a she, not a he. That startled me. Anyways, we got into the car and drove to Dr. Rachel Howard's, the suspect, work place. It did make sense though, she did see both Crawford and Miller family, since she was their marriage counselor. We got into the office, introduced ourselves, which was only Jason, Aaron, Derek, and I, to the lady at the front desk, and she brought us to Dr. Howard, who was with a child.
"Dr. Rachel Howard? I'm special agent Aaron Hotchner with the FBI." Aaron said.
"Come on, Lacey. Come on, go with mommy." Lacey left the room just as Jason closed the door. It was now us 4 agents and the suspect.
"Can I help you?" Dr. Howard asked.
"I'm agent Jason Gideon, behavioral analysis."
"We both deal with the dysfunctional. Happily, in my line, the end results aren't quite as unpleasant as yours." Dr. Howard said, calmly.
"Unless you're the Crawford family." Jason said.
"Or the Millers. You knew them both." Aaron added.
"Yes. I knew them, but-"
"Ma'am." Derek interrupted. "I think you should take a seat."
"Why?"
"We're gonna have to check your alibi." I said as she took a seat.
"Dig all you want. I have 4 teenagers. If I had any time to myself it wouldn't be spent killing my clients."
"You worked with both families?" Morgan asked, as Hotch and I were scanning the room.
"I assessed their cases. This office deals with hundreds of families-military cops, lawyers, congressmen, feds. I only met the Crawfords and Reese Miller once."
"But you prescribed medication for them." Aaron pointed out.
"I'm the only medical doctor here."
"Who'd you hand the cases over to?" Gideon asked.
"Uh, I'll have to check my files." Dr. Howard got up and to her desk, searching for her files.
"You don't use a computer?" I asked.
"Not all of us have embraced the technical revolution. I keep everything filed. It makes me feel more in control. And please do not read into that. The Crawfords. Karl Arnold dealt with their case."
"What about the Millers?" Aaron asked as Dr. Howard handed a file to Gideon.
"I'd like to see him now." Gideon demanded.
"Well, you can't. He works a 4/40-410-hour days. He's off today, but he'll be in first thing tomorrow."
"Do you have his home address?" Aaron asked. Dr. Howard started writing it down.
"I'll get a team out to his house." Morgan said.
"In the meantime, we'd like to see his office." Gideon ordered.
"Suspect's cell is going straight to voicemail." Derek said as we walked to Karl's office.
"Karl's a good man." Dr. Howard insisted.
"That's what everybody says until they find a body in the basement." I replied. Jason tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.
"It's locked."
"I'll get security."
"No. We don't have time for that." Morgan said as he kicked the door open.
"Someone will have to pay for that." Dr. Howard said.
"Karl Arnold will." Aaron replied.
"Guys." Morgan said, grabbing our attention to the wall of kid's drawings.
"Where is he now?" Gideon asked.
"I can't believe Karl-"
"Where is he?"
"I don't know. If he's not at home, maybe he's gone to see his family."
"He's married?" Gideon asked.
"With 2 children-Karl Jr. And Sarah."
"How long ago did the marriage collapse?"
"About 5 years ago. It wasn't a good time for Karl. He- he took some time off work. He couldn't concentrate. He started-" Morgan's phone rang, which he answered. "I can't bel- maybe you've got it wrong. I would've seen- Oh, my god. I feel sick."
"Where does Karl's family live?"
"She took the kids and moved to Idaho."
"They just raided Karl's home." Morgan said. "He's not there." Aaron took out his phone and called Karl's ex-wife.
"Arnold called his wife. She heard kids in the background." Aaron said as he ended the call.
"He's already in another family's house." Gideon said. We grabbed a bunch of files and started looking through them, trying to see which family Karl would go to next.
"Hotch, there's gotta be hundreds of families here." Morgan complained.
"Then we'll send an agent to every last one of them if we have to."
"Karl Arnold he has a boy and a girl just like the Millers and the Crawfords." Gideon said.
"Target family would be the same." Aaron said.
"How could I not have seen it?" Dr. Howard asked, guilt flooding through her.
"Because he's that good. If he wasn't we would have caught him sooner." Morgan answered.
"Does he own a journal?" I asked.
"He writes everything down, takes it everywhere."
"It's likely he also collects trophies. If they're not in his house they're right here, hidden in this room." Gideon said.
"What does he mean by trophies?" Dr. Howard asked.
"From the families he killed. If he doesn't confess, we'll need 'em as evidence."
"Here's one the Harrises, one boy, one girl." Aaron said, showing the file to Gideon.
"I got a few. The Boyds and the Dunkens." Morgan said.
"Wait." Dr. Howard said, looking up. "The Dunkens. That's not one of his cases. That's mine. They have a baby boy and a slightly introverted 8- year-old named Jackie."
"Jackie's work?" Gideon asked, showing a painting of a house. Dr. Howard nodded.
"He took it from my office."
"Were they planning a trip?" Morgan asked.
"To the adirondacks."
"Let's go. Hotch, tear up the room." Gideon said as Morgan and I got up.
"Here, take this." Hotch handed him something. "I call you some backup."
...
"We've got 3 adults and 2 children sitting at the dining room table." A SWAT agent said as he scanned the house from the outside. We were outside of the Dunkens house. We started walking to the entrance to the house, with our guns drawn.
"FBI! FBI!" We yelled, as we opened the doors.
"He's got my baby!" The mother yelled, hugging her daughter close.
"Ma'am, is he alone?" I asked.
"Yes!" She said.
"Where's the basement?" Gideon asked.
"Under the stairs!"
"Son of a bitch. Get 'em outta here. Get them outta here!" Gideon yelled to the SWAT officers. We headed towards the basement door, which we almost missed, if it wasn't for Morgan, and entered it. We walked down the stairs, cautiously, with our guns ready to shoot and our flashlights shining our way.
"Karl, it's the FBI." Morgan said. We continued to look around until Gideon found him.
"Karl?" He whispered. Karl shushed him, telling us to not wake the baby. "Why don't you give me the baby?" Karl's face was grim. "Karl?" The baby started crying. "Karl, I want you to look at me. I'm gonna put my gun away and I want you to hand me that baby. Give me the baby." Karl handed Gideon the baby. I was about to arrest him when I saw something flash in the corner of my eye.
"Knife!" I yelled, realizing that the flash was a knife. Karl went to stab me and Morgan, but we both dodged. I grabbed his arm and pried to knife out, while Morgan pushed Karl against the wall, hands against his throat. I dropped the knife and kicked it to the corner of the room.
"You move, I'm gonna break your neck." Morgan threatened. We arrested him, and all we needed now was a confession.
..
I went to get my snack, instead of getting a confession out of Karl. I mean, I think almost getting stabbed with a knife is a good excuse. I would rather eat some olives than facing the man who almost stabbed me. Soon, Karl gave the confesion, all because he pointed out our mistake, that we put the photos with the wrong victim's names. Aaron came back and gathered us all in the conference room. He gave Gideon a box that he found in Karl's office. Gideon opened the box and dumped the contents out. There were 8 rings. One from each husband he killed. One for each mother he killed. One for each child he killed. One for each family he killed. He killed a total of 8 families.
Did I stay up until 11 pm writing this chapter. Yes, yes I did. And do I regret it. Yes, yes I do. But was it worth it. Yes, yes it was.
Toodles,
HernameisBurrito