The room was cold. The heavy stench of formaldehyde hit their noses as Emily and Reid walked in with Mrs. Engles. The coroner sat at a nearby desk, signing his name to a few papers.

"Engles?" he asked casually, taking a momentary look from his papers.

"Yes," Emily answered. Mrs. Engles gave a silent, catatonic nod.

"Just a moment," He flipped another page, signing a few more times. Reid looked around, knowing each of the found victims had made it to this room. Mrs. Engles stood in the exact same spot the other families had done, here to see their once vibrant and special loved one lay stiff on a cold steel table.

The coroner stood up. His attitude was much more personal and comforting than his assistant's. "Oh, Agent Prentiss, good to see you again. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances."

Emily shook his offered hand. "Dr. Pittman, this is Dr. Reid, another member of the BAU." Reid shook his hand as well. "And this is Linda Engles, she's here to identify her daughter."

"Of course, Mrs. Engles. I'm terribly sorry for your loss." He lead her over to the drawers. Reid began to wonder what other forms were lying inside there, and under what circumstances had put them there. Probably nothing as dramatic or catastrophic as Maria.

Dr. Pittman opened on door, checked the tag and rolled it out. A sheet draped over a small form. Emily put her arm around Mrs. Engles and lead her over. He waited from the nod from Emily before carefully pulling back the blanket.

Her face was clean now, looking pale and blue. Reid saw the familiar face he had seen in the photo; the young girl on the brink of a wonderful life, unknown that life would be cut short in a few years.

Mrs. Engles held back a sob as she nodded. "It's her." She mumbled, her sobs no longer silent. Mover closer to the body, she lightly brushed her bangs back. "I'm sorry, Maria…" She leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I shouldn't have yelled at you… I'm sorry…"

Unsure what that meant, Emily shared a look with Reid. It was one of the pros of working with the same people for so long. You could understand so much without a single syllable. Reid gave a slight nod and Emily began to lead the crying woman back to the waiting room.

Reid stepped closer to the body. "She was pretty little thing," Dr. Pittman said. "She didn't deserve this."

"They never do," Reid replied. "Cause of death was suffocation?"

"Yes, but not from lack of air." Dr. Pittman corrected. "Soil was found in her nose, lodged in her esophagus. She choked to death."

"Is that how the other victims died?"

"No, actually," he said. "Maria's death is completely original. The others were bound and taped, they all had head wounds of varying degrees of severity, but Maria was the first one found directly into the earth."

"The others… were protected from the elements then?"

"Makeshift coffins," The coroner said, nodding. "All the other victims went much more peacefully."

"In theory, maybe," Reid replied. Shoved into a narrow box with no way out seemed just as sadistic as Maria's death. "You're sure the killer made the coffins himself?"

"Maybe not himself, but they certainly weren't commercial made. I doubt they bury prisoners in boxes this bad."

Reid was curious. "How do you know?"

The coroner covered Maria's face and shifted to another draw. He opened up one, checked the tag, and determined he had the wrong one. Moving to the next one, his search was complete. Just like Maria, the body rolled out. He moved to yet another drawer, checked, and rolled out a second body. Reid stepped over to see.

"This is Jessica Donnelson. And this is David Wilhelm." Pittman explained. "They were the two victims found prior to Maria." He removed the sheets, revealing a red haired girl around 19 or 20, and a boy, with long chestnut brown hair like Reid's, approximately the same age as Jessica. Pittman indicated some cuts and marks over their bodies. "Maria didn't have time to struggle; she choked quickly on the dirt. Probably even before the killer finished burying her. Jessica and David ran out of oxygen, but they both definitely struggled to get out, like the victims before them. Even with bound wrists, they dug at the lid until they drew blood. Also, look at their limbs."

Reid leaned closer to David's leg. "Splinters."

"Hundreds of them."

"Thank you, Agent," Mrs. Engles said as Emily walked her towards the exit.

"Mrs. Engles, what did you mean in there, you shouldn't have yelled at her?" Emily asked.

Mrs. Engles looked confused. "Is that relevant?"

"It might be. Sometimes even the simplest bit of information can break a case."

She didn't seem willing to share, but took a deep breath and answered just the same. "Maria and I had had a fight Friday morning. I never got a chance to apologize."

"What did you fight about?"

Her attitude was becoming edgy and irritated. "I don't see why that's any of your business, Agent Prentiss."

"I understand, but something like that could have caused Maria to stray from her usual routine. Even the littlest effect can cause someone to adjust their daily habits." Her thoughts flew to Reid and Riley for a nanosecond.

But she came back immediately. "You bitch!" Mrs. Engles yelled. "Are you blaming me for my daughter's death?"

"Of course not, Mrs. Engles, I'm just trying to find your daughter's killer."

"I don't care about my daughter's killer!" She shouted. "My angel is gone forever! Do you really think finding him is going to make it better!"

Without another word, Mrs. Engles shoved her way past Emily towards the exit. The door shut automatically behind her. Shocked, Emily turned, finding Reid on his return.

"That was weird," Reid said, having caught the end of the conversation.

"Wasn't it?" Emily agreed. "What mother wouldn't want to find their child's murderer?"

"16-year-old Addie Zachariah." Hotch announced to the group. Rossi and Morgan had returned, sitting at the table with the detectives, Riley, and JJ. "She was on her way home from band practice last night, never made it. This morning her parents received a note with their daily paper. That's when they called the police."

"Why didn't they call last night?" Levinson asked.

"Apparently, Addie had a habit of coming home after her parents went to bed." Hotch explained. "They thought she was sleeping when they found the note."

The paper passed around; the familiar writing sketched over most of it. "Any chance she's still alive?" Rossi asked, his turn to read the letter.

"I doubt it," Morgan voiced. "There's no proof he even writes the notes before he buries them."

At that moment, the door opened into the conference room. Everyone turned to see, Emily and Reid entered, back from the morgue.

"What's going on?" Reid asked.

"A new victim," Rossi explained, holding out the note for the two to see. Emily took it from him and read it over.

"Usual nonsense." She said, stating what the rest already knew. Sure enough, a number sat circled at the bottom. Still, no clues stood out to the reason for it.

"And 12."

Reid examined the note over. He needn't see the other notes to know no two lines were repeated.

"It almost sounds prophetic." Reid said. "Like a weird version of the Bible." His eyes moved around the group, lingering on Riley for a moment.

He didn't want to admit he felt dizzy at the sight of her, that he felt his stomach roll into a somersault, but he did. He couldn't ignore the apologetic look on her face, hidden behind her black framed glasses. Still, Reid wouldn't give her an indication how he was feeling, and looked away.

"Only, there's no mention of God," JJ added. "Just mentions of nature and the universe.

"Maybe it's some new found religion or paganism." Emily said.

"I don't want us assuming the unsub is using religion." Hotch announced quickly. "Alright, Rossi and I will go and interview the family. JJ has the press conference this afternoon; Levinson will be going with her to answer questions. Novak will join Emily and Morgan to Addie's school, talk to her friends and teachers. Reid, I want you and Riley to stick to Maria. We have the names of some of Maria's friends from college; we need to talk to them. I want everyone ready to give the profile tomorrow morning."

Riley didn't protest this time. She took a quick glimpse at Reid before he slipped out the door. The others all stood, heading out on their assignments. Riley got to her feet slowly, trying to wait until she and Hotch were alone.

"You're doing this on purpose." She finally said.

"Doing what?" He asked, not looking at her.

"Don't give me that, Aaron, I know you. You're putting Spencer and me together intentionally."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hotch replied, about to leave.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Riley called, forcing him to stop. "I would think you would be trying to keep us apart, or do you guys get some sick pleasure seeing us like this?"

"Believe it or not, I'm thinking about your welfare. You don't see it, Riley." He had a softened expression; a look of sympathy and compassion that so rarely crossed Aaron Hotchner's face. "You belong with him."

Riley didn't know what to say. It was one thing for JJ to voice her opinion. Riley expected this from the others. But Hotch? He never objected to the relationship nor about her leaving; this came as a shock to her.

Hotch took advantage of her silence and left. Riley waited a moment, sliding her glasses off her face. Her head was starting to hurt again. She couldn't explain why. With the blinds half open, she could make out Reid in the station's bull pen, waiting for her. She grabbed her coat, slipping her glasses in the pocket with her cell phone, and headed out to meet him.

"Hey," he said, "I got the names off of Rossi. Are you ready to go?"

"I'm sorry… about this morning," Riley said immediately. "I just couldn't make it."

"It's fine, are you ready go?" He replied, speaking quickly.

She had expected to him to ask where she was. His lack of curiosity disappointed her. Maybe he wasn't as pleased to be with her as she thought. She nodded silently.

He lingered on her a moment. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great." She replied. "Just… I'm just being stupid. Something you wouldn't know anything about."

She felt an electric charge go through her as Reid reached over, brushing some hair off her face. "Trust me," he said, staring at her perfect pink lips and misshapen teeth. "I've had my moments."