There wasn't much time. Bradbury and Hotch still had Criag Ellers in custody, it was best to start with him. Hopefully, he'd had some contact with Bridget over the last few months, and possibly some useful information.
While they questioned him, the others decided once again to dissect the profile, the better to assess their newly found unsub. "Bridget stuck to a comfort zone." Morgan said, leaning back in his chair as he studied the map, the geographical profile organized for all to see. "She wouldn't stray from that, it would destroy her entire MO. The entire world is chaos to her, these killings are what make her feel normal."
"Hmm," Emily folded her arms as she stood up. "So she has to be somewhere in this triangle. What about the Grislow itself? That would make the most sense, if she's reenacting her husband's suicide."
"That would be too much of a risk for her, I think." Rossi explained. "She's depressed, not delusional. Bridget knows this is wrong, but she still has to do it. And she can't chance getting caught until her work is finished."
"And she's out of her misery." JJ added.
"I think we also can rule out the other hotels, then." Morgan said. "All their staff is on alert. It's definitely someplace smaller, probably not typically used or even opened to the regular public."
"Does Bridget live in the area, Garcia?" Rossi wondered, looking to the girl typing on her laptop at the speed of light.
"Uh..." She quickly searched for the young lady's current residence. "No, sir... she lives in a boarding house on the outskirts of the city."
"She's pulled herself as far out of her hunting zone as possible." Emily announced. "That doesn't make any sense. Even if killers don't live in the area, they usually aren't too far from it. Why would she do that?"
"She told us she lived in Dublin." Riley voiced, remembering. "When she moved to London, she probably just took the first available home that she could afford."
"JJ," Rossi said, "Why don't you and Inspector Paul give the boarding house a call, try not to tell them too much about their interesting tenant. Just get any information you can on her... especially whether they've seen her today."
"Right away, sir." JJ said, standing up. Paul got up as well, allowing JJ out first before following. The rest of the team remained with Eden, continuing their work.
Morgan needed to be on his feet. Slowly, he began to pace the room and allowed his mind to wander off from the group, trying to put himself in the mindset of their killer.
"Okay..." He muttered. "I'm a young Irish woman who's been through the ringer. I've lost the love of my life, I basically have no future... I feel very lost, and have no idea how to feel normal."
"That would explain why she moved." Emily said. "She hoped a fresh start would change the outlook on her life."
"But why would she choose the city her husband died in?" Eden wondered. "Wouldn't this be the last place she'd want to move to?"
Rossi explained, "That's the problem, she's not sane. She felt herself attracted here. Had she moved to a completely different city, she might have had a better chance."
"The sister's happiness is the stresser. She's the reason Bridget's husband is dead, and it's like she's moving on as if she's in no way at fault." Morgan stated.
"She still loves her sister, though." Emily added. "That's why Sarah survived the attack, when she went to slice her throat..." Her hand reached to mimic the dragging of a blade across her skin, "she hesitated. If it had been a clean slice, Sarah would be dead. Her hands could have been shaking or she was just reluctant to hurt her own flesh and blood. In any case, it saved the artery."
"Right," Morgan agreed. "Now, the Reids have become her ideal couple. Unlike the other victims, they're unpredictable. She had their deaths planned out and they foiled her."
"That's why she kidnapped Reid." Rossi said. "There were probably signs all over the place their relationship wasn't happy, but Bridget was blind to it. In her eyes, his suicide was a completely spontaneous act. And therefore, Reid's unpreditablity by coming home early parrells him."
"This is all unspeakably fascinating," A very bitter Riley muttered, trying to fought off the developing stress migraine from her worry. "But it still doesn't tell us where this monster took Spencer. All we know is it's in her comfort zone."
The fingers on the keyboard slowed down to a quiet. "I hate to admit it, but it almost feels like the only person who can find him is-"
"Don't even say it, Garcia!" Riley snapped.
"We don't say that to be mean, Riley." Rossi spoke carefully, trying not to disturb her more. "It's just that Reid is the one who handles our geographical profile."
Riley's eyes were focused on the map. She'd been a part of this team before, she'd watched Spencer do this dozens of times. Maybe she wasn't as smart, maybe she wasn't as trained, but there had to be something in that area that would appeal to the unsub.
She looked around and finally met Eden's eyes. "You know the city pretty well. Did he say anything about street signs or... landmarks, anything that sparks a location in your mind."
"He knew if he said anything like that, Bridget would be suspicious." Eden explained. "I realize that's redudent because she knew anyway, but the fact of the matter is we still have nothing."
"Reid wouldn't do that!" Emily cried, looking from one person to another. "If Reid was in danger and he had a chance to get a message to us, even if he only had a few seconds he'd tell us something. Remember when he was being held by Henkle? He managed to tell us he was in a graveyard and because of that, we got to him in time. He gave us a message, I'm sure of it."
"Unfortunately, though, he was speaking to me. And I don't know him as well!" Eden yelled, looking angrily to Emily first and then to the rest of the team. "If he gave us a clue, I never caught it! We have no hope now."
The last eyes she found were Riley's once again. She felt sorry for treating the young officer so poorly. It wasn't her fault this happened, that they were involved in this. And she had been kind enough to tell her what Reid had said to her.
"Maybe there is and you don't realize it." Riley assured. Her eyes couldn't help but travel up to the clock. They'd already wasted forty five minutes, but there was no other choice. "Let's sit down and calmly go over, second by second, the conversation you had with Spencer. Starting from the minute you took my phone."
Eden complied, taking a seat beside Emily. Riley moved so she could be closer to them. Garcia and the men continued working quietly so as not to disturb them. It was hard to continue the search though, not wanting to accept the fact they had nothing.
The only window was barred shut. Just as well, it didn't look big enough for Reid to pull himself out. Sarah maybe, she was considerably smaller, but even if it were opened, he didn't want to make her. She was weak and injured and looked so tired... honestly, she looked how he felt at the moment.
The rest of the basement consisted of stacks of shelves. Different types of medical supplies and equipment was stored down here. A long line of rope was tied to the one of the rafters, but it appeared to serve no real purpose.
"There's a hatch on that side of the basement." Reid said as he reclaimed his seat next to Sarah after fifteen minutes of investigating. Bridget had yet to return and he took the opportunity to explore the area. He knew before he started, however, that she wouldn't have left a chance for them to escape. She would have blocked every available exit.
"Is it locked?" Sarah wondered, pulling herself up a bit.
"I don't know yet, it's too high for me to reach." He explained. Even talking was taking a mental effort his throbbing head couldn't take. "If I can... muster the strength, I might be able to stack some crates to get high enough."
Among the echo, the click of a door lock was heard. A wave of light from the otherside washed over them in the dimness, blinding Reid for a moment. He moaned in his agony, feeling the pulse pound like a mallet against his brain. He tried not to show his torment, but it was difficult.
The light disappeared again, and Bridget soon reappeared. "Sorry, I'm late." She said pleasantly. "I just need to prepare our plates. Dinner will be served in a moment."
"I'm not hungry." Reid informed.
"Neither am I." Sarah agreed.
She leaned down to put her arm around her sister. "You need to eat. You're eating for two, remember?"
Reid was startled for a moment, but suddenly realized her determination to get out. "You're pregnant?"
Sarah looked at him sadly. Saving her voice, she gave a nod. He had to get her out of here. He couldn't be responsible for two innocent lives being lost. Turning to Bridget, he gave a glare. "And what do you care how much she eats if you're just going to kill her?"
Surprised, "You misunderstand. I'm not going to kill my baby sister. I don't need to anymore. After tonight, it will all be over. We'll be together, forever, just as it should be."
He wasn't sure if it was the situation or his injury that made him so confused. He couldn't figure why she would want her sister here if she wasn't planning to kill her. And he didn't believe she was talking about him, being together. It had to be a reference to her husband.
Reid kept silent as she started pulling items out of one of the bags. From the tell-tale cartons, he could see it was take-out food. Preparing the plates in front of them proved she had no intention of poisoning him. This was getting steadily more complicated by each passing moment.
The best idea would be to think of a plan, to try and find a way to take her down or get away. But with no visible path to get out, that wasn't possible. And if he could subdue her for a moment, Sarah was much too weak to get them help. All he could do was distract her... perhaps that way, he could find a way to appeal to her. It was a long shot, but if his life was on the line, anything was worth a try.
"How long had you been planning to attack me and my wife?" He questioned. He curiously watched the dinners prepared. It seemed much too fancy to just be some quick fast food. Those entrees had to be pre-ordered, meaning she'd been planning this for awhile.
Luckily, she sensed no ulterior motives to his interrogation. "Since the day we met." She replied. "When the two of you came to question my sister... I had seen you at the hotel, but I'd never seen your wife."
"When did you see me?" Reid wondered, slightly panicked. He had never felt so exposed, despite the previous times both he and Riley had been stalked.
She looked up from her work, her eyes tearing as she stared at him. "You didn't see me once. You never noticed me... I saw you leave the managers office that day, with that other woman. You didn't even see... no one ever sees."
As she spoke, Reid remembered. The other day when Reid and Eden came to question Marcy Lemon... her strawberry blonde hair stuck out in his mind. It was loose that day, but it was her in that maid's outfit... pulling items out of the closet.
"It didn't look like you were listening." He stated.
"No one ever suspects I'm listening," She muttered, a tear dropping from her eye. "No one ever realizes I'm there. Do you know I've been working at the Grislow since I moved to London... and not one of them know my name. They still have to look at my nametag."
"But you don't work at the Grislow." He cried. Reid was sure, he'd been studying the hotel for days. He would have remembered her name.
"Does it really matter now?" She asked kindly, like a mother wanting her child to stop bickering so they could have a nice meal. She tried to hand a plate to Reid, but he refused to take it. Just the sight of food was increasing his nausea.
"I can't eat that." He said, shaking his head and closing his eyes. The smell was churning his stomach. He was definitely going to be sick again.
"But it's delicious." Bridget informed. She set the plate down and took Sarah's, offering it to her. Reid watched her expression, looking over the food carefully.
"This... is your wedding dinner..." Sarah heaved.
Bridget smiled. "You remembered." She gave Sarah a fork, expecting her to dig in. When she didn't, Bridget gave a scowl. "Why doesn't anyone want to eat?"
"We need something to drink." Reid informed. "Did you bring anything?"
"Champagne." She answered, as if it were obvious.
"Bridget, Sarah's pregnant. She can't have alcohol." Reid said quickly. "You need to get her some water. And without water, she can't eat."
"Oh," She thought, "There's a spicket outside at the top of the stairs. I'll be back in five minutes."
Five minutes was a lot of time when your life was on the line. Bridget stood, searching around for a moment, and finally spotted an almost empty jug. The familiar yellowish substance lingered at the bottom. Of course, she didn't bother to empty it. Quickly, she made her way to the door, leaving Reid and Sarah alone.
"Her wedding dinner," Reid repeated. "Why is that significant?"
"Her husband... killed himself... on their wedding night." Sarah said. "Anything that... reminds her of weddings... she basically goes mental... She didn't... even come to mine."
It all made sense to Reid, though that wasn't particularly good news. "How did her husband die?"
"Hanging," She whispered.
The effort of talking was wearing on her and Reid gave her a rest. He'd gotten all he needed to know. It explained the freelance rope in the rafters. How Bridget was going to get him to hang himself was quite simple. At the moment, he felt horrible and would comply to almost anything to avoid confrontation and further struggle. Resistance just made the pain worse. In another hour or so, when his concussion reached new peaks, he'd be practically hypnotized by the pain. He'd follow her every command.
Checking in the distance, there was no sign of Bridget's return. He might only have one more chance. Quickly, Reid stood and grabbed the closest crate. His legs felt like pudding as he tried to hurry. He set the crate below the hatch and rushed back to grab another.
Sarah watched with interest, and Reid noticed as he returned for a third that she was shivering. He had to get her out of here; she needed help more than he did. Three crates was enough, he could reach the handle now. He began to climb up, feeling even more unstable than on his own two feet.
Just as he was about to stand up straight and reach for the handle, the door opened again. He heard Sarah's hoarse gasp and he quickly climbed down. He dashed back to his spot next to her, relaxing against the remaining crates. Hopefully, she wouldn't spot any missing.
He tried to ease his breathing before Bridget returned. His brow was covered in sweat and all this running had made him dizzy. He wanted to lie down, but was too afraid he'd fall asleep if he did.
Bridget poured a glass of disgusting brown water into a glass and handed it to her sister. "Here, now eat up."
Sarah wasn't hungry, and there was no way she was drinking that water. Just like Reid, she ignored her dinner. It seemed the only person interested in eating was their captor.
Reid watched her interestedly. He was mesmerized to know what made this woman tick, to what had lead her to this path of self destruction. One question in particular weighed on his mind; the same one he'd had since he sat in the waiting room in the wee hours of the morning, desperate to hear Riley was okay.
"Why me?" He finally voiced.
In mid-chew, Bridget looked up to Reid. Her head tilted as she observed him, like she were expecting him to be joking.
"What do you mean?" She asked after she swallowed.
He took a deep breath, hesitating. These words had to come out right, and thinking was unbelievably exhausting right now. "You went after alpha males... you chose them because they reminded you of your husband, and it angered you because he abandoned you. Because he didn't love you as much as he loved Sarah."
"I don't want to talk about him." Bridget muttered sadly. She gave a glare to her sister. "And I certainly don't want to talk about what she did to him."
"I just want to know why me? Why my wife? I'm not an alpha, Bridget, anyone can see that. I don't understand why you wanted to kill us. What made us so special to you?"
Her confusion morphed into pure disgust, staring at Reid like he was some ugly insect with no real purpose in the ecosystem. It seemed to rob her of her appetite. Bridget snatched Reid's plate away and took Sarah's as well, stacking them as she stood up.
"I talked to your wife." She said bitterly, her lip trembling as she looked at him. "Don't you see the way she looks at you? The way she acts around you..." She stared down at him, her eyes cold and narrowed, "Maybe I misjudged you... you don't deserve to be in love. That girl's better off without you."
And with that, she hurried off to another space in the basement. Out of sight. Reid had no idea what she meant by that, and was left even more confused and downtrodden then before.
Hotch and Bradbury finally returned. From their demeanor, the others suspected their questioning had been successful.
"Well, it seems our young Mr. Ellers did not know Bridget Murphy by name." Bradbury told the group. "But, he did recognize her by the photo."
"All he said was she was a maid at the Grislow." Hotch explained. "She wasn't very talkative, a little shy, usually did housekeeping, but she also served with him in the restaurant sometimes when they were short staffed"
"I can't believe no one realized she didn't actually work there." Emily mentioned. "It just goes to show you how self involved some people are, and don't realize what's going on around them."
Hotch continued. "Yes, well, when she did talk to Ellers... she was very interested in his job."
"How so?" Morgan asked.
"Ellers said she often would question who he'd delivered. What the guests were like, were they kind, were they distracted." Hotch explained. "A lot of unneccesary questions about the patrons."
"And that didn't send up any red flags?" Garcia wondered.
"It's apparently pretty common. Everyone's always looking for juicy gossip to spread around the hotel, especially about the guests." Bradbury clarified.
"No one would suspect Bridget had a homicidal agenda." Hotch added.
"It's no wonder she found out about all these couples." Rossi said. "People in the background always hear the rumors spreading around. And when they're in Bridget's state, they use it to their advantage."
"It explains all the complaints Spencer was researching." Riley stated, looking up from her work with Eden. "Remember, most were about the restuarant. We don't know the details, but I bet any amount of money it had something to do with her."
"You've got a point there, Parker." Morgan agreed.
At that, JJ and Paul came in. "Well, we just got off the phone with Lenore Brunswick. She's the landlady at the boarding house Bridget lives."
"And?" Bradbury pressed.
"Well it seems Mrs. Murphy is not a well liked resident in her home." Paul explained. "She is a model tenant, always pays her rent on time, follows the rules... but she has a strange obession."
"Yeah, murder." Morgan joked.
"Close, death." JJ corrected. "When she does converse with the other tenants, at dinner or in the sitting room, it's almost all she talks about. She says her reasoning is she used to work for an anthropology professor... but her interests don't seem very academic."
"So the urges were definitely there before the stresser hit." Hotch nodded.
Eden suddenly gasped. "Wait a minute... she's obessed with death, of course!"
"What is it?" Riley asked.
Reid's words floated to surface in her mind. There's a lot places I'm seeing that I never planned to visit. "I think they're at the morgue."
"You hear death and you automatically think 'morgue', Evie?" Paul asked.
Just then, Bradbury's phone went off. Without a word, he stepped out to answer it. "No... the first place Reid and I went together was the morgue. I was a little... nasty with him, feeling like he was infringing on our territory. I made a joke that noted he probably wouldn't even see the morgue otherwise. You must admit, it's not on a typical tourist's itinerary."
"True," Hotch muttered, waiting for her to get to the point.
"When we spoke on the phone, Reid reminded me of that. I can't believe I didn't notice it. If they're not at the morgue, they have to be somewhere close by."
Morgan looked in the comfort zone, scanning each area quickly. His jaw fell slightly as his eyes landed on a tiny building close to the center. "It is within her area."
"Guys," Garcia announced, "I'm running a search on the area... apparently a car accident was reported near there recently. The victims fled the scene."
"Does the car match Bridget's?" Morgan questioned.
After a few seconds. "It was originally registered by a Logan Murphy."
"Her late husband!" Eden exclaimed.
Hotch immediately took control of the situation. "Okay, Bradbury, Rossi, and I will investigate the car wreck. The other inspectors, Prentiss, and Morgan head to the morgue. See if you can investigate the building and around the area."
"My friend is the coroner, he'll have no problem letting us look around." Eden explained. "I'll ring him on the way."
At that, Bradbury returned. "I just got a call from Marbury Hospital. The nurses just reported Sarah Neilson missing."
"Oh my God," JJ exclaimed.
"Bridget must have her, too." Rossi stated. "We'd better get going, we've got an hour and a half left on the clock."
Riley felt so useless. Almost everyone was hurrying off to find her husband, and all she was doing was sitting here. She wanted to run out and comb every possible place in order to find him.
"Hey," Emily said, brushing her arm. "It's going to be alright. We're headed in the right direction, I'm sure of it."
She nodded, her chest feeling tight with anxiety. "I wish there was more I could do."
"Riley, we wouldn't have gotten here if it weren't for you." She said with a reaffirming smile. "Reid is going to be so proud of you. We will get him back, I promise."
Riley had complete trust in this team. They cared for Spencer almost as much as she did, and she knew neither of them would be alive today if it weren't for these people.
"Just... tell him I love him. Okay?"
"I will." Emily promised. She gave her a quick hug and rushed to catch up with the others. Riley watched her leave. JJ and Garcia watched her tentatively, hoping they could get her through this without completely losing her mind.
"Riley?" JJ said softly. "Can we get you anything? Some tea?"
She shook her head, trying to hold back her tears. She already felt like her love was gone.
"We could take you back to the hotel if you don't feel well." Garcia suggested.
"No," She mumbled. "I want to be here. It's the least I can do."
JJ helped her into a seat, and Garcia moved so she could be closer to her. They both were very supportive and caring, but even though they were right by her side... Riley had never felt so alone.