Disclaimer: Profiler belongs to NBC, Sanders/Moses Productions, Cynthia Saunders, Stephen
Kronish ... Not to me. No copyright infringement intended. I'm not making any money with it. It's just for the fun !



Part 4 : Reminiscences

They woke up early the following morning. They joined John for breakfast at 7:00 and left the hotel half an hour later. They did not talk much in the car.

Detective Baldwin was already there when they arrived at the Walsh's. "Nothing new from our side." he said when they entered the house. He gave them a resume of the police investigations on the crime scene. Nothing encouraging. They had searched the whole house and hadn't found any finger prints or traces. Same for the park : no sign of a car entering the property except for the Walsh's limo. They had questioned all the people living in the house and none of them seamed to be a possible suspect. None of them had noticed anything unusual around either.

But worst of all, what they had been expecting for more then twenty four hours hadn't occurred yet : the kidnapper had not contacted the parents.

Bailey's phone rang. "It was George" he said when he hung up "Our computer expert." he added for Baldwin. "He spent part of the night searching our files for connections to other similar cases, but did not find anything interesting. All characters look clean. Except maybe for an old acquaintance of Jennifer Brown, the maid. One of her ex-boy friend has been arrested here for drug trafficking two years ago. He was sentenced three years and went out two months ago. The name is Robert Carlyle. Apparently he and Jennifer had broken up before his arrest, and there is no record of her visiting him in prison. George transmitted the information to your guys and they are trying to spot him."
Baldwin nodded. "Not very likely." he said "But it seems that's all we've got."

"John," Bailey said "Could you pick up Grace at the airport. She should be there at 9:00. You can drive her directly to the Chicago morgue. They are waiting for her to start the autopsy." "OK for me." John answered.

"No one has talked with Tony's sister yet." Baldwin said. "She was rather shocked when she arrived yesterday. The doctor gave her something to sleep. She is awake now."

Bailey had a look at Sam. She nodded back at him. "OK. I'll do it". She left them and headed at the second building front door.
"I'll have a look around if you don't mind." Bailey said to Baldwin. "Your place." the detective answered. "I have to go back to the headquarters. You can contact me there in case you need anything. I'll let you know as soon as we have found Carlyle". "Fine" Bailey said. "Thanks for everything."

Bailey wandered about downstairs for a few minutes. He knew he had to go up. He just needed a little time. After a while, he took one of the corridors from the dining room and found himself in the kitchen. It was a large room, beautifully equipped. It must have been a real pleasure to cook in such a place.

The cops had searched the room for the knife that killed Mary Jenkins, but they had put everything back in order before they left. Bailey opened a few drawers, not knowing exactly what he was looking for. It was only when he touched the refrigerator that it started all over again. It stroke him in the face more violently than a fist would have done. The vision was so clear. A man had opened the fridge and taken something from it. He couldn't see the man's face but he clearly distinguished the two bottles of milk he took with him.

Bailey sat on a chair. He knew too well what these visions meant. He had been a good profiler once; not as good as Sam of course, but he had helped to solve a few difficult cases that made his reputation in the FBI and got him his teaching position at Quantico.

But it had become more and more difficult to keep control. The life of the criminals he was chasing melted with his own life, sometimes cutting him completely from the rest of the world. He persevered though, until he could not stand it anymore. After a while, the visions stopped. He had believed it was over. Till yesterday, in the little boy's bedroom ...

And there he was, sitting in senator Walsh's kitchen. For the first time in years, he didn't know how to deal with his own life. Last thing he wanted to do was to go through all this again. Not now that his life seemed to have a meaning again. Not now that he had Sam by his side. Not now that things were going better with Frances. He had another chance and he did not want to let it go.

But in the same time, a five years old boy had be taken away from his family by a man who did not hesitate to kill savagely his eighteen years old baby-sitter. And if his profiler skill gave them a chance to bring the child safe to his parents, he didn't feel he had the right to spoil this chance just because it did not fit in his life today.

Bailey stood up and left the kitchen. Sam had returned from her interview of the little girl and he met her in the hall.

She immediately saw something was wrong, but Bailey did not give her time to ask any question. "Sam, I need you upstairs." he simply said and he took her hand. His hand was wet. Sam followed him up the stairs to Tony Walsh's bedroom. He closed the door behind them. Sam noticed his hands were shaking but she didn't say a word.

"He came for the boy, Sam." Bailey started. She was about to reply but he stopped her with a sign. "Please let me finish. It's not gonna be easy and I'll have to concentrate." She nodded.

"He was alone." he went on. "He probably had noticed the boy before and came for him. I agree with you on the fact he didn't kill Mary Jenkins because she was on his way. He certainly had another motive for that." Sam looked at it, puzzled. "I don't know." was his answer to her silent question. "But I think he could have gone with the child without killing her."

"I don't know how he entered the place, but I believe he hid in this room and waited here till Tony fell asleep. Then he used chloroform to ensure he would not wake up too early. He didn't want to be obliged to hurt him, Sam."

"He opened the window not to be affected by the smell of the sedative and waited until Mary went to the bathroom. He followed her and killed her. She resisted his assault, but the kid was the only other human being around, and he could not hear her scream."

"He came back to the bedroom and picked up the boy. He went downstairs and made a stop in the kitchen. He took two bottles of milk from the refrigerator, in case the child would wake up. Then he left."

Sam had listened to him in silence. "I don't think he will call Sam." Bailey concluded. "He came for the boy, not for the money.
- Bailey, this is a possible explanation. But we have found nothing here that can give us a clue on what happened."
Bailey sat on the bed. He suddenly looked tired.

" I mean ... You speak as if you were certain." Sam went on. "It's a possibility. But I'm not sure we should now exclude all other hypothesis. Or you'll have to explain to me how you can be so sure.
- Did it never happen to you to be sure of how a crime had been committed without being able to prove it, or even explain it ?
- Yes it did. You know how I function better than anybody else, Bailey. I've got these intuitions, these flashes ..." She stopped in the middle of her sentence. She had just realized what was haunting him. "Bail ?" she asked softly "Did you SEE the scene ?"

He turned to her, and the pain she saw in his eyes was enough for an answer.

She sat next to him but she did not touch him. They stayed like this a couple of minutes, not pronouncing a single word. Sam knew Bailey's story. She could understand what he was feeling right now. She knew how the kind of visions he experienced could be disturbing.

Strangely enough, she was better than him at coping with the situation. Her so-called visions had nothing irrational. They were based on her observations of the scenes and her knowledge of the human soul. Bailey had more difficulties in accepting and facing those facts. She knew he had suffered from his special skill and that it was the reason why he gave up profiling. Bailey was the first one to talk.

" I thought it was gone Sam" he said "for ever.
- Yesterday, here ?" she asked
- Yes. And half an hour ago, in the kitchen.
- I know it's not easy Bailey. But we cannot ignore what you saw, can we ?
- No. But I don't want anybody else to know. I need your help."

She kissed him gently on the cheek. "Don't worry, " she said " everybody is expecting me to make irrational hypothesis anyway !" He smiled at her.

" We have to go and see the parents." she said
" Any result with the daughter ?
- No. She left for the pension on Sunday evening. She doesn't remember anything unusual. She is still very shocked. She feels responsible : she had an argument with her brother last Sunday. Last thing they had together was a dispute.
- He is alive Sam. What was it about ?
- What ?
- The dispute ?
- Oh. Just kids' stuff. They went to the swimming pool together and she refused to play ball with him.
- I didn't see any swimming pool here ?
- There ain't any. There is a public one two blocks away."

They left the room and walked to the other building. Sam put her hand on Bailey's shoulder. She knew he needed comfort, but it was all she could do right now.

They found the senator and his wife sitting at the kitchen table. A phone was laying on the table, remaining desperately silent.

" Did you find anything ?" senator Walsh asked the two agents as soon as they entered.
- Not yet sir." Bailey answered. "The Chicago police is currently questioning your neighbors. One of them could have seen the kidnapper come or go.
- It's been thirty six hours now." Walsh said. "They should have called already.
- There is another possibility, senator." Sam started. "In most cases, the only motivation of kidnappers is a ransom. But it can happen that the desire of having a child, when it cannot be satisfied otherwise, pushes a man or a woman to 'steal' the child of someone else. In such cases, the kidnapper is very often a familiar of the family : a friend, a baby-sitter, a nurse, a teacher, ... sometimes even a relative." Sam waited a few seconds to give the couple time to understand her point.

" Have you noticed someone in your surrounding paying particular attention to Tony ?" she asked.
" Everybody loves Tony." Mrs. Walsh answered.
" He's a great kid." Her husband added.
" We are sure of that, senator." Bailey said. "What doctor Waters meant was someone over-attentionate towards your son, like a parent would be.

" Mary is ..." Mrs. Walsh stopped. "Mary was fond of Tony. She was considering him a little bit like a kid brother ... And Tony loved her.
- Helen, " Mr. Walsh continued, "our cook, she takes care of Tony after school. But there's no way she could have ...

- I know sir." Bailey interrupted. "We just would like you to think of it. I want to be honest with you. This kind of kidnappers are usually more difficult to find. But they don't strike randomly; they choose the child. On the other hand, in such cases, they generally do not do any harm to the kid. If this is what happened to Tony, he is probably safe and well treated."

Bailey knew his words were only a slight relief, but it was better than nothing. He even saw a very shy attempt of smile on Mrs. Walsh's face.
"We will do whatever we can to bring him back as soon as possible." Sam added.

Bailey's cell phone rang. He went a little further and took the communication. "I'm coming back. " he said when he finished. "Chicago police is going to fax me something." And he left Sam with the Walsh.

When he came back, Sam saw that he was making a real effort to stay calm. All three pairs of eyes were staring at Bailey, waiting for him to talk.

" There has been another child missing." he said "In Carlson Creek, twenty miles from here. Sandy Wellow, 12 years old, did not come back home after school yesterday.
- Any clue it could be linked to Tony's kidnapping ?" senator Walsh asked.

Sam did not need to wait for Bailey to answer. He would not have talked about it if there hadn't been a serious connection with the Walsh case.

" We are not sure yet." Bailey answered. "The local police first thought Sandy had run away. But it doesn't seem she would have had a reason for that. They called the Chicago PD for help. The two officers who were sent to Carlson Creek were here yesterday, and they had seen a picture of your daughter." Bailey took the fax he had just received from the police headquarters and put it on the table so that Sam and the Walsh could see it.

The resemblance between Sandy Wellow and Christine Walsh was amazing. Tears came up to Priscilla Walsh's eyes. Her husband hold her tight. "Do you have any idea of what this means ?" he asked the two VCTF agents. Sam looked down. She did not know what to say. It was Bailey that answered the senator's desperate question.

" Sir, the chances that he calls to ask for a ransom are really poor now. We must seriously consider the hypotheses that the kidnapper plans to keep Tony with him ... to raise him as his own son. The last thing he wants to do is to hurt Tony. On the contrary, he's seeking for Tony's love. If all this is correct, Sandy is probably a kind of gift he's giving to your son, replacing the sister he is missing.
- Agent Malone, " Walsh said "We've got the right to an honest answer. What are the chances that you get to him, and find Tony and the little girl alive ?
- Better than what they seem." Bailey answered. "We now know what we are looking for. People generally don't become psychopath all of a sudden. Their story is full of little incidents, and some of them are often recorded in a police file somewhere. We have to go to Carlson Creek now, see if we can find something there. We will leave two police officers here with you.

- I'm coming with you." Walsh said.
" Sir, I don't think it is a good idea." Sam answered. "You should stay with your wife. We will keep you informed as soon as we have something new.
- Tony is OUR son, doctor Waters. Let me decide what is better for my family.
- Sir ..." Sam started, but Bailey interrupted her.
- All right." he said "You can come if you want senator. But we are leaving now."

Sam could not believe Bailey had said these words. John Walsh looked at his wife and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be OK Jack" she said "You can go".

Bailey borrowed a car from the police and drove till Carlson Creek. As soon as they left, he dialed the number of George at the VCTF and put the loudspeaker on.

" Fraley." The voice answered at the other end of the line.
" George, it's Bailey." Bailey started. " I hope you haven't any plans for the evening for we are gonna need your help.
- I'm listening.
- We want to follow the hypothesis that the kidnapper did not act for the money. We are going to establish a psychological profile. We don't have much information yet, but I want you to enter what we've got in your machine and to start the search. Sam is here. She will give you the starting point.
- OK. I'm ready." George said.

" Hi George." Sam started. "We are looking for a male, American, most probably Caucasian : in his mind, people must believe Tony is his son. He lives alone. He must live in an individual house : he cannot run the risk of the kids to alert the neighbors.
- Any idea of his age or social condition ?" George asked.
" Not yet. But he must have a heavy psychiatric history recorded somewhere. The only thing is we don't know where yet.
- And you count on me for that, right ?
- Something like that." Bailey said. "George, children are at the core of his psychosis. He has probably been treated by a professional. You can start with the mental institutions and the private psychiatrists.
- Any specific location to start with ?" George asked.

" Start with Chicago." Sam answered. "Then you can extend to the state, but I believe he's been in the area for quite some time. Maybe born in Chicago, or arrived here when he was a kid. George, we are looking for someone having interrupted a mental treatment recently; let's say in the last two or three months.
- It's almost impossible to get this kind of information." George pointed out. "Patients are supposed to be protected by 'secrecy'.
- George, " Bailey answered. "The chances that he has already been arrested are very poor, but if he has, and if the medical treatment comes from a decision of the court, any interruption must be signaled to the judge in charge of the case. You can start with that." Bailey stopped a few seconds to give George time to take notes. "If he has been placed in an institution and left without the agreement of his doctor, the police department must be informed too. George, I also want you to investigate the police files. We must try to find the root cause of his neurosis. It may be our best chance."

This part was Sam's specialty and Bailey let her talk.

" He probably doesn't see his act as a kidnapping. He sees Tony as his own son, the child that for some reasons he has not and that he feels entitled to have. The abduction of Sandy Wellow is an attempt to reconstruct a family around Tony."

Bailey had a look at John Walsh. He was no more the young and brilliant senator American citizens could see on television. He was just an anxious father whose kid had been taken away by a psychopath. Sam went on :

- So, the question we now have to find an answer to is why doesn't he have children of his own. George, I'd like you to find all cases of children disappearing around Chicago in the last five years : accidents, lethal diseases, unsolved kidnapping, ...
- Sam," George said "Do you have any idea of how many cases it represents ?
- We know, George" Bailey answered. "But it's all we've got now and the life of two children depend on it. We'll try to reduce the scope as much as possible."
Bailey was about to end the communication, but Sam touched his arm. "The chloroform Bailey" she said.

" Yes. George," he said "we have no proof of that, but it's possible he has used chloroform to keep Tony sleeping. It's not the kind of stuff one can get in a supermarket. He could be working in a medical center or something close. We'll let you know if we can find anything else here." And he hung up.

They were entering Carlson Creek. Sam and Bailey both knew the information they gave George were not enough to expect reducing significantly the scope of their investigation. They absolutely needed to learn more. And rapidly ...



To be continued ... R&R, Thanks.
Absolut.