Offices of the B.A.U.

Quantico, VA

Normally Ann-Elise didn't feel nervous about meeting new people but today she was nervous. She had arrived at the F.B.I. building and, after checking in, was escorted to the B.A.U. offices. The agent pointed towards the appropriate door and left.

Ann-Elise slowly took the final steps towards the door, took a deep breath and knocked. A mumbled "come in" was heard through the closed door. Upon opening the door, she saw a blond-haired lady wearing black framed glasses rotating her chair to face the door.

"You must be Ann-Elise." She extended her hand and the two exchanged handshakes. "Penelope Garcia. Have a seat, please."

"Thank you." Ann-Elise pulled an office chair over and had a seat. "I hope that I'm not bothering you. I have a feeling that this whole situation was Spencer's idea, not yours."

"I'm sure our little Dr. Reid had his reasons. Now. . ."Garcia picked up a piece of paper from in front of the main monitor and turned her chair again to face her visitor, "Let's see if I have all of the facts right. You are Ann-Elise Miller, only child of Patrick and Vivian Miller, or rather Captain Patrick Miller of the Kings County Police Academy." Garcia looked up from her paper, right eyebrow raised. "Any reason you didn't mention your father was a cop to anyone while we were investigating your missing friend?"

Ann-Elise wasn't sure if that was a rhetorically question or not so she didn't say anything. Garcia continued.

"Raised by your dad since you were six after your mother passed away. Graduated first in your class both in high school and at university. Oh, you own a .38 . . ."

"My dad's idea."

"And a permit to carry a concealed weapon . . ."

"Which I've never used."

"And when you were five you wanted to be a cop like your dad."

"Yes, I did . . . . how did you know that?"

"Your father told Reid while you were in the hospital. You do realize that it was awkward for everyone the first time they met your father . . . "

"I'm sorry it was "awkward" but you obviously have no idea what it was like being raised by a police officer. My dad found a nice balance between being an overprotective parent and being totally obsessed with my safety and security. If I had told him that I was in danger, I would have found myself living at home again."

"Point taken. I wouldn't want to live with my parents again either."

"Now that I feel like I have no secrets left, could we talk about the case?" The girls shared a smile and Garcia turned her chair back towards the desk space and picked up several file folders. She turned the chair back around.

"Here." She handed the files over to Ann-Elise. "The top file holds the resumes and programs from the three shows already involved. The second includes the lists all of the theatres and the plays and the final file . . . ." Garcia was interrupted by the phone ringing. "Sorry, I need to take this call. Garcia." Ann-Elise took the files and set herself up in the corner of the room and got to work.

The Good Shepherd Cemetery

Chattanooga, TN

Agents Hotchner and Greenaway rushed to the cemetery as soon as they got the call that a body had been discovered. They got out of thecar and looked around to find the officer in charge of the scene. After asking an officer, the two agents walked towards the entrance of the cemetery. They found the Detective Sam McGowan talking to Nancy Short.

"Detective McGowan? I'm S.S.A. Hotchner from the F.B.I. and this is Agent Elle Greenaway. We believe the body found is connected to a case we are working on."

"Agent Hotchner, we will be more than happy to help you out anyway we can. This is Mrs. Nancy Short. She found the body."

"Hotch, I'm going to check out the drop site." Hotchner nodded his agreement.

"Agent Greenaway, I can take you there. The coroner just arrived about fifteen minutes ago." Elle followed Detective McGowan through the entrance gate. Hotchner turned his focus to a rather shaky looking witness.

"Mrs. Short, do you feel up to answering some questions."

"I will do my best. I've never had anything happen to me like this before."

"I can only imagine what a shock this has been for you. Do you come here often?"

"About a year ago a group of retirees in my community decided we wanted to do something helpful. When the weather is nice we are here once a month. Just a little cleaning and pruning."

"Were you here last month?"

"Well, let me think . . . that would have been . . . no, we didn't come last month. A local elementary school invited us to help with a program."

"Have you ever seen people here that looked out of place or maybe someone who looked suspicious?"

"Other than the group of ladies who come each month, I've never seen anyone here until today. That. . . body, who was it?"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Short. I can't say right now. We're still investigating."

"Oh, that's fine. I just thought I would put their family on our prayer list." Realizing she had told him probably everything she knew, he reached for a business card in his jacket pocket.

"I'm sure the family would appreciate that." He handed her a card. "If you should think of anything else, please contact me. Will you be alright?"

"Oh, I'll be fine. My friends are still here but thank you for asking."

The interview over, Hotchner walked into the cemetery. It didn't take him long to find the crime scene. Elle, seeing him approach, met him a few feet from the yellow police tape.

"Hotch, it's not pretty. The body has been here for weeks. The coroner says identification will have to be made with dental records or DNA. There is one unusual thing – the body is in an old-fashioned dress. Possibly pink or purple fabric from what I saw."

"What do you mean by 'old-fashioned'?"

"It was Renaissance-looking. It could possibly be a costume from Romeo and Juliet. The coroner has asked for pictures from the production." Hotchner already had his phone out and was dialing.

"I think we need more than pictures. Morgan, look through the Lily Sanchez file and see if there are any pictures of her in costume. If there are, fax them to the coroner's office." He paused to listen to Morgan's reply. "Fine. Elle and I are going to the high school to talk to the theatre teacher." Hotchner ended the call and turned back to Elle. "Let's go."

Central High School

Chattanooga, TN

Hotchner and Elle meet with Daniel Carlson in the school's auditorium.

"Have you found her?"

"We are not at liberty to say Mr. Carlson. What we need is for you to see if any of Lily's costumes are missing." The theatre instructor motioned for the agents to follow him on stage.

"We keep the costumes in storage backstage. The Monday after the show ended we had strike – when we clean up after the show. The costumes would have been checked off the master list before being sent to the cleaners. I have the list back here also." The three walked through the darkness of backstage to the storage room doors off stage right. Mr. Carlson turned the knob and opened the door.

"You don't lock the doors?"

"Only during the run of a show. The doors to the auditorium are usually locked except when classes are held in there. Is that important Agent Hotchner?" After turning on the overhead lights, he led them to a second door, which he opened. "Here are the costumes."

"Can you show us the costume Lily wore?"

"She had three dresses. Lily's mother is quite the seamstress – she made all three of them." He looked through the rack and began pulling out the dresses in question. After finding two, he made it to the end of the rack and stopped. He began looking again from the beginning. "I can't find the death dress." Hotchner and Elle exchanged glances.

"The death dress? What is that?" Mr. Carlson gave up on looking at the rack and walked over the table and grabbed a clipboard filled with paper. He ran his finger down the list as he talked.

"It's the dress Lily wore in the death scene; the dress she was wearing during the tomb scene." Elle walked over and looked over his arm at the list.

"You mean the dress she was wearing when Juliet killed herself."

"Yes." He showed her the clipboard, pointing to an empty square on the spreadsheet. "It wasn't checked back in. No one told me it was missing."

"What did it look like – what color?"

"It was a pale pink gown with a dark purple overskirt with gold trim." Elle looked at Hotchner and nodded. Hotchner clinched his jaw and had to control his urge to walk away.

"Mr. Carlson, I need you to make a list of everyone who had access to the costumes the last night of the show – students, parents, anyone who could have possibly been backstage."