Chapter 3
Gideon, Morgan, and J.J. ducked under the yellow tape that curtained off the crime scene. They made their way to the dumpster where Jamie Hudson's body was found. Morgan pulled photos of this particular crime scene from his file folder. "Okay, Jamie was found…" Morgan looked at the picture, then to the scene. "here." He pointed to a spot behind the dumpster.
Gideon bent down to examine the ground. "Lots of dried blood." He thought for a moment. "Okay, I'm the unsub. How do I do it? He must have restrained her somehow."
"I know that if there was a knife held to my throat, I wouldn't move," said J.J.
"What about her initial scream?"
"Tape?" suggested Morgan.
Gideonglanced at the fileand stood. "No bruises around the mouth. Where did the girl work?"
J.J. consulted her file folder. "About two miles down the road, that way." She pointed toward the way they came.
"And where did she live?"
"About half a mile that way." J.J. pointed in the opposite direction.
Gideon looked back and forth. "So the most direct route from her work to her home would be right next to here." He paused and looked at his companions. "The unsub had toknow this."
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Hotch, Elle, and Reid got out of McLean's car at the Howard residence in Euless. It was a comely house, two-storied, with white shutters and a garden in the front lawn. The Hudson's obviously weren't rich, but they lived well.
"Let's go." Hotch began walking up the sidewalk with Reid on his heels.
Elle didn't follow. It brought back so many memories. Terrible memories. She could hear…
"Elle?" Hotch and Reid looked at her, concerned.
"What? I'm fine." She pushed past them, the tough look back on her face. They stared after her. She looked back at them. "Really, I'm fine. Let's go."
Reid and Hotch followed her up the steps to the front door. She rang the doorbell.
A man answered the door. He was middle-aged, and obviously very tired. His eyes were red and swollen as if he'd been crying. "Yes?" he asked wearily.
Elle pulled out her badge. "Mr. Howard?" The man nodded. "I'm Agent Greenaway, from the FBI." She motioned to Hotch and Reid. "This is Agent Hotchner and Dr. Reid. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your daughter."
"This isn't a good time," the man said, and moved to close the door.
"We know, Mr. Howard, and we're very sorry for your loss," Elle said quickly. The man stopped and looked at her. "But you may be able to tell us something that can help us find your daughter's killer."
Mr. Howard thought for a minute, and moved aside to let them in. "Come on."
"Thank you," Hotch said.
Mr. Howard led them to a well-furnished living room. He motioned for them to sit on the sofa. "Let me go get my wife." He vanished into another room.
Elle looked around the room. Neutral colors, comfortable furniture, pictures everywhere. She focused on one. A teenage girl, blonde, and very pretty, smiled back at her. It was a confident smile. The girl was in a cheerleader outfit. It reminded her so much of…
"This is my wife, Elaine." Mr. Howard reentered the room with a middle-aged woman. She was tall, and still beautiful. But she had a look of tired sorrow on her face, and what she'd been through in the past few weeks had taken a toll on her.
The agents stood. Hotch shook her hand. "I'm Agent Aaron Hotchner, this is Dr. Spencer Reid, and Agent Elle Greenaway."
She shook each of their hands. "I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet you." She sat down on the couch opposite of them, and her husband sat next to her. "My husband said you wanted to ask some questions about my Michelle."
Elle glanced at Hotch. "Yes." She motioned to the picture. "Is that her?"
Mrs. Howard picked up the framed photograph and caressed it. "Yes. Michelle was so talented. Everyone was her friend."
"How about boyfriends?" Hotch asked.
She shrugged. "Probably. Michelle didn't tell us everything that was going on in her life. And we didn't ask. She was old enough to know what was right and wrong."
"Would she have told her friends? A best friend, maybe?" Spencer asked.
"She may have told Alex Carver," Mr. Howard replied.
"Alex?" Elle asked.
"Alexa Carver. Michelle's best friend since grade school. They've been in the same class since kindergarten."
Hotch looked up from his notes. "Your daughter was on her way home from work?"
Mrs. Howard wiped a tear from her eye. "Yes. She was supposed to be home by twelve thirty, but…when she didn't show up…" She started sobbing.
Mr. Howard put an arm around her. "I think this interview is over."
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Reid, Hotch, and Elle pulled up to Trinity High School, which wasn't far from Michelle Howard's house. "Hey!" Elle shouted at one of the teenage guys walking past.
He turned and looked her up and down. "Hey, there."
Elle rolled her eyes and pulled out her badge. "FBI." The grin on the young man's face faded quickly. "We're looking for Alexa Carver. We want to ask her some questions."
"Check the chemistry lab," he said as he made a hasty retreat.
Elle glanced at Hotch, who had just a hint of a smile on his face. "And I thought adult men were bad."
"That's not completely true. Statistics show that women flirt just as much as men, and are more likely to flirt with men outside their own age range," Reid interjected.
Elle glared at him. "Shut up, Reid."
The three agents made their way through the winding halls to the chemistry lab. Inside was a teenage girl mixing chemicals. "Alexa Carver?" Hotch asked.
The girl jumped. "Who are you, and how did you get in here?"
Hotch pulled out his badge. "Agent Hotchner, from the FBI. We have clearance. Is there somewhere we can talk?"
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, I'm Alexa Carver." She pulled off the safety goggles and white lab coat and hung them on a stand by the door. "Follow me."
She led them to an empty classroom and shut the door behind them. "This is about Michelle, isn't it?"
Elle sat on the nearest desk. "Yes, it is."
Alexa leaned against the door. "I knew it."
"Just a couple of quick questions, Ms. Carver." Hotch pulled out his notepad. "Michelle's parents told us you were close."
"Yeah, we've been best friends since elementary school."
"How close?" Elle asked.
The girl was fighting to hold back tears. "We'd tell each other everything."
"Even about boys?"
Alexa stared at Elle. "Why do you want to know?"
Elle paused before replying. "Look, when I was in high school, I had a best friend named Paula. We'd tell each other everything. And she was the only person I'd tell about who I was crushing on, who I dated, what I did on my dates. You two were that close."
"Then you also know that you were supposed to keep those things secret."
Elle reached out and took the girl's hand. "Yes. But it's really important. We need to know everything we can to find the person that did this to her. "
Alexa said nothing.
"Look, I know what you're going through. Fear, rage, sorrow. But we've got to find this guy before he does this to anyone else. You want to catch him, right?"
Alexa nodded furtively.
"Then you have to tell us everything. Was she dating anyone?"
Alexa's bottom lip quivered as she nodded. "Yes."
"Who?"
"She said his name was James. I think he was a lot older than her."
"What makes you say that?"
"He drove around this big fancy car, and owned his own apartment and everything."
"Did you ever go to his apartment?"
She shook her head. "No. Michelle always bragged about it, said she'd go over there before work, you know, to meet him. He always wanted her to do things with him, drop everything else and go with him. We used to meet every day during free period to study, and lately she didn't want to meet at all. She said that he wanted her to meet him." She paused. "The day before she… she said that she wanted to break up with him. Michelle said he was too controlling. I think she was scared." Hotch and Reid looked at each other.
"What did he look like?" Elle pressed.
Alexa thought for a minute. "Tall…about your height," she motioned to Hotch. "Blonde hair, um, about down to here." She touched her earlobe. She looked at Elle with big blue eyes brimming with tears. "That's all I remember."
Elle put her arm around the shaking girl. "That's okay. You did good."
Alexa buried her face in Elle's shoulder and sobbed. "I knew he wasn't good for her." Elle looked up at Hotch and Reid, who just stared. "But I didn't do anything. She was so happy." Alexa shook harder.
"It's okay," Elle said soothingly. She stroked the girl's blonde hair. "It's okay."
