Danny pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. His head was throbbing. He wasn't sure if it was his lingering cold threatening to return or the frustration of coming up blank after hours of pouring through background reports on his victims. Either way, he wasn't enjoying it. Nor was he enjoying the thought that he might not be able to keep his promise to Lucas' father.
Danny started at a knock on his office door. A tall, skinny kid stood in the door. Danny slipped his glasses back on and gave him a quick survey. He didn't recognize the kid who was dressed in slacks, a plaid button down and a sweater vest that barely avoided clashing. There was a well worn leather book satchel slung over his shoulder. Images of school jocks shoving this kid into gym lockers and head first into swirling toilets came to mind.
"This area is for authorized personnel only."
"I am authorized." The kid pulled a wallet out of his jacket pocket and flipped it open. Inside was a federal badge. "I'm Special Agent Spencer Reid."
Danny sighed. "Don't you guys usually make us do the deliveries."
"Deliveries?"
"Yeah, your boss calls my boss. Then my boss comes and tells me to pack it all up and drop it off on your doorstep."
The kid smiled. "I'm not from the field office."
"Okay."
"I'm from the Behavorial Analysis Unit."
"The what?"
"I'm a profiler. My boss sent me here as a favor to your boss. Said you had a hard case on your hands and we might be able to give you a little direction."
"So you aren't here to grab the case?"
"Would that bother you? If I came in, took everything and made it a federal case. Because technically it is." Danny looked at Reid with a puzzled face. "Our expert in research discovered three more cases over the last two years in other states with exactly the same MO. All unsolved."
"It would bother me a little, yeah." Danny admitted. "I have worked my ass off on this case for the last week. Even when I wanted to go home, eat a gallon of chicken soup for this damm head cold I've got and sleep for a month, I stayed here working. I had to be there when that boy's parents identified his body. I promised his father we'd solve this case and find him some justice."
"And if I took the case from you, you'd feel like you failed him." Reid nodded knowingly. "It's a good thing I'm not going to. But I am going to need a lot of help. Sometimes in ways that don't make a lot of sense."
"This case doesn't make a lot of sense." Danny stood up. "Where do you want to start?"
"You still have both bodies?"
"In the morgue."
"Then let's start there."
"Don't you guys usually work in packs?" Danny led the way to the elevators.
"I was in town doing a lecture. Gideon -- my boss -- asked me to make an assessment on whether this was a viable BAU case and call him. The team is standing by to fly up if I say yes, which from the looks of those photos on your desk, I will."
As they stepped into the elevator, Reid could see another question was lingering on the detective's face. "Something else on your mind."
"Yeah. Aren't you a little young to be an FBI agent? I mean, you look like you're sixteen."
"Actually I'm 24. And yes, in truth, I am too young. By about four years."
"You some kind of genius?"
Reid nodded. "I have an IQ of 187. I read 20,000 words a minute. I have an eidetic memory with a 98 percent recall of everything I read and a 95 percent recall of everything I hear. I actually graduated high school at the age of 12 and had three PhDs by the time I was 19."
"So you're the Doogie Howser of criminal investigation?"
"Pretty much."
"Cool."
