Diego Perez sat at his desk while press conferences given by the BAU played on his computer. He picked up his phone and dialed. "Have you received the videos I sent you? Do you think he made the connection? What would you like me to do now?" He listened to the reply as he clicked on the next video with Reid speaking to reporters. "I will take care of it."
Hotch watched as FBI field agents were removing and cataloging the collage from the San Francisco apartment. He moved into the bedroom where Reid was seated on the floor in the middle of the room, surrounded by the case files and pictures. "Have anything?"
"Keys? Why keys?" Reid said to himself while his fingers fiddled.
Hotch looked to Morgan, who was leaning against the corner wall with a case folder in his hand. "He's been like that for half an hour."
Hotch looked back to Reid. "Garcia didn't turn up anything about the keys. They are standard house keys you can get at any hardware store."
"So, why add a key to a keyring?" Morgan pushed himself from the wall and stepped over the papers on the floor. "I mean, if they were cut, we would never have noticed them. It doesn't make sense."
"Wait," Reid said while raising a finger. "Adding a key. That's it."
"What's it?" Hotch asked.
Reid stood up. "How many keys do you have on your keyring? There's the key to the house, car, mailbox, office, parent's house, the list goes on. Yes, the UnSub added a key, but we never stopped to check if he took a key."
Alex unlocked the door to her house, and cautiously pushed it open. She took a step inside and quickly scanned the room with her pistol in hand. She kicked down the edge of the carpet then motioned her head for the other two to come in behind her. She gave hand signals for them to go into a separate area of the house. Soon after, calls of "clear" rang out as they all met back up in her living room.
"Notice anything?" Hugh asked.
"Yup." Alex pointed down to a bowl on the coffee table that was filled with small decorative rocks.
"Not yours?" Roman asked.
Alex dug her hand inside and pulled out a flash drive that was placed against the glass.
"There is no way you noticed that," Roman said.
Alex laughed. "Actually, Charles and I hid messages to each other in a vase like this on a case once. That's how I knew to look there."
Hugh pulled out the laptop from his bag and booted it up. He then put in the flash drive. Lines of code flashed and then scrolled up the screen.
"Holy Matrix, Batman," Roman blurted.
The three of them stared at the screen until it went black. A moment later, a window popped up, asking for the encryption code.
"I hate it when he does this shit," Alex sighed.
"I don't suppose you have one tucked into your back pocket," Hugh said.
"Uh, no. But I might just know someone who would be able to help," Alex smirked.
Garcia was standing in the foyer when the elevator doors opened to the sixth floor of the BAU. Alex, Hugh, and Roman stepped out to meet her. "It is so good to see you," Garcia said as she hugged Alex. She then pulled away and looked into her eyes. "You need a nap, girl."
"I know. When I find Charles I will sleep." Alex grabbed onto her hand. "Thanks for letting us come. I could really use your help."
Roman tentatively walked around with his mouth gaped open. "I can't believe I am standing in the FBI building at Quantico." He pulled out his phone and started taking pictures of the elevator, the walls, and the seal on the window to the bullpen.
"Will you stop that? You're embarrassing me," Hugh said.
"Wait, just one more." Roman held up his visitor's pass next to his face and took a selfie.
The group followed Garcia down the hallway to her office. She settled herself in her chair, with the three of them standing behind her. "Okay, what can these magic fingers do for you?"
Alex held up the flash drive. "This was left for me in my house. I am positive it was from Charles. It is asking for an encryption code."
"Why would he leave it for you if you wouldn't be able to break it?" Garcia asked. "Or, did he know that you would come to me and that I would break it? But then again, how did he know about me and my skills?" Garcia blinked. "Never mind. Let me plug in this bad boy and figure out its secrets."
Garcia plugged the drive into her computer. The code flashed on her screen as she studied it. "Wow, he is good. Like awe-inspiring."
"Will you be able to crack the encryption?" Hugh asked.
"Yeah, it will just take some time. I will have to get my encryption cracker going, and we will just have to wait," Garcia said.
"How long?" Alex asked as she sat in the chair next to her.
"Well, that all depends. There was this one time it took almost two days. But that was for an entirely different type of encryption—" Garcia stopped as soon as she heard her computer beep. "Well, it looks like we are ready to go." Garcia looked at them, then clicked on the button.
The four of them gathered around the monitor to read the message:
If you're reading this… good. I hope after all this time, you would be able to
pick up the clues I left for you. And if you've come this far maybe you're willing to come
a little further… sorry, I couldn't resist with the Shawshank line. I have one hurdle left.
On a tree by a river a little tom-tit
"Wait, that's it?" Garcia questioned. "Is that supposed to be the clue?"
"It's from The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan," Alex said.
"So, what does that mean?" Garcia asked.
"It means we have to go to the willow tree," Hugh said.
Garcia turned to Roman. "Am I the only one completely confused here?"
Roman stared blankly back at her. "I know Pirates of Penzance."
"That's the one about duty, right?" Garcia questioned.
"They're all about duty," Roman replied.
Hugh leaned forward in his chair. "Technically H.M.S. Pinafore is about the huge disparity of the social classes and proves the point by revealing that the captain and Ralph were switched at birth allowing Josephine to marry Ralph now that he is the captain."
"If we are done hearing from the Gilbert and Sullivan Society," Alex said then put her hand on Garcia's arm. "There's a large estate down by Lynchburg where we had a sort of meeting once. There is a massive willow tree on the grounds. While we were standing under the tree waiting for our contact Hugh kept singing that song."
Garcia turned to Hugh. "Why that song?"
"Because a line often repeated in that song is Sang Willow, titwillow, titwillow," Hugh said. "It was irresistible standing under such a massive willow tree."
"Charles said he would always remember that song whenever he was at that tree," Alex explained.
Garcia swiveled her chair around. "So, what now?"
Alex stood up with the keys in her hand. "Now, we go. Thank you so much, Penelope." Alex leaned down and kissed Garcia on the forehead.
Alex's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as their destination grew closer. She pushed the horn then swerved around the car that was in front of her. "Learn how to drive, moron!" she yelled. "I am so tired of people not knowing how to drive. I mean, it's not that hard." She adjusted herself in her seat and turned up the air conditioner. "Okay, so it's a pretty large estate but should be vacant except for Peters, the caretaker. When I called him, he said that he hadn't seen anyone on the property, and there were no reservations for this week at all."
Hugh looked to Alex from the passenger seat. "You already told us that."
Alex shook her head to release her jitters. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm just not sure what we're going to expect."
"I know you're nervous; I am too."
"I didn't say I was nervous."
Hugh stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "When you are nervous, you are unable to keep yourself from talking incessantly."
"I… well, maybe that's true… Sometimes." She let out a deep breath then spoke calmly, "I hope he's there."
"I do, too," Hugh said.
Roman poked his head forward from the backseat. "So, Charles should be hungry after all this time in hiding, eh?"
"Do you always think with your stomach?" Hugh questioned.
"Not always," Roman replied. "Sometimes, I allow my brain a thought or two." He then turned his attention to the driver's seat. "But what about you, Alex? I'm sure you've got to be hungry."
"Oh, I couldn't even think about food right now," she waived off the notion. Alex pulled off the highway and onto a long gravel road that wound its way back to the estate's main house. She pulled up to the front of the building and parked. The three of them exited the car, and all looked around before gathering at the door.
A few moments after knocking on the door, it was opened by the caretaker. "Alex," he said. "It's been too long."
"It has," she said as she hugged him. "You remember Hugh, and this is our friend Roman."
"Are you here to stay?" Peters asked.
"Um, no, I don't think so. We just wanted to have a look around the property if that's okay," Alex said.
"Suit yourself. You know where to find me."
"Thanks. We will be sure to stop by before we leave." Alex started to walk around to the back of the house.
"So, just how large is this estate?" Roman asked.
"At least an acre," Hugh said.
"Oh, I thought you were going to say something daunting," Roman replied.
"Like what?"
"Like two acres."
"Come on this way," Alex said. "The willow tree is down this path."
The trio trekked through the grass towards the towering willow tree next to the pond. A path was formed directly toward the trunk from all the brides walking down the aisle.
"I can see why so many people want to get married here," Roman said.
Alex stopped and raised her left hand out while her right hand instinctively went to her hip. Hugh and Roman both put their hands on their holsters as they noticed the movement in the brush.
A figure stepped out from behind the tree. He rubbed his three-day-old beard with his knuckles. He stood, staring silently at them with a crooked smile.
"Charles," Alex whispered.
"It's true," Roman said in awe.
Hugh stared at his old friend. "I knew it."
