Still own nothing. If I did own either DC or Criminal Minds... Would NOT be in College.
Previously:
Later at Goehring's land, Harley stood with the others for a moment before wandering off listening to the chorus of "Angela!" and "Angela Miller!" She walked around a building to see the woman dead.
"Hotch! Rossi! Morgan!" She approached the woman and stared at her as the others approached. She knelt in the dirt and felt for the woman's pulse, which she knew she wouldn't find. "She's gone. Two exit wounds upper torso."
"I promised her son we'd find her alive." The Sheriff said saddened.
"But we have a problem. She's still warm and her blood isn't dry. She even looks fresh." Harley quips without looking at the others. She began examining the woman's body for any clues. Nothing.
"How is that possible?" he questions confused and upset.
"Goehring didn't do this." Rossi supplements.
"He's got a partner." Hotch responds putting on his sunglasses.
Now:
After Goehring's suicide Henry Frost (his partner), who had become totally dependent of him, suffered a massive identity crisis, killed Angela Miller, the last woman he and Goehring had abducted, destroyed all pictures of his past and the torture videos of Goehring's victims, and changed his appearance to become the spitting image of Goehring, even going so far as to cut his face to recreate his scar. He went on the run.
At Goehring's place~
Prentis and JJ approached the team, as Morgan stared at a map of the area. Perhaps he was looking for insight as to where Frost was, who Frost was.
"Angela's been dead for no more than half an hour. The partner was just here." Hotch informs the women.
"He can't have gotten far. We set up road blocks within a 40 mile radius." The Sheriff stated.
Harley spoke up, "Sheriff, somebody, around here must know who Goehring's partner is."
Rossi glanced at her then looked at Hotch, "We should try Goehring's pals, the Militia. Maybe they can help."
"The Militia Leader is Harris Townsend. He owns a bar called The Horse Post." The Sheriff supplies the information.
Harley snorted. The idea that it was a horrible bar name crossed her mind.
"I think we should send Morgan." Rossi suggested, with some sort of plan in his head.
"What?! With all due respect Rossi, but you've got an entire team to pick from. You're choosing me? Are you serious?" Morgan sounded incredulous.
"No offense, but you really want to do that?" the Sheriff queried sounding nervous.
"Take JJ with you." Hotch added looking to Morgan.
"They know we're here. But you're the last face they expect." Rossi explained.
"Let's do it, JJ."
"Sheriff, we need to get into the house." Hotch requested as the duo left.
"Not until I get the all clear. Goehring blew himself up, God knows what else is he's got in there."
"Alright, search what you can until we can get in. Anything to build a workable profile." He ordered the team
Harley turned around and squealed with delight, "Oooo! Let me at the house! I LOVE explosives!"
Hotch's eyes narrowed.
The Sheriff looked nervous, "I..is she alright in the head?"
"You know, I have begun to that wonder myself." He replied staring after Harley as she darted to the house. He knew she'd been declared insane, but he was beginning to wonder just how unstable the Joker's girlfriend could be.
Rossi and Reid entered a barn, or a shed (perhaps even a garage) outside the house as Harley was dragged away from the house.
"He keeps everything neat." Rossi noted.
"Obsessively so. His trailer was organized, but this is different." Reid commented.
Rossi found a gun safe and pulled it open with a glove, an "Uh-oh" fell from his lips upon finding it empty.
They walked up to the Sheriff as he was talking to the men that had pulled Harley back from the house.
"We found some cartridges and different casings." Reid started.
Rossi continued with, "The gun racks were empty. He took his entire arsenal with him."
Reid holded up the bullet prompting Harley to blurt out, "7.62 millimeter. It refers to the internal diameter of the barrel at the lands, the raised helical ridges in rifled gun barrels if you were unaware. The actual bullet caliber is normally 7.82 mm although Soviet weapons commonly use a 7.91 mm bullet, as do older British and Japanese cartridges. There are pistol pistol, revolver, and rifle cartridges for this caliber. But the rifle are more common. Given who Goehring was, I would guess he has an assault rifle."
They stared at her kind of shocked.
"What? I know weapons. I've studied them extensively." She said simply. It was true. Before ever being allowed to touch a gun, she had to learn about it. One of Joker's rules for everyone who worked for him or went on jobs with him. Of course, his men were not taught by J himself, they had to learn on their own.
"I found two sets of men's shoes of different sizes." Hotch said as he approached.
"We found fresh tire tracks. Small pick-up truck." The sheriff related.
"I know it doesn't narrow it down much, but let the troopers know they're looking for a man in a pick-up." Hotch instructed.
"If he's as prepared as Goehring, He'll have a police scanner and a 2-way radio." Rossi shared.
"We can tune into the state geological survey frequency. Nobody EVER listens to that." The Sheriff offers.
"Hey Guys?" Prentiss called from where Angela Miller's body was found. Harley darted over hoping for danger only to find Prentiss crouched in the roses. Disappointed Harley listened as Prentiss told the others upon their arrival, "There are 3 sections of roses, different heights, different levels of maturity." She gestured at the three sections as she talked.
"3 different women." Hotch said.
"These appear to be the most recently planted the tags are still on them." Prentiss observed as she pulled the plants to show the tags. "Guys…" She said softly having spotted carrion beetles.
The group leaned in, "Carrion Beetles…" Reid said simply.
"Like in a cemetery." Prentiss observed.
"Or apparently a death garden." Harley added.
"Sheriff, Let's get some shovels. We need to start digging."
~Elsewhere~
Morgan and JJ approached the bar, The Horse Post. "This should be interesting." JJ sighed.
"JJ, wait a minute. Stay behind me. When we get inside, do not, whatever you do Turn your back on that door. Do you hear me?"
"I can handle myself."
They then made their way inside, earning themselves stares. They then pulled their credentials out. Morgan announced, "We're looking for Harris Townsend."
"Put your badge away." A grizzled man sitting with his back to the door almost snarled, "We know who you are."
Morgan kept a calm voice and replied, "We're only here to talk to Harris Townsend. We heard he runs this bar."
"I do. Talkin' isn't exactly what you boys are known for." The grizzled man snapped.
"We're investigating a missin wo- "
"Bobby, be a gentleman. Pull up a chair for the little lady." The man said and then stood and moved from his seat. A man, Bobby presumably, moved to get JJ a chair.
"No, I prefer to stand." She responed before Bobby could attempt to get up prompting him to sit back down.
"I'd prefer it if you both left my bar." The man comes back. "But we have manners. Glock 17. Tactical, but European." He caused Morgan to look at his gun. He then patted his own, "Smith and Wesson. Pure American hardware. I wonder which one is more dependable."
Morgan approached Harris, "I don't want to be here just as much as you don't want me here. But we have a job to do."
Harris replied, "I never understood how someone like you could trust them."
"Someone like me?" Morgan asked, almost sounding offended.
"How has the federal government ever helped your people? Slavery, Ghettos, Poverty. The CIA got you all hooked on heroin in the sixties, crack in the eighties. Now, I hate the government. But you… you should despise them. They sure as hell don't care about you now. There are 6 other members of your team. Look around you. Why the hell did they send you in here?"
Morgan ignored this, "Francis Goehring and a partner abducted and killed 4 innocent women, the last of which we just found dead in a bed of roses shot in the back twice. Nobody sent me anywhere. I came here to do right by her. Now, Goehring's partner is out there somewhere, so we completely understand if you boys are just too afraid to tell us about him. I get it. But just say so. Don't go hidin' behind your vague little gun threats and your tired conspiracy theories, please."
Harris laughed briefly, "Goehring was a piece of dung. I don't know who his partner is. I saw him once, through the scope of my rifle. Me and some of the boys were out huntin'. Small guy, about 5'8". Followed Goehring around like his private pack mule. Hat on head down. That's it, that's all I know." He then returned to the spot he was in upon JJ and Morgan's entering the bar.
Morgan walked over and stuck his business card on the table in front of Harris. "Just in case you remember something else." He then turned and walked to JJ, "Take care boys."
Back at Goehring's place~
The others were finally allowed in the house.
"Didn't find any explosives, nothing rigged, but be careful."
"Like it needs saying." Harley muttered under her breath. "They're trained agents, dumbass."
"Odd." Was the first thing from Rossi's mouth upon viewing the house." Goehring kept his house almost cozy."
The others dispersed into the house. Harley walked to a chest of drawers and began opening the drawers, "Hotch… These tapes have the names of the missing women. They've all been un-spooled."
"We need to get these to Garcia immediately." He took the drawer out and handed it off to a Deputy.
In the Kitchen, Reid and Prentiss found a list, "One, all actions must serve to please The Master. Two insubordination will result in punishment… This is his new manifesto."
"Notice how "Master" is singular and capitalized, emphasizing there's only one dominant partner." Reid pointed out.
"So his partner is more of a servant." Prentiss made a guess.
"Or a serf. Watching the house, minding the lawn, helping him abduct women…" Reid trailed off.
"Ok, so if his partner is a serf, what are the female slaves for?" Prentiss asked.
"Oh, I think I can answer that." Rossi says walking up on the tail end of their conversation.
He led them to a bedroom that had spaces full of torture equipment. However, all they saw at this point was the chair. Harley was playing with her hair.
She stopped as Reid and Prentiss came in.
Reid looked around, "Now we know why he took them so far apart, he tortured them. It took time for them to die."
Hotch found a cubby in the closet, "This is where he kept them, the blood is fresh."
Prentiss found a device that was kind of like an apple corer. "What the hell is this?"
"The Pear of Anguish." Reid and Harley responded in unison.
Harley however added to the statement. "Also called the Choke Pear it is the modern name for a type of instrument displayed in some museums, consisting of a metal body, usually pear-shaped, divided into spoon-like segments that could be operated by turning a screw. The museum descriptions and some recent sources assert that the devices were used either as a gag, to prevent people from speaking, or internally as an instrument of torture, although these accounts have been disputed as implausible."
She looked away and continued, "There is no contemporary first-hand account of these devices or their use. However, through the design of the devices, such as metal consistency and style, these are often dated to the early modern period around 1600. An early mention is in F. de Calvi's L'Inventaire général de l'histoire des larrons or"General inventory of the history of thieves", written around 1640, which attributes the invention to a robber named Capitaine Gaucherou de Palioly in the days of Henry of Navarre. Palioly would have used a mechanical gag to subdue a wealthy Parisian while he and his accomplices robbed the victim's home. Though there is little or no evidence of its being used by bandits, there are a number of extant examples of ornate and elaborate, pear-shaped devices with three or four leaves or lobes, driven by turning a key that rotates the central screw thread, which spreads the leaves. These are generally held in museums devoted to the subject of torture, and are described as instruments of torture by distension or evisceration. Some, but not all, have small spikes of uncertain purpose at the bottom of each leaf. However, these devices do not seem to match the descriptions given by Calvi or the 19th century sources. And as such, are probably fakes."
She looked at Rossi as he stared at her, "What?"
"Nothing… I've got something here." He lifted the bed.
Harley's eyes widened. "Oooo!" She flited about the devices attached to the bed named the items that actually had names, described what they were for, and how they affected the human body. She seemed oblivious to their discomfort. She then looked at the floor, "It appears they covered the floor. It is likely the bodies are wrapped in it. They must have kept the women for months… Judging by the tools, there will be a lot of mutilation."
Rossi chimed in, "We need to do what we can to help their families give a proper burial."
Later at the station, the profile was being given to the assembled troopers. "Goehring's partner is in his early to mid-twenties. 5'8". Slight build. Shy and retiring, but groomed by a separatist armed with assault weaponry. Like Goehring, he's unlikely to surrender if he is cornered." Hotch started.
"His obsession with cleanliness and order is deeply ingrained. This will be reflected in his home and his vehicle." Prentiss added.
"We've located hair samples in the cabin that we believe are his, medium-short length and blond." Reid explains.
Rossi then expounds on the behavior, "He's the submissive partner, but having just lost Goehring – the man he was dedicated to and heavily dependent upon – he is in crisis."
Later Harley sat watching the videos of the women that Garcia was showing to Prentiss and Reid, She watched Goehring say to the camera, "One more thing… never let the bastards take you alive. And never be forgotten." Her eyes widened, this meant the partner would probably try something similar to Goehring.
"That's it. The whole tamale. Every horrific frame. I am done."
The bloodlust the man seemed to have had… Harley respected it. It reminded her of J.
"No luck seeing the partner?"
"No. He's – I scanned every frame. He's holding the Camera."
"You ok?"
"No."
"I'm sorry." Garcia beeped out and Prentiss continued, "This is Jennifer Hillbridge, the second woman abducted."
The tape played and Harley noticed how the camera wasn't trained on the gore, but the man.
Reid noticed too, and commented, "The cameraman frames Goehring, but never her. . . Watch. He never stays on her that long."
Prentiss then said, "He's more interested in Goehring than the torture. He's lingering on his biceps like he's caressing Goehring's body."
The Sheriff who was also watching muttered, "Why the hell?"
"The unspooled tapes, that wasn't to destroy evidence. It was from jealousy."
The Sheriff sounded even more confused, "What?"
"He is in love with Goehring!" Harley said from her spot nearby.
The tape continued a scene played out about knot tying.
Reid observed, "He's teaching him how to tie the perfect knot."
"So, he can be the perfect serf." Prentiss sounded disgusted.
"It would be part of his servitude to clean his house, help abduct girls, bury the bodies, get supplies and plant the roses."
"He had to buy roses, and a lot of them." Prentiss said surprised.
The Sheriff caught on, "Someone must have seen him."
"Let's get to the nurseries."
The team went to the nurseries and Harley happened to get stuck with JJ.
The man they were after was called Henry, Henry Frost. They didn't find him at his trailer and instead found his pictures of himself burned or destroyed, hair dye, destroyed his belongings, and everything in a state of dishevelment.
"He has no identity. He burned his face off his pictures… He depended upon Goehring for his identity."
Harley gasped upon seeing the hair dye, "He's made himself Goehring,"
Elsewhere Henry Frost took a woman, trying to do like Goehring, but unable to charm her into going along. This lead to them corning him at a mountain, the one where Goehring had a picture taken. The Sheriff had gotten his best sharpshooter, Harris Townsend, upon Hotch's request for a sharpshooter. This would go on to annoy Rossi but delight Harley. She wanted to meet the man.
Upon arriving at Black Eagle Peak, they knew he would spot them and they wouldn't get close enough. They split and Harley went with Hotch, they tried to distract him with his history to get him from Becky, whom he held flush against him. It worked, but it also didn't. She was also aware of Harris and Rossi's conversation. Rossi was at Ruby Ridge, she filed that away for later use.
Harley flitted forward and put on her best grin, "Hiya! I'm Harley! Do ya mind if I join ya? I'm unarmed because the piggies don't trust me!" She rocked on her heels giving off a crazy vibe. Hotch stared wide eyed. What was Harley doing? A giggle escaped Harley's lips, "If ya let me up, I'll tell ya a really valuable secret!"
Henry confused by Harley nodded. If all else failed, she was a valuable hostage. She darted up and let him once over her checking for weapons. "See nothing." She then leaned in and whispered, "I'm Harley Quinn, nice to meet ya." The teacher, Becky, didn't hear Harley over her sobs. Henry moved as if to harm Harley, giving Harris the shot he needed to take out Henry. The sound of a gun firing, and a body hitting the ground was all Harley could hear. She felt the warm spray of blood on her. She smiled. Then looked at the woman and helped her as the others ran up.
Rossi sat on a rock as Morgan approached him and remarks, "It's quite a view. Reminds me of Idaho."
"Me too. All anybody remembers is that an FBI sniper killed a mother while she was holding her baby. 6 months later. Waco. 80 men, women, and children died. Not a single shot did we fire that day. The legacy of those failures still haunts us. It's why some people don't trust us. Made me start thinking about leaving the agency."
"So, what started you thinking about coming back?"
"Unfinished business."
"You know, there's one thing you'll learn about me, Rossi. I'm relentless. I'll find out."
Rossi, who had stood up during his speech, turned and walked off.
Seems abrupt to me but I wanted to end it similar to the episode.