--Afternoon Oct 29th—
Once again Morgan and Reid found themselves in the colonial style house of their only witness to their current case. The bodies were piling up, and Morgan was not in the mood to play games. This time they pounded on the door and she let them in, Derrick wasted no time sitting the girl down, and started an informal interrogation.
He was playing his intimidation card to its full effect. "Every place you go,….uh Miss?"
Just call me K.J." She said.
Morgan continued. Everyplace you go this guy kills which makes us believe either you, are a part of it, ordering it, or are this killer's target." Morgan laid out to her.
"You can't be serious, I don't even know those people, why would I want them dead?!" she said.
Reid piped in. "Power is always a good motivator."
"You know I've seen my share of crime shows, and I know that this is procedure. You both though are WAY off, and I am not involved." The girl looked genuinely puzzled as she looked between the two men.
Morgan leaned over her. "So that leaves you as being the target, and you are telling me that you never noticed the trail of bodies following shortly behind you?!"
"Guys I don't watch the news; most days I barely get a lunch to read the paper, so no, I never knew anything." She said to them both.
Morgan straightened up, "So you won't mind us having a look around?"
"No go right ahead, but I have to get ready for work." She said and stood up.
Morgan went into one room Reid into another; the girl stayed downstairs in the kitchen. Morgan booted up the computer in the den, while it was starting he moved on to the hall, and upstairs. There was a sitting room, and three bedrooms, only one of the bedrooms looked recently used. Morgan was a little unsettled out by the bedroom filled with porcelain dolls; all the glass eyes on him was a bit unnerving. In one closet he found regular clothes, and in another he found more formal attire. In the last closet there was a wealth of what he could only consider as being costumes.
Morgan looked through everything. "All these rooms and only one person living here; seems some one never grew out of playing dress up."
As he came down the creaking stairs he heard Reid exclaim, "Oh my…"
Morgan went through a large living room with a coffee table that could be used as a giant checkers or chess table. The room opened up into a library with floor to ceiling bookcases; a few were filled with DVDs but most of them were lined with books. Reid was currently looking at one book while caressing the spines of some others.
Morgan came up behind him. "What did you find?"
Reid jumped a little. "Oh um nothing probative, but she has a really impressive collection of literature and texts; Chaucer, Dickenson, Dante, Shakespeare, Melville, and more."
Morgan looked around and saw books, but none of them held the enchantment that Dr. Spencer Reid was currently held under.
Morgan touched Reid's shoulder, "Help me look through the basement and attic pretty boy and you can drool over the books when we're done." He started to lead the way. "First though have Garcia dump hack her computer." He said and waited for Reid to call.
Garcia was more then happy to do what Reid asked; she joked and laden him with loving nicknames. Once it was done, Reid looked at Morgan and smiled nervously. The basement was dusty and filled with cobwebs there were some antique furniture covered with dust cloths but once again nothing incriminating. The attic was cluttered with boxes and junk only a few things seemed to be regularly kept clean. One was a Victorian styled dollhouse, with a cast iron stove in its' miniature kitchen. The other was several photo albums kept in a steamer trunk, the book contained old pictures of not only the house but various family members. There was nothing incriminating, so both men could only reason that the girl was not involved in the killings. Morgan went to talk to the girl while Reid went back into the library area.
"Find anything?" She asked.
Morgan shook his head. "You knew that would be the case."
"Believing is seeing, thank you for not making a mess." She said.
Morgan nodded; the house was not clean per se, but last thing it needed was more of a mess from a full search.
"So now what?" She asked.
Morgan sat back, but said nothing. Soon from the other room ring tones sounded off.
Reid came into the kitchen and held his phone out. "You're on speaker."
Morgan looked at Reid, imploring him with a look. It was unusual to use speaker phone especially in front of a potential suspect.
"Gorgeous gray matter, there is nothing. Though I think I am in love though, you have impeccable taste in anime." She said.
Morgan and Reid looked at one another confusion written all over their faces. Both then looked at the girl.
"UH um thanks." The girl said.
Both men were at a loss. Garcia was naturally unique, but this was defiantly different.
"If I could, could I commission you to draw me a punky blond girl, who is computer savvy." Penelope gushed. "She should be full bodied, pink streaks in her hair, flamboyant personality, and smarter then smart." She included.
Morgan rolled his eyes. "Baby girl.."
"Oh uh right, I'll contact you on D.A., look for me, code name ." She said and hung up.
Morgan looked at K.J. "Now we play plan C, you now are under the protection of the F.B.I; we'll take you to a safe house…."
"No no no no no" K.J. said. "Absolutely not, you're not even sure I am the target. Listen guys, honestly, this is a small town. You both drove up here in a car that screams feds." she said. "This is a small town; people notice things in a flash." She said.
Both sides tried to reason, but in the end bills need to be paid won the argument.
"I work in a lab, 7pm to 7am, locked doors, and if it makes you feel better you can drop me off and pick me up." She offered. "I will not have my life thrown array on a hunch." She said. "OSHA regulation does not permit us to work alone, so there are always one or two people working with me." She argued.
It was agreed upon, Hotch hated the arrangement, but K.J. would not budge on any other way. So it was set, Morgan and Reid would take the girl to work and pick her up after her shift.