Chapter Six
"Okay, everybody, listen up." Hotch easily commanded the attention of the conference room at the precinct where the team was assembled.
"Unfortunately, there was another body found last night, a few miles away from the old dump site. They haven't identified the woman yet, but if the pattern holds, the victim will most likely be connected to Richard Silverman."
He paused, his voice turning from his normal, formal tone to a much lower, graver one.
"And if not...then we've got a possible spree on our hands."
The last thing they needed was a spree killer adding to the already demoralizing body count.
"Morgan, Reid, I want you to go to the ME and determine whether or not this is our guy. Emily, I want you and Kristina to take a crack at the younger brother again. He seemed to be closer to Richard, and he might be able to remember more today. JJ, you and Rossi should go back to the headquarters and get security tapes from the past couple of days, and set up interviews for all of the employees. I'm going to talk to Chief Slater about beefing up patrols near the area." He nodded, dismissing them.
The agents filed out of the conference room until only Emily Prentiss and the new girl remained. Now it was the older woman's chance to corner Agent Kent and get a read on her. She had so many questions.
"You want to drive, or should i?"
Kristina unfolded her arms, wincing ever so slightly in pain but trying to mask the fact. Unfortunately for her, it was Emily's job to notice things.
"I'll drive."
The taller brunette didn't disagree as she pulled her keys out of her pocket. Emily led her out to the SUV and kept an eye on her as she slipped into the passenger seat.
Five minutes passed before either agent spoke.
"So, Kristina...what do you think about the BAU so far?"
Kristina looked over at the older agent, who was trying her hardest to make her feel welcome, and offered her a weak smile.
"It's exactly how I imagined it would be."
"Oh, that's right," Emily feigned surprise, "Rossi mentioned that you applied to the BAU back in the day."
Kristina nodded.
"They didn't take too kindly to the idea of a 21-year-old girl in the field back then, though," she added with a chuckle.
"But it sounds like you did well for yourself in spite of that." Emily noted as she pulled out into traffic per the GPS's instructions.
"Thanks to my partner." Kristina muttered.
"or, ex-partner." she corrected herself.
Emily smiled.
"Frank Washer, right?"
"The very same."
"Yeah, he's a legend." Emily chuckled. "It's unfortunate that he had to retire."
Kristina nodded again.
"Yeah, it is."
"Just give it time," Emily tried to comfort her, knowing how hard it is to fit in with a new group of people in a new city. Growing up, the Ambassador's job gave her plenty of practice with that particular skill set. Perhaps that was why she felt like she had to reach out to the new agent, who was thrust into unfamiliar territory and seemed to be handling it decently enough...that is, until she had her alone and could see a glimpse behind the mask.
"Look, you're obviously very good at your job," Emily observed, "but we're a team here. We're a family. It'll take a little while to get settled in. Don't sweat it, you're doing fine."
Kristina was avoiding her gaze, choosing to peer out the window as they crossed town. Emily expected nothing less from the hard-headed thirty-three year old.
They arrived at Samuel Silverman's apartment in twenty minutes.
Samuel was like a younger, thinner, more tragic version of his older brothers. He had dark circles under his eyes and was tugging at the sleeves of his gray long-sleeve shirt nervously as he let them inside the dark, dank room.
"Samuel, thanks for seeing us again today." Emily kept his attention as Kristina observed their surroundings. One thing was for certain- Samuel Silverman was living in disarray. Piled up empty pizza boxes lay on the floor in front of his couch, the light bulb dimmed with every step they took, and dirty clothes littered every square inch of the place. The apartment smelled of a mixture of mold, stale food, and bleach. Where Richard was organized and put together in his suburban home, little Sammy was a complete train wreck.
"Agent Morgan and Doctor Reid came by your work yesterday, but we felt like you might be able to help us more today, when you're less busy." The older agent cocked her head to the side, noting the obvious discomfort in Samuel's demeanor.
"Is now a good time?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's fine." he sniffed, rubbing his nose on the sleeve of his shirt.
Prentiss cast a knowing glance over at Kristina. They were both thinking it; Samuel Silverman was a junkie. All the signs were there.
This was going to be another long day.
"So, Reid..." Morgan turned to his friend in the passenger seat, who was clutching his second cup of coffee with both hands.
"What do you know about this new girl?"
Reid took a sip of his coffee and mentally calculated the amount of time left until he could take another dose of aspirin.
"I know she has a great list of recommendations," Reid began, wondering how much he was at liberty to share with the older male.
"She joined the FBI right after college, solved an impressive case in California with her Senior Agent Frank Washer. A young woman named Samantha Fredrickson was kidnapped. They found her in the basement of a warehouse in San Francisco after local authorities had been searching for six months."
Derek paused.
"And?"
"She has a bachelors in criminology and a PhD in abnormal psychology which she completed while she was with the bureau."
He chuckled.
"So she's a brainiac, like you."
"She has an IQ of 140, so not quite." Reid replied, taking another sip of coffee.
"That's still very impressive."
Reid nodded.
"It is."
"So what else can you tell me?" Morgan's brow furrowed, and Spencer let out a deep breath.
"I don't know, Morgan, all I read was her standard FBI file. She can speak French, she's from San Pablo, California, and she's 33 years old. She's 5 feet, 10 inches tall. She was valedictorian in high school. She worked with Frank Washer for twelve years. He retired three weeks ago and she transfered to the BAU. Why do you ask?"
"Because I get the feeling she's hiding something." He shot back.
Reid frowned.
"Have you even actually spoken to her?"
"I don't have to talk to her to know she's hiding something, Reid, it's my job."
"I'm just saying, she's been with the FBI for as long as you have." Reid pointed out, taking another drink of his coffee.
Morgan quickly turned the corner in their SUV, almost causing the younger man to spill his drink in the process.
"She's new to us, Reid. I still don't know that I trust her. She's gotta earn it."
Derek's cell phone rang, and he flipped it up to his ear.
"Yeah, Baby Girl?"
"Whoa, someone's cranky." Penelope teased on the other end of the line.
"Don't worry about it." He shot back. "You got something for me?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do, Hot Stuff. The ME has identified the victim from this morning. Her name was Kelsey Blakely: 23, she was a teacher's assistant and has lived in Columbus her entire life. I searched for Columbus Cares in her records and I couldn't find anything, but i'm still looking. If it's there, i'll find it."
"Teacher's assistant...Garcia, cross-reference Alicia Gray with Kelsey Blakely, see if they have anything in common."
He paused, waiting for the technical analyst to work her magic.
"That's a big fat 'no', i'm afraid."
Derek sighed.
"Okay, thanks Baby Girl. Call me again if you find anything."
"Samuel, can you look at these photos for me, and tell me if any of these women look familiar?"
Emily gently set the glossy photos in front of him as her phone rang. She excused herself to the hall and smiled as she saw Penelope's name on the caller ID.
"Hey, Garcia, what do you have for me?"
"Kelsey Blakely is the fourth victim. She was a teacher's assistant at Samuel Silverman's college. I'm cutting through all sorts of academic red tape to see if there are any links between Blakely and the other victims, but you might ask him and save us a step."
Emily grinned.
"You're the greatest, Garcia."
"I know. I gotta go call Hotch- Ciao."
Kristina was watching Samuel peer at the photos intently when Emily re-entered the room.
"I guess they look kinda familiar..." He muttered, unsure of himself, still nervously tugging at his sleeves.
"What about Kelsey Blakely, does that name ring a bell?" Emily approached them, tucking her cell phone into her jacket pocket.
"N-no, I don't think so." He stuttered, his eyes a dead giveaway to the truth.
Kristina cleared her throat.
"Um, can I use your bathroom?"
He looked nervously between them, then stood up.
"Yeah, sure, it's...it's right through here."
As he tugged at his sleeve again, it suddenly clicked in Emily's brain. One look at Kristina and she could tell the younger agent was thinking the same thing- they had found their prime suspect.
"Samuel, can i ask you a question?"
Emily approached with caution.
"Can you lift up your sleeves for me?"
She could see the fear in his eyes, and she knew.
Kristina poked her head out of the bathroom and mouthed one word across the room.
"Bleach."
Samuel backed slowly away from Emily, and she held out both hands.
"Samuel." She prodded him, and when he didn't comply, she lowered her voice.
"What are you hiding?"
His hands were violently shaking as Kristina helped Emily corner him.
"Sam, I think we know what happened." she spoke softly, and Sam surprised both of them as he spat in response.
"You have no idea!"
"You killed Alicia." Kristina shot back, stone-faced as he sobbed in response to her accusation. "You killed her, and then you killed Patty Priestly, and Christy Carlsbad."
"No, no!" He tried to maintain his innocence, but when Kristina reached for his left arm and pulled up his sleeve, revealing several fresh cuts and a variety of scabbed slices on his forearm, they became wholly convinced.
Kristina quickly whipped his arm behind him and cuffed him with ease.
"Samuel Silverman, you are under arrest for the murder of Alicia Gray. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you..." Kristina rattled off his Miranda rights like she had hundreds of times in the past twelve years, while Emily whipped out her cell phone.
"Hotch, bring everyone back to the station- we've got him. It's Samuel."
"Are you sure?" Hotch replied in disbelief. Emily shot a glance over at the sobbing young man Kristina was leading out of the apartment.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."
