"I haven't a clue as to how my story will end. But that's all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, you don't conclude the road has vanished. And how else could we discover the stars?" - Unknown
"They are like the clue in the labyrinth, or the compass in the night" - Joseph Joubert
Prentiss was the first to make it back to their temporary headquarters. When she entered the room they were using she saw Reid standing next to a map staring at it in concentration. There were circles in red over the crime scenes, and yellow dots where the victims had most likely been taken from. There were also blue dots within the red circles to indicate roughly where the bodies had been found. It looked like a giant mess. Hotch and JJ were sitting at opposite ends of the table. Hotch was surrounded by files from the opened boxes, now on the floor. JJ was writing on a notepad with a couple of papers and some news clippings around her. Against the wall one of the computers was on, a webcam sitting on top of it. No doubt they had set up the connection to Garcia.
Hotch looked up at her as she entered the room. "Anything new?"
She shook her head and took a seat. "No, there were more hairs and dirt but nothing that wasn't already collected from the victims cloths or the scene. What about the locations anything there?" She turned her head to look at Reid.
"Nothing, there's no pattern beyond the fact that all the crime scenes are cemeteries. The victims were taken from all over the county too. There's no pattern of pick up or dumping sites. Even the timing isn't set besides that fact that they were all taken in the morning and killed at night." Reid turned back to face them. He let out a frustrated sigh as he sat down too.
"Alright then, I want you two to start of victimology. We know that all the victims had some kind of record, from minor issues to major felonies. But there has to be something else, something that made our unsub pick them specifically. Let's find it so we can narrow down who might be a potential target." Hotch pushed come of the closed files in Reid and Prentiss's direction. They each picked up a file and opened it to begin reading.
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Gideon and Morgan had no problems finding the cemetery. It was still taped off just like the officer said but there was no one around. It was an older cemetery so there was only one lane that cut through it for the hearse. They drove down the lane slowly and got as close to the scene as possible. They got out and walked up to the crime scene tape. Morgan was looking around taking in the lay of the land as Gideon lifted the tape and walked over to a dark patch of ripped grass. There were a few headstones next to the place the body had been. The most prominent was a cream colored stone with the image of an angel carved into it. The angel was covered in dried blood.
"So it's late at night, but there's a full moon. I can see the entire cemetery from here, all the headstones. It's not quite the middle of the lots but far enough away from the road I can't get there before I'm taken down. So where did I start from?" Morgan began thinking out loud as he finally joined Gideon.
"Blood trail comes from the eastern side of the cemetery. It's spaced out, our victim was running, but our unsub was faster. Had to be strong too, the victim was in no means small or you of shape." Both men turned to the east as Gideon started. "The victim was already weakened, methodically beaten beforehand. Most likely in the morning after being taken. Our unsub holds him all day and brings him here at night for the kill."
"It's like our unsub is hunting them, but doesn't kill them in a traditional manner. The victims were literally ripped apart. So why bring them out here? There are plenty of other places to go, lots of woods around here. But our unsub chose this place, in view of the road, homes not too far from here. The way there killed too would take time, more of a chance that they'd be caught." Morgan looked first west where there was a beltway of trees, then north east where the roofs of a few houses could be seen in the distance over more trees.
"Our unsub is bold, confident that no one will see. The cemetery would frighten the victim, it's like a message. They are going to die, why not just leave them where they are going to end up. Also it might speak to a problem the unsub might have," Gideon was walking in a slow circle looking at the ground.
"What's that?" Morgan looked at Gideon with an eyebrow raised.
"The ground here, it's flat and open. With the full moon everything would have been lit up, everything can been seen. If our unsub hunted in a forested or covered area, even with the moon it would be dark. Also there is no guarantee that the land would be flat, here everything is planned out. The killer might have bad eyesight or some kind of physical handicap. That would also explain why the victims were beaten and kept all day, to weaken them enough for the killer to be stronger. The killer would know this area, studied it, maybe walked it. The victim wouldn't know anything and when you are running for your life, you don't really pay too much attention to what's around you. This gave our unsub their advantage." Morgan just nodded at Gideon's assessment.
They both turned a moment later when they heard a car coming. A white and blue van was coming up the same lane they had used. It wasn't police and had the cemetery's logo on it. It parked behind their Tahoe and two men got out of the front. They were both dressed in blue overalls and heavy work boots. One wore a baseball cap that had no markings on it.
"Can we help you?" The man who had gotten out of the driver's side asked as he approached. He was average height and a bit over weight but not in an unhealthy way. Graying dirty blonde hair cut short and blue eyes with a slightly crooked nose, probably the result from it being broken at one point.
"Yes F.B.I., I'm agent Gideon, this is agent Morgan. You must be the crew sent out to clean up place." Gideon offered a hand as he met them halfway to the mess he and Morgan had been looking at.
"Oh, sorry, yeah. We just get some people who want to gawk sometimes. You done or do you need more time?" The man shook Gideon then Morgan's hand.
"No we're done here. Just going to look after the trail then we'll be gone." Gideon looked back at the van. "You exclusive to this cemetery or do you work others as well?"
"I work this one and Blessed Mary's Cemetery, but Tom, my partner just works here" the man indicated the man beside him in the baseball cap.
"Oh well thank you. We'll be out of your way in a few minutes." With that Gideon turned and started following the blood trail from the site where the body had been found. Morgan followed wordlessly. It zigzagged through the headstones but steadily lead them northwest. As they went the trail became harder to follow. They got within about thirteen yards of the cemetery perimeter before it was gone completely. The road they drove in on was passed by about thirty yards from them.
"Our unsub must have driven in and brought the victim here on foot. This is where the final chase began." Morgan stooped and picked up a few blades of grass.
"Not much else we can do, let's head back and see what everyone else has got." Gideon took one last look at the scene before they headed back to their SUV and back to the station.
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Reid and Prentiss were heavily into the files when Reid's stomach gave a small growl. His cheeks turned pink as JJ and Prentiss looked up at him. Hotch looked at his watch and sighed.
"I guess we over looked lunch," Hotch pushed the files he was working on out of the way. "Gideon and Morgan should be back soon, we'll order something to eat when they get back." The others nodded as Hotch got up from his seat. He walked out of the room pulling his cell phone out as he went.
"Any luck with those files so far?" JJ asked pushing her own notes and files out from her.
"Not much that we don't already know," Prentiss replied going back to her files. She would want to stay focused until the food was actually ordered or Gideon and Morgan got back.
Hotch came back in a few minutes later "Gideon and Morgan should be back within the next twenty minutes. Is there anything you guys would prefer we order?"
"Anything but Chinese," Reid mumbled.
(Okay so there's another chapter done. You figure I'd have more since I'm just transferring it…I know it was mostly about Gideon and Morgan, but I have other chapters focused on other characters as well. Thanks for the reviews so far. Another chapter coming soon.)