So I decided to post the second chapter tonight as well. Just in case anyone out there takes a liking to my idea!
As always, I own no part of Criminal Minds of affiliated characters.
Please review!
Warnings and Ratings: T – Minor language. Mainly for safety!
After Garcia had three of her laptops set up in her makeshift office and JJ had already spoken with two different news channels, the girls had a few moments to speak alone.
"I wonder how they are making out," Garcia though aloud, shaking her head. "I may not be a profiler, but this is a bad one JJ, isn't it?"
JJ sighed, rubbing at her tired eyes, "I think it may be. It wouldn't be so terrible if we could all stick together. The separation is my only concern. Safety in numbers, you know?"
Garcia nodded along silently. She knew exactly what her team faced on a daily basis, but it was not often she was asked to leave the safe confines of her "lair" back at the BAU. She felt out of place and slightly distracted. Thankfully, JJ relieved much of those anxieties.
"Miss. Jareau?" A male voice interrupted from the door frame, "This has arrived for you."
"Thanks," JJ spoke as she took the envelope and tore at the backing. Inside, JJ found a letter. The more words her eyes scanned across the further her face fell.
"He knows we're here... Well, where all of us are... I think he's written us a riddle," she finally whispered, glancing up to Garcia with concern.
Garcia gasped, "You're kidding," she whispered.
"No, I wish I was. Hotch will want to know about this immediately."
"Right! I'm on it!" Garcia dialed Hotch's phone, letting him know about the letter. While she was on the phone with him, an additional murder had been found in the Oregon area.
"Hotchner," Hotch spoke into his phone. "I see. Could you read it to me? … Same age range and gender? … Understood... Okay, Garcia, let JJ know we will assemble up there this evening. We can touch base then." Hotch closed his phone, glancing between Reid and Rossi, "There's been another murder. A 20 year old male this time, and the UnSub knows we are here. He sent JJ and Garcia a riddle."
"He wants to make this interesting," Rossi concluded. Reid kept uncharacteristically quiet in his thoughts.
The three agents arrived at the first crime scene, surprised by the number of vehicles already present. He knew they would have a difficult time warding off the press, but he hadn't expected the cameras to show up just yet.
As soon as the males exited the SUV, questions began to fly about. "Agents, have you discovered anything new yet?" "Sir, are there any leads?" "How many more children have to die?" "Haven't you found this guy yet?"
Hotch's eyebrows narrowed and his face hardened. He motioned for Rossi and Reid to stay back as he made his way toward the group of cameras. "This is a closed crime scene. No questions will be entertained here. Any available information will be disclosed by SSA Jennifer Jareau at the Oregon state police department."
With that, the cameras quickly folded and the news casters scurried away to their vans.
"She's going to hate you for that," Rossi chided with a grin.
Hotch finally released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, "I know." He almost grinned while walking to the crime scene with the other males.
Rossi scanned the contents of the file once again before stepping under the caution tape and taking in the display in front of him.
Reid's mind was set elsewhere. "Hotch, do you think I could take a look at that riddle in the mean time?"
Hotch forwarded the email to Reid's phone, watching the younger male take a seat against a rock nearby.
Rossi and Hotch began evaluating the scene, gathering as much information as possible.
Reid read the riddle to himself, "This thing all things devours; Birds, beats, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, and beats high mountain down."
"Huh," Reid pondered out loud, slightly perplexed by the UnSub's choice of writing.
After a while, Hotch made his way back over to Reid. "What is it?" He asked, pulling his eyes away from the crime scene to glance down at his youngest agent.
"The riddle is about time... But he wasn't trying to make it difficult... Ah, that is, for someone who understands the meaning... He's given the equation R equals t, in which some believe the variable R stands for the distance between now and the time of the Big Bang's occurrence. Which would simply equal time itself... But why make it that simple?" Reid squinted slightly as he scanned over the riddle again and again, looking for something he may have missed.
"He's relatively intelligent," Reid explained to Hotch, "But I think there's supposed to be another piece to this puzzle."
Perhaps they hadn't uncovered all of the evidence from the second crime scene in Oregon.
Just then Hotch's phone rang a second time. His eyes returned to the crime scene watched Rossi speak with a CSI agent. "What do you have, Garcia?... Okay, could you send that to me and Reid?...Great. I'll also need you to cross reference the children from the original two cases and our newest cases... There may not be much to go off of... No, that will be all. Thanks Garcia."
Back in Oregon, the chief of police delivered the file folder to coordinate with the newest murder to Garcia and JJ. JJ scooped up the manilla folder, scanning through its contents.
Garcia cringed, "JJ, they're getting worse... Somehow."
JJ nodded her agreement, glancing to the police officer who stood beside them. "Has anything else come back yet?"
The officer nodded, "Well, there is one thing. The UnSub left another note at this new crime scene. We're having trouble deciphering it."
JJ's mind quickly wandered to Reid, wondering how he and the rest of the team were making out. "We'll need to see that letter," she said, standing to leave the office with the police chief. After a few moments, she returned with a picture of the note. "Garcia, could you send this to Hotch?"
The analyst was already on the phone with the unit chief, "Sir, we have something from the latest victim. The UnSub left a second note... Yes, I've sent it to your phone... Oh, yes! And Reid's. There you are... Of course, sir... Yes... Anything else?... I'm on it!" Garcia's fingers began tapping away as she looked for everything and anything.
After nearly an hour of analyzing, Rossi and Hotch had gathered any information they would be able to. He felt as though they were close to forming a deliverable profile.
Hotch's cell rang, proving him wrong once more. "Jesus," he muttered to himself before opening the phone, "Hotchner." He waited as the voice on the other line spoke, "I see. Not a gang?... Well, we'll have to rework the profile... We're on our way to the second scene." And with that, Hotch turned to Rossi and Reid, "Prentiss and Morgan may have something. We'll need to meet back at the Oregon station."
In Washington, Prentiss and Morgan spent a decent amount of time conversing with Seth. He was relatively compliant, but only offered very basic information. The team should not be looking for a gang, but there was a hierarchy the men had been following under. Seth admitted there was one single leader, but refused to disclose his identity. He believed he needed to protect the leader, no matter the circumstances.
California proved to be nearly as useless. Prentiss and Morgan tried to crack Glen in stages. Glen was more interested in the aftermath of his "perfectly crafted plans."
Glen was less willing to offer information than any other life sentence inmate they had ever encountered, even with bargains.
Morgan finally stormed out of the interrogation room, clenching his fists by his sides, "Let Hotch know we're ready to meet up."
Prentiss decided she would allow Morgan time to blow off some steam. The male was storming off to the SUV as Prentiss dialed Hotch's phone and filled him in on the very little information they were able to gather. "Hey Hotch, yeah. The inmates didn't give us much, but they told us we shouldn't be looking for a gang... Right, they are not a gang... We're leaving the jail now and we'll meet you back in Oregon."
As Morgan began backing out of their parking space, he noticed something taped to the back window of the SUV.
"Prentiss. Keep Hotch on the phone." Morgan got out of the truck and glanced around suspiciously. The male pulled an additional envelope off the back window. "That son of a bitch," he sighed, taking the letter out of its envelope.
Prentiss shook her head, "Hotch, we have another letter from this guy... We'll be there as soon as possible."
On the car ride back up to the police station, Reid finally had the chance to look at the second note.
Upon opening it, his eyebrows immediately narrowed, "Guys, it's just a Shakespeare sonnet... number 73 to be specific." He read the sonnet out loud, "That time of year thou mayst in me behold when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang, upon those boughs which shake against the cold, bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day as after sunset fadeth in the west, which by and by black night doth take away, death's second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire that on the ashes of his youth doth lie, as the death-bed whereon it must expire consumed with that which it was nourish'd by. This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, to love that well which thou must leave ere long."
Rossi turned around to look at Reid, "Isn't that one just about death?"
"Essentially... And in the time of fall," Reid confirmed with a nod, "So he's written us a riddle about time and a sonnet about death."
Once he had finished his phone conversation, Hotch pinched the bride of his nose, "Prentiss and Morgan have a third letter."
Reid perked up at that, "This is insane."
Hotch glanced at Reid in the rear view mirror, "Have we gathered anything from the previous two?"
Reid nodded his head, "Yeah, we have a riddle about death in the fall and a riddle about time."
"Death will come with time?" Hotch asked.
"I feel like that's too obvious," Reid decided, again reading through the two riddles. There had to be a mistake.
"Maybe not death will come with time, but the time is coming to an end and death is near? As in this fall?" Reid threw out, glancing up at the older agents.
"It's possible," Rossi added with a shrug.
Reid was getting frustrated. He'd figured out the riddle, but the situation still wasn't making any sense. "We need to get that third letter," he finally added with a sigh.
The conference room back at the Oregon station was nearly silent. Rossi, Reid and Hotch were the last three to arrive. Hotch and Rossi sat at the table, but Reid immediately made his way to the cork board, grabbing the third letter.
All eyes were on Reid as he began, "With endless time, nothing is special. With no loss or sacrifice, we can't appreciate what we have. Mitch Albom... He wrote The Time Keeper..." Reid hung the page back up beside the previous two. "This guy has some sort of obsession with time... Or the end of time anyway."
"And death," Rossi added, gaining nods of agreement from the others. "Maybe he believes he is in control of time and death. He takes the victim's lives at his own chosen time."
Hotch rested his elbows on the table, "Well if he's following suit, we should have another victim on our hands before we find the third letter."
After another two hours of debating, the team still wasn't any closer to an answer.
"We aren't getting anywhere with this," Hotch finally intercepted, glancing at his watch before rubbing his hands over his eyes, "It's nearly midnight. Everyone head over to the hotel and try to get some sleep. We'll meet back at eight unless you hear otherwise." And with that, each member of the team stood and prepared to leave for the hotel.
They all began talking among themselves, deciding who would stay in which room.
As though he hadn't heard a word of Hotch's direction, Reid continued to stare at the cork board. His mind was circling over and over, eyes scanning the three notes time and time again. How could they have anything to do with one another? What bigger picture was he missing?
Reid hadn't noticed when Morgan stepped beside him. "Hey Kid, we're rooming together tonight."
There wasn't an answer from the younger male until Morgan actually grabbed Reid's shoulder. Reid shook his head, finally looking at Morgan, "I'm sorry, what?" He asked, rubbing the palms of his hands over his eyes.
Morgan sighed, "I said, we're rooming together. Let's get outta here for a few."
Reid gave a simple nod as he silently followed the rest of the team and climbed into the SUV. The youngest agent found it difficult to keep his mind focused. If the answered were hidden in the riddles, Reid knew he was the team's best shot at figuring it out. But there were simply too many variables to account for. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to know which aspects to fully focus on.
Upon arrival at the hotel, Reid was still mutter different patterns of information to himself. He tried to recall all of the information he had about the sonnet, the quote, and the letter. Reid wasn't sure he'd thought this hard in a while.
Once they were in the room, Morgan physically took hold of Reid's shoulders, shaking him lightly. Reid finally focused on Morgan's face until his vision became blurry. He squinted his eyes and rubbed at one of his temples with a groan.
"That's what I'm talking about," Morgan chided, his point proven without further explanation. "Sleep on it, kid. This will come to you, but you can't force it. Can I get you some Advil?"
Reid shook his head slowly, eyes completely closed by now. "Just... Sleep," he slurred together.
Morgan walked Reid over to the bed and sat him down on the edge. He moved across the room to switch off the ceiling light before turning on the small bedside lamp.
Reid hardly removed his jacket and shoes off before he collapsed into the pillows. Morgan grinned down at an already snoring Reid. "He's just like a little kid," the older male thought to himself as he changed into sweat pants. Morgan sighed out when he finally laid down, falling asleep quickly.