Children of the Dark
"Hey, you ready to go or what?" Lilith called out to Reid as she grabbed her bag and jacket. They were just about to go to dinner at Hotch's house.
"I'm coming!" Reid called out and walked out of the Lilith's bedroom just as her phone started to ring. Lilith grabbed her mobile and saw it was Hotch.
"Hey Hotch, we are just leaving the house now, Reid takes longer than a 17-year-old girl to get ready" Lilith joked as Reid threw a pillow at her before watching as she sighed in disappointment and hung up.
"We got a case" Lilith said to Reid who pouted and hugged Lilith tightly before they left her house and drove to the BAU together.
"Hey, sorry about dinner, we will work out another time to do it" Hotch said to Lilith as they walked into the conference room together were Morgan and JJ were waiting.
"The Halbert family. They were murdered in their home last night in the Denver suburb of cherry creek. It's the third home invasion like this in the last month" JJ explained after Reid, Hotch and Lilith took their seats.
"They kill everyone?" Hotch asked.
"Parents, kids, pets if they have them. Always families, nice neighbourhoods" JJ confirmed.
"What do they take?" Morgan asked.
"Nothing they can't fit in their pockets... Cash, jewellery" JJ explained.
"Hundreds of ways to get cash and jewels without killing entire families" Hotch stated and Lilith nodded in agreement.
"That's why home invasions are so hard to profile... Multiple motives" Morgan explained.
"National statistics show an uptick in home invasions over the last few years,18% in Colorado" Reid stated.
"You know it's bad if they're inviting us back" Hotch muttered.
"Back?" JJ asked confused.
"Well, things went bad after the Jon Bent Ramsey case when a couple of agents publicly criticized local detectives" Hotch explained.
"Well, they didn't need us to make them look bad" Morgan added.
"And that was in boulder" JJ asked.
"Yeah, but the state-wide media ran with it, and it took on a life of its own" Hotch explained.
"Well, I talked to a lieutenant Nellis. Trust me. They want our help" JJ said firmly while Lilith read the case file in front of her.
"They need it. The first 2 invasions were 20 days apart. This last one was just 9 days later" Lilith read from the file.
"So they're killing in faster cycles, acquiring a taste" Morgan said.
"And getting better at it every time" Hotch added.
…
"Home invasions typically involve the elderly and single females. The fact that entire families are being targeted suggests multiple unsubs" Reid explained as they sat on the jet and went over the case.
"Could mean gang-related, revenge motive, personal business" Morgan suggested.
"I don't think any of these victims are running in gang circles" JJ said slightly amused.
"Sewing circles, more like it. PTA. Moms, gray-flannel dads... These guys are killing the cleavers" Lilith muttered looking at the photos.
"Strange" Reid commented to himself.
"The pattern?" Hotch asked curiously.
"No, the cleavers. Of all the names for a 1950s idyllic TV family, I mean, it's rife with violent implication. Kind of makes you wonder how the writers really felt about suburbia, huh?" Reid explained making Lilith chuckle and shake her head at Reid.
"Focus, please" Hotch said sternly making Lilith wink at Reid causing a smile.
"Uh, ok, what about, um, class-based uprising? Helter skelter?" Lilith suggested.
"There's no graffiti, no messages, at least not visible ones. There's no rituals" Morgan explained.
"Manson's aim was to start a race war. There's no proof of any hate crime here" Reid added and Lilith nodded accepting their arguments.
"The parent murders are brutal, messy. The instruments vary. Uh, golf club, kitchen knife, iron" Hotch listed from the file in front of him.
"Household implements, symbols of family" Morgan added.
"But the kids were different. They died by injection, pentobarbital" JJ explained.
"It's a barbiturate sometimes used as an anticonvulsant for epileptics, anxiety disorders, and state executions" Reid added.
"The invasions are well planned. Phone lines are cut. Ligature marks show the parents were bound and gagged" Hotch explained.
"Look like these guys had some robbery experience" Morgan said.
"And then found their true calling" Lilith muttered thinking about her parents.
….
"No sign of forced entry" Nellis said to Lilith and Hotch as they checked out the newest crime scene.
"Same as the other 2 houses, right?" Lilith asked.
"Yeah" Nellis confirmed.
"So, it's late, and the doorbell rings. I come over, and I flip the switch" Hotch said as he flipped the light switch to the front porch but nothing happened. Hotch looked back at Lilith who raised an eyebrow as he walked outside and turned the lightbulb to make it turn on.
"They made it dark. No one sees anything if they're walking by" Lilith stated.
"But I can still see through the peephole" Hotch said as he walked inside and shut the door to look through the peephole.
"If you look like trouble, I might not let you in... But if you look nonthreatening, maybe I open up" Hotch explained.
"So the occupants either knew them, or they lied their way in" Lilith stated.
"With this kind of overkill, there's usually history" Hotch stated and Lilith nodded as she followed him through the house.
"Right. If it was just about eliminating witnesses, it would never have been so vicious. This is rage" Lilith said as they looked at where the bodies were found.
"You think they know the families?" Nellis asked.
"It's possible" Lilith said softly.
"And then there's the kids... Tucked in, quiet, orderly, controlled" Hotch said.
"Speaks to an introvert with some capacity for remorse. 2 profiles" Lilith realized and Hotch nodded.
"2 unsubs" Hotch confirmed.
"Have these chairs been moved?" Hotch asked looking over to see two chairs perfectly in line and opposite the lounge.
"No. It's all how we found it" Nellis confirmed.
"So they've been positioned to face the area where the parents were killed. Everything's been cleared out like a stage" Hotch explained taking a seat.
"It's entertainment. They sit and watch the parents die" Lilith added.
"Maybe" Hotch muttered still not sure. Lilith looked around the room and saw Reid out the front window talking to the neighbour.
"I came by about 9:00 to return the Pyrex. No one answered when I rang the bell, but lights were on inside" The neighbour explained.
"Did you happen to look in the windows?" Reid asked curiously.
"Not then, no. I had my cell phone. I was gonna call, but I... I couldn't get a signal, which was strange" The neighbour explained.
"Why was that strange?" Reid asked.
"You always get a signal here. There's a tower on the next block. Uh, I left the dish. This morning, it was still here... So, I came over. Th-that's when I looked inside" The neighbour continued.
"And you called the police on your cell" Reid stated confused.
"Yeah" The neighbour confirmed confused as well. The team went back to the local station and got set up in a temporary office.
"These guys don't lack confidence. Targeting entire families is a high-risk endeavour" Hotch said.
"It's possible they're minimizing that risk by jamming cell phones inside the house. No one can call out" Reid explained.
"High tech. That narrows the profile, right?" Nellis asked the team hopefully.
"Not really" Reid muttered.
"Oh, you can buy a hand-held jammer online for what, 100 bucks?" JJ explained simply.
"I could use one of those next times I go to the movies" Nellis joked making Morgan chuckle before his phone started to ring.
"Hey, girl. You're on speaker. Behave" Morgan said to Garcia putting the phone on speaker.
"Or what, you'll spank me?" Garcia teased making Morgan shake his head and Lilith chuckle at Nellis confused face.
"So I've been searching the area for unsolved robberies. I found 4 with similar elements... Phone lines cut, small valuables only" Garcia explained typing away on her computer.
"Occupants tied up?" Morgan asked.
"Yes, but no homicides" Garcia explained.
"Ok. Thanks, doll face. I'll call you back" Morgan said hanging up.
"Well, if this is our guys, something made them graduate to murder" Hotch said.
"If we can figure out what that trigger was, it might tell us how they choose their victims" Lilith added.
"Well, that would help. I been looking into victimology, and so far, there's really nothing to connect the families. Different political affiliations, different careers, different school systems. At this point, it simply appears the unsubs are targeting their victims at random" Morgan explained annoyed. The team sat in silence for a moment before Lilith rubbed her forehead and sighed.
"Fallon, what's wrong?" Hotch asked concerned making Reid walk over to his girlfriend and kneel next to her.
"The Blackwell's chose their victims at random. Different boys, different places, even different looks. You know how the Blackwell chose their victims?" Lilith asked softly, not mentioning they were her parents because of Nellis.
"How?" Hotch asked.
"They made a list of places they could find little boys at and then made their daughter Lily roll two dice. The first number was what place they went to and the second number was the boy they picked…" Lilith explained making the team watch her worried.
"My point is, if these guys are doing something similar like taking it in turns to pick a family from different places they visit we may never find out how they choose their victims" Lilith explained as the team nodded in agreement. Lilith looked at Reid and smiled softly so he knew she was okay.
…..