Chapter 3

The plane hummed noiselessly across the lightening sky. The clouds were clearing and soon all that would be left was a cerulean blue canvas. Emily Prentiss turned her head away from the window and joined the conversation.

"If the unsub is using dogs in his MO then we should look for anyone in Amber's life who is connected to the military or police. They would gain the necessary training skills there." Morgan was saying.

"Dog fighting is also an option." Reid added. "Although most animals used in the sport are taught not to harm humans."

"We'll know more when Garcia get back to us." Hotch said.

"Does anyone think it's strange that the local police have given us so little to go on?" Prentiss inquired.

"If the killing is a stand alone case then they might not have gathered very much yet." Hotch replied.

But it did seem odd, to him anyway. He'd never set out on a case without knowing the particulars. It would be a relief when Garcia called. Eventually she did, popping up on the screen wearing a bright purple cardigan and a flower in her hair. It was nice to see something so colourful. The expression on her face, however, was less than reassuring.

"What is it, Baby Girl?" Morgan asked.

"Okay, so you know how I said this case was the definition of freaky?" Garcia said. "Well, things just got a little bit weirder. I ran background on Amber Kersley and I found nothing. Not nothing as in 'nothing that will help', nothing as in 'nothing, zip, zilch, nada'. I searched our database and she's not on there. Not surprising, given her age, but check this. I searched doctor's records, local police records, car registrations, even Facebook. She's not on there."

"A girl her age would definitely be on some kind of social networking site." JJ said and Garcia shook her head.

"She's of school age." Reid mused. "Did you check high schools in the area?"

"First thing I did and none of them have heard of her." Garcia said. "According to all digital records, this kid never existed. The cops haven't even got hold of her parents."

"That's impossible." Rossi frowned. "You can't not leave some kind of trace."

"Not impossible." said Garcia. "Amber Kersley gives "off the grid" a whole new meaning."

Hotch thought for a second and then said, "how was she identified?"

"I thought you would ask." Garcia smiled. "There was a card in her wallet, which the police found in her bag. It gave her name, birthday and appeared to be an access card for some place called "The Salem Institute for the Gifted.""

"That sounds like a school." said JJ.

"Did you ever consider going there, Reid?" Prentiss teased.

"No." Reid said. "I've never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised." Garcia nodded. "The Salem Institute doesn't exist either. I looked for schools, organizations, charities. I even searched up terrorist groups. It all comes up blank. Not one website, nothing."

"Curiouser and curiouser." Rossi said sarcastically.

"We'll just have to treat this like a Jane Doe case." Hotch sighed. "As if we didn't even know her name. We'll throw out the victimology and focus more on the unsub."

"Can we do that?" JJ asked.

"I don't know." Hotch replied.

"Anything involving the MO pop up?" Morgan said.

"A little." said Garcia. "Over the years a few people have gone missing in the Salem area and turned up dead, apparently savaged by wolves or wolf like creatures. But they were all found around the wood areas, nowhere near the warehouses. And the knife wounds weren't factors in any of these cases."

"So we're starting from scratch." JJ said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful." Garcia sighed.

"You're doing the best you can." Hotch reassured her. "Thanks, Garcia."

The plane landed and the BAU team got off and into a black car that took them to the Salem police station. The Sheriff, a round, trustworthy looking man, was there to greet them.

"I'm Special Agent Hotchner." Hotch said, taking the man's hand. "This is Special Agent Rossi, Prentiss, Jareau and Dr Reid."

"Pleased to meet you all." the Sheriff said. "I'm so grateful you could come. No man likes to admit that something's too big for them but has just got us baffled."

"It's perfectly understandable." Hotch nodded. "This case certainly seems to be an unusual one."

"At first we thought it might just be another animal attack." the Sheriff said. "But there were too many things that didn't add up. What does your team want to do?"

"Well," Hotch said, "as there's no one we can interview, I think we had best see the crime scene. Prentiss, JJ and Morgan, you can come with me. Reid and Rossi, you head down to the morgue and talk to the M.E."

There was not much to see at the crime scene. Just a couple of warehouses decorated with spray paint. Hotch was beginning to feel like the whole situation was futile.

"So the body was found lying over there." Hotch said, pointing to a concrete courtyard.

"It's so clean." Prentiss said. "I almost thought the scene had been cleaned up before we got here."

"Are we sure she was dumped?" Morgan asked.

"I don't see any other explanation." Hotch said. "Why?"

"There are no skid marks from tires." Morgan said, indicating to the ground. "The car would have made them, if it was going at sped."

"And it couldn't have been going slowly." Prentiss added. "According to the timeline, the unsub would have been seen by the students that found our vic."

"So there was no car involved?" Hotch said. "But it would be even more unlikely that someone could carry a body unnoticed without some kind of vehicle."

"Unless the kill zone was near by." Prentiss suggested.

"There's still the issue with the blood trail." Morgan said. "Even if the unsub did drag the body from near by, there is no way he could have cleaned up."

"I don't see how he could have done it in any case." Prentiss said. "Everything is pristine! It's like magic!"