Chapter 4: Capture
Once they'd called Garcia, they called the others to let them know that they had new information.
Once they were all back in one place, Garcia appeared on the 50-inch plasma screen in their conference room in the local field office.
"Ok my family, Boy Genius and Mama Grizzly found some intel but it gave us a few answers and more questions. Luckily I found some more answers, now gather 'round the campfire and walk with me through the darkness if you will… We've already determined that one other kid died as a result of this creepster's handiwork, well I have now linked five of the other seven to this nutjob… one of them, little Ella Jacobs, eight years old, died in the recovery room right after her heart transplant when the blood transfusion she was given was from an incompatible blood type… Kayla Walters was given medication in preparation for surgery that she was allergic to… Sam highland was overdosed on blood thinners and he bled out internally, Kyle Edwards died from a lethal drug combination, and Jake Weston was overdosed on anesthetic and forced into a coma before going completely brain dead…"
"That means this unsub is up to at least seven victims in thirteen years…." Blake calculated.
"Which is only about one every two years, we might have missed our chance to catch him… it could be two years before this guy surfaces again…" Morgan replied worriedly.
"Except that two of those victims, Matthew Ethridge and Kayla Walters died within a few months of each other, Matthew died in August, Kayla in November and both in 2003…" JJ pointed out. "He's killed in fairly short succession before…that and Spence and I don't think killing James would have given the Unsub his release…"
"Why is that?" Morgan asked.
"Because we don't think that James fits the Unsub's pattern, he wasn't killed to release him from a lingering, painful, and inevitable death… he was killed because he and Matthew were friends and he had suspicions that Matthew may not have died of entirely natural causes…"
"So you think the Unsub killed James because the kid might actually have been on to him, possibly even known who he was…" Morgan realized.
"Exactly, because James' murder was one of self-preservation, we don't think he satisfied the Unsub's compulsion. Garcia, were you able to find any evidence that James may have known about the killings?" Reid asked.
"Yeah… turns out that a bunch of friends of Matthew's had a social media memorial page for him… James and one other kid basically ran it… on what would have been his 19th birthday James posted a long drawn out monologue about how despite his frailty and sweet natured personality he was a tough kid, he called him a fighter and offered to swear on a stack of bibles that quote 'he would never have given up so easily'." She informed them.
"Well that tells us that he was certainly suspicious but that doesn't prove that he actually knew anything solid enough to raise the alarm of the unsub. This kind of unsub isn't paranoid, his god complex and perceived moral superiority would make him borderline arrogant." Hotch said.
"True but James is a smart kid and nothing in his room suggests that he was depressed so I doubt he'd abandon his instincts of self-preservation. Whatever else he might have had on the Unsub, he most likely wouldn't have made it public, but if he didn't know who the unsub was and yet knew him, he may have told him in confidence which would've then landed him on the unsub's hit list." Reid told them.
"We need to give the profile… Garcia, arrange a meeting with all the doctors and surgeons who work with these patients… they know who this guy is they just don't realize it…"
"On it Sir…" She replied, before ending the video call and disappearing off the screen, presumably to start making the necessary arrangements.
As a result of busy and conflicting schedules, it was another four and a half hours before they could get everyone they needed together in one room.
In all there were three cradiologists, eight hospitalist pediatricians, and five surgeons on the team that dealt with the hospital's unusually high concentration of CHD patients.
They, and the team were gathered in an average looking conference room, the team stood at the front, in front of a set of dry-erase boards which were built into one wall.
Hotch stepped forward and began the briefing.
"Thank you all for coming, in the past thirteen years, six children have died prematurely at this hospital, despite the fact that this is not all that out of the ordinary, these six specifically, did not pass away due to natural causes, they were murdered and we believe that their killer both works and hunts within this hospital. That's why you're here, we've determined based on the way this hospital organizes its staff that none of you are responsible for these deaths, but you do know who is." He explained.
"The Unsub or unknown subject responsible for these deaths is a white male, most likely in his early thirties to mid-forties with a god complex…" JJ told them.
"What we're dealing with here, is an angel of mercy, one who is highly intelligent, he takes very sick patients and kills them by either with holding treatment or purposely committing acts of malpractice…. So far, he has killed seven people between the ages of five and twenty in the last thirteen years." Blake added.
"His most recent victim, 19 year-old James Kirkland, represents a deviation in the MO. We believe James knew or was at least suspicious about the other killings and because of that, this unsub killed him in an act of preservation. What's interesting though, is that this Unsub still stuck to his preferred kill method of using the victim's medical issues against them, this tells us that despite his intelligence and organization, there's a compulsion which drives everything this unsub does. His mind may have been warped working here, watching his patients die, or he may have lost a loved one of his own, possibly a child, to medical issues similar to those of his victims. As a coping mechanism he probably got it in his head that dying was more merciful and now he wants to release others from their pain." Morgan continued.
"As a result of the fact that James did not fit this Unsub's normal victim selection criteria, we don't think his death satisfied that compulsion and because of this, we think he's most likely already back out on the hunt. He'll need to find a new victim quickly, but because crashing CHD patients are his norm, we believe that he's going to widen the parameters of his preferred victim type in order to satisfy his need to kill again soon. His victim might come from another ward within the hospital, or he may seek out another patient with CHD who is not currently admitted and kill them on the outside just like he did with James Kirkland…" Reid explained.
"Make sure that there's a doctor in the room observing when medications are given, IVs are changed, and patients are prepped for surgery, or tell every doctor throughout the building to carry out their own orders as much as possible. All families and patients with conditions similar to those of the other victims need to be warned to exercise extreme caution and avoid socializing with known members of the medical community outside of professional settings. We'll also need a list of those patients in order to try to determine which one of them in now in the Unsub's crosshairs." Rossi concluded.
"Thank you…" Hotch told the crowd as the briefing ended.
When it was over, the team was approached by a balding surgeon in his fifties by the name of Dr. William Bishop. What hair he did have, was gray and there was a warn look to his round face and emerald eyes that gave the impression that he'd seen too much. He was obviously troubled as he approached the six FBI agents before him.
"Are you saying that someone on our staff did this?" he asked.
"I'm afraid so…" Rossi answered.
"But the kind of person who would be capable of such a thing…" the doctor was too upset to finish. His voice trailed off mid-sentence.
"We don't think this unsub lacks a bedside manner… he feels pity for the children he kills, he cares about them. He does what he does, under the delusion that he's doing them a favor…" Hotch clarified.
…
Meanwhile, at eight-thirty that evening, a 21 year old college student with medium length, dark brown hair and golden brown eyes, was home alone, packing for her return to school. She'd moved most of her belongings into her new dorm room the previous week, what she was bringing back with her now, was simply a few last minute details.
She was tiny, less than five feet tall and less than a hundred pounds, the result of her difficulty growing and gaining weight in the midst of the medical crisis that had plagued her earliest years. After next weekend, all that would finally be over, next weekend, the stent which had been placed in her pulmonary artery to widen it and stop it from pinching off as she grew, would be re-expanded for the second and last time, best of all, she should, if all went well, be back on campus by the following Monday.
She jumped up to reach a book on the top shelf of her bookshelf, when she heard her dog, a six year old, black and white, Bichon Frise-poodle mix, barking her head off…
"What is it Cookie?" She asked, coming out into the living room to see what the dog was reacting to.
She peered out the blinds on the large bay window near the front door of her parent's ranch-style suburban home. The darkened street she'd grown up on for nearly twenty-two years looked as peaceful and quiet as it always was. She saw nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary in the darkness of the cool September night outside her door.
"Bad girl, barking at nothing…" she told the dog in a scolding tone…but that's when she heard the garage door rise.
She looked out the window again, but her mother's silver SUV wasn't pulling in. She stalked nervously into the family room to lock the inside garage door, but it was too late for that. A man she recognized but couldn't place, had already broken into her house.
He was a white man who looked to be about forty-ish, he was wearing a blue-gray hoodie, and he was at least twice her size.
Before she could pull out her phone and dial 911, he had her in a choke hold with a knife pressed against her throat.
Her heart hammered inside her chest, blood roared in her ears, a rush of energy raced into her arms and legs, but he already had her in his grip, there was nowhere to go.
He yanked her out into the garage and forced her into the driver's seat of her own car.
"Back out for me. If you try to drive off and leave me here, your family dies." He ordered coldly. "Do you understand?" he asked.
She nodded and did exactly as she was told, backing her 2005 ford focus out into the driveway so that her kidnapper could get in the car.
Once he was inside, he locked them in.
"Drive." He told her.
She obeyed, and they headed south in the direction of Woodridge.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked boldly.
"It's for the best, you'll be a lot better off where you're going… Besides, you'll be with James…"
Her breath caught in her throat.
"Bo… oh my God… what did you do to him…?!" she asked frantically.
"Calm down Sweetheart… keep your eyes on the road… James is in a better place now…" he told her reassuringly.
She knew right away exactly what he meant, and it made her stomach lurch.
"Oh God…" she was forced to pause to gag. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"
"Hold it in until we get there…just drive…" He barked.
"Ok, Ok… just tell me where we're going…it's already dark…"
"You'll know it when you see it…" He told her.