A Crime of Passion

Chap. 2-A Dossier

Author's note: I forgot to put my little footer thingy on chap. 1, so here it is now: "TOP" is a nickname of sorts. Top refers to a Marine Corps rank-Master Sergeant-the highest enlisted (non-officer) rank. Just so we are all on the same page. J

0900 Hours

Boston Navy Yard

Boston, MA

The team sat around a long metal table in a nondescript corner room at the Navy Yard's administrative offices, awaiting the arrival of the lead detective, and a private investigation office that the missing Marine's parents had hired. Spencer was reading, Derek was drinking coffee and reading emails on his Blackberry, Hotch and Rossi were discussing soccer plays, and JJ and Emily were cooing over JJ's newest pictures of Henry.

A few moments later, the door opened and a tall Navy sailor, in dress blues, entered, followed by a very young woman in a skirt suit and another, older balding man in a dark black suit. The sailor stopped, stood rigidly, and spoke.

"You people are early. I am sorry you had to wait; my Yeoman failed to inform me that you were already here. I was meeting with Ms. Steinberg and Top Stafford here. I apologize for our tardiness." JJ, who had stood up when the three had entered, now smiled and nodded.

"It's Ok. I am Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer Jareau. You must be Lt. Mackenzie." The man smiled and nodded once.

"I am. Please, have a seat. Ms. Steinberg here, from the Jason Gideon Private Detective Agency here in town, has informed me that they have put together a dossier for you. Ms. Steinberg?"

The girl stepped forward as the others exchange pointed, startled glances, and then take in the woman in front of them. Spencer, in particular, raised his eyebrows, but mused to himself that it wasn't exceptionally surprising that his former mentor, boss, and friend would now be running a PI agency. The girl handed everyone a manila folder, and then spoke quietly, blushing as she did, her body language indicating that she was nervous and fearful.

"I'm Caroline Steinberg. Um, this is a summary of the information we've gathered so far. Page one is a preliminary suspect list, along with contact information. Page two is all of our notes on the case-mostly theories and the Medical Examiner's report before they realized that the victim was a Marine and called in NIS. Page three is a couple of algorithms I wrote that will help you determine the likely locations of the crime scene, and uh-I think there are more victims, so that summary is on page three, also. Finally, the last two pages are the Lt's. notes, and our personal contact information, just in case."

The girl sighs then, nods once, and steps back, sitting quietly down in a chair next to Rossi and the other man she'd entered with. It was silent for a moment, and then Hotch spoke.

"Thank you, miss Steinberg, that will be helpful." The girl nods at him.

"Of course." Hotch continued, introducing the group to the Lt. and the private detectives, before he turns to the Navy guy and speaks.

"I don't think that we'll need the assistance of the private investigators, unless there is further work you need them to do." The sailor considered for a moment, and then replied.

"Well, they were hired by the missing man's family, as previously stated, and I will speak to them now that you are on board with the investigation. But Mr. Gideon and his people-well, they do good work. I recommend at least keeping them on to consult with. It is my understanding that Miss Steinberg has a rapport with the victim's family, and that may prove useful." Hotch sighs, but nods.

"You're probably right."

Just then, a cell phone rings, and Top stands, apologizing.

"Please, excuse me. It's Mr. Gideon; I should probably take this." Hotch nods, and the man steps out of the room. A moment later, a knock comes on the door, and Hotch sighs in annoyance as a young man in a Navy uniform opens the door, enters, and stands at attention.

"This had best be important, Jefferson."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. Mr. and Mrs. Perez are here; they wanted to discuss the case." The Lt. sighs, but Caroline clears her throat.

"If it's ok, I can speak to them. I have been working closely with them." Hotch nods, and the girl stands, clumsily gathering her things, and starts to follow the younger man out of the room. Top returns then, and speaks quietly.

"Mr. Gideon needs me to return to the office; something has come up. Sorry, Caroline. I can have one of the others swing by later? The Perez's are here."

"Fantastic." The three people leave, the team staring after them. It is silent for a moment, and then Spencer speaks up.

"Actually, her algorithm is correct. It does indeed equate to a likely crime scene. It's a bunker, here on the base." Hotch shrugged, and spoke to the Lieutenant.

"Well, I guess that's a place to start. Is there a meeting room we can use to base ourselves out of?" The man nods.

"Yes; my Yeoman-Petty Officer Johnson-is cleaning out the officer's break room. You are welcome to use that and any other services you may need. If you need anything not in this building, please let Petty Officer Johnson know, and she can arrange it for you."

"Thank you."

"If there's nothing further, I suppose I should go meet with the Perez's." Lt. Mackenzie leads the group out of the room, and shows them to a small room with a refrigerator and a sink against one wall, and a table with coffee supplies against another. A young woman in a uniform is wiping down a beat-up table. She looks up and smiles.

"Good morning. I am Petty Officer Second Class Heather Johnson. Just call me Johnson. I hope this space is big enough for you. If you need anything at all, my desk is the third one from the front door." JJ nods, and the woman smiles again.

"I need to get back to the Bullpen. Please, help yourselves to the coffee; it's fresh. In that cabinet is sugar, creamer and some spoons." She indicates a cupboard high above JJ's head, and then turns around and exits. The team gathers around the table, settling into chairs, and then Hotch assigns duties.

"Ok, Reid and Prentiss-go track down the girl who works for Gideon. Find out what that's about. JJ, I need you to speak to the family of the missing Marine, too. Rossi and I will go talk to the MPs, and Morgan, I need you to speak to Garcia and have her run these locations. Go." They separate in different directions, all following Hotch out of the room, abandoning their file folders at the table, except Spencer, who will read his thoroughly when he can.

The girl called Caroline approaches the group, the Lt. behind her.

"Agent Hatcher, sir? There's another body." Hotch stops suddenly, and turns to the group.

"Ok, this changes things. Miss Steinberg, please come with us to the meeting room." She nods, and the team troops back to the room. They gather around the table again, and the Lt. speaks.

"This morning, an engineer out at the bombing range found the body. It appears to be another young male; this one is a sailor. Body was found in the same condition as Gunny Perez's-beaten, sodomized, and beheaded." Caroline starts to shake a bit, but nods, and speaks.

"Um, I should probably call the office, and relay this to Top. Please, excuse me." She steps out of the room, but accidentally leaves the door ajar as she speaks down a phone.

"Yeah, Mr. Gideon? It's Caroline. Is Top still there?" She sighs audibly. "Well, there's another body. But the Perez's still want us onboard, so I think the FBI people are just going to have to deal with it. No, no one's talked to me. I don't think they like me. Fine. No, you have to tell me what to do…Gid? Look, I am not a psychologist, I know nothing about profiling…you can't leave me alone here…" They hear her hang up, and talk to herself. "He just totally hung up on me. Note to self: letter of resignation to Gideon." They chuckle as the girl returns.

"Sorry. It appears that the Perez's would like me to stay onboard. Apparently, Top Stafford's wife is ill, so he has removed himself from this case."

Hotch nods, and the girl stands quietly in a corner, aware that several pairs of eyes were on her. She runs a hand through her hair nervously, but then gestures to the Lt. to finish. He does.

"Anyway, as I was saying, the Perez's have requested that Ms. Steinberg stay on. Ms. Steinberg, can you work with Agent Jareau in speaking with the families?"

"Of course. Mrs. Perez has informed me that they have received a package. Apparently, the killer is taunting them. He or she sent them some strands of hair. I will look at it later; analyze the DNA, but it's a color and texture match to their son's." The agents glance at each other, and then Hotch speaks.

"You analyze DNA?"

"Yeah, I have a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. Gideon set up a little mini-lab for me at the office." The others look at the girl with raised eyebrows, and she shrugs, then continues. "Sometimes the Mps let me use the lab here, or if I need a lot of space, I take it to the Lab at Harvard Medical School. My Uncle is on staff there." Hotch speaks now.

"Ok, people. Keep your assignments the same. Ms. Steinberg, Dr. Reid, Prentiss. Please stay behind for a moment." The others stand and leave, heading out for their original tasks. The Lt. excuses himself again, and the four others remain, staring at each other. Hotch speaks.

"Please, sit down, Ms. Steinberg."

"Please, call me Caroline. Ms. Steinberg is so…odd." He nods.

"Ok. We can do that. I wasn't informed that you do DNA analysis. I would appreciate it if you agree to stay on to assist in our investigation. We could use the help in that field." She smiles.

"Of course. I am surprised that Top didn't tell you; I was hired as an information analyst. I also have a computer science degree." Hotch nods.

"Great. Dr. Reid here will set you up with *our* information analyst, Penelope Garcia. It might be a good idea for you to review some things with her. Dr. Reid?" Spencer raises a hand in greeting, and Caroline nods once at him. Hotch continues.

"Emily, come with me for a moment." Prentiss stood, and Spencer and Caroline watched in bewilderment as they left. Caroline turned back to Spencer, and smiled.

"So, you're Dr. Reid. Nice to meet you. I am Dr. Caroline Steinberg."

"How come you don't go by "doctor?"

"Because I am 24, and it's awkward explaining to people why I am 24 and have two doctorates." He nods.

"I understand. So, do you have some way to communicate with Garcia? Like a smart phone or laptop or something?"

"Yeah, oh-I left my computer at Lt. Mackenzie's desk. Would you excuse me while I go get it?" He nods at the girl, and as she stands to leave, he picks up her dossier and settles back to read it. He smiles lightly as he scans the pages, and then he looks up when the door opens and she returns. He speaks to her as she plugs in a laptop computer and settles in near him.

"Your files are very exacting."

"Thank you. Gideon said that there was no such thing as too much information with you people." Spencer nods, and then pulls out his cell phone and dials Garcia.

"Speak and ye shall be heard, Oh Smart One." Caroline giggles, and speaks to Spencer/

"What did she say?"

"Oh, hello, person with the new voice. Spencer, what is it?"

"This is Caroline Steinberg. She works for a local PI firm, and they have been hired by the family of the first missing Marine to assist. I need you two to coordinate. I don't think Hotch cares how you do it, just do it."

"Yes. Nice to meet you, Caroline. I'm Penelope Garcia."

"Nice to met you. So I can email all of this to you, or you can access it remotely."

"Groovy. Remotely would work. I'll tap you in to me, too."

"Cool. So my Protocol number is-"

"I have it, actually. What's your password, dear?"

"Chocolate."

"Love. Ok, I'm in. I'll patch you through to me…now. Oh, you have an exceptional amount of information here. This might take me some time." Spencer, who had been listening to the exchange in amusement, speaks now.

"Take your time. We're still on preliminaries here."

"Ok. I'll call you back when I have this stuff organized. Garcia out."

"Bye." The phone line went dead, but information was still dancing across the computer screen in front of the two people. Caroline smiled at Spencer.

"Well, that was different. Is she a hacker?"

"Yes, technically."

"Very cool."

"I suppose."

"So while Penelope is doing whatever it is she does, do you want to go to the lab with me?" Spencer considers, and then nods.

"Sure. Let me let Hotch know." Caroline nods, and stands, gathering her bags, but leaving her computer out. They enter the hallway, closing the door behind them, and Spencer heads for the Bullpen, where Hotch and Prentiss are still talking. He interrupts.

"Sir? Ms. Steinberg and I have co-coordinated with Garcia, and the ladies have something arranged, so she's going to the lab. I'd like to go along, if I can." Hotch gives his permission, and the two young people leave.