This is a lot less Reid-centric, but it's important to the plot. You'll see. Thanks to my reviewers, QuirkyRevelations, marcallie, omgnotagain, NatNazzy, and bearsrawesome. You guys really help me to write (and I'm not just saying that to get more reviews).
"We got the ME's report back for Elizabeth McNally," Hotch announced. "And we have a very interesting twist. She was not an illegal drug user. The only drugs in her system were a prescription painkiller, no more than the prescribed dose, and presumably for her recent surgery. She wasn't abusing those painkillers. He's changed his victimology."
"Are we sure it's the same guy?" Prentiss asked.
"He's killing in the same way," Reid replied. "With the exception of the assault, his MO is the exact same."
A cop stuck his head into the room the BAU team was in. "May I speak with Agent Hotchner?"
Hotch walked over to the cop, and they talked for a few minutes. Hotch's face was stony, and the cop quailed a little under the FBI agent's cold glare. He gestured wildly, explaining something to Hotch, who stood with his arms crossed, nodding every once in a while, although his face didn't soften. Finally, another cop walked up and handed a folder to Hotch.
JJ watched the exchange, and leaned over and murmured to Morgan, "I wouldn't like to be that police officer right now." She nodded at the expression on Hotch's face, and Morgan chuckled.
"Have to agree with you there, JJ."
Gideon glanced up when Hotch reentered. "What is it, Aaron?"
"They've been having murders here for years. Incredibly spaced out. Years and years between bodies. They were much like Elizabeth McNally's body, including sexual assault on the females. Same MO, though." He handed the folder off to Reid.
"And they didn't think to tell us?" Gideon demanded.
"Until this most recent body, they didn't think there was any connection. There was so much difference between the cases. The drugs, some of the MO, as well as the cool down period. They didn't think that they could have a serial killer on their hands. They didn't connect the cases." Hotch frowned. "Not sure how all this passed them by."
Morgan nodded. "It seems so obvious that they're all connected. And yet the police didn't once think of that."
"Don't be mean to the police," Gideon said, not really paying attention, lost in thought. "They aren't us. They don't always notice the things we think should be obvious."
"Guys…" Reid broke in, looking up from the file he had been given. "You need to come see this." He noted silently that his hands were shaking, and he tried hard to still them before the rest of his team noticed anything amiss, clasping them tightly on his lap.
"What is it, Kid?" Morgan, the first to reach Reid, asked.
Reid frowned. "It's the ME reports for the other cases. They're very inconsistent. All the victims have the exact same wounds, but the causes of death are all listed differently. And there's a different ME for each new body."
"That could be explained by the spacing of the cases…" JJ tried, but Reid shook his head.
"It says here that the others were still in business, still around. They just weren't used."
As the team tried to process this, Gideon got up. "I'm going to go get lunch. Subs sound good?" It wasn't really a question—more of a 'I'm getting subs.' Before anyone could really answer, Gideon was out the door.
He headed for the little shop he had noticed a couple streets over, but never made it. As he turned the corner near the station, taking himself out of all police view, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his skull, then collapsed.