Disclaimer: I still don't own Criminal Minds, my own is debatable some days.
A/N: Thanks again to all who continue to read and review and add the story to their alerts.
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The team managed to get a hospitality room in the hotel as a command post. JJ was in contact with the Lancaster Police Department and Detective Phil Hollis was bringing over all police reports and photos taken at the scenes of the various deaths. Morgan had contacted New York and all the information from that case was being faxed. Emily had likewise contacted Florida for all the investigative findings from Brian Dalton's drowning. Rossi spoke with the Noble County Sheriff's Department as Ales Run, the site of Drake Holloway's hunting fatality, was in their jurisdiction and their paperwork would be coming forthwith.
When Reid and Allie arrived at the hospitality room, they found it was buzzing with activity. Morgan was seated at the round table on the right side of the room going over a report. There were five unoccupied chairs around the table as well. On the far right hand wall was a counter top with a cupboard and mini fridge underneath. Atop the counter was a coffeemaker and dishes. Emily was just setting a pot to brew. Directly across from the doorway stood a desk topped with a computer and fax machine which was spitting out documents that JJ was removing. On the left hand side of the room was a couch, an armchair and a coffee table. Rossi was on the couch reading a report and Hotch sat in the armchair talking on his cell. To the right of the desk, the team had set up a cork board where pictures of the deceased were tacked up. Their high school yearbook photos and photos of how they looked before they died were displayed. Allie looked at the board and stopped suddenly, grabbing Reid's arm for support.
"Are you okay," Reid asked, putting his arm around her.
"No, not really," Allie said tearfully. "I know to you, these are victims, just part of your investigation. But I knew them and I was sad, you know, that they had died but now you've got them in the middle of this bizarre murder plot that I still don't really understand. You've got them displayed up there, just lying bare to the world. It's kind of, I don't know, cold. Sorry, it just hit me for a minute, I'll be okay."
Reid's mouth clamped into a grim line and he mentally kicked himself. God, he thought, how could he have been so insensitive as to not think that this would affect Allie. These were her friends, for God's sake. Her high school experience had been the opposite of his, she had enjoyed a happy time, for the most part, smattered, of course, with the usual teen angst and these people had been a part of that. Of course, she'd be upset!
"Allie," JJ approached her cautiously, putting an arm around her and nodding Reid away. Reid relinquished his hold and JJ took Allie to one of the chairs around the table. "I know this is very upsetting for you but the profilers have to work on victimology to find out why these people are being killed. It would be really helpful to have someone like you, who knew them, help us with that. Do you think you can do that Allie?" JJ nodded her head encouragingly at her friend.
Allie was quiet for a few moments and then responded, "Yeah, yeah, I think I can do that. What exactly do you need me to do?"
JJ looked over at Reid, "Allie we need to know about these people, what they were like, what they had in common. What made the unsub choose them?"
Allie looked at the pictures on the board. Darcy Kullman was the first death so her picture was in the first position. "Okay, well Darcy was a nice girl, kind of quiet and kept to herself. Is this the kind of thing you need to know," she asked the group, unsure.
"Yes, that's exactly what we need, who they were, what they did, who they hung around with." Reid told her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Who did Darcy hang around with?"
"Well, nobody really, she was…she was…"
"She was what, Allie," Hotch asked?
"She was the target of a lot of bullying and bad behavior because she was overweight. She was a nice person but she didn't have any friends. She was my lab partner one semester for biology 101. She seemed glad to partner with me because I didn't tease her and I wasn't mad that I got stuck with her. She was actually pretty smart when she wasn't being picked on."
"What kind of behavior are you talking about Allie," Emily inquired?
"Well you know how some guys are. They always used to make remarks about her weight. They would make comments about anything she took on her tray in the cafeteria, even if it was salad. Finally she stopped coming to the cafeteria altogether and ate her lunch alone in an empty classroom. One day she went into the girls' bathroom and two guys followed her in to try and get a look at her and then one of them dressed up and put a pillow in front and two melons in a big bra and a wig in her hair color and paraded around the hallway. Everybody laughed."
"Who did this Allie," Reid said angrily, "Who was the jerk that did this to that girl?"
"It was Brian Dalton," Allie replied.
"Brian Dalton, the drowning victim from Florida," Emily asked?
"Yeah, that's him. He always thought he was something special. He asked me out once and I went even though I didn't like him that much, but he was quite popular," she added by way of explanation. "Anyway, when we were in the movie theater, he was all over me. He kept trying to feel me up and open my blouse. Finally, I elbowed him in the chin and took off. He never spoke to me again." She looked up at Reid who squeezed her hand.
"That's my girl," he said and she smiled at him.
The fax machine had spit out more reports from New York, Florida and Noble County. The group of profilers went over the files while JJ talked with Allie.
"Okay, it says here that Laurel was stabbed in the chest. Apparently she bled out. Her purse was found near her body but the money was gone. No prints except hers and numerous smudges. All the blood at the scene was hers. Medium velocity spatter, so it was a fairly vicious attack." Morgan read from the NYPD report. He handed the crime scene photos to Reid. "Here Doc, you're liable to make more out of this than the rest of us."
Reid looked closely at the photos and when he was done, he said, "There are no defensive wounds on the body so it was either a blitz attack and she had no time to defend herself or she knew her attacker and felt he meant her no harm. Judging from the size of the blood drops, a great deal of force was used, more than would be appropriate for a simple mugging. This attacker didn't want to just hurt Laurel to get her to hand over her money, he wanted to kill her. By the angle of the impact, we know he's right handed and I'd say about 5' 10", again judging by the size of the cast off drops." He was careful to keep the graphic photos from Allie's view.
"Reid," Rossi said, trying to understand the young profiler's train of thought, "What is your reasoning behind thinking this is the work of a single killer."
"When I saw the seven pictures, it struck me how statistically opposed it was for this class to have lost seven members. Statistically for this many to have died, the graduating class would have had to be 8375 instead of the three hundred it actually is. The only other way it would have been statistically probable is if they all died in one event like a car accident or a fire. That's the first question I asked. Then, the way they died. The probability of dying of botulism is astronomically low. They checked the food in Marla's home and no clostridium botulinum was found. So where did she pick it up? If it was at an eating establishment, why was nobody else sick? Nobody else was. I had Garcia check. The "accidents", he made quotation marks with his fingers, "Were all too convenient. Do you want me to go on?"
"No," Rossi replied, "That's fine, you've convinced me. Good work, by the way."
"He's not supposed to be working; he's supposed to be on vacation with me." Allie whispered through gritted teeth to no one in particular. Only JJ heard her. Suddenly she stood and headed for the door.
"Where are you going," Reid asked?
"I don't know; maybe back to the reunion, maybe back to the hotel room." She looked up at him and tears filled her voice. "I just wanted these four days with you, without Hotch calling you on a case or Evan demanding your time. I just wanted you, but you couldn't leave this alone, could you?" She struck his chest with her fists. "Damn you!" She ran out of the room colliding with the arriving Detective Hollis whose files cascaded to the floor. There was a stunned expression on his face as he looked at the departing woman and back at the BAU team.