Disclaimer: The usual disclaimer applies
A/N: Thank you to the faithful readers who continue to take the time to review.
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"Oh my God, I can't believe I said that," Allie sounded ashamed as she entered the room.
Reid got up from the table and rushed over to her, putting his arm around her trembling shoulders. "It's okay, it's only an expression."
"I know, but in this case, I mean she was caught d- dead."
Reid led her to a chair and she sat down. He sat facing her, taking her hands in his. "What did you mean by that? It could be important."
Allie didn't respond as she looked down at their clasped hands. She watched his thumbs rub gentle circles on the backs of her hands. Those hands were magic. They could make a coin appear and disappear. They could perform card tricks to rival any Vegas nightclub. They could massage away the tension after a stressful day. They could transport her to heaven when he wove them through her hair. They could…
"Allie," Reid said when she didn't answer.
"What… Oh the cat hair. Laurel had a terrible phobia of cats. She was petrified of them. She'd have panic attacks if she was near one, you know, she'd hyperventilate and break out in a sweat. If she saw a cat while walking home from school, we'd have to shoo it away so it didn't get near her. There's no way she'd have cat hair on her. She'd never get that close to a cat," Allie informed them.
"So if she didn't get near a cat, maybe she got it from her attacker," Morgan suggested.
Reid nodded, "Locard's exchange principle."
"What's that," Allie asked?
"Dr. Edmund Locard was a French scientist, a major contributor in criminalistics in the early 1900's. He's widely considered the father of forensics. He believed when two objects came into contact there is always transference of material from each object onto the other," Reid explained. "Do you know if Daryl has a cat?"
"No I don't but his parents do. I remember working on a lab project with Darcy at her house. They had a cat, a grey Persian. I think its name is Mimi."
"Hotch we need," Reid began but stopped when he noted Hotch had already pulled out his cell and was calling for a warrant for a sample of cat hair from the Kullman's cat. Morgan was on his cell as well, informing the LPD that a warrant was being issued and they needed a CSI tech to obtain a sample of cat hair from the Kullman's cat for DNA testing. Rossi was calling New York to find out if DNA tests were performed on the cat hair found on Laurel's body. They would need it, he informed them, for comparison.
"I still find it hard to believe that Daryl is doing this. He always seemed so nice."
"He probably was Allie, but sometimes there's that one event that makes some people snap. With Daryl it was the loss of his twin," Morgan explained.
Rossi carried on, "The loss of a twin is one of the most devastating losses because twins are often so close, they almost feel their twin is their other half."
"Sometimes twins will even develop their own unique language made up of words and phrases that only they understand. It's called cryptophasia," Reid told her.
"When Darcy killed herself, Daryl suffered an identity crisis which caused a psychotic break. He thinks he has a mission now, to make the people he feels are responsible for his sister's suicide, pay, by killing them," Hotch added.
Reid continued, "He's also likely to devolve, once he's done with all the bullies and the popular girls, he'll justify reasons for killing more of his classmates until he's in a frenzy and just killing anyone in the class at random, since he'll never get the satisfaction that he seeks, because even though he kills these people, his sister is still gone and he still feels he's only half of a whole."
Allie nodded, the light bulb finally going on. "Okay, but he's not likely to show up at the reunion, right. I mean, everybody's heard that he was brought in for questioning so they'll be watching for him. He won't try anything, will he?"
"That depends on how far he's devolved. So far he's worked hard at trying to hide his crimes but when the need to kill becomes greater than self preservation, he will come out in the open and risk exposing himself because his sense of self is damaged," Rossi responded.
Emily and JJ walked in the room. "That was a wasted trip," JJ muttered as she plopped down on the couch.
"Nobody recognized Daryl at the deli," Morgan asked?
"The kid we spoke to hasn't worked there that long and only works evenings," Emily clarified as she poured a cup of coffee and held the pot up to JJ who shook her head. "The guy we need to talk to won't be in until tomorrow morning."
The men informed JJ and Emily about the cat hair found on Laurel and the possibility it could have come from Daryl Kullman.
"That could be the break we're looking for. I mean if the hair is from the Kullman cat there's not much doubt that it's Daryl, is there," JJ exclaimed?
They all nodded in agreement. Hotch looked at the group. "We might as well call it a day and go get some dinner. All the lab and GPS reports should be in tomorrow morning, so we'll have a good idea what we're dealing with. I think if everything works out the way we are expecting, we'll be able to pick Daryl Kullman up tomorrow and you won't have to worry about the safety of the reunion Allie."
"Thanks Hotch, that makes me feel a lot better."
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Daryl Kullman looked at his yearbook. He flipped slowly through the pages containing photos of his former classmates. Some had dressed with care for the pictures; others looked like they had jumped out of bed and sat before the camera. It didn't matter to him. They were all the same anyway. He stared at the pictures, his eyes devoid of expression. He started at the A's and continued through the alphabet. When he came to Brian Dalton's photo, it was crossed out in red marker as were the pictures of the other five dead alumni. He finished his perusal and opened the book and started again at the beginning. He stopped when he came to the G's. There she was, smiling back at him. He pulled out his red marker and made a circle around the seemingly happy girl. She was next. He closed the book and started to whistle an old song, You And Me Against The World.