Still don't own Criminal Minds but any day now, any day I'll have Criminal Minds and that heartless bitch Nina will be out of there. I love A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster. I do, however, own this story and my own characters.
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With the possible exception of the equator, everything begins somewhere -Peter Robert Fleming
Lower Manhattan, NYPD Headquarters, New York City
"Hello I'm SSA Jennifer Jareau SSA Dr. Alexandria Maguire called us in," JJ said at the reception.
"Hmm you'll have to speak to Detective Ward first, he's in charge of the case she's on," the receptionist said picking up her phone and calling him.
"No need to ring me, I'm here," a tall man with dark hair said walking in. He glared at the team examining them all. Garcia shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, Morgan looked at her reassuringly.
"Hi, SSA Jennifer Jareau this is Unit-Chief SSA Aaron Hotchner, Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia, SSA Emily Prentiss, SSA David Rossi, SSA Derek Morgan and SSA Dr. Spencer Reid," JJ introduced the team. He gave them all scathing looks and made a noise when JJ introduced Reid.
"Another young Dr. then, are you of any use?" he barked at Reid. Reid stared at him wondering how to answer understanding why Dr. Maguire called them in for help.
"Never mind, she's down here we have her in one of our old offices," Ward turned and walked down the hallway and the team followed as quickly as they could. He brought them to a tiny office at the side, it was dark around her office and the only source of light came from the room itself. Detective Ward opened the door furiously banging it off the wall.
"Maguire the BAU are here," he said before leaving. The team walked into the room and seen Dr. Alexandria Maguire writing some information on a white board. She was a small girl with light brown hair, her skin was pale and her huge blue eyes took in the team.
"Hi Agent Jareau we talked on the phone," JJ said walking over to her and shaking her hand.
"Alexandria Maguire, but just call me Alex it's nice to meet you m'am," she said smiling at JJ as the rest of the team filled in, Reid at the end closing the door, "sorry about the tiny office, Detective Ward said it was the only one available." Morgan and Hotch shared looks both of them knowing the Detective shoved her in here to keep her out of the way. The rest of the team introduced themselves and they settled in to the cramped office.
"The three women are completely different," Alex began as the team took out their case files.
"The first victim," Alex said pointing to the first photo, "was Josephine McDaid, she was 56 years old and a housekeeper. She was walking home when she was attacked and beat to death. She was found with a fractured skull, multiple bruises all over her body and her clothes were ripped to shreds. Officers who arrived on scene thought she'd been sexually abused due to her appearance but she wasn't molested or abused what so ever. The Officers also thought originally that she was attacked by a wild animal but from her injuries it was clear that it was a person who done this."
"How are they sure?" Prentiss asked looking at the picture.
"The letters TPS were sliced into her skin," Alex showed the picture to them.
"Any idea what TPS stands for?" Rossi asked. Alex shook her head and continued.
"The second victim Christina Anderson was 24 years old, married and had two boys, she worked as a teacher. She was out that evening to a book club meeting. She left the meeting at approximately 10PM and decided to walk home. She was found in an alleyway with the same injuries as McDaid but she was also strangled. Her clothes were ripped off her and TPS was sliced into her skin as well," Alex took a breath before moving on to the final victim, "Meredith Thompson was 36 and a lawyer, the UnSub changed his MO and stabbed her to death inscribing TPS again on her back. This time she was sexually assaulted and left on the steps in her apartment building. To my knowledge no-one has come forward with information about where Meredith was in her final hours."
"No-one?" Prentiss said staring in shock.
"To my knowledge m'am, but then again, someone could be in with Detective Ward right now, he doesn't really let me know about anything, usually until the next death," Alex said quietly putting her papers back into a file. The team shared looks. They knew this case would be difficult and the Detective was making it even more so.
"Okay well, Morgan and I will go talk to Detective Ward, Prentiss and Dave go check out the last crime scene, JJ and Reid help Dr. Maguire with the profile, Garcia find out every little detail about these women, we'll be back soon," Hotch said. The team started straight away shocking Alex.
"What have you got so far?" Reid asked her as she sat down opposite them.
"Well sir, I've put him at being about 20-30 I figured he'd be in his late-twenties due to the frequency of the murders however the destruction of the bodies and certain behavioural patterns lead me to believe he could be even younger. Maybe even a teenager," Alex replied showing him her notes.
"He's extremely aggressive towards them showing a contempt to women his mother probably abused him or abandoned him when he was younger," Reid added.
"No respect for them either, he leaves them in a humiliating state, I think he's leaving a clear message to women, sir, that none of us are safe," Alex sat down next to Garcia, "I think that's why there's no connection between the women they're random, he's instilling fear into the masses."
"I wouldn't say that too quick sweetie," Garcia chirped, "I found your connection." They all gathered around the computer and seen a prospectus to a prestigious school in New York.
"Emma Willard School?" JJ read out loud.
"All the victims are former pupils and have other connections to the school. Josephine McDaid worked there as a cleaner for a while, Christina Anderson was a teacher there and Meredith Thompson was a speaker in their speaker series," Garcia continued.
"So he's targeting women connected to this school," Reid stated writing it up on the board.
"Which means he must have a similar socioeconomic status to the women, he's able to communicate with these women as they'd only feel at ease with someone like them," Alex added.
"Emma Willard is a private boarding school, if that helps," Garcia said cheerfully, happy she was helping. Alex took the marker off Reid and added this information while he was thinking.
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"Do you have anything on this guy?" Morgan asked impatiently.
"No, that's why we called in the BAU and we got the girl instead and she's no use to us," Detective Ward barked back sizing Morgan up.
"Maybe that's because you didn't give her anything to work with and kept everything to yourself. Maybe if you gave her full access this case would be solved already," Morgan inched closer to him prepared to hit him at a moments notice.
"Morgan," Hotch said quietly causing Morgan to move back.
"Has anyone come in connected to the latest victim?" Hotch asked keeping a close eye on Morgan's movements.
"Yeah, her best friend, Marina Welch, came in this morning, they went out together to the cinema then she dropped her off home. She said there was nothing suspicious about the building and there was no-one around at the time," Ward said.
"Why didn't you tell Dr. Maguire this?" Morgan said getting angry again.
"Didn't get around to it," Ward shrugged clearly not caring.
"Where's Ms. Welch now?" Hotch asked stepping out slightly in front of Morgan.
"At the morgue ID'ing the body," Hotch and Morgan left to go back to Alex, JJ, Garcia and Reid with the new information.
Upper East Side, East 82nd Street, New York City
The building was taped off and the area surrounding the stairs was covered in blood.
"It does look like an animal attack," Rossi said examining the blood splatters all over the hallway.
"There are scuff marks from the stairs to here, he dragged her then stabbed her to death," Prentiss added, "He didn't knock her out because there's no mention of head trauma."
"If I was dragging you I'd be using both of my hands," Rossi said, "there were no gag-marks around our victims mouth which means her mouth was free."
"She would've screamed the house down, why didn't anybody hear her?"
"Scream and see if anyone comes out," Rossi covered his ears moving away. Prentiss inhaled and screamed. They waited a few minutes and no one came out.
"The first apartment is on the first floor, will you go up and I'll scream again and we'll see if you can hear me," Rossi walked up the stairs and found the first floor was protected by a heavy fire proof and most likely soundproof door.
"No need to scream again Prentiss, no sound comes in through that door," Rossi said walking down the stairs.
"She could've screamed the entire time and no one would've heard her,"
"He knew the building, that's why he had enough time to stab and rape her, he knew no one would hear her scream her,"
"We should get back to the team," and with that they left.
Lower Manhattan, NYPD Headquarters, New York City
"He had to have known the building to know no one would save her," Rossi addressed the team finishing his and Prentiss' findings.
"The building is in the Upper-East side, if he knew the building he probably lived there once which shows he has money," Prentiss added as Alex added it all to the board.
"What do you think Reid?" Hotch asked the young Doctor. He was staring at the case file; Hotch knew he wasn't reading it wouldn't take him that long to read it. It might take a normal person that long but not 20,000-words-a-minute-Reid.
"I think we're ready with a profile, what do you think Alex?" Reid asked her and she turned around and nodded.
"Yeah, sir, we're ready," Alex said. They adjourned to one of the conference rooms, which was substantially larger than the office given to Alex. The room was filled with officers and Ward sat in front of them all glaring at the profilers.
"Our UnSub is a white male between the ages of 16 to 30," Rossi began commanding the attention of the entire room.
"He'd come across as being trustworthy, a good talker, these women feel at ease with him," Morgan added looking at anybody but Ward.
"These women had money which means the UnSub has the same socioeconomic background as these women," Alex said, Ward rolled his eyes when she spoke and it took all of his might for Morgan not to hit him.
"All three victims were past-pupils of Emma Willard and had other connections with the school, either the killer is targeting the school or simply women with a prestigious past," Reid said ignoring the mocking glares from Ward.
"He's comfortable around them, he probably attended a school like Emma Willard and is able to use that to spark up a conversation with them," Prentiss was eyeing the Detective wary of his actions.
"He's very aggressive, he probably has a history of hitting women or has attended anger management classes in the past. He won't be able to have a girlfriend for very long because he perceives them as being weaker than him," Hotch added.
"You need to be on the lookout for someone like this, we'll be releasing a press-statement shortly but there needs to be increased security in these prestigious neighbourhoods in case he chooses to strike again," Morgan finished glaring back at Ward.
"Is that it?" Ward asked mockingly.
"Yes," Morgan said through gritted teeth.
"Well it's not much of a profile, you've described most of the men in New York," Ward laughed at them.
"When the statement is released to the press we'll hopefully be able to get some people who've encountered this UnSub," Hotch said looking at Ward dead in the eye intimidating him, "After the statement is released Alex and Reid will be going to Emma Willard to interview the Headmistress about the UnSub and giving the profile to the students." Ward continued laughing silently.
"Well, you heard them, you lot, to the Upper-East Side," Ward turned and left the room.
"What an asshole," Morgan whispered as the entire team nodded in agreement.
"Alex, can you bring me to the communications liaison here?" JJ asked Alex, she nodded and led JJ outside.
"What's she a Doctor in by the way?" Reid asked watching her leave.
"Don't know. What? Are you worried she might be a PhD addict like you?" Morgan teased gently pushing Reid.
"No, I'm just curious," Reid muttered rubbing his arm where Morgan pushed him.
"Oh boy, she's a PhD addict," Garcia giggled from her laptop.
"How many?" Prentiss asked following Morgan over to the technical analyst. Hotch and Rossi pretended to be in deep conversation but were actually listening carefully to the group.
"She's beat you genius, girl has PhD's in Psychology, Chemistry, Criminology and Maths and she also has BA's in French, Philosophy, Physics and Law. She's another you Reid," Garcia said staring in shock at her computer.
"How old is she?" Reid asked starting to become jealous.
"Oh ho, she's 25," Garcia was giggling, "she graduated High School when she was 9 then went to Caltech when she was ten then Yale when she was 18."
"What's her IQ?" Reid never encountered someone as smart as him or possibly even smarter.
"Why don't you ask Alex yourself," Garcia answered clicking away from her profile.
"Ask me what?" Alex said walking back in holding her jacket and a set of car keys.
"Nothing, we need to get going," Reid answered moving away from the computer and leading Alex out.
"You two geniuses have fun now," Garcia shouted waving after them.
"What is her IQ?" Morgan asked trying to see Garcia's screen.
"Same as Reid's, he's got nothing to worry about," Garcia giggled closing her laptop over.
Emma Willard School, Troy, New York
"Horrible to hear about Meredith Thompson, speakers series is only a week away, the senior class will be devastated to hear she won't be there," the Headmistress rambled walking through the corridors with Reid and Alex.
"M'am, has there been any cases with girls in the school who've been physically abused by boyfriends?" Alex asked trying to keep up with her.
"Not to my knowledge no, most cases like that go to our guidance councillor or to our psychiatrist," they stopped in front of a classroom, "All of our senior girls are in here, you can give the profile to them; maybe one of them will know him." Alex and Reid gave their thanks to the Headmistress then walked in. They had spoken to the sophomores and juniors before hand.
There was about 60 girls in the room all of them as silent as a mouse. Some of them in their uniforms, others in sports uniforms or cheerleading outfits and a few in their pyjamas. They were all nervous afraid that they'd done something wrong, something so bad it prompted a visit from the FBI. The two Doctors looked at each other Alex nodded at him and turned addressing the worried girls.
"Hi I'm Dr. Alex Maguire and this is Dr. Spencer Reid and don't worry you haven't done anything wrong we're just here to talk to you," she said smiling at the girls, "As I'm sure you've heard there have been several murders in New York and we basically want to give you a profile of the killer in case you know him."
"He's about the same age as you all if not a bit older, he'd seem angry a lot and he could've possibly beaten you. He has a lot of resentment towards his mother, she may have abused him or deserted him and he'd talk about this to you and he'd get really angry about it. He isn't afraid to express his hatred towards women or his mother even saying to you that he hates you. He'd be abusive verbally, physically and emotionally," Reid said to the girls all of them still looking scared and worried.
"He's like you, he's rich or he was once and he's still trying to bluff his way into money. If you know somebody like that or you think you know someone like that our number has been left at the reception and is in all your halls of residency," Alice finished, "You can return to your dorms now." Reid walked over to her watching the girls leave.
"Do you think one of them knows him?" he asked scanning the group. One girl walked quickly out with her head down followed by another girl calling after her.
"Definitely," Alex watched them.
"Hopefully they'll call before another murder happens," Reid said adjusting his bag.
"We best go back to the station, sir," Alex said leaving the room and tying her hair up.
"There's no point, it's almost 9 o'clock there's not much else we can do tonight,"
"You're right, sir, where are you guys staying?"
"Same hotel as you, the FBI likes to keep it's unit members together, saves them on cost," Reid laughed taking the keys off Alex, "and stop calling me 'sir' I'm only 3 years older than you,"
"Oh, okay, in that case, give me back them keys I'm driving," she tried to wrestle the keys off him but he held on tightly.
"No you're not, I seen you yawning a few times coming out and even more so when you were talking to the other girls. I'm driving, can't have you falling asleep at the wheel," he had a point, Alex had been yawning quite a bit on the way out. She nodded and allowed him to drive her back to the hotel.
Thoughts? And yes Detective Ward is a misogynistic pig and Alex is Reid's sister from another mister. Basically. But with more sugar involved. Anyway thoughts?