Lakewood Elementary School, Sunnyvale, California:
Morgan and Prentiss arrived at the school. They could hear kids laughing in the playground as they headed to the Principal's office. He was sitting behind his desk typing away on his computer when they entered.
"Excuse me sir, we want to ask you a few questions," Prentiss said flashing her badge.
"Come in, come in," he said standing up and shaking their hands, "I'm Edgar Stephens how may I help you today."
"We're here about the recent murders happening in the area," Morgan said shifting in the uncomfortable chair.
"Don't worry about the children, we've brought in the best child psychiatrist in the state and she's taking good care of them," he commented quickly saving his work.
"What way is she taking care of them?" Prentiss asked.
"She uses art therapy on the kids, they draw what they saw, what they felt about it and she helps them from there," he answered standing up and getting some files from the cabinet behind him.
"Were there any pieces particularly strange? Have any of the kids stood out?" Morgan asked looking over at Prentiss as she studied the principal.
"There was one, we don't really talk about her," he answered picking out one file and handing it over to Morgan, "Natasha Perry seen one body but drew one that hadn't happened yet. We asked her why she drew that and she said that's how it looked in her mind."
The two agents looked at the picture. It was highly detailed for a child to draw, every flower was squashed, the grandmother's clothes were drawn and coloured to perfection and the blood was scattered perfectly. It was as if she had photographed it.
"Do you mind if we take her file with us?" Morgan asked as the principal returned the other files.
"Not at all but be careful with it," the principal smiled sitting down again, "Is that all I can do for you today agents?"
"Yes, thank you," Prentiss said standing up and the pair left to return to Sunnyvale PD.
Sunnyvale PD, Sunnyvale, California
Morgan and Prentiss walked in to find the rest of the team assembled already.
"How did it go with Walsh?" Morgan asked sitting down next to JJ.
"He's not our UnSub, he's an alcoholic and is basically confined to his own house," Hotch said rubbing his head, "What about Christopher Forrester?"
"He's not the UnSub either, he attends Physiotherapy after having a stroke last year, he could barely stand let alone kill anyone," Morgan answered, "But after his house we went to Lakewood Elementary School and discovered this." He put the file on the table.
"After the murders the kids who seen the bodies are brought in for art therapy," Prentiss began, "They draw what they saw and what they felt about it, and this one file is pretty weird."
"Why did you go to the school?" Hotch asked looking up at Morgan.
"The school was in the same area as the murders and it was the kids at those schools who seen the bodies," Morgan answered, "I thought we should go to see if there was anything there in connection with the murders and we found that." Morgan hated explaining himself to Hotch.
"This girl drew one murder in perfect detail," Prentiss said opening the file up, "The thing is though, she seen a different murder and the murder she drew didn't happen until a week later."
"She could know who the killer is," Alex said looking at the gruesome image, "But he could be abusing her to keep quiet."
"What's her name?" Reid asked lifting the picture up.
"Natasha Perry," Morgan answered.
"She could be related to Detective Perry," JJ said looking around for the detective. They mused over this for a minute before an officer came running in.
"There's been another murder," he thundered staring at them all.
"Okay, Alex, Reid give the profile, the rest of us are going to the crime scene," Hotch said standing up, "JJ brief the press when we get there, Rossi and Prentiss circle the area for any suspicious men." The team left leaving Alex and Reid.
"Come on," Reid said standing up and walking out to the team of officers waiting outside.
"The UnSub is male, roughly twenty-five to forty years old. From the sheer brutality of the murders he could be young but the control and confidence he demonstrates is that of an older man," Alex started, "He knows the schedule of the areas he attacks and maybe knows the inhabitants of the streets he attacks."
"He's strong and dangerous and may have witnessed a murder himself when he was younger. He most likely has a job or other responsibilities which renders him unable to attack except at roughly 9am and 2pm," Reid continued, "He has a hatred for older women perhaps spawning from a hatred of his own mother."
"He'll come across as incredibly normal but whenever he sees an older woman his demeanour will change instantly and he could be quite frightening," Alex finished the profile, noticing one of the officers shifting uncomfortably at the back of the room.
"You need to inform the older women of Sunnyvale about this man and increase patrols of areas surrounding Lakewood Elementary School," Reid added, "That's all." He smiled awkwardly as the officers left. Reid's phone started to ring as he walked back into the office with Alex. He answered it quickly.
"Hi Jayje," he said as Alex started to read Natasha Perry's psychological report.
"Wait, it's exactly the same as the one in the picture just the dress is different?" Reid asked frantically making Alex look up worried.
"Okay, okay I'll talk to you later," Reid said hanging up, "They think that the UnSub is keeping to that picture and is even going as far to replicate it." Reid sat down taking the picture out of the file.
"Did you see the officer at the back of the room?" Alex asked putting the file down.
"Yeah, I think he might know something," Reid muttered as a knock came from the door. They both looked up and it was the same officer they just spoke of. Alex ushered him in and he entered nervously.
"Listen, you can't tell Detective Perry I told you this but I know who your UnSub is," he said checking behind him in case he was at the door.
"Who is it?" Alex asked taking out a pen and paper.
"Rufus Perry, the detective's brother," he whispered nervously, "He stalks old women and they report him for it but his brother manages to get rid of the claims."
"Thank you," Alex said getting up and dialling Garcia's number. Reid got up and saw the officer out thanking him again for the information.
"Hello Garcia?" Alex said as Garcia answered the phone.
"Oh good Alex, I did the search you asked me to do and there wasn't any murders involving old people when the two suspects were growing up," Garcia said.
"What can you tell me about Rufus Perry?" Alex asked as Reid sat down next to her.
"Uhh, he's Detective Perry's brother, he's thirty-five, has one daughter Natasha, his wife died earlier in the year after a car crash," Garcia answered typing away, "He works at Lakewood Elementary School from seven am to five pm. Oh god. He found his grandmother's mangled body when he was ten" When Garcia said Natasha the pair looked at each other, she was his daughter and she drew a picture depicting murders that hadn't happened yet. They knew it had to be him, especially since he himself witnessed a murder when he was younger.
"Does it say when his breaks are?" Reid asked.
"Yeah, he gets his breakfast break at nine am and his lunch break at two pm," Garcia answered.
"What's his address?" Alex asked as Reid started to ring Hotch.
"187 Tasman Drive," Garcia answered and Alex wrote it down quickly.
"Thanks Garcia, you're a star," Alex said cheerfully.
"It's no problem my TweedleDee's," Garcia giggled before hanging up.
"Hotch, we know who the UnSub is, it's Detective Perry's brother Rufus Perry, he fits the profile perfectly," Reid said, "He lives at 187 Tasman Drive." Hotch hung up and Reid sat down yawning.
"I hate Jet Lag," he said rubbing his eyes.
"We might get to go home tonight," Alex smiled passing him his coffee.
"Oh god yes, if he admits to it," Reid drank it happily running his fingers through his hair.
187 Tasman Drive, Sunnyvale, California
The police arrived before Hotch and Morgan with their sirens blaring. Morgan cursed under his breath.
"What are they doing? He knows we're coming for him and he could try to escape," Morgan shouted angrily as they pulled up.
"Calm down Morgan, just do your job," Hotch replied, he was angry as well; it was foolish of the officers to do that. He joined the rest of the officers and planned how they were going to handle the situation. As they started to head towards the house a loud gunshot could be heard from inside the house along with the cries of a little girl.
The agents led the officers inside and they found Rufus Perry lying in a puddle of his own blood. He had shot himself after he heard the sirens. His daughter was standing next to him covered in blood clutching a bit of paper crying her heart out.
"It's okay sweetie," Morgan said lifting her up and carrying her away from the scene calling for EMT's although he knew it was too late. She dropped the paper as Morgan lifted her, Hotch picked it up and it read:
"Al,
I'm sorry, I know you asked me to stop but I couldn't resist. Not after what I did to Maw, I got the taste of it then and had to keep doing it. Take care of Natasha, she needs you.
-Rufus."
Hotch brought the note outside and handed it to Dt. Perry as he comforted his niece. The EMT's had arrived and were trying to take her away but she held on to her uncle for her dear life. Morgan stood up and the pair walked away meeting JJ, Rossi and Prentiss at the bottom of the street.
"He killed himself," Hotch said, "The other officers blared their sirens and alerted him." . JJ covered her mouth and Prentiss looked away.
"Was he the guy?" Rossi asked removing his earpiece.
"Yeah, he confessed to it in his note," Hotch answered. JJ looked down feeling sick.
"I'm gonna go call Reid," JJ whispered walking away.
"What did the note say?" Prentiss asked watching JJ from the corner of her eye.
"He confessed to the murders and to murdering his own grandmother when he was younger," Hotch said looking behind him at Dt. Perry and Natasha.
"Poor kid," Prentiss said looking over as well.
"Hello Reid?" JJ whispered down the phone.
"Hey, JJ did you get him?" Reid replied cheerfully putting her on speaker.
"Not really, he confessed but he killed himself as well," JJ replied. She could hear Alex saying 'Oh no,' in the background.
"Oh god, Jayje are you okay?" Reid asked worriedly.
"Yeah I'm fine, start closing up, we're going to leave tomorrow morning," JJ answered.
"Why not now?" Reid asked as Alex started to clean up in the background.
"We're going to have to deal with the press over the situation, the other officers put their sirens on coming around and let him know," JJ ran her hands through her hair, she hated that part of her job, "We're going to have to deal with those officers."
"Okay, I'll see you soon JJ," Reid said hanging up.
Sunnyvale PD, Sunnyvale, California
"When approaching a suspect it's important to be silent, they can't know you're coming for them because they could attempt to escape or as we seen today commit suicide," Hotch addressed the officers. A few of them were looking guilty and avoiding all eye contact with Hotch.
"Next time, don't alert the suspect you're arriving. It could be the trigger to ruin a case," Hotch finished looking over as Reid and Alex finished clearing the office of the case files, "Just, be more prepared next time." Hotch left them in silence allowing the guilty ones to be chastised by their superiors.
"I'll see you two back at the hotel," Hotch said into the office waving a goodbye to Alex and Reid.
"Does it get easier?" Alex asked Reid putting away the last file.
"Not really," he whispered blinking away the memories.