Disclaimer: See chapter 1
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Lloyd surveyed the information Felicia had compiled that sat on the desk in front of him. He'd read the transcripts of the trial, such as they were, and he couldn't understand how Chico had been convicted at all especially to the extent that he was. Lloyd picked up the phone and hit speed dial.
Spencer Reid was at his desk as well, writing his opinion on a profile request from a Detective Kinley in Montgomery regarding a string of vicious assaults near a popular Montgomery nightspot, when his cell rang. He looked at the call display, "Hi Dad," he said.
"Hi Spencer, listen, you said if I needed any information you knew someone who could help, and I'm not mentioning any names."
"Okay, what do you need?" his son-in-law replied.
"Could Gar…I mean your friend, get into the records from Columbia Law on Julie Crest who graduated in 2003?" Lloyd asked.
"I'm sure that could be arranged. Why? Do you think something's up with Chico's lawyer?"
"I think she's totally incompetent, that's what I think," Lloyd bellered through the phone, "and I don't know how she graduated Columbia Law. Her voir dire was laughable. She didn't ask any probing questions. She would have let anyone on that jury. There are a least five jurors she could have dismissed for cause. I don't think she is what Gideon v Wainwright had in mind with regards to appointed counsel. She had numerous opportunities for a Batson objection and took none of them. Not one Hispanic got on the jury, not one," Lloyd repeated angrily.
"So you're going with the defense that Chico had inadequate counsel?" Reid asked.
"He did have inadequate counsel. I would have gotten him acquitted or at the very least pled him down to a lesser charge. Let me know what your friend comes up with."
"Okay Dad, I'll talk to you later," Reid ended the call and headed for Garcia's office.
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Reid was back at his desk completing his Montgomery consult when his desk phone rang, "Reid."
"Hey sweet cheeks, I've got your info," said the perky computer tech, "you want it over the phone or do you want to come down?"
"I'll be right there, Garcia," Reid said as he hung up the phone and headed for the tech's office. He knocked on the door and opened it to find his friend swiveling in her chair while twirling a bright hot pink pen with a long feather between her fingers which ended in bright pink nail polish. The pen and her nails matched her outfit, a pink jacket over a white tank with a sunflower on it and a matching pink skirt. A few locks of her hair on the right side of her head were also pink. Reid stopped to wonder how women did that, but more importantly, why?
"Well, babycakes, ask and you shall receive. Sit down," she patted the chair next to her. "You're about to find out more than you ever wanted to know about Julia Marie Crest."
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Reid dialed his father-in-law's cell, "Lloyd Graham," came the curt reply.
"Hi Dad, I've got the information you needed on Julie Crest. You're either not going to like it or you're going to love it big time."
"What is it Spencer?"
"Okay, Julie Crest graduated Columbia Law and did really well in most areas except," he paused for a moment, "litigation. The woman can write a terrific brief or argument but she can't get up in court. She'd be an excellent tax or estate attorney but she can't litigate. She failed terribly in both mock trials and moot court. Do you want me to go on?"
"Please," Lloyd said eagerly. "I want to know everything."
"Her family is fairly wealthy and her father is a law professor at Northwestern. He may have exerted some pull to get her a job in the PD's office since law firms were not clamoring for her services. Chico was her first case and maybe she could be forgiven for that but since Chico 95% of her cases have been pled out and the ones that went to trial only resulted in one acquittal and that was because a prosecution witness recanted on the stand." Reid concluded.
"Thanks son, you've been a great help. I guess I'm going to Leavenworth."
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Reid trudged up the stairs along with Morgan and Prentiss. JJ had just informed them that they had a case. Rossi was already in the conference room when the three profilers entered while Hotch followed by Garcia trailed in shortly after. Once everyone was seated, JJ began. "Two bodies have been unearthed from shallow graves, one near Ashland and the other outside of Dale City. The heavy winds we had from the remnants of tropical storm Jerome lifted away the topsoil revealing the bodies.
"That's practically in our own backyard," Morgan remarked.
"The coroner estimates the body found near Ashland has been dead about six weeks," JJ continued. "DNA tests identified the body as Laura Matthews." She clicked her remote and a picture of a long haired blond about twenty appeared on the screen. "The second body found near Dale City was estimated to be dead about four weeks. She's been identified through missing persons and DNA as Leslie Hughes." JJ clicked the remote and a second picture appeared on the screen. That the second victim could have been a sister to the first registered on the mind of each team member.
"Six weeks and four weeks, it sounds like the unsub's killing every two weeks. Does that mean there're other bodies out there we haven't found?" Prentiss asked.
"Is there any sexual component to the crimes JJ?" Reid asked.
"Both the victims were beaten and raped before they were stabbed in the heart," JJ replied.
"He's certainly got a type," Rossi added.
"Dale City and Ashland," Hotch said, "they're both along the I95. That must have some significance to the unsub."
"Maybe just a quick place to dump them," JJ surmised. "They were both students at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg."
"Okay," Rossi said, "we don't know if the kill six weeks ago was his first. Are there any more reports of missing women from Mary Washington?"
"At present there's one that fits the description and she went missing two weeks ago," JJ told them.
"Which fits this guy's pattern," Morgan interjected, "and if that's the case, another girl is about to go missing at any time."
"Alright," Hotch ordered, "Prentiss, Reid, go talk to the ME's in Dale City and Ashland. JJ, you liaison with both Dale City and Ashland police. See if we can get someone from each PD up here so we can work on a profile. Considering the distance we'll work out of Quantico. Garcia, dig up everything you can on the two dead women and the one that's missing. Rossi, Morgan and I will go to the university."
"No offense," Prentiss spoke up, "but I wonder if the friends of these women might not be more comfortable talking to a woman." Hotch was just starting to speak when she continued. "And college students might be more comfortable talking to someone Reid's age."
Hotch let the hint of a smirk grace his lips as he remembered Reid talking to the college students in Tempe, but Reid had grown tremendously since then. "Okay, let's change this," he said, "Rossi and Morgan, visit the ME's. Reid, Prentiss and I will hit the university. Okay everyone, let's move."
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She was lying on the bed in the dark dirty room with only the light that came under the blinds for illumination. She didn't need the light. All she would see was peeling wallpaper and marred grimy furniture. Her wrists and ankles were tied to the headboard and footboard and she thrashed around trying to loosen herself from the bonds but it was to no avail. The blood that had dripped from the side of her mouth had dried now. He'd smacked her around pretty good. He'd left but said he'd be back and they'd really have some fun. "Help," she tried to scream again for the hundredth time but her voice was too hoarse. It didn't matter anyway. No one would hear her. She laid her head on the pillow, her long blond hair a contrast to the filthy bed linens. "Please God," she whispered into the silent room, "Help me."