Disclaimer: See chapter 1
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The conference room at the BAU was crowded. Detectives from the three cities near where bodies had been found, one from Fredericksburg and a member of the sheriff's department had joined the team. "Okay," Hotch said, "first off let's get you all up to speed on the information we know, JJ," Hotch gestured to the blonde agent to begin the session.
"We now have three dead bodies," JJ began, "all female, all students of U of MW and all twenty-one years old." She clicked the remote and a picture popped up on the screen. "The first body, Laura Matthews, was found near Ashland. The second body," she clicked the remote again, "Leslie Hughes, was found near Dale City. And the third body," JJ clicked the remote for a third time, "who has been identified as Caroline Brown, was found near Alexandria." Caroline Brown's face had joined the others and like the others, she was pretty with long blonde hair. "The first two deaths," JJ continued, "were six weeks and four weeks ago respectively and we're waiting for autopsy results on the third victim. A fourth student from U of MW appears to have gone missing," again the remote clicked and a picture of another long haired blonde came on the screen. "Sharon Webb has not been seen since last night when she went to the library."
Morgan, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, took over, "Both of the first two victims were beaten in the facial area, raped and killed with a stab wound to the heart."
"These three facts are telling things," Rossi interjected. "The facial beating tells us the woman who these women represent to our unsub is concerned with her looks and he mars his victims' faces because he would like to do that to her. The stab wound to the heart represents the extreme rage he has towards this woman."
"The rapes are his way of exerting power and dominance over this woman who probably makes him feel emasculated," Reid added. "We're likely looking for a white male in his twenties, probably part of the campus life. There have been no signs that these women disappeared, no screams, no dropped books, and no sign of any struggle which leads us to believe these women knew this man and were not afraid of him. The emasculation he feels would likely radiate from him and he would not seem like a threat to the women around him."
"A twenty-something white guy on a university campus, he shouldn't be too hard to spot," Detective Ferris from Dale City snorted.
"The sheriff's department," Prentiss said nodding to its representative, "has been combing the area along the I95 just in case the body from six weeks ago was not the first but no other students have been reported missing so we're fairly certain we have all the bodies. We don't know how long he keeps the women before he kills them so we don't have a lot of time to find Sharon Webb."
"That being said," Hotch said, "the stressor likely occurred about six weeks ago. We have our technical analyst looking into that but, as you can imagine, with students, faculty and staff that's a lot of people to cover. Please alert the people in your precincts to be on the lookout for anything suspicious in your areas. Special Agent Jareau has done a public service announcement at the U of MW cautioning the women to travel in pairs and not to take anyone, no matter how harmless he may appear, for granted. Fredericksburg PD is increasing patrols around the area which should help. That's all for now, thank you all for coming and please call if you see anything, even the slightest bit suspicious. You never know what may be important."
As the detectives and the sheriff were leaving, Garcia was entering the conference room. "Just updating you on the paint flecks found in Laura Matthews' hair," she said. "It's not from any paint that's available now. There's too much lead in it and trace estimates it came from the early seventies. The paint in question was sold by a now defunct company that supplied paint mainly for businesses and hotels. The lead helped the paint last longer but it also chips, so that's probably why they found flecks in that poor girl's hair."
"Thanks Garcia," Hotch replied. "Have you got anything on your searches?"
"I've narrowed the suspect pool to men in their twenties and thirties. I didn't think any of these girls would just take off with an older guy. My babies are working on it. I'll get back to it but I thought you might like to know about the paint." She turned and left the room.
"So he's holding her in some business or hotel?" Morgan inquired.
"And one that hasn't painted since the seventies," Rossi added.
"What business or hotel hasn't painted in thirty years?" Emily asked as the phone rang.
Hotch answered and put it on speaker, "What is it Garcia?"
"I think I've got somebody who looks promising," said the voice in the box. "The guy's name is Ray Norman, he's twenty-six and he works in the bookstore on campus."
"What makes you think he's our guy, mama?" Morgan asked.
"Because he recently contested his father's will and lost to his stepmother, Gwen Norman. His father died of a heart attack at sixty, that junior is blaming on stepmommy dearest. Archie Norman left a cosmetics company, Monique Cosmetics, which was established by his first wife who died in a car accident thirteen years ago. Ray blamed this on his stepmother also. Archie Norman married Gwen Pinkett, who was twenty-one at the time and twenty-six years his junior, only a month after his wife died. And yes, she had, and still does have, long blonde hair. Ray Norman further claims his stepmother would come into his room and have sex with him when his father was out of town on business which was, get this, every two weeks. He says he was thirteen at the time.
"Garcia, when was the judgment against Ray Norman handed down?" Rossi inquired.
"Hm," Garcia said, "April first, I guess it wasn't a very funny April fool's joke for Ray Norman."
"Six weeks ago," Emily voiced what everyone else was thinking. "There's our stressor."
"Thanks Garcia," Hotch ended the call. "Let's get Fredericksburg police to go see if they can pick up Ray Norman."
"If he's on campus, if not he could be with Sharon Webb right now," Morgan remarked.
Reid's eyes widened and got the eureka look the team loved to see. "What if the reason the business hasn't painted in thirty years is that it's out of business."
"You mean like an abandoned warehouse?" Hotch asked. "We could have Fredericksburg police check abandoned warehouses in the city.
"No, I don't mean that. When we were driving to Fredericksburg along I95 there was this old abandoned motel. It's one of those things that you pass by so often that eventually it almost becomes invisible to you. I wonder if he takes them there, I mean, there's no one around there and he'd have complete privacy with them and then he just dumps them along I95 because it's the easiest place."
"Okay," Hotch responded, "I'll call Fredericksburg PD and get them to check the campus and Norman's residence. Then let's get to that motel and let's hope we find Sharon Webb…alive!"
