"Mary needs to die before her wedding," JJ pointed out. "While Sydney is still her legal heir. If she dies after she is married, her husband inherits her half of the business as well as her half of the father's insurance money."
"Can you tell us where Sydney is now?" Hotch asked. "We need to have her picked up and put into custody as quickly as possible."
"Well, the last I could tell, she was on the computer at the grain elevator," Garcia reported. "But that doesn't mean she is still there. Let me check whether she has a cell phone that I can track."
"Let me check with Deputy Malcolm," Sheriff Gardner took out his cell phone. However, before he could make his call, the phone rang.
"Deputy?" he answered the phone.
"When?" he immediately questioned.
"That's right," was his next response. "Keep following her to confirm whether she is headed for home. If she is, park down the road from the house, in that wide spot just before the curve, and keep an eye on things. I'll get back to you."
"We have a problem!" Sheriff Gardner announced as he closed up his phone. "That was Deputy Malcolm. Sydney just left the grain elevator and it appears that she is heading for home. He is following her and will get back with me to confirm her destination."
"She never leaves the elevator during business hours," Mrs. Jenkins declared.
"Does anyone know where Mary is?" Blake asked.
"This time of the day, she is usually at the house," was Mrs. Jenkins reply.
"We need to pick Sydney up as soon as possible," Hotch declared. "Whatever it is that she is planning on doing, somehow I have a feeling she isn't going to come quietly."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
"Okay, Garcia, what did you find on Emma?" Morgan had walked back out into the parking lot to speak with the tech privately.
"Well, for one thing, that research project in Las Vegas that she is supposedly still working on?" Garcia began. "From what I have found, it appears that it was completed almost three months ago and that the results are scheduled to be published in the next edition of one of the major professional psychology journals. Also, six weeks from now she is scheduled to give a presentation on it at the yearly meeting of The Socio-Psych Research Conference."
"So, she has been lying to Mr. Mueller," Morgan said thoughtfully. "Do you know what she has been doing in Las Vegas?"
"Not definitively," was the reply. "But, based on the fact that several checks from Bennington Sanitarium have been deposited in her bank account, each about a week after one of her trips to Las Vegas, I would assume she has been consulting there."
"Or, she could be on weekend call duty," Moran suggested. "In that case, she would just have to be in the building and available in case of an emergency."
"And - " Garcia hesitated.
"Spit it out, Baby Girl," Morgan coaxed her.
"Well, on at least two occasions of her visits to Sin City, Mr. William Reid has charged dinners for two on his credit card," the tech told him. "Not at horribly expensive restaurants but, judging from the prices, definitely on the upscale side."
"And, there is one more thing," she continued. "During Emma's last visit to Las Vegas, Mr. Reid appears to have charged dinner for three on his credit card. And, it included a bottle of non-alcoholic wine."
"Like someone who is on medication would drink," Morgan guessed.
"That's right," Garcia confirmed. "I think Dr. Diana joined them for dinner that evening."
"So, she is staying in touch with both her father-in-law and her mother-in-law, and she is keeping her apartment available," Morgan mussed. "Maybe Pretty Boy still has a chance after all."