Chapter Two
Pulling up to the crime scene Morgan sighed. As the day had worn on the sun was beginning to reach its peak in the sky. According to Chief Akton they were in the middle of a heat wave and it was only a fraction of a degree off the highest recorded temperature in Pasadena's history. In 1962 it had reached 106⁰ Fahrenheit, today it was 104⁰. Turning off the air conditioning and stepping outside was not an inviting idea to any of the occupants of the suburban. However, inspection of the second dump site could not wait. He switched off the engine which in turn immediately cut off the cold flow of air. Before stepping out he placed his aviator sunglasses firmly on his nose.
"Cheer up Morgan. This shouldn't take long at all." Rossi chuckled as he made his way around the car to join his colleague.
"It better not." He mumbled. Normally he wouldn't be so downbeat but there was something about this case that seemed a little off. They had all been woken at half six that morning by a tired sounding Hotch, calling them in for an urgent case. Morgan had groaned as soon as he had laid his eyes on the caller ID. He had only arrived home seven hours earlier from their previous case. He certainly didn't feel recharged enough for the next one but that is what the job entailed. When he had arrived at the BAU offices half an hour later he saw that he wasn't the only one that didn't feel one hundred percent. Out of all of them Reid looked the freshest, although he always seemed to operate on less sleep than the others.
As they moved forward Rossi thought back to the plane journey. He had sat yawning when JJ brought over the pre prepared manila folders that held the grizzly details of their urgent case. Two male bodies had been found in the city of Pasadena, within a ten minute of window of each other. This may not have seemed to have warranted the attention of the behavioural analysis unit had the victims not been killed in exactly the same way. Exsanguination. Rossi shuddered. He hoped he would never know what it would feel like to have your blood drain away from you. The bodies had been found by two separate police patrols and when Chief Akton became aware of the similarities of the kills he had immediately got into contact with Hotch. As soon as that call had ended the team had been informed. Approximately four hours later they had made their appearance at the Pasadena Police Department.
"Another park?" Rossi rhetorically asked. He marvelled at the unsub's audacity. They had dumped the bodies in very public places where an unsuspecting person could just happen upon them mid act.
"Is there any significant historical link with this site Chief?" Asked Morgan. There hadn't been with the last site but he had to ask just in case.
"There isn't I'm afraid." Chief Akton sighed. "However, this site is located just over half a mile from where the victim worked."
Rossi frowned. "Who and where was that?"
"Martin Bates. He worked at the Southern Congregational Methodist Church over on Austin Avenue." He informed them.
"Was he the…?" Rossi began.
"The Pastor, yeah he was." The chief became visibly upset. "He was a great man."
"Sorry for your loss." Morgan said in condolence. The chief thanked him. "Could this have a religious theme Rossi?"
"It could do. We can't know for sure until we find out more about the first victim. If Mr Jones has no connection to religion then it could be that the link itself lies with the unsub." Rossi concluded.
"I hope that's not the case." Morgan muttered under his breath, thinking about Tobias Hankel.
"Why would you say that?" Rossi asked innocently, completely in the dark about past events.
"Oh, just we've had our fair share of religious nut jobs and they tend to be more sadistic than the usual unsub." Morgan covered himself quickly before walking off to the exact location the body had been found.
I'll enquire about that with Hotch later, Rossi made a mental note.
Sherwood Park was miniscule compared to the previous dump site. It contained a grassed area that was as big a Morgan's front garden with an oval of sand in its centre. Within the oval stood a metal jungle gym, consisting of two slides and a raised gazebo. Morgan pulled out his cell phone and reviewed the crime scene photos. The body of the pastor had been found inside of the gazebo itself. He was laid on his back and hung of the edge, his arms splayed outwards in an upside down crucifix position. He passed the cell to Rossi so he could go through the same process.
"Ok, so I'm the unsub." Morgan stood with his hand on his hip, the other scratching his temple as he thought. He was usually the one who went through this sequence and today had been no different. He had already done it once that day. He looked around scanning the area. "I use the same vehicle as the last drop off. There's no reason to change it. I pull into the parking lot. I've got to be quiet as there is more chance of someone surprising me." He stated indicating the residential housing opposite. "It would make more sense to back into the lot, especially if I've transported the body in the boot or the back of a van. I drag him out and position him on the jungle gym. Depending where I've parked and the vehicle I've used I could have been completely hidden from view."
"There's only one way to find out kid." Rossi said putting his hands in his pockets and already making his way over the road to the houses opposite. "You coming Chief?"
"Sure."
Rossi firstly went to the house directly in line with the jungle gym and knocked firmly on the door, twice. They waited. It was approaching the thirty second mark and Rossi had brought his hand up to knock again when the door was wrenched open. A middle aged, dumpy man in a crumpled suit stood before them. He looked straight to the Chief.
"Chief Akton, how can I help you?" The man asked with surprise.
"This is Agent Rossi from the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the FBI." Rossi flashed his credentials. "He'd like to ask you a few questions about an incident that occurred in the park this morning."
"Oh, you mean the body they found." The man dragged the first word out. "I was wondering when someone was going to come and start asking questions."
"Right, so Mr…?"
"Jenkins."
"Mr Jenkins. Did you notice anything peculiar in the neighbourhood this morning?" Rossi asked. "Any strange noises, cars or even people who aren't from around these parts?"
"To be honest I haven't noticed anything. I work the late shift and when I'm out I could sleep through an earthquake. The first thing I know is sirens blazing and when I look out the window I see the CSI's doing their thing." Mr Jenkins was beginning to ramble and the men weren't in the mood to hear someone go off on a tangent.
"Thank you Mr Jenkins." Rossi forced a smile and pulled out one of his contact cards from his jacket pocket. "If you remember anything, no matter how small please get in contact. We may also have to come back and ask you more questions as the investigation progresses."
Mr Jenkins took the card and before he had a chance to reply Rossi had already turned his back and began to make his way to the next house. Chief Akton smiled in apology and made his own way to join the Italian man. "You know, manners go a long way round here."
"That man doesn't know a thing and he won't remember anything useful. I don't see the point of wasting our time exploring fruitless avenues." He explained with a smile.
"Ah, this next house belongs to one of my men, Josh Anderson." Rossi looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. "In fact, he was one of the men who were out on patrol when the calls came. He was quite distressed on the radio, until he found out that the body in the park was that of a male."
"Why so? Does he live with his mother or wife?" Rossi enquired.
"His girlfriend. I believe her name is Elle Verde." The Chief informed. "Let's hope she yields more information than the last house."
It took less than a minute to walk from the Jenkins house to the house of Officer Anderson. Rossi took it upon himself to knock on the door again. Almost immediately a friendly sounding female voice spoke. "Just a moment." The door opened to reveal a pretty, brunette women in her late twenties half bending down to pull on her other shoe. She appeared to be late for work. "Yes?" She spoke to Rossi but then her eyes fell onto Chief Akton. Her smile fell and became serious. "Please tell me Josh is okay?"
"He is fine Miss Verde." The Chief assured her, he never got used to hearing someone's panic for a loved one. "We're here about a body that was found in the park this morning. Agent Rossi would just like to ask a few questions."
"Please come in." Her tones becoming normal once more. She pulled on her shoe and stood aside to let the two men in. She directed them toward the front room where they took a seat on the sofa. "Can I get you a drink?"
"That's not necessary but thank you." Rossi remembered what the Chief had said about manners.
Elle moved to stand in front of them rather than sitting. "I'm glad you came actually. I was going to mention it when Josh got off shift."
"So you noticed something this morning?" Rossi perked up at the prospect of actually getting some useful information.
"Yeah I did. To anyone else it might have just seemed normal but when you're with a cop you start taking notice of anything and everything." Rossi chuckled. Elle walked over to a cabinet by the entrance where she produced a small leather bound notebook. "I even wrote it down. You don't know how many times I've had Josh telling me that over time the mind degrades the quality of information. That's why if anything ever happens Elle; write it down or call it is as soon as you can." She imitated his voice.
"A smart fella you have there." Rossi smiled.
"Thank you." She flipped to the right page. "Okay so at exactly 6:20 this morning I was woken by the sound of an engine cutting off. When I looked out of the window it was still dark out but I did manage to get a look at the source of the noise. Parked in the lot was a dark Ford FX2 truck. My dad's enthusiasm of cars seems to have rubbed off on me. I noticed the trailer bed was covered with a lighter coloured tarp. I kept watch for a minute or so and no one got out. Before I went back to sleep I wrote down the plate number."
"You sound like a professional." The chief commented.
"I don't know if I'll take that as a compliment. No, I think I'll stick to marketing Chief." She looked down at her watch. "Talking of which I am super late already."
Rossi stood. "Thank you for your time Miss Verde. I just wish all of the people we question would have to foresight to check things out. Would you mind if I keep that notebook? I'll have it returned as soon as the case is finished."
"Of course not. Here you go." She handed over the book and led them out grabbing her back before she shut and locked the door. She waved them goodbye as she pulled out of the drive. Rossi and Chief Akton questioned a couple more locals before heading back to join Morgan. So far the only information had come from one source.
"Have you got anything else?" The Italian asked Morgan.
"Not a penny." He sighed. "What about you?"
"Yep. I'll update you on the drive back" Rossi replied waving the little red notebook.
"Good. Let's see how successful the others have been.6" Morgan said eagerly wanting to get cool once more. He wiped the beads of sweat off of his forehead and almost dashed back to the vehicle.
Notes: Thank you so much to all of you who have read, favourited and followed this story. It means a great deal to me. A special thank you to AliceReidCaffrey26 who gave me my very first review, your words are too kind.
Again I hope this wasn't too boring and I also seem to be getting longer chapters. The next chapter will be when the action starts happening.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Criminal Minds, sadly.
Review if you want, it would be appreciated.