My Life Had Stood
Chapter 28: The Brain is Wider Than The Sky
Spencer sat down quietly at the round table in the conference room. Thirty-eight minutes and seventeen second had passed since Alsie's and Rossi's talk, which had been cut short by Alsie's migraine. He stared ahead without noticing anything, just his thoughts as he tried to sort through them.
Upon seeing Alsie in pain and rushing to her, his first instinct had been to stay by her side. He felt immensely protective of her and he swore he nearly felt the pangs of a headache himself upon sight of her suffering.
Actually, he realized, he had felt something was wrong in the minutes before he and Hotch had entered Rossi's office. It was bizarre as he thought about it now, but at the time it seemed less so. He'd barely noticed it, and if he hadn't had an eidetic memory he'd likely have forgot or dismissed it.
"...Reid?" Hotch's voice finally cut through Spencer's thought process and the latter blinked, startled. He only then realized that the rest of the team had also entered the room.
"Um, yeah." Spencer replied, showing that he was no longer immersed in his own thoughts. Thoughts which he had no intention of sharing. He wished again that he had insisted staying by Alsie until Shelly arrived instead of allowing Rossi to do so.
"...let's get started." Hotch spoke to the group after mentioning that Rossi was dealing with another matter and would sit this case out. "You've each been given the file of the latest victim. Victor Cutler, age thirty-seven, who was found this morning in his hotel room he'd rented for the week."
Hotch waited as the team perused the files, Spencer the only one not using a tablet.
"Damn..." Morgan mumbled at the crime scene photos, judging by the amount of wounds the damage to the victim had been extensive.
"The multiple cuts and stabs to his torso and limbs point to extreme overkill. Or torture." Lewis postulated, swiping to the next file page.
"Why so little blood though? None of the cuts seem to have bled..." JJ flipped through the file, her brow furrowed in curiosity. "What was the cause of death?"
"That is why we were called in on this case." Hotch started to explain before Spencer interjected, having just finished perusing the file page listing the cause of death.
"...the M.E found tetrodotoxin in his system. Enough to kill three grown men." Spencer looked up from the file, recalling a case from over a month ago. "The same poison that was used to kill Jeremy Yaegar..."
"Cutler was injected with it same as Yaegar had been. And witnesses last saw him with a blonde at a local bar not far from his hotel." Hotch continued, his last sentence heavy with implications - the night they'd went to arrest Yaegar before he was poisoned, one of the waitresses had mentioned seeing the man with a blonde woman.
"You think this was done by the same unsub?"
"It would be one hell of a coincidence if it wasn't. Tetra-, whatever, isn't a typical choice of poison."
"Tetrodotoxin." Spencer piped up, correcting the mispronunciation, before continuing. "It's found naturally in several species of fish and marine life, the most well-known being the puffer-fish or fugu which is considered a delicacy in Japanese culture. Did you know that..."
"How difficult would it be to get a hold of some tetrodotoxin?" Lewis asked, interrupting Spencer from continuing on his spiel. "For our unsub?"
"Considering it's actually produced by bacteria found in many marine creatures as well as some newts and toads, it may not be as difficult to get as some other poisons." Spencer replied, and paused for a moment before continuing. "Statistically, few of those infected from consuming tainted pufferfish actually die each year, and it has also been used as a method of faking death in mystery stories. Both which make it seem less toxic than cyanide, despite it being more so. Especially if it's injected directly into the bloodstream..."
Spencer was about to list the symptoms and other facts about tetrodotoxin, only to be interrupted by his team who brought his focus back to the case itself.
0
Alsie cringed at the sound of a door opening, her head still pulsing though it'd been hours. The first few of which had been spent waiting for Shelly to pick her up after Spencer called her friend's cell.
It wasn't until the start of the third hour of waiting that she realized that Shelly likely wasn't coming. Nor was her migraine going away any time soon.
"Are you all right?" Rossi asked as he helped her out of the car. He had insisted on driving her home, upon learning that Alsie was going to head home on her own rather than wait. It was either that or taking her to the hospital.
"I'm fine." Alsie replied, her eyes hidden behind the dark shades she wore. Not that it helped much, though it made her migraine-induced light sensitivity tolerable. Her lips pursed in embarrassment when she tripped on the apartment building's threshold and Rossi caught her by the arm before she fell.
"You're not fine." Rossi replied after helping Alsie steady herself. He wordlessly noted how she had tensed unconsciously when he grabbed her arm. "You should see a doctor..."
"I have. She prescribed me something. It's in my apartment." Alsie replied, biting her lip at the feeling of nausea creeping up on her. Her eyes watered as she mumbled her apartment number to Rossi, who walked with her up the stairs to her place.
Her sudden lack of resistance wasn't lost on Rossi. He helped her into the apartment and toward the closest chair, until she insisted on heading toward the bathroom. She pulled away and headed toward the bathroom door before Rossi could respond.
"..." Rossi not quite convinced that Alsie was fine, lingered in the front end of the apartment by the entrance. Concern for the petite brunette wasn't the main reason he didn't quietly leave though, but rather curiosity.
His eyes briefly scanned the room. It was dimly lit, without any windows, and the walls were a muted tan. There were a couple end tables placed against the far wall and two book shelves filled with books.
Rossi crocked an eyebrow at the immense amount of books. Those that didn't fit in the shelves were piled either below or on the two end tables, as well as on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
'No wonder Reid likes her...' Rossi thought as he picked up one of the books, recalling how worried Spencer had been back at Quantico. The younger man had refused to leave Alsie's side until forced to by their current case. And even then Rossi had to reassure Spencer that he would make sure Alsie got home safely.
Placing the book down after noting that it, as well as the others in the pile weren't in a language he recognized let alone knew, Rossi moved to the bookshelves. The majority of them were hardcovers, and many seemed old.
"Is there any one in particular that interests you?" Alsie asked, her approach quiet enough that Rossi was surprised when he heard her voice so close.
"I was just looking. You have a lot of books." He turned towards her, noting that she still had on her sunglasses. Also that she had changed her shirt.
"I'm sorry." Alsie mumbled, her voice a little wobbly. "I know you have questions about James, and about..." She cleared her throat, thinking about her lost daughter. Her eyes tearing up behind her sunglasses. "I...I will...I just need to lie down for a while."
"Are you sure you're okay? Perhaps I should take you to the hospital...?" Rossi suggested as he glanced over her, at how vulnerable she seemed. And exhausted.
"It's fine. I...I just sometimes get nauseous during a migraine, which is a common symptom by the way. And I just need to lie down until the medicine kicks in." Alsie replied, flashing a small, shy smile and telling Rossi he could stay if he wanted.
"No, I should go. You get some rest." Rossi replied, mildly disappointed but not surprised. It was clear that even if he pressed Alsie for answers that second, she wouldn't be able to concentrate.
He sighed as he left and the door slowly shut behind him.
0
"You're sure? You can take the day off and wait for her to be able to..." Hotch paused, listening to Rossi explain what had happened after he brought Alsie to her apartment. And that it was unlikely that she could answer any questions until her migraine lapsed. "All right, I'm on my way to question Victor Cutler's family, I'll text you the address and you can meet me there."
Hotch paused as Rossi asked where Spencer and the rest of the team were. He replied as he slid into the driver's seat of the black SUV.
"Reid's over at the morgue looking over the M.E reports. The others are interviewing witnesses at the bar Cutler was last seen at a few nights ago." Hotch replied, placing the call on speaker as he started the vehicle. "Dave, you don't have to come in. Finding out about Schmidt and her connection to James, it's understandable if you want to take time off to question her."
-"I...I don't think I can question her. Not about James. There's likely to be details I just don't want to know." Rossi grimaced as he approached his car and unlocked it. The idea of finding out any more negative things about his son repugnant.-
"I understand. It will need to be done eventually, but I or another member of the team can handle that questioning." Hotch answered, driving along toward his destination. The two of them were silent for a few moments before the younger man continued. "Reid explained to me about what Schmidt had told him. About her pregnancy..."
Rossi's sudden intake of breath was enough to tell Hotch that he had hit the real issue.
-"...so you know..." Rossi replied, his tone even-keel though inside he felt an immense grief.-
"Yes. But only as much as Reid, and Schmidt didn't give him details or explain much about it." Hotch waited briefly as he grouped his thoughts together. There was an idea that had occurred to him after learning what Alsie had told Spencer. An idea that he likely wouldn't have had if they hadn't discovered those twenty-seven families that it had happened to.
-"What is it, Aaron?" Rossi asked after sensing Hotch's hesitance. "What's bothering you?"-
"Kenneth Connell." Hotch started, his reply throwing Rossi a bit. "Garcia wasn't able to find any abducted newborns connected to him, despite his uncle being responsible for so many. Including James. It doesn't make sense that Somerfield had Kenneth Connell take over Tobias' part of the scheme and yet not have him do anything."
-Rossi felt his stomach clench. "You don't think that...?"-
"I don't know. We don't have enough information about Schmidt's pregnancy three years ago. But considering the possibility, however slim, that Somerfield knew about Schmidt expecting James' child, I'd like to be sure of what happened. Wouldn't you?"
-Rossi tensed and drew in a sharp breath. Between talking with Alsie at Quantico and bringing her home to rest, he had been too shocked by things to connect her pregnancy to Somerfield's scheme. He thought about Alsie's distress when she'd told him about her daughter. "...we'll need to have Garcia look into this. Quietly. The last thing I want to do is give false hope to a still grieving mother."-
"...I understand." Hotch replied after a moment, though he had at first wanted to insist on questioning Schmidt. Instead he brought the conversation back to the current case. This time not insisting that Rossi take time off.