SCENE CHANGE~ IN QUANTICO REVIEWING THE CASE
"You aren't sure whether anyone is in fact missing." Hotch confirmed.
"No, I—I am sure. I just can't seem to convince anyone else of it." McGee said, fiddling with his hands.
"There's been no official investigation?" Hotch asked as he flips through the case 'file.'
"No." McGee answered, voice quiet. He clutched one of his notebooks to his chest.'
"63 people can't be coincidence. Right?" JJ asked, already feeling attached to the case.
"Reid, any stats on the percentages, of um… well, I don't really know how to phrase the question."
"Homeless who go missing? The very nature of homelessness suggests a lifestyle of fluidity, yet honestly, they're not as transient as you would think. They generally stay in small, well-defined areas based on familiarity and what services are nearby." Reid's eyes flickered, scanning his brain for any useful information.
McGee blinked, trying to dissect Reid's fast-paced speech. "So—so you're saying they don't just disappear?"
"Not normally, but I mean, that doesn't preclude the possibility." Reid said, not wanting to get the man's hopes up.
"Names, addresses, descriptions… do—do you have any information that might help us find them again?" Garcia said as she rooted through the piles and piles of journals.
"I—I didn't have a need for it at the time."
"Garcia, do you have enough here to see if they've been reported missing by someone?"
"I don't—I don't know."
"I—I ran them all through our computers and came up blank." The rest of the team smirked – they know how good Garcia is.
"None of them turned of diseased? Did you check the morgues and the hospitals?" Gideon asked from behind his newspaper.
"I—I have checked everywhere, sir." McGee wasn't stupid—he could read the respect that they all felt toward the man sitting in the chair, reading the paper.
"Simply being gone isn't a federal issue." Hotch dropped the files on the table with a sense of finality.
Gideon looked up from his paper. "We're gonna need an official invitation into your jurisdiction."
"An official?" McGee felt his heart drop to his feet.
"Police Chief, Chief of Detectives. It has to come down through the chain of command. We have no authority to look into this." Hotch couldn't believe this man didn't know this.
"Um, I don't know that I—I can do that." McGee began to study his feet.
"Unless we're officially asked, we can't help you." Hotch tried to real in his patience.
"Jurisdictional issues aren't open for debate. Sorry. It's out of our hands." Gideon returned to his newspaper.
JJ got back up from her seat. "Uh, Hotch. There could be 63 victims here." She said softly.
"Well, I suppose you and I could go back with the detective and talk to his commanders and try to impress upon them the serious implications." Hotch said. 63 murders…
"Thank you." McGee would've kissed Hotch's feet if he would've let him.
"If we get an invitation, we could send for the rest of you. I just don't want to give the appearance that we're running over them." Hotch stressed the word if.
"I'll wrap my classes up. If anything changes, let me know. I should be available by 4:00." Gideon said as he got up and left.
"JJ, be ready in 30." Hotch left.
McGee called out after the retreating agent. "Agent! Um, sir… he—he took two of my books—"
"Uh, if you could leave your notebooks with us, we can unofficially go over them and maybe develop some more information." Prentiss tried to redirect his attention.
McGee's eyes widened at the thought of his precious notebooks being taken away. "How about I show you, uh, which people aren't around anymore and you can copy down all the information."
"Ok, well, you heard Agent Hotchner. You got 30 minutes to brief us on 63 people." They all flopped down in their seats, buckling down for a couple of long nights.
"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity, nothing exceeds the criticisms made of the habits of poor by the well-housed well-warmed, and well-fed. – Herman Melville."