They watched as the body was pulled out of the water and laid onto a stretcher. The coroner was already confirming Moreno's M.O. There were signs of torture and multiple abrasions seemed to suggest sexual assault.
There was something incredibly bleak about the whole scene; although it was now morning, the sky was a dull gray and the rain had started again, which forced the police officers and pathologists to protect the victim and evidence under large black umbrellas.
But most of the uniforms on the ground were busy keeping the press at a distance.
"I can't believe those guys", Prentiss said as she watched reporters craning their neck to get a picture of Lora's body, "they're even worse than those we have back home".
"Yeah, calling this lot 'journalists' is a bit of a stretch", Delma nodded, "tomorrow they'll be trying to get an up-skirt shot of some random celebrity with exactly the same enthusiasm".
As Prentiss walked away to talk to the coroner, Reid ran his hands over his eyes and through his hair, he was getting a migraine that he knew this time to be purely psychosomatic. Bodies were piling up and he was no closer to Lester or her partner than he was back in Mexico despite the physical proximity.
"We're too late again. We're always two steps behind", he said.
"No. Don't get all fatalistic now", she said, hearing the exhaustion and frustration in his voice, "it's the second girl I watch being pulled out of the river. I intend it to be the last so I need you to give me your hundred percent".
"There's nothing in the evidence…".
"Forget the evidence", she firmly said, cutting him off mid-sentence, "you're always hoping for them to leave something behind. Trust your instincts, you know them, you understand their dynamics, what does it tell you?".
"Lester's sick, she's getting weaker. And that's why there's a power shift in the duo. Which means it's possible that Moreno killed Lora and disposed of her body on his own", he said at fast speed.
"Okay", she said encouragingly, picking up on his newfound energy.
"He would have chosen the dumpsite on his own too", he added, "all the other victims were returned or dumped to the same location they were abducted from. But he might not have taken the same precautions with Lora. They were all previously left in alleyways, narrow streets. This victim was dumped in a very residential area".
"Could that tell you where she was held?", she asked.
"Normally you'd need more than one murder to build an accurate geographical profile. But he's not that careful and he's unfamiliar with the city. He might have dumped her close to where he kept her. They could be staying in this general area".
"Do you have any idea how many people that include?", she sighed.
"Based on the fact that London has an average of 12,331 habitants per square mile, and if we extend the search to a 3 miles radius, it would include approximately 345,268 potential suspects", he replied immediately.
"Okay", she laughed, impressed, "so, any idea on how to narrow it down?".
"It's gonna take a while, but we can look at the neighborhood and try to pinpoint their location that way. We know that they need a place with a lot of room, where they could keep the girls without being heard or noticed. Maybe somewhere with a basement or an attic. I could try to go through property records, look for anything that might stand out".
"Right. Well I think I'll join the constables going door to door, looking for witnesses. Call me if you find anything".
Reid spent the following hours in Prentiss's apartment, sitting cross-legged on her wooden floor, going through files, occasionally typing a name or location into a database, coloring something on a map of London he found lying around or getting up to feed Sergio.
He was looking for homes recently purchased or rented in the particular zone where Lora's body was found. It hadn't been effective so far, their unsubs were probably using cash to avoid any paper trails. Delma hadn't been in touch with him, so she was probably hitting dead-ends too.
He finally took a break when he heard Prentiss coming home. It immediately worried him since he wasn't expecting her this early, the look on her face didn't do much to lessen his apprehension.
"What happened?", he asked, getting up.
She shook her head, and without a word, handed him an envelope. It was addressed to him again and was very similar to the one they had found the previous day.
Inside it were multiple polaroid pictures. In the first one, Delma was strapped to a chair, there was blood in her hair from a possible blow to the head; she was holding today's newspaper.
The other pictures had been taken over the last few days, they all showed him with Delma: coming out of the coffee shop, both facing the Thames the day they met, or discussing the case at the latest crime scene. Reid hadn't realized at the time that someone was watching them.
"Police found her car abandoned, the window on the driver side was broken, I think her head probably shattered it in the struggle", Prentiss explained, "they found the photos on the dashboard".
Her phone rang, interrupting her. She picked it up and he heard her brief someone on the situation, probably someone from Scotland Yard or INTERPOL.
Looking back at the photographs he was struck by how relaxed he looked in all of them, especially considering how somber and uptight he's been lately. In all of them they seemed to be smiling or laughing at what the other had just said.
Reid said many times that serial killers made the best profilers. Lester had been following them and she apparently saw something there that he had been barely aware of himself.
She knew how much her abduction would affect him and this was her way to go out with a bang. If she was going to die anyway, she might as well inflict maximum pain upon him on her way out.
There was something about the picture of Delma holding the newspaper that didn't sit right with him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
The photograph was very similar to those sent to the victims' parents, down to the newspaper she was holding. Today's issue was coincidentally covering the very murders they were investigating.
If the message here was that Delma was about to meet the same fate, it was painfully effective.
"Delma's phone just turned back on", Prentiss said after hanging up.
"Where?", he asked instantly.
She showed him the location on her smartphone. The signal was a little red dot a few streets away, in an apartment building. He noticed that the location was both far away from the zone he had highlighted on his map and probably didn't have the kind of space and isolation to keep someone captive.
"Let's go", he said firmly, not mentioning his doubts to Prentiss.
"Whoa, wait a second", she said, taken aback, stopping him before he reached the door, "I need to get clearance from Scotland Yard first, to obtain a task force".
"Emily that would take too much time, they could get rid of her any second, or she could be being tortured as we speak".
"I'm just as worried as you are Reid, but you know Lester's not sloppy. She always abandons the victim's phone at the abduction scene. This is just a way to get you out in the open".
"Look at those", he said waving the polaroids, "she could have killed me any time she wanted. But she wouldn't take pleasure in shooting me or blowing me up now. She wants me to suffer. My best guess is Delma's already dead and that the only thing we'll find there is her body. But until that happens there's still a chance that she might be alive, only it's getting less and less probable with each second we spend talking about it".
They looked at each other. Prentiss felt a fire in him that she only saw once, a few years ago, when he was trying to convince her that exchanging Doyle for his son was the only option they had. And although it was the only possible outcome, it had ended with a bloodbath and a congressional hearing.
"Are you with me?", he asked.
And hearing the determination in his voice she forgot all her misgivings, only thinking of the nine years or so of trust, teamwork, and friendship that he embodied.
She went to her bedroom and came back with a box, retrieved from the bottom drawer of her dresser.
Inside were two handguns, two holster belt clips.
The remnants of her old life.