Chapter 12
Morgan stared at Prentiss with narrowed eyes. "You sure?" he asked looking at his partner.
Prentiss nodded. "Think about it, Derek. Unless you have your own means of transportation, you have to rely on public transportation. I remember JJ saying that when she spoke with Clarissa Meadows' parents, they said Clarissa told them she was taking a cab to their house." She looked at her partner. "We need to check and see if Thomas Gannon, Shannon Carstairs, or Anthony Barstow used taxis to get where they needed to go." She hurried up the steps and inside the police precinct with Morgan right behind her. They found Rossi and Reid in the conference room. Reid was going over a file while Rossi was relaxing and drinking a cup of coffee. The older man looked up when the door opened, and saw Prentiss' face.
"What happened?" he asked, concerned.
"Hotch and JJ not back yet?" Emily asked. Rossi shook his head. "Damn," she muttered under her breath. Her utterance got Reid to turn toward at the woman.
"What's going on?" asked Rossi.
"We think we figured out how the Unsub is getting close to his victims and gaining their trust," Morgan explained. "He drives a taxi."
"A taxi?" asked Reid. "You sure?"
"Consider this. Not everybody owns a car and has to rely on cabs or buses to get around town. Our last victim's parents told JJ their daughter was taking a cab to get to their place after she finished shopping. What if the other victims also had to rely on taxicabs?"
"There's one way to find out," Rossi replied reaching for his cell phone. He put the phone to his ear.
"Office of the all-knowing technical goddess of internet knowledge. Speak and be heard, mortal."
"Garcia, I need you to run a check for me on our three prior victims; Thomas Gannon, Shannon Carstairs, and Anthony Barstow. Find out if any of them used a taxi to get to work, school, run errands, etc. Get back to me when you find something."
"Aye, aye. Back in a flash like lightening. Garcia out." Rossi then placed another call.
"JJ? Rossi. Listen, we may have something. When Emily and Morgan were returning from their interview, Emily saw a taxicab, and remembered that Clarissa Meadows was taking a cab to her parents house when she was abducted. So she began to wonder, what if the others used taxis as well? I already have Garcia checking. How are things on your end?" Rossi chuckled at whatever JJ was saying. "Catch you later." He returned the phone to his jacket pocket and looked up at Prentiss and Morgan.
"How are Hotch and JJ making out with their interviews?" asked Morgan collapsing onto a chair.
"They are on their way to the second interview. The first one took a bit longer than planned. First, the interviewees were Max and Sophie Masters, both in their late sixties. They had their fifteen-year-old grandchildren visiting them, both girls. JJ said Hotch had trouble with the interview because both girls kept making eyes at him the entire time. Even his famous glare didn't discourage them. I heard Hotch grumbling in the background. She figures they should be back here in about two hours."
Prentiss found herself laughing. "You mean the famous Hotchner stare didn't work? I'm shocked."
"Haven't you heard, Princess," Morgan smirked. "That stare only works on males, not on women. With females it just turns 'em on more."
Prentiss rolled her eyes. "Oh pul-eeze," she snorted. "Spoken like a typical male…"
"Don't even say it, Prentiss," Morgan warned with a flash of his white teeth.
"Chauvinist," Prentiss concluded.
Rossi chuckled. "Play nice children," he kidded. "How 'bout you and Morgan fill us in on your interview? Anything useful?"
Prentiss sat beside Morgan and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "The Max and Sam Howell we interviewed turned out to be Maxine and Samantha Howell."
"They've been growing Dahlias for years for entry into the annual flower shows. Have been for the past seven years," Morgan added.
"Besides that, they're both in their fifties," Prentiss said. "There's no way either of them can be our Unsub. And it doesn't sound like Max and Sophie Masters are either. I mean, both couples are too up in years to subdue a strong male even if a taser was used."
"Also, neither couple would be able to move a body even if it was cut in half," Morgan pointed out.
"How did you and Reid make out?"
Rossi nodded his head toward Reid. "Ask our youngest," he said.
"Hey, pretty boy…"
Reid looked up from his file reading. "What?" He noticed Rossi looking at him.
"Tell 'em about our interview," the older man requested.
Reid's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas day. "Our interviewees were Hector and Muriel Garrison; Doctor Hector Garrison. He and his wife grow Dahlias for scientific research."
"Research?" Morgan arched both eyebrows.
"They raise Dahlias so the inulin can be extracted from Dahlia tubers and…"
Morgan held up a hand. "That's enough. We don't want to know anymore."
Reid appeared puzzled as he looked around the room. "Doesn't anybody else but me find the scientific research done with Dahlias fascinating?"
"Nope," Prentiss replied with an amused grin as she, Morgan and Rossi proceeded to open file folders and began reading.
The vibrating of Rossi's phone interrupted their reading. The older man reached in his pocket, pulled out his cell and checked the caller ID. "Go ahead, Garcia. You're on speaker."
"Yes, sir. Thanks to the amazing capabilities of the one and only goddess of technology, I was able to get the info you wanted."
"We're waiting with bated breath, Garcia," Prentiss teased.
"Very funny, my raven-haired goddess."
"The info, Garcia," said Rossi.
"Yes, sir. According to my records, all three of our victims used taxis to get to and from their homes and wherever else they needed to go. Of the four, only Clarissa Meadows had her own car, but it was in for repairs the day she died."
The agents exchanged looks. "Garcia, did they all use the same cab company?" asked Reid.
"Hold on, let me check." The tech analyst's fingers flew over her keyboard. "Yes, my baby genius. All four of our dearly departed used the same company. The Canary Yellow Cab company. I sent their address to your phone"
"Thanks Garcia," Rossi said before disconnecting the phone. He looked at Prentiss and Morgan. "I want you two to head out to the cab company. It's possible our Unsub works for them. I'll let Hotch know what's going on."
Morgan looked at Prentiss as they both got to their feet and got the address from Rossi. They then hurried out of the door as Rossi put the phone again to his ear.
Armitage slammed his hand on the dashboard of his cab after he parked it outside his home. He was angry; angry at himself for being careless, and allowing the cab to be seen by Emily Prentiss. His was the only cab on the street at the time. If he hadn't decided at that moment to drive away, the agent would never have seen his cab. Now Hotchner would order a search for every yellow cab in town. Armitage had to calm down and think. One good thing was that the cab wasn't registered in his name; it belonged to one of his neighbors, Simon Fennier. Fennier only loaned it to Armitage so the man would be able to earn a few extra dollars. It was not like Armitage needed the money. He had plenty of his own. He really needed it to transport his victims without arousing suspicion. And nobody else was aware Armitage drove the cab three times a week.
A slow smile crossed his face. He would return the cab to Fennier. Then he would dispose of the man. This way it would appear as if he was the killer, and committed suicide after realizing the FBI was closing in on him. He was certain Fennier had told nobody about loaning Armitage his cab; afterall, the man was most unsociable except to him. Armitage was the only person with whom he seemed to get along. Probably because the two were so much alike. Trouble was, after he dumped the taxi, he would have to get another vehicle for his purposes, but that wouldn't be a problem.
Nearly two and a half hours later, Hotch and JJ entered the conference room to find Reid and Rossi the only ones there. Hotch wore a scowl on his face, and stared at the blond who was trying to hide the laughter threatening to erupt at any moment. Rossi looked up at Hotch.
"I understand you had girl trouble," Rossi smirked at his friend.
"Drop it, Dave," Hotch fumed. JJ was unable to contain herself any longer. Hotch glared at the blond.
"That wasn't the worst part," she said between chuckles.
"JJ," Hotch warned the woman.
"What happened?" asked Reid.
"Our second interview was with a Brenda Carpenter," JJ explained. "She was a nice woman confined to a wheelchair after an auto accident four years ago. Anyway, she has been growing Dahlias of all colors, in particular white and pink, for years. Her eleven-year-old daughter and fifteen-year-old niece were in the house and..."
"Wait, don't tell me…"Rossi interrupted with a smirk. "More girl trouble?"
"Dave, I'm warning you," Hotch growled.
"Yep," JJ added. "Hotch had two love-struck girls staring at him the entire time and the older one kept blowing kisses at him. It made him so uncomfortable I had to take them both from the living room so he could finish the interview."
The older man's laughter made Hotch's already red face turn a shade darker. Rossi saw his friend grinding his lower jaw. "I got the distinct impression it doesn't end there, does it?" he asked JJ.
"Nope. Once I got the girls upstairs so Hotch could continue, the oldest one started asking me questions about Hotch's vital statistics. I mean, she wanted to know everything." Hotch groaned. He realized his friends meant no harm with their teasing. From the corner of his eye, he saw his best friend had tears rolling down his face as he laughed out loud. Hotch shook his head in resignation. JJ noticed the young genius looked puzzled.
"You don't find it funny, Spence?"
"No. How could something embarrassing be funny?" he asked, thoroughly confused. "I mean, what's so funny…"
"I'll explain it to you later, kid," Rossi said between chuckles as he wiped his eyes. But he couldn't get the image of a fifteen-year-old blowing kisses at his friend out of his mind. He looked at Hotch who still wore a scowl. "We're sorry, Aaron. We didn't mean to laugh, but it is funny when you stop and think about it, my friend."
"Dave, you have no idea how distracting and embarrassing it is to try to conduct an interview with a teenage girl making eyes and blowing kisses at you the entire time."
JJ chortled and Hotch glared at her in warning.
"C'mon, Aaron. Loosen up a little. Look at it this way. It's probably the dimples that got 'em." Rossi burst out laughing again as did JJ.
Hotch shook his head and the corners of his mouth curled upward. After a few minutes, he composed himself. "Okay, you've all had your fun at my expense. Time to get back to work. Where are Morgan and Prentiss?"
"I sent them to the cab company," Rossi went on to explain what Garcia had found out during her research and the connection to their four victims.
"That's good work," Hotch replied. "If our Unsub drives a taxi, it will explain how he gets close to his victims, and why they're not afraid of him." He sighed with frustration despite the possible break in their case.
"What's wrong?" asked Rossi.
"We still have no idea where he's getting the Dahlias. We know he has to have a supply of them readily available especially with the increase of his kills."
Reid looked at his boss. "While you were out, one of Detective Parsons' men told us they have checked every florist shop in town, and nobody has reported selling Dahlias or the bulbs to anybody."
Just then the door opened and Detective Parsons entered the room. He did not appear happy. "Good. Most of you are here."
"We were following up a lead which didn't lead anywhere unfortunately," Hotch explained grimly. "Has something happened?"
"Yes." He then explained about the anonymous phone call.
"Sounds like our Unsub" said Rossi, clasping his hands together on top of the table.
"And if is was, he's either taunting us, or he's trying to lure us into a trap," Hotch added.
"Trap?"
"Yes." Hotch explained everything they had uncovered to Parsons including their latest belief about the yellow taxi.
"So you believe everything this guy's done so far has been to lure your team here?"
"We do. But we don't still haven't figured out why yet." Hotch didn't plan on telling Parsons about recognizing the block lettering on the envelope addressed to Morgan. The detective did not need to know that information.
"What about the phone call?" asked Parsons.
"We'll have out technical analyst in Quantico look into it," Hotch explained. "My guess? It'll probably be a prepaid cell phone. This man's been up to now, extremely careful."
"But we may be one step closer to finding him," Rossi added. "If our Unsub does drive a cab, we need to keep that fact from leaking out. Otherwise, he could take off before we can arrest him."
Parsons let out a deep breath. "Before I forget, I received a phone call from the medical examiner's office. The injuries sustained by Clarissa Meadows are the same as those suffered by the others. Also, no signs of sexual abuse. Cause-of-death was extreme blood loss, same as the others." JJ winced hearing the description. She felt as if she knew the young woman personally after speaking with her parents. "Sorry, ma'am," he apologized seeing her face. JJ smiled and nodded indicating it was all right. The detective noticed Hotch's expression. "You still think our guy knew her?"
"Yes. He showed a small amount of care with the way he displayed her body. Don't misunderstand me, Detective. He brutally tortured and murdered her. But he didn't just toss her body away like trash as with the others. I think he either met or saw her somewhere, or she reminded him of somebody he loved and lost."
"There's no way you can know that."
"Then how do you explain the care he showed when displaying her body for us to find?" Hotch folded his arms across his chest and offered his famous stare. "As I said, it wasn't just tossed. The care he took with her body says there was something about Clarissa Meadows that affected him. If we can find out what that something is, it could help us find him."
Parsons backed down a bit under the dark-haired man's stare. "I can't explain it," was all he said. The detective still wasn't sure how much of this profiling he bought into, but he couldn't find fault with what Hotch just said. "I'll make sure you get a copy of the autopsy report." He turned and walked out of the room.
"Parsons is a stubborn man," Rossi remarked watching the man's receding back through the glass of the closed door.
"But he's a good cop," Hotch stated as he pulled out his cell. An idea had come to him and he needed to have it checked out. Hopefully it would lead to something.
"Speak to me, my liege."
"Garcia, I need you to check something for me."
"For you, mon Capitan, your wish is my command."
"I need you to go back about five years in Santa Barbara. Check for anybody who has lost a loved one. Leave out all women who have lost husbands and couples who have lost children or parents. Concentrate on those men who have lost spouses. I also need you to check on Clarissa Meadows and her family. See if they ever had a problem with someone who may have stalked the daughter. In addition, there was a call which came into the police station today. I need you to look into it. Get back to me as-soon-as you can."
"For you, my liege, I'll be back faster than it takes the sun to rise in California." Garcia disconnected the call.
"Think our boy lost someone he loved?" asked Rossi watching Hotch return his phone to his pocket.
"I do. I think that's why he was so careful how he displayed the last body. Clarissa reminded him of somebody. I'm hoping he'll be among the list Garcia will compile. That and what Morgan and Prentiss find at the cab company will give us our Unsub."
Rossi's eyes narrowed as he saw a slight change on his best friend's face. "Something's still troubling you, Aaron?"
Hotch hated it sometimes that Rossi knew him so well. "I just have this feeling that things are not going to end well."