A Voice Cries Out
Chapter 14
It seemed he was daily amazed at how renewing it was to connect with his children. When Reid and JJ returned to meet with the task force, he felt an infusion of strength and optimism that he hoped would carry him through the evening. He wouldn't worry about the rest of the duration of the case just now. Henry and Rosie would be there for him again, each day.
The team assembled apart from the rest of the task force first. It still wasn't clear that William Reid's case was related to the one that had brought them to Vegas in the first place. Before others might challenge them on spending time and energy on a possibly unrelated missing person, they wanted to update one another and make new assignments.
Garcia had been busy back in Quantico. Or her computers had. Checking in with her was first on their list.
"Okay, I ran the whole department….both departments, actually. A couple of them were arrested for possession, back in the day. The most recent arrest was twenty years ago."
"No doubt they've all been tenured since then," offered a sardonic David Rossi.
"How did you know?" came over the phone.
"I'm a child of the sixties, Penelope."
"Oh. Well, that's pretty much it. One of them seems to be a scofflaw when it comes to on-campus parking but, really, there's nothing else…not criminally speaking, anyway."
"But there is something, Pen?" JJ asked.
"Two of them had some trouble with the IRS, and one of those used William's firm for representation. Only the name of the firm was listed, so I don't know if Reid's dad actually had the case."
Reid spoke up. "Can we get back into their system again, Garcia?"
"You bet, sweet cheeks. As soon as we're done."
Emily started, "Garcia, any connection…"
"No, neither of our dead IRS guys were involved with either of the professors."
It seemed like a dead end, but Hotch knew that premature closure tended to derail an investigation.
"Cast your net wider, Garcia. Look for any connection at all between UNLV and the two victims."
Then he turned to his youngest profiler. "Reid, unless Garcia turns up something, the facts are pointing away from your father's disappearance being related with our original case."
He knew that the news he was delivering was both good and bad. Good, because it took William Reid a step away from a violent, cannibalistic serial killer. And bad, because it meant they wouldn't be able to continue to spread their resources thin. Most, or all, of them would have to abandon looking for William.
"Understood."
"All right. After the task force briefing, you and Garcia get back into the law firm's records. Prentiss, Morgan…we were granted our subpoena for Maxfield's records. He's still fully on paper, so you'll have your work cut out for you."
"So, we're looking for the case overlaps with Farrell and Davidovitch.." started Emily.
"Oh, I can give you those…..I've been digging, remember?" came Garcia's voice through the phone. "So, we already knew there were seventeen case overlaps between the two IRS guys and Maxfield….but there are only four cases with both of the IRS guys and Maxfield. I can give you the names, but…."
"But we still need to dig through the boxes for the files." Morgan sounded resigned. "Let's hope he had a good filing system."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Tawny looked like an expert filer."
Reid was looking apologetic. "I can help you out after I'm done. I doubt we'll get more than thirty minutes on line again, right, Garcia?" He knew he could go through the files in a fraction of the time it would take his colleagues.
"Righto, Baby Genius. Our last foray created a little blip in their security system, but it seems to have reset itself. Still, I don't think we'll be able to stay in there any longer than that."
"All right." Hotch continued with his assignments. "JJ, Dave…you'll go back to the campus, see what you can learn from the evening students and professors. There's probably some overlap with daytime, but there will also be some new players."
The two profilers nodded their assent and started for the door. But their way was blocked by a fellow SSA from the Vegas office.
"We found a third body. Male, estimated age fifties to sixties."
All of them tensed. The description could easily fit William Reid. But it could also fit Max Maxfield.
Hotch pursued more information. "In the search area?"
The task force had created a search team to cover ten square miles of desert after the first two bodies had been located. It was slow going, given the many rises and falls, and ledges. And it was impressive how much even scrub brush could cover up.
The SSA shook his head. "Just outside, by about a mile. Another hiker found this one, about eight hours ago. It took him that long to hike back to his car and then get within cell range."
Reid started to push back his chair, expecting to be called upon to go and evaluate the scene again. But a hand to his shoulder stopped him.
"Not this time, Reid," said his unit chief. "I want to get a look at the site myself. Dave….I'd appreciate your eyes as well."
It was true that Hotch did want to make his own observations at the dump site. But it was also true that he didn't think he should press his luck with their young genius. With each new discovery, and with his continued absence, the chances of the body being that of William Reid grew. Rossi had met the man before. He should be able to make a visual identification, obviating the need to bring Reid along.
Hotch made an amendment to the other assignments, cognizant that Reid might be needing additional support before the night was out.
"JJ, hold off on UNLV until Reid can go with you. Until then, I'd like you to connect with the media handlers here. I want to make sure we're controlling the flow of information in and out. When Reid's done looking through the law office files, he can go to UNLV with you."
"Yes, sir."
"We're almost out of time, Boy Wonder."
"I know. Just let me get through these last few….."
After that, Garcia could only hear mumbling, as though he was talking to himself. From past experience, she knew to wait him out. But the suspense was killing her. Finally, she could stand it no longer.
"What? Do you see something?"
A long pause, followed by, "…I don't know. It's….something. But I don't know?"
"What is it? Reid!"
Her shout through the phone line seemed to startle him back to himself. "Huh? Oh, sorry. I found another note. It's handwritten, like the one from before. And all it says is, 'Leave it alone.' It was in a file with just some accounting spreadsheets, nothing more."
"Whose file?"
"It was just the firm's spreadsheets. From the rest of the records, it looks like my dad used to do periodic audits…mostly production numbers, not money. He was good with numbers. I do remember that."
Garcia was intrigued. "So, do you think the note had anything to do with what was in the file?"
She couldn't see Reid shaking his head. "I doubt it. It looks like it was just drop-filed into the folder accidentally."
"Ooh…there's the blip. I need to cut us off like…..right…..now." And she did.
Reid stretched his long frame out in the chair, stiff from having spent an intense thirty minutes hunched over the tablet's screen.
"All right. Thanks, Garcia. I think we've been through everything for the past six months. Unless we decide to go back further, I think we're done with this."
"You're welcome, sweet thing. Now I'm off to my six million other tasks that my beloved team of profilers has given me….not that I'm complaining."
He grinned at her good nature. "Thanks. I'll let you know if any of this pans out."
He left the borrowed office and rejoined his colleagues in the conference room. From what little he could see of them behind the mounds of files, Reid thought that both Morgan and Emily looked extremely grateful for the distraction.
"Hey, Pretty Boy, you all done?"
Reid nodded, prompting Emily to ask, "And?"
"And there's nothing that connects my dad with the two professors who had IRS trouble. But I found another note. Where's JJ?"
Morgan used his head to indicate her location on the main floor.
"I guess someone decided to name our killer. JJ's out there trying to put a lid on the title of the 'Mojave Murderer."
"Hotch won't like that."
Reid knew, as did the others, that their superior liked to keep all of the task forces' minds open about anything connected to the crimes and their perpetrators. And he was especially devoted to keeping the public's focus on the victims. No need to reward an unsub with fame, or a sobriquet.
"No, he won't. But if JJ does her 'JJ thang'," said Morgan, "Hotch won't ever need to know about it. Ah, here she comes, Pretty Boy."
JJ was rolling her eyes as she walked in the door. "Oh, my God, they're crazy. There can be some relentless reporters anywhere, but those….."
Her husband smiled at her. "They don't have much to report about here. Somebody wins big. Somebody loses big. Having a serial killer on the loose is making their day."
"Yeah, well…..maybe I'm just rusty. But I'm not one hundred percent sure that I squelched it."
Emily was sympathetic. "You tried. That's all anyone can ask." Then she turned her thoughts back to the recent development. "So, Reid found something…."
JJ just looked her question at him, and he responded.
"Another note. All it says is 'Leave it alone.' It was in a file of spreadsheets of case production numbers. I don't think it was related to that. It was either purposely slipped in, or it fell in."
"And someone scanned it into the electronic file without asking any questions?"
Morgan thought there might be someone at the office who could provide a lead. But Emily knew better.
"They just hire people…temps, usually….to scan. They're not paid to be curious, or even to notice anything. It's pretty mindless."
"Familiar with the work, are you, Princess?"
She made a face at Morgan. "We didn't exactly have scanners when I was young enough to be doing it. But, yes…..I know from my mother that State scans non-classified documents that way. So I wouldn't be surprised if a law office did the same."
Reid offered another observation. "I think it was the same handwriting as the first note."
He opened the camera app on his phone to find the photos he'd taken of each. It had been too risky to print the files from their clandestine computer raid. Finding the original photo, he flipped back and forth between the older one and the newer, showing it to the others as he did so.
"Looks pretty similar to me," offered Emily, and the others concurred.
"We need to get our hands on those notes. But we'll need a warrant for that, observed Morgan.
Emily thought otherwise. "They don't exactly look like work product. They shouldn't be protected. Maybe all we really need is a concerned co-worker to help us out."
One that I'll bet harbored a crush on William Reid for a very long time. Emily pulled out her phone to call Dorothy Ricks.
"Jeez, this is giving me the creeps. And don't tell any of the young'uns I said that."
Hotch smiled at his long time friend. They'd driven the same route out into the desert as had Morgan and Reid on the previous two days. But night was falling, and the ride seemed even longer, and the land more godforsaken, than it had for their two younger colleagues.
"You're a city boy, Dave. Even if you grew up on Long Island."
"Virginia isn't exactly the boondocks, Aaron. How do people live out here, in the desert?"
"They don't. They live on the edge of it, where there's comfort in numbers. Lots of numbers. They only visit the desert. Or drive through it on their way to LA." And, sometimes, they die in it.
They were going off-road now, following one of the state troopers. Only their headlights, and the glow of the city behind them, provided relief from total darkness. Once they went over a rise, and into a level stretch beyond it, the effect of the city lights disappeared. A new level of darkness settled over the two profilers in the SUV, and over their thoughts.
As they proceeded further into the desert, a new, softer glow took shape in the distance. Nearing it, they recognized the generator-supported spotlights at the scene, along with the headlights of several more state police vehicles, and the crime scene team. Like the others, Hotch left his headlights on as he and Rossi exited the SUV.
"What have we got?" he asked the lead state trooper as they approached.
"Same basic thing. No visible restraints, part of the tongue gone, heart carved out. No extraneous bits of tissue found, but I think we'll need daylight to be sure."
Rossi made his way past the crime scene team to approach the body. He studied it for a few seconds, then turned to look at Hotch, and gave a subtle shake of his head. Not William Reid.
Hotch gave an equally subtle nod in return, and spent a few minutes going over details of the discovery and how the remains would be processed. He and Rossi walked the area lit by the spots, but it was minimal in what was now full darkness. Any further exploration would have to wait until first light.
As they got back in the SUV for the return trip, Rossi explained.
"He was probably in the right age group, but this guy was short and squat. My bet is that it's Maxfield. I think we should be able to get an ID by tomorrow."
Hotch took one hand from the wheel to rub his eyes. "I don't know what to think about that. If Maxfield was killed by the same unsub who killed the two IRS agents…it looks like it could connect to William Reid. They were both tax attorneys."
Rossi understood. "You were hoping Reid's father's disappearance was unrelated. Even if it meant we couldn't spend time on it."
Hotch chanced a glance across at the passenger seat. "At least, that way….there'd be hope. But now….I don't know."
"Agreed."
"Was it this busy during the day? I thought a college campus would quiet down at night. At least, away from the dorms."
JJ was surprised at the number of people who seemed to be moving about as they drove into the parking lot where William's car had been found.
Reid's eye had immediately gone to the spot where his father's vehicle had been sitting until this afternoon. The space was now empty, the vehicle removed for processing.
"My guess is that it's because of the astronomy program. See, over there, behind this building? That's the observatory. They have a planetarium there, with shows open to the public. And they'll even let you go up and look through the telescope after the show."
JJ made a mental note. Family activity….if we ever make it here as a family.
"Should we stick together, or divide and conquer?"
Reid chose the latter. "How about I take the professors, and you take the students?" Remembering his few, ill-fated attempts to interact on the student level.
"Done. Half an hour?"
"Okay. If we get tied up, we can text."
We? I'm not the one who can ramble into the next century. But all she said was, "Okay."
She was just wrapping up with a group of part time graduate students when her phone vibrated. JJ tensed immediately when she saw the call was from Rossi.
"Rossi?"
"It's not him." No introductory remarks. Just cutting to right to the point.
JJ blew out a breath of relief. "Thank God. Was it part of the case?"
"It was part of the IRS case, definitely. Same general location, same m.o. But whether it's part of William's case….that's a different question. I'm suspicious our victim is Maxfield, the tax attorney whose records are probably mounded all over Morgan and Prentiss at the moment."
JJ's mind worked quickly as she calculated all that Rossi's information might, or might not, mean.
"So…. that would mean the unsub has expanded beyond IRS victims….to tax attorneys."
"To this tax attorney. It would be premature to extrapolate."
"But…. all right. I won't jump to conclusions. But what should I tell Spence?"
"Just that it wasn't his dad. He's too smart, JJ. He'll figure the rest out."
She found him on the second floor. As she walked down the hallway, peering into each open office, JJ heard the distinct sound of her husband's voice, and followed it to the open doorway of an office marked, 'Professor E. Dahlgren, Astrophysics'. Reid seemed heavily engaged in conversation with a man who looked to be in his late sixties or seventies.
Both of them turned to her soft knock.
"JJ." Reid stood, as did the other man. "Professor Dahlgren, this is SSA Jennifer Jareau…and my wife."
That startled JJ. They'd made a practice of not discussing their private relationship in the work setting. And yet, here was her husband, telling a perfect stranger.
"JJ, this is Professor Dahlgren. It turns out he knew my Uncle Daniel."
She showed her surprise. "Really? How?"
The professor waved both of them to take seats. "I was just barely out of graduate school myself. Danny was here for the summer. He had family here, I do remember that, now that Spencer reminded me. But he was interning here, on a program through MIT. Both of our institutions were pretty involved with the Manhattan project. A lot of the work took place around here. Not many people know that."
Reid had, of course. But he'd never had reason to put it together with his uncle. He explained to JJ some of what he'd already learned from Professor Dahlgren.
"The project had already produced the weapon, of course. World War II was already ended. But there was still quite a bit of work, still under the aegis of the project, in nuclear physics."
"And astrophysics," added Dahlgren. "Much of what we learned about the atom came from our knowledge of space and how bodies relate to one another in space. And vice versa."
Reid brought them back to the reason they were there. "He knew Uncle Daniel had died, but not how."
Dahlgren nodded. "My God, no, I didn't. I'd heard that it was sudden, and in the desert, and just assumed he'd had a climbing accident. There are at least three or four a year. But now Spencer tells me he was probably murdered there. I'm astounded! He was a great guy. And….you know, you've got me thinking back now…I do remember him talking about a nephew. Must have been you, I guess. I think….yes, I think it was him…did he ever take you into the desert with him? Did you go camping with him?"
Reid's eyes couldn't have gotten any wider. "Yes! I just remembered that yesterday. Or was it today? So much has happened, I can't keep it all straight. But…how did you know?"
Dahlgren narrowed his eyes at Reid. "Are you the genius? Because that's why it came back to me. That Danny took his nephew to see the stars….and his nephew named every one of the constellations. And most of the distances between them."
JJ's hand covered her mouth, but Reid could still see the smile in her eyes. It was the first time she'd heard anyone but Diana describe her husband as a child.
No wonder he's afraid of Rosie!
Reid had a sheepish grin on his face. "That was me. Now that you mention it, that part is coming back to me, too."
"Well, you definitely impressed your uncle. He was kind of crazy about you, as I now recall. I think your Uncle Danny was a bit of a kindred soul, if you know what I mean. He was brilliant."
Both FBI phones vibrated simultaneously with a text from Emily.
RECONVENING 30 MINUTES.
As soon as she saw Reid go pale, JJ remembered why she'd been looking for him.
"It wasn't him. Rossi called."
Dahlgren understood the look of relief on Reid's face. He'd already assured the young profiler that he didn't know anything about the whereabouts of William.
"I'm glad, Spencer. I never knew William, but if he's anything like his brother, I'm sure he's a good man."
JJ and Reid just shared a glance, thanked Professor Dahlgren for his time, and assured him they'd be in touch.