Chapter 18
As the door of room 631 opened, Morgan, Moeller, and Rossi were greeted by an elderly man in a wheelchair. He had white hair and a nasal cannula attached to a portable oxygen tank inside a fishnet bag dangling from one of the armrests of his wheelchair.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" he asked softly as a woman with silver gray hair and bluish-green eyes approached behind the man in the wheelchair.
"Mr. Andover?" asked a puzzled Rossi. This can't be our UnSub.
"Yes?" the man replied.
"Who is it, Daniel?" asked a female voice. A woman appeared before Rossi could reply. "Oh," she said, startled at seeing the badges. "I'm Agnes Andover," the woman added. "This is my husband Daniel. Can we help you gentlemen?"
"We're Agents Rossi and Morgan of the FBI. And this is Detective Moeller from the Virginia Police Department. We'd like to speak with you if we may," Rossi said.
"FBI?" Agnes stated, eyes widening as she placed a hand over her heart. "My goodness, did we do something wrong?"
"May we come in, please?" asked Moeller.
"Of course," the woman replied as she grabbed the handles of her husband's wheelchair and rolled it out of the way so the men could enter. She closed the door and gestured to the plush sofa. "Please have a seat." She took a seat in an adjoining club chair while her husband wheeled himself beside the club chair. He reached out and gripped his wife's hand tightly.
"Now what is this about?" he asked.
"Mr. Andover…" Rossi began slowly. "…when did you and your wife reserve this room?"
The couple exchanged looks before turning back to Rossi. "We reserved it about five days ago. We've only been here about three days. We flew in from Seattle for our only daughter's wedding this coming weekend."
"You just said only daughter," Morgan interjected. "Does that mean you have other children?"
Agnes chuckled. "Our only daughter Rosalie is getting married. Our son, Randall, is flying in from Fort Monmouth in New Jersey tomorrow for the wedding. He managed to get a three day pass from his commanding officer. " (1)
"So you have only two children?" asked Moeller.
"That's right," Daniel replied looking at the three men, puzzled.
"Any other children?"
"No."
"May we ask what your son looks like?" asked Morgan. They made note of the description they were given, even if they had nothing with which to compare it. It was a starting point anyway.
"And you're certain he's still at Fort Monmouth?" asked Rossi. "What I mean is, is there a possibility he arrived before you?"
"That's not possible," Agnes explained. "We spoke to him this morning. He's still at Fort Monmouth and his flight isn't until tomorrow morning."
Daniel's bushy eyebrows knitted. "Look, my wife and I don't mean to be rude, but we're not answering anymore questions. Not until somebody tells us the reason behind all these questions. And why are you so interested in our son?"
Morgan sighed and folded his hands between his knees, arms resting on his thighs. "One of our agents was assaulted and left for dead. One of the suspects we've arrested claims to have met another suspect here in this room a few days ago." The Andovers stared at him with surprise.
"It wasn't our son!" Daniel shouted angrily. "And I resent your accusations that..."
"Mr. Andover..." Rossi held up a hand stopping the tirade. "Nobody is accusing your son. We're just trying to get to the truth."
"My husband is correct," Agnes stated more calmly. "Our son wouldn't hurt a fly. Also, this room was vacant when we reserved it. We were told it was vacant. There's no way somebody was using it before we got here."
"Are you certain?" asked Moeller.
"We're positive," Daniel explained. "When we called, there were only two rooms available. This one and room 430. We wanted this one."
"Why did you want this one if I may ask?" Rossi inquired.
Daniel,though still annoyed, had calmed down a bit. "We wanted this room because it's the same room we reserved for our honeymoon years ago."
Morgan nodded as the explanation made sense. He looked at the older profiler. "We need to see if anybody rented room 430, Rossi."
"Why?" asked Moeller glancing back and forth between the two agents.
"Because if somebody rented room 430," Rossi began. "That same person could have somehow gotten access to and used this room to meet with Wheaton before the Andovers arrived." He faced the elderly couple. "I'm sorry, but we're going to need this room to be examined by a Crime Scene Unit for any fingerprints or evidence of our UnSub."
"UnSub?"
"Unknown subject," Rossi added. "Is there somewhere you and your wife can stay for a while?"
Agnes exchanged a look with her husband. "I suppose we could stay with our daughter. But is this really necessary?"
"We're afraid so, ma'am," Moeller assured her. "We're sorry for any inconvenience this will cause. We'll try not to inconvenience you too long."
""We're also gonna need CSI to examine room 430 as well just to be on the safe side," Moeller informed the agents. Both instantly agreed.
Morgan reached for his cell phone as it suddenly rang. He checked the caller ID and saw it was Emily. "Excuse me," he said as he got up from his seat and left the apartment. He waited until he stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him.
"What's up, Princess?"
"Bad news, Morgan."
"What is it?"
"Reid and I just heard from Garcia. The partially decomposed body of a teenage girl was found in a large garbage bag in a dumpster in the back of a restaurant just outside town. The bag broke open when the dumpster was being emptied, and there were seven other garbage bags inside that one. The acrid smell caused one of the workers to open one of the smaller bags exposing a human head."
"Do we have a positive ID yet?" Morgan feared he already knew the answer.
"According to dental records, it's Deidre Stimson."
With one hand on his hip, Morgan exhaled deeply out his mouth and looked up at the ceiling. "Any idea as to the cause of death?"
"Medical Examiner says she looks like she's been dead a few days. But a preliminary autopsy shows blunt force trauma to the head. He'll know more once he competes the autopsy."
"Okay. Thanks, Prentiss." He said grimly then disconnected the call and dialed another number. Dead a few days. Bastard probably killed the babysitter shortly after he took her and Wheaton's daughter.
"What dost thou wannest from me, my Chocolate Love God?" asked a familiar voice.
"Garcia, I have a name for you to check."
"I am your humble servant, my oh so delicious one."
"Name's Randall Andover. He's stationed at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Find out everything you can and get back to me."
"Like a genie in a bottle, your wish is my command. I'll get back to you. Garcia out."
The blond nurse with hazel eyes approached Hotch's hospital room. She was accompanied by, and talking with, a doctor of average height with blue-gray eyes and light brown hair with streaks of gray at his temples. They were met by the two FBI agents she recognized as agents Hahmer and Deegan. Both agents recognized the woman as Gina Cower, and smiled as she approached them. She had been cleared as one of several nurses to have access to Agent Hotchner. As the pair reached the door, Agent Hahmer placed a hand on the doctor's chest preventing him from entering the room as Cower gripped the doorknob. The nurse stopped and glanced back.
"Excuse me, but I'm here to examine Agent Hotchner," the doctor explained. "I'm in charge of Doctor Correa's patient when he leaves for the day. I'm Doctor Andrew Sinclair."
"I'm sorry, doctor," Hahmer explained. "But a Doctor Sinclair was here earlier and examined Agent Hotchner, and he looked nothing like you."
"Doctor Sinclair is a member of this staff for many years," Nurse Cower explained. "He was assigned by Doctor Correa to care for his patient in the evenings." Only a handful of doctors and nurses had stopped at the opposite end of the hall to watch what was taking place.
Doctor Sinclair, becoming annoyed by the agent's refusal to allow him to carry out his examination, stepped forward and attempted to enter the room. He found himself at once restrained by Agent Deegan. The agent grasped the doctor's arm, and yanked it behind the doctor's back. With a grip on his wrist,he spun the doctor around until the man's back faced him. His other hand gripped the doctor's shoulder. Hahmer grasped his handcuffs from his belt from under his jacket, and handed them to Deegan. The younger agent handcuffed the doctor's hands behind his back.
"What are you doing?" the nurse asked, panicked.
"We seem to have a problem here, nurse," Hahmer replied. "We have two male doctors both calling themselves Doctor Sinclair. And since one of them earlier examined Agent Hotchner, we can't allow this man calling himself Doctor Sinclair access to him. Somebody is trying to kill Agent Hotchner, and we are assigned to prevent that from happening."
"But the only other Doctor Sinclair in this hospital is the doctor's wife, and she's a gynecologist."
Both agents looked at each other. The man calling himself Doctor Sinclair looked at the nurse.
"Gina, call the Chief-of-Staff and tell him what's happening."
"Right away, doctor," Gina replied hurrying to the nearby counter and grabbing the receiver. She dialed a four-digit extension and waited. There was a pick-up on the third ring.
"Doctor Maurer."
"Doctor, this Nurse Cower." She proceeded to explain the situation to the COS. Maurer promised to come down right away. Twenty minutes later, the COS, a man built like a pro-linebacker in football with graying hair and wire-frame glasses, stepped off the elevator. He found himself confronted by one of his subordinates in handcuffs being held in the grip of the federal agents.
"I'm Doctor Maurer, Chief-of-Staff here. What seems to be the problem, agents?"
"Doctor, there was another doctor here earlier by the name of Andrew Sinclair who examined Agent Hotchner. Now this man says he is Doctor Sinclair."
"He is Doctor Sinclair," Maurer explained. "He and his wife are the only two Doctor Maurers on staff." He watched Agent Deegan remove the handcuffs restraining the doctor's wrists.
"Sorry for the mix-up, Doctor," the agent replied holding out a hand to Sinclair. The doctor smiled and took his hand.
"No harm, agent," Sinclair replied. "If I didn't understand the reason you're here, I wouldn't be quite so forgiving. But you have a job to do as do I."
"Doctor, we have an imposter somewhere in this hospital. Why don't you and Nurse Cower examine Agent Hotchner and make sure this imposter didn't harm him," said Maurer.
"Yes, sir," Sinclair replied. He glanced at Gina. "Nurse, I'll need your help."
"Yes, doctor." Gina and Sinclair walked past the agents, entered Hotch's room, and closed the door.
Now alone, Maurer stared at the two agents. He folded his arms across his chest. "Describe this other Doctor Sinclair." Deegan gave a complete description of the doctor to Maurer. They watched his eyebrows knit together as a frown appeared on his face.
"There is nobody at this hospital fitting that description."
"Are you certain?" asked Hahmer, now concerned.
"I'm positive."
The two agents exchanged concerned looks, then Deegan reached into his jacket and removed his cell phone. He opened the door to Hotch's room.
"Doc, is Agent Hotchner all right?" Deegan asked the doctor.
"He seems to be," Sinclair said. "I don't see any new injuries to his person nor any tampering with the equipment or IVs. Whoever it was, didn't seem to harm the patient in any way."
"How much more time do you need?"
"Probably another forty-five minutes unless I find something wrong which I don't think is likely."
Deegan closed the door, and dialed a phone number before pressing the phone to his ear. He focused on Maurer. "I need to update Agent Rossi and let him know the UnSub they're looking for may have gotten into Agent Hotchner's room."
(1) The Fort Monmouth installation of the Dept. of the Army was in Monmouth County in New Jersey. It was closed in 2005 to civilian population after ninety-four years following 9/11.