"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." - Mark Twain
As Santana, Brittany, and Kyler pull up at the Walgreens, they step out of the SUV and survey the area.
"Mrs. Grisby was last seen exiting the store at approximately 8:07 AM," Kyler says as she points to the Dunkin' Donuts next door. She then points directly across the street from where they are currently standing. "And that's the park her vehicle was found the next day."
"If I remember correctly, the cameras outside of Dunkin' Donuts only extend to the sidewalk and the exterior doors in the back?" Santana inquires.
"Yeah, that's right," Kyler answers. "For whatever reason, a lot of the businesses in this area set up a lot of dummy cameras around the perimeter of their stores to hopefully deter criminal activity."
"And how's that working out for them?" Brittany questions.
"Not too great," Kyler responds humorously.
"Figures," Santana says with a playful eye roll.
As they continue to stand in the parking lot, the blonde agent notices an ATM on the side of the Walgreens' building with a yellow ''Do Not Operate' sign attached to it.
"Hey Kyler," Brittany says to get the sergeant's attention. "Do you happen to know how long that ATM has been there for?"
"I think they just installed it earlier this week," Kyler replies. "It should be up and running by Monday morning."
"Hmm..."
"What are you thinkin' Britt?" Santana asks.
"I'm wondering if this banking company activated the security camera ahead of time to make sure it worked before their set date of going live," Brittany responds.
"Wow... that would be super helpful if they did," Kyler comments. "I know when the officers did their initial neighborhood canvas, they spoke to a few of the employees here, but none of them recognized Mrs. Grisby."
"It's possible that maybe someone from another shift might recognize her or some of the other victims," Santana offers. "B, why don't you check with Q and see if she can work her magic to find us some security footage? Kyler and I will go talk to the employees and see if we have better luck than the previous officers did."
"Sounds good," Brittany complies. "I'll meet you guys inside."
With a quick head nod, Santana and Kyler leave Brittany to make her phone call.
As Brittany takes out her phone and opens up her favorites list, she taps on the picture displaying her vibrant friend and co-worker.
"Queen of the Cyber Underground; speak and be spoken to," Fabray colorfully says as she answers the phone.
Brittany can't help but smile. "Hey Quinn, can you check something for me?"
"Geez... no pleasantries huh? Just straight to the point," Quinn replies, feigning being hurt. "Just like a man."
"My apologies, Q. Did I mention how lovely you looked in that cute baby doll dress you were wearing yesterday?"
"Flattery will get you everywhere," Quinn teasingly responds back. "What do you need chica?"
"We just got to the Walgreens here and there's an ATM outside, facing the Dunkin' Donuts," Brittany begins to explain. "It's not ready for use yet, but—"
"You were wondering if the security camera is operational and if it was working the day Megan Grisby disappeared?" Quinn politely interrupts.
"You are a genius."
"Honey, tell me somethin' I don't know," Quinn smugly replies as she begins typing rapidly against her keyboard.
Brittany just shakes her head in amusement. "Do you need the banking company name or like a serial number or something?"
"No ma'am, but thanks for asking," Quinn sweetly says back. "So... while I'm working my magic, how are you? Did you get lucky last night?"
"Quinn!" Brittany scolds, but can't help the laughter bubbling in her throat.
"You guys are no fun. Santana wouldn't give me any deets either," Fabray whines. "What's the point of having my two best friends dating each other if neither of you will cooperate with my demands?"
"Y'know, if you put half as much effort into finding a suitable mate as you do when trying to extract the more intimate details of my relationship with San, you would be much happier... and satisfied," Brittany playfully responds with a bit of mirth.
"Why Agent Pierce... I think someone's rubbing off on you," Quinn says back with a little surprise.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Brittany teasingly replies.
"My little girl is growing up," Quinn jokingly states. "But in all seriousness, how are you doing? I know I kinda bombarded you with a zillion questions yesterday."
"I'm actually really good, Q..." Brittany earnestly says. "Although your methods can be a little overbearing at times, I'm glad to have a friend like you that's so blunt and always ready to give me a swift kick in the ass when needed."
"That's what I'm here for," Quinn says proudly. "So, what did you do? I'm sensing good news."
"I asked Santana to be my girlfriend last night."
"Yay! That's awesome, Britt!" Quinn loudly cheers. "I'm so happy for you guys."
"Me too," Brittany replies with the brightest smile.
"We definitely have a lot of celebrating to do when you guys get back home."
"Indeed, but until then... we have some work to do," Brittany says, getting back on track.
"Yes ma'am," Quinn says firmly. "While we've been chatting, I found the info on your ATM. The security camera is active and monitored 24/7."
"That's great."
"I'm currently pulling all the footage from the past few days, starting with the timeframe of when Mrs. Grisby was last seen in the area."
"Amazing as always," Brittany gleefully replies. "Can you send that footage to the guys? I'm gonna go check on the ladies and see if they were able to get anything."
"You got it. Fabray out!"
As the call ends, Brittany makes her way inside of the store. Once she spots Santana and Kyler over by the photo department, speaking to one of the employees, she walks towards their direction.
"Alright, thank you so much," Kyler says to the employee as she shakes their hand. Her and Santana then step away from the photo lab, away from prying ears and eyes.
"Hey B, any luck?" Santana inquires.
"Yeah... Q was able to gain access into the security footage from the ATM," Brittany answers.
"That's awesome," Kyler replies.
"I told her to send the footage to Schue so the guys can start going through it," Brittany explains. "What about you guys?"
"No one here currently recognized Mrs. Grisby, other than seeing her picture from the news," Santana starts off. "However, there were a few employees that remember seeing our other victims in here from time to time."
"We asked the photo tech to check the history of each of our victims. As it turns out, each of them – minus Miss Wilde – had photos developed here just a few days prior to their disappearances," Kyler says. "And get this... Mrs. Grisby was due to pick up some photos from some disposable cameras she had dropped off two days ago."
"So this is where the killer met each of the victims," Brittany ascertains.
"Precisely."
"Is there any way to tell who logged onto the computer to put the orders into the system?"
"Yes and no," Kyler replies. Brittany raises her eyebrow in confusion. "The system shows who was logged in at the time the order was placed, but a lot of the times, the employees just stay logged on all day so anyone who has knowledge of how to use the system can input the customer's information under whoever is still logged on."
"When each of our victims' orders were placed, all of them had different employees listed that helped them," Santana says.
"Anyone that can log onto these computers could've easily looked up each of our victims' names and gotten their addresses and phone numbers," Kyler adds in.
"We collected a list of all of the photo techs that work here and anyone else that has access to these computers. I was just about to send it to Q."
"Sounds good," Brittany affirms. "We're so close to catching this guy."
"I know. I just hope that one of these leads pan out so we can finally give these families some closure," Kyler states. "Let's head back to the precinct."
"Lead the way."
"You guys are just in time," Hudson says to the three ladies as they walk back into the precinct.
"What do we have?" Santana infers.
"From the security footage obtained from the ATM, at approximately 8:08 AM, you can see a male exiting his vehicle and waving at someone from the parking lot next door," Schue starts off.
"From this view, it's hard to see who he's waving at, but..." Puckerman says, "as they get closer to our mystery man, it's clear as day that it's Mrs. Grisby."
"She talks to this guy for a few seconds, so clearly she knows this guy," Hudson explains. "Whatever the guy says to her, it's enough for her to start walking with him."
"Right before she gets passed his car, he slows his pace until he's directly behind her," Dr. Abrams says. "Once that happens, you can see him pull something out of his pocket and then pressing it against Mrs. Grisby's neck."
"Once she's incapacitated, the UnSub quickly puts her into his car," Puckerman adds in. "From there, he exits the parking lot and heads into an unknown direction."
"There isn't a clear view of his face because of the hoodie he's wearing; however... we can tell that he is a white male, approximately 5'8" and 150 lbs," Schue picks back up.
"It looks like he's hiding a Jew fro underneath that hoodie," Puckerman says offhandedly. Sergeant Freeman and Detective Shannon's eyes widen at the agent's comment. "It's cool... I'm Jewish, so I can say that without it being offensive."
Santana just looks at her partner with an expression that says, 'I can't take you anywhere'.
"Anyways..." Schuester says, moving right along, "Fabray is working on trying to enhance this still shot to see if there's anything more identifiable."
Ring... ring... ring...
"Speaking of the devil," Puckerman snickers as he answers his phone. "Hey Baby Girl... you're on speaker."
"Greetings Crime Fighters!" Quinn begins. "Normally I would have something all cute and clever to say, but I'm feeling quite generous today so I'll just get straight to the point."
As Agent Schuester rolls his eyes and lightly shakes his head, he tries his hardest to suppress a grin.
Of course, the case at hand was no laughing matter, but... anytime anyone from the team spoke to their animated Technical Analyst Quinn Fabray, it was hard not to crack a smile at her upbeat attitude and her sometimes – if not at all times – inappropriate, positive energy.
"I was able to clean up the image you sent me and discovered that our UnSub is wearing a blue polo shirt, similar to the ones that the employees at Walgreens wear," Quinn starts again. "As I took a closer look, I was able to make out a name tag with 'Jacob' written on it."
"Can you—"
"My Jewish Adonis... I love you to pieces, but if you interrupt me again, especially right when I'm about to get in my zone... I'll destroy your credit score."
"Point taken."
"So I cross-referenced the name 'Jacob' with all of employees on the list that Santana and Sgt. Freeman gave me earlier and got a hit," Quinn continues on. "There's a Jacob Ben Israel that has been employed by that particular Walgreens for the past 11 months."
"Does he match the description of our UnSub?" Brittany asks.
"He sure does, Gumdrop."
"How come Blondie doesn't get threatened with anything when she asks Q a question?" Noah whispers to his partner.
"Cause she likes Britt more than you," Santana replies like it's the most obvious thing.
"Women..."
"I was also able to pull the license plate number from the vehicle that our UnSub gets out of," Quinn adds in. "It's a 2006 Toyota Corolla, maroon in color. It comes back registered to none other than Jacob Ben Israel."
"We got him!" Hudson says excitedly.
"I've sent his photo and his known addresses to all of your mobile devices."
"Great; I'll get some units to head to his residence and his place of work, just in case he shows up there," Detective Shannon announces.
"Before you guys rush out, I found some more interesting info on Mr. Israel," Quinn warns.
"What is it, Fabray?" Schue implores.
"I did a little digging. It turns out that Mr. Israel was previously employed as a cameraman for the Henry Herald."
"Their headquarters is like a mile from here," Kyler says offhandedly.
"Does it say why he left?" Santana inquires.
"Apparently he was trying to transition from a cameraman to a full-time journalist. He was very close to earning that promotion; however, he got beat out by a female co-worker," Fabray answers. "Apparently he didn't take too kindly to being passed over and made it known."
"I vaguely remember hearing about a call at the Henry Herald involving an irate employee that had just been fired. The guy had to be escorted off of the premises," Kyler explains. "If I remember correctly, it would've been right around the time before the first murder happened."
"Who was the female co-worker?" Agent Schuester asks.
"Her name is Jessica Bartlett. She's 34 years old, single, and of course... she has blonde hair with blue eyes," Quinn replies.
"She's the key," Santana says with a hardened expression. "Where is she now?"
"She has a home out in the Ola area," Quinn responds. "However, Ms. Bartlett no longer works at the Henry Herald. A couple of months after her promotion, she accepted a job at the CNN center in Atlanta."
"That's probably what triggered Mr. Israel," Dr. Abrams begins. "Instead of getting a promotion that he felt he earned and deserved, it went to someone else who ultimately ended up leaving the company."
"And it gets juicer..." Fabray prompts. "For the last few months, Ms. Bartlett has been on assignment overseas. She just got back stateside Tuesday morning."
"That's the day before Mrs. Grisby went missing," Brittany reminds.
"Maybe killing Mrs. Grisby was his welcome home present," Noah suggests.
"Now that she's back in town, there's nothing to stop Israel from going after Ms. Bartlett," Schue explains. "Everybody gear up. We're heading to Atlanta."
"Agent Schuester... I have a few buddies that work for APD," Sergeant Freeman states. "I can give them a heads up. Maybe they can assist?"
Schue gives the brunette sergeant a firm head nod as he exits the room. Kyler makes a quick phone call before she and Detective Shannon head out to their respective vehicles and retrieve their bulletproof vests from their trunks.
"This is it," Pete says to his partner.
"I hope so," Kyler responds.
Although the brunette knew there was a high probability that the man they were about to apprehend was only responsible for 4 of the 5 murders, she was still hopeful that Israel would lead them to their copycat.
"You guys ready?" Santana asks as she approaches them.
"Yeah. Let's do this."
"... that's excellent; just keep eyes on him," Sgt. Freeman says into her phone. "We're pulling in now."
After Kyler hangs up her phone, she addresses the agents in the SUV with her.
"My buddy said Israel is parked on the fourth deck, on the left side, as soon as you come up the ramp. He's parked towards the middle of the stalls with his car facing out. He's still in his vehicle."
Noah nods his head as he speaks into radio to relay the message to his co-workers in the SUV in front of them. "Did you get that Schue?"
"Copy that."
"Quinn said that Ms. Bartlett's timecard shows that she clocked out for lunch about 45 minutes ago so she should be returning in a few minutes," Brittany says. "She drives a silver BMW 328i."
"Got it."
As both SUVs pull into the parking structure and black out completely, they exit out of their vehicles and strategically make their way up the ramp.
"Hudson, Abrams, and Pierce... you're with me," Agent Schuester orders. "Everyone else, stay here and spread out."
As the two teams split off, Santana looks back at Brittany and gives her a subtle wink before falling in behind Puckerman. As she and Noah flank right and up behind the parked cars adjacent to Israel's, Sgt. Freeman and Det. Shannon stay out of sight on the left side.
Meanwhile, Schuester's team quickly goes the opposite way and head towards the stairs. Once they end up on the fifth deck, they slowly trickle down the ramp to the level below so that they could have both sides of the parking deck covered.
"We're in position," Schue transmits to the other team. "Do you have a visual?"
"Yes sir," Puckerman replies. "I can't tell if he has anything in his hands. So far, he's just been rocking back and forth."
"Freeman, do you guys have anything?"
"Negative sir."
"Okay then. On my mark... Hudson, Lopez, Freeman, and I will advance."
"Roger that."
"Three... two... one..."
"Stand down!" Santana yells as quietly as possible. "We have a vehicle approaching."
As the words leave her mouth, a silver sedan comes barreling up the ramp and sharply turns into the first available parking spot on the forth level.
"Can anyone make out the tag on the vehicle?" Schue inquires.
"Yeah, I've got eyes on it," Detective Shannon answers. "It matches the tag number your tech analyst gave us."
"Guys... she's getting out of the car," Dr. Abrams warns.
"So is Isreal..." Puckerman says. "Move in now!"
As the three agents and Sgt. Freeman advance towards the maroon Corolla, the others maintain the perimeter.
As Israel sets his sights on his next victim, the team quickly swoops in and intervenes before he can take another step forward.
"Jacob Ben Israel... FBI!" Santana yells out. "Show me your hands!"
"What the heck is going on?" Ms. Bartlett asks as she sees the multiple law enforcement officers standing behind her with their guns drawn on the man in question. "Jacob?"
Hearing his name leave her lips, Israel attempts to take a strong step forward, but is stopped immediately.
"Mr. Israel... I strongly advise you to stay where you are and slowly remove your hands from your pockets," Santana commands.
"Ms. Bartlett, I need you to walk up that ramp to the other agents waiting," Sgt. Freeman says. "They'll explain everything to you up there."
The unsuspecting journalist dumbly nods her head and does as she is told.
"You fucking bitch!" Israel screams as he makes an aggressive movement towards Ms. Bartlett again.
"Shit!" Santana mutters under her breath as she quickly holsters her weapon and runs right at Israel, tackling him to ground and effectively cutting off his path to Ms. Bartlett.
Santana then shoves Israel's face against the pavement with her right hand, drives her knee into his back, and pulls her Glock 22 back out while giving him verbal commands to stay still and comply with her lawful commands.
"Sergeant Freeman... would you like to do the honors?" Agent Schuester asks the brunette.
"With pleasure," Kyler happily replies as she holsters her duty weapon and pulls out her Smith & Wesson handcuffs and attaches them to Israel's wrists. "Jacob Ben Israel, you're under arrest."
"Man! That feels good to finally say," Detective Shannon says as he assists his partner with getting Israel up on his feet. "I'll take him to the car."
"We've got Bartlett," Dr. Abrams announces.
"Copy that," Puckerman says, acknowledging the young genius. "Dammit Lopez... how come you always get to tackle folks?"
"Cause I'm awesome as hell," Santana smugly replies as she dusts the imaginary dirt off of her shoulder.
Noah just shakes his head at his partner because they both loved giving each other a hard time.
"That was quick thinking," Kyler compliments as she bumps her fist against the Latina's.
"Well, you know what they say... Ask. Tell. Make."
"Amen to that."
"Good job team. Let's get these two back to the precinct," Schue gently orders.
"You got it Boss."
Once back at the precinct, Agent Hudson and Dr. Abrams take the lead on interviewing Ms. Bartlett. Meanwhile, the other agents standby as Israel stews in the interrogation room for half an hour.
"Has he said anything yet?" Puckerman asks as he enters the room with coffee for everyone.
"Nothing that makes any sense besides the occasional 'bitch' and 'slut', from what I've been able to comprehend," Santana answers, taking a long sip of the much needed caffeine.
"He hasn't even asked for a lawyer yet," Kyler adds in.
"Is that normal?" Detective Shannon inquires.
"It's not uncommon," Schue responds. "Some UnSubs can't wait to tell us all about their 'accomplishments' while others just remain silent while we dig their grave for them."
"I can't believe this is our guy; he looks so harmless," Detective Shannon says in wonderment.
"As long as we've been doing this job, nothing really surprises us anymore," Santana states, trying to put some perspective on the situation. "Evil comes in all different shapes and sizes, from the girl next door to the Geek Squad look-alike."
"Point taken," Kyler says good-heartedly.
"Lopez and Puckerman... you're up."
As the two agents give their fearless leader a nod, they grab their folders with the pertinent information they need and head into the interrogation room.
"Mr. Israel, do you know why you're here?" Puckerman questions, taking the lead.
Israel completely ignores Puck in favor of continuing to mumble and fidget with his fingers and the silver bracelets donning his wrists.
"Huh... maybe he didn't hear me?" Puck says to his partner.
"Maybe you should speak up," Santana suggests, "ya know... say it with your chest; use your big boy voice."
Noah gives Santana a pointed look. She wiggles her eyebrows, telling him to play along.
As Israel continues to fidget, making the metal handcuffs annoyingly scratch against the metal desk, Puck tries a new approach.
"Enough!" Puckerman says as he lays his hand on top of the UnSub's now trembling hands. "Now here's what's gonna happen... I'm gonna take these cuffs off of you because quite frankly, if I hear them skate across this desk again..."
Puck then readjusts himself and leans extremely close to Israel, purposely invading his personal space.
"... I'm gonna freakin' lose it," Puckerman continues on. "I've already seriously considered taking one of those cuffs and shoving it in your ear, but then my boss would really be mad at me."
Israel looks at Puck in total disbelief. He then focuses his attention on Santana, who mouths, 'it's true' to him with the most serious expression.
"What exactly is the play here?" Kyler whispers to Brittany, wanting a little insight on the BAU's plan of action.
"By playing the somewhat unstable male authority figure, Noah is building a rapport with Israel. By doing so, he's making Israel unknowingly view him as an ally... someone who has his own list of problems but manages to hold down a federal job," Brittany explains. "By doing so, hopefully he'll be more susceptible to opening up more easily without us having to prod too much."
"What about Santana?"
"Right now, she's there to just enjoy the show and take the subtle clues that Noah gives her," Brittany continues. "If there is a point where she might see an opening, San will take it."
Israel then looks back at Agent Puckerman and slowly nods his head in agreement. Puck then removes the handcuffs from Israel and sits down across from him.
"Okay... let's try this again," Puckerman says a little more calmly. "Do you know why you're here Mr. Israel?"
"Not really... I'm guessing it has something to do with that bit—" Israel begins to say, but then edits himself, "… I mean that woman Jessica."
"That's a good guess. Mind telling me why you wanted to cause harm to Ms. Bartlett?" Puck inquires.
"I wasn't gonna hurt her..." Israel states as his jaw tightens. "I just wanted to talk to her."
"Is that right?" Puck says, flashing his eyes over at his partner.
"Yep."
"Then why did you have this in your pocket?" Santana ponders as she places a photograph of the taser found on Israel's person when he was arrested.
"I'm sure he just carries that around for his own personal protection," Puckerman tries to reason with his partner, waving her off.
"Really?" Santana says condescendingly. "I don't know about you, but usually when I have a conversation with someone, I don't start it off by yelling at them."
Santana pauses briefly as she flips through her notepad and reads off from the notes she took earlier.
"Specifically... I don't yell out, and I quote, 'you fucking bitch' and then proceed to ignore a lawful command by a federal agent," the Latina continues on. "Something like that is generally saved for when you're saying goodbye to someone you strongly dislike."
"So Jacob... do you mind if I call you Jacob?" Noah asks. Israel slowly nods his head. "What where you really doing there? What could Jessica have possibly done that was so bad that you would risk your own life to get to her?"
Israel looks perplexed by the question.
"Dude, seriously... the second you ignored my partner when she told you to take your hands out of your pockets and remain still, she could've lit your ass up with .40 caliber rounds," Puck says more seriously. "But... she decided to take mercy on you; that's why you probably only have a little soreness in your arm and a little dirt on your face from where you hit the ground."
Israel takes a moment to think about Agent Puckerman's words. He then realizes that everything he said was absolutely true. In his fit of rage to get his hands on Jessica, Agent Lopez – or any of the other agents on scene – could've easily shot him dead in his tracks.
The feeling of not being able to complete his mission almost paralyzes Israel. But then again, the mere thought of his life ending permanently puts things into perspective.
After sitting in complete silence for a minute or so, Santana decides it's time to kick this conversation into high gear.
"If you don't want to talk to us, that's fine," Santana says, slightly annoyed. "I'll just go have a little chat with the District Attorney. They'll be here in a little while to formally charge you with five murders. Good luck in prison."
As Agent Lopez is about to walk out of the door, Israel finally snaps out of the trance he was in.
"She stole everything from me…" Israel begins to say. Hearing him finally speak again, Santana halts her movements and takes a seat next to her partner.
"Could you be a little more specific?" Puck gently prods.
"All I've ever wanted to do was be a writer. I was willing to put in the hard work and effort, y'know… work my way up from the bottom," Israel starts again. "When I got hired by the Henry Herald, I started off in the mail room. Eventually, I worked my way up to the cameraman position, just waiting for the opportunity to show my bosses that I could be a great journalist for their company…"
"But… obviously something happened to foil those plans," Agent Puckerman states.
"I had been working on this article to present to my editors, hoping that they would see it and begin to take me seriously as a journalist," Israel continues on. "Jessica knew all about this because I thought we were friends. But, it was all an act. She used me…"
"Used you how?" Santana asks.
"She pretended to care; she pretended to like me," Israel clarifies. "The night before I was gonna turn in my article, Jessica asked me to meet her at Sandy Ridge Park. We talked and then she kissed me and…"
"You guys hooked up," Puck says knowingly, trying to move the conversation along by sparring his partner with whatever graphic details Israel might've been ready to reveal.
"Yeah… while my eyes were rolling in the back of my head from the amount of pleasure she was giving me, Jessica had other plans," Israel picks back up. "The next day when I got to work, I saw everyone congratulating Jessica. When I asked a co-worker of mine what was going on, he told me that Jessica had gotten the promotion and then showed me a copy of the article that she was gonna have published."
"It was your article, wasn't it?" Santana says rhetorically.
Israel nods his head.
"Well, that definitely explains why he dumped all of the bodies along Sandy Ridge Road," Detective Shannon says in the other room.
"So, Jessica seduced you so that she could steal all of your research; all of your hard work," Puck states, trying to sympathize. "I get it… I would want that bitch dead too."
"I should've known better. A girl like her... a guy that looks like me," Israel says in response. "You get what I'm saying Agent Lopez, right?"
If Santana was surprised by the question, her facial expression certainly did not show it.
"That's not really my area of expertise," Santana vaguely responds.
On the opposite side of the two-way mirror, Brittany's face briefly twitches, revealing a small smile.
"Did I miss something?" Kyler whispers to the blonde agent.
"Hmm?"
"You were just smiling."
"Was I?" Brittany replies, covering her mouth immediately, trying to brush the statement off. "I'm generally a happy person; sometimes I smile uncontrollably. Like Tourette's."
Agent Schuester scrunches his eyebrows together as he looks over at the recently promoted profiler.
Brittany glances over to see her boss and Sgt. Freeman with similar expressions on their faces. Once Schue turns away to put his focus back on the interrogation, Kyler continues to look at Brittany curiously.
"I'm just gonna be silent for the remainder of the interrogation," Brittany says quietly.
Kyler lightly grins at the blonde profiler as she concurs, turning her attention back to the UnSub in the room.
"So, what happened once you found out that she had stolen your article and gotten the job you had worked so hard for?" Agent Puckerman inquires.
"I don't know... I just lost it. I saw red and the only thing that I could comprehend was the fact that she needed to pay; she needed to feel as much pain as she caused me," Israel candidly states as he roughly rubs his temples and begins to rock back and forth in his chair. "But I couldn't get to her fast enough. I tried... dammit I tried, but my co-workers held me back."
Santana and Noah carefully watch Israel as he seems to be reliving the stressor that would eventually turn him into a killer.
"I wanted to wrap my hands around her little neck and watch the light from her eyes drain out," Israel says vividly as he continues to rock back and forth. "Unfortunately, the police were called and escorted me off the premises... but not before I was fired and given a criminal trespass warning from the building. I had to get a job at fucking Walgreens just to make ends meet."
"If he had so much pent up anger towards Jessica, then why not just kill her?" Detective Shannon poses. "I'm sure he had plenty of opportunities; probably even knew where she lived."
"Too risky," Schue states in a monotone voice. "Given how their last encounter went, Israel would've been your prime suspect."
"But... if he kills a bunch of women that resemble his true target, it would be a lot harder to track him down," Brittany adds in.
"So what changed? What was it that finally sent you over the edge and made you do this?" Santana questions as she lays down a photograph from the autopsy of the first victim, Terri Schiber.
Israel just stares at the picture, his face void of emotion.
"Or this?"
Santana then places down a similar picture of Cassandra July. Again, Israel just looks at the photo.
"Or this..."
Santana then lays down a photograph of April Rhodes.
Israel leans closer, scanning each of the pictures.
"A few months after I left the Herald, I ran into an old colleague of mine. He told me that Jessica had quit not too long after I left," Israel explains. "I had forgotten all about that bitch up until that point. Hearing about her new fancy job at CNN just brought all of that anger back."
Israel then closes his eyes and balls up his fist, seemingly trying to maintain his control after seeing his handy work on the first three victims.
"I never wanted to hurt anyone, but after thinking about how amazing Jessica's career was going... and how shitty mine was... I couldn't help myself," he continues on. "When Mrs. Schiber came into the store that day, I swear... I thought she was Jessica. The rest of the day was a blur until I found myself parked outside of her house."
Israel pauses for a moment, seemingly re-living the moment in his mind.
"I sat out there for about an hour; that's when she left. I followed her to the grocery store. She was alone."
"Her husband was away on business in Thailand. They're 13 hours ahead of us," Kyler says to the agents in the room. "Phone records show Mrs. Schiber last spoke to her husband around 7:30 PM the night of her disappearance."
"Mr. Schiber confirmed this when we spoke to him," Detective Shannon adds in. "He was about to head into a meeting when his wife told him that she needed to run to the store to get a few things."
"He said that he texted her a couple of hours later to say goodnight. When he didn't get a response, he figured that she had fallen asleep already," Kyler picks back up. "Mr. Schiber was in back-to-back meetings all day. By the time he got back to his hotel room, he called his wife and wished her a good day. She didn't answer so he left a voicemail. He dozed off shortly after that. When he woke up and didn't have any missed calls or texts from Mrs. Schiber, he started to get worried."
"She came out of the store about 15 minutes later... that's when I grabbed her," Israel says, continuing his account of events. "Once I got her back to my barn, I tied her up. When she woke up and I saw those crystal blue eyes staring back at me with fear, I felt powerful. I've never felt that way in my entire life."
"Clearly he was bullied in high school," Detective Shannon states, shaking his head.
"And then, with all of my strength, I took my knife and plunged it into her. She screamed so loud... but nobody could hear her," Israel states, detailing the last gruesome moments of Mrs. Schiber's life. "Every time I stuck my knife into her, I felt more powerful. I couldn't stop... I didn't want to stop until she was quiet; motionless."
"Sick son of a bitch," Kyler mumbles out.
"I don't see how you guys deal with this on a daily basis," Detective Shannon says aloud, but more to himself. "People killing people in the heat of the moment; I get that. But this... this deliberate act of violence on multiple occasions by the same perp is surreal. I've been policing for 15 years with multiple agencies and I've never seen anything like this before."
"The mind of a psychopath is a very dangerous place to be," Schue says in response. "It takes a high level of skill and discipline, mixed with tolerance and compartmentalization, to be able to see the things that we see without it adversely affecting us."
"I guess that's why you guys get paid the big bucks," Detective Shannon retorts. "More power to you guys. The local level is more than enough for me."
At that comment, Kyler looks down at the ground, seemingly lost in thought. Brittany notices this, but chooses not to inquire about it at this point in time.
"What happened with Mrs. July and Mrs. Rhodes?" Puckerman questions.
Since Israel was freely talking about how he stalked, kidnapped, and then ended Mrs. Schiber's life, the agents figured... why stop him now?
The more information they were able to ascertain, the more solid their already air-tight case would be. Plus, if he was ignorant enough to not plead guilty and try to convince a group of his peers that he was innocent, his own detailed confession would surely refute that and shoot down any credibility that he may have still had intact.
Israel then goes on to tell the events that took place when Mrs. July met her demise.
Like before, after Mrs. July had come into his store to pick up her photos, Israel became fixated. Instead of attacking her the same night, however, he waited for a few days so that he could follow her and obtain her schedule.
On one of these particular days, Mrs. July stopped at the mall in the neighboring county. After watching her spend an hour inside of Victoria's Secret, he decided to go back to his car and wait for her to come out. Unfortunately for her, once Mrs. July finally made it out of the mall, it just so happened to be at the time when the parking lot was very desolate... the perfect time for him to strike.
With Mrs. Rhodes, Israel once again followed her for a few days, learning her routine. Every Wednesday, like clockwork, she would take her little gray poodle to the park and jog along the track.
It was during one of these outings that he decided to put his plan into motion.
Oddly enough, Israel spared her dog, dropping it off down the street from Mrs. Rhodes' house after he had taken her last breath.
"Why didn't he just kill the dog too?" Kyler wondered. "Isn't it risky to go to Mrs. Rhodes' neighborhood to return the pooch?"
"Yeah... I mean clearly this guy doesn't give a crap about human lives so why go through the extra trouble," Detective Shannon adds in.
At the same time, Agent Puckerman asks Israel the same question. His response was that his 'beef' wasn't with the dog.
"You'd be surprised at the high percentage in which people donate money to charities involving animals over other charities involving actual people," Brittany explains. "Despite the monster that we all know him to be, at the end of the day... Israel is still human. Although faint, it shows that he still has glimpses of good in him and the ability to restrain himself when he wants to."
"Unlike most of the UnSubs we come across, Israel displaying any sign of remorse tells us a lot about his sociopathy," Schue informs. "I'm interested to hear what he has to say about Mrs. Grisby."
"Looks like you're about to find out," Kyler comments as she points to Santana on the other side of the glass.
As Santana lays down the photos of the most recent victims, the smug, uncaring look on Israel's face instantly melts away. He completely ignores the picture of Kitty Wilde as his eyes become hyper-focused on the one of Megan Grisby.
Israel places his hand on top of the photograph and slides it closer to him, intently studying its every detail.
As his whole demeanor changes, the agents know that they are on the edge of confirming their copycat theory.
"I really liked Mrs. Grisby," Israel says with a hint of regret in his voice. "She was always really nice to me and sincere when she asked how my day was going."
"Then why did you kill her? Better yet, why did you stab her 107 times?" Santana curiously implores.
Israel uses the pad of his finger to trace the contours of Mrs. Grisby's face. "She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Could you expand on that?"
"I was in my car, waiting for my shift to start when I heard the news. I got so angry that someone tried to copy me," Israel begins. "I checked my phone so that I could pull the story up, and there she was... some young, hot 20 something year old that looked like Jessica's mini me."
"Wait, what does he mean someone 'copied' him?" Detective Shannon wonders as he looks around the room. He then looks directly at Sergeant Freeman, who can't maintain direct eye contact with him.
"Given that her physical appearance was the only thing she had in common with the other victims, we believe that Kitty Wilde was killed by a copycat; someone who works very closely with your department," Agent Schuester answers.
As Detective Shannon scrunches his eyebrows in confusion, he looks back at his partner. "Kyler... you knew about this?"
With a harden expression, Kyler slowly nods her head in affirmation.
"I was informed this morning."
"And you didn't tell me," Detective Shannon says in disbelief as he takes a step towards the brunette sergeant. "I'm your partner... how could you not tell me?"
Without giving her a chance to respond, Detective Shannon hastily exits the room.
As much as Sergeant Freeman wanted to go after her partner and explain the situation to him, she didn't. After knowing Pete for so long, she knew it was best to give him some time alone to blow off some steam.
"I'm sorry that we put you in that position," Brittany says sympathetically.
"Don't be," Kyler replies. "I'm no stranger to the chain of command. When someone with a higher rank than you tells you to do something, as long as it's not illegal or unethical... you do it."
Leaving no more room for discussion on the matter, Kyler focuses her attention back on their suspect.
"All of that anger I felt for Jessica started boiling up again. I was on the brink of exploding. But then, I looked up... and there she was, across the street," Israel continues on as he slowly starts to rock back and forth again in his seat. "I just lost it. There was no plan; I just grabbed her and threw her in my car."
Israel pauses, trying to fight through his next selection of words.
"I had her tied up, but when she came to and looked me squarely in my eyes, I knew I had made a mistake. It was too late though... she had seen my face. There was no way I could just let her go after that," Israel tries to explain. "I had to kill her or else she would've turned me in. You understand, right?"
"Of course," Puck says, maintaining his faux alliance with the suspect.
"She didn't suffer; I promise," Israel pleads.
"We believe you. That's why you stabbed her in the thigh first, right?"
"Exactly!" Israel exclaims, grateful that Agent Puckerman really seemed to genuinely understand the situation he was in. "I told her I was sorry."
"I'm sure she appreciated that," Puck says. "But I still don't get why you stabbed her so many times. Can you help me out here?"
"I told you; I was angry," Israel reiterates. "She was already dead anyways, so I just took it all out on her."
"Thank you for at least covering her up when you dropped off her body," Puckerman says.
"Of course."
"So, is that why you went after Jessica today... because you were angry?" Santana inquires.
"Yes! It's her fault that those women are dead," Israel says passionately. "Once I found out she was back in town, I couldn't wait any longer."
Seeing that Israel was getting a little riled up again, Noah decides to offer him a beverage so that he could cool down.
"Can I get you some water or something?"
"Some water would be nice," Israel says thankfully.
"Alrighty, we'll be back in a minute."
Agent Puckerman and Agent Lopez then exit the interrogation room and rejoin their colleagues in the observation room.
"So, what do you think Schue?" Santana questions.
"He seems genuine, at least about what he did to Mrs. Grisby," Agent Schuester responds.
"He vouched for all of the other murders," Puck adds in. "Plus, he didn't even give Miss Wilde's photo a second glance.
"Is that enough to definitively say that he didn't kill her though?" Kyler asks.
"Let's find out," Schue says briskly. "Puckerman, you make sure Mr. Israel gets his water. Lopez, I want you to antagonize him a little; see how it makes him feel. Once we've got him on edge, Pierce will go in to really rattle his cage."
Instinctively, Brittany, Noah, and Kyler subtly glance over towards Santana.
Santana is torn. She wants to say something, but she doesn't want to put suspicion on herself or Brittany. Also, she didn't want to possibly upset her girlfriend by implying that she couldn't take care of herself.
Seeing his partner's struggle, Noah steps in.
"Uh Schue, with all do respect, do we really need to put Brittany in a room with an unstable sociopath with a knack for brutally stabbing pretty blonde women with blue eyes?" He gently asks his leader. "We've already got this guy dead to rights."
"Agent Puckerman... are you insinuating that Agent Pierce is not fit for duty and fully capable of taking care of herself?" Schuester retorts. "Or are you implying that three highly trained FBI agents are incapable of controlling a 150 pound male in the middle of a police station?"
"No sir."
"Then why are you all still standing here?"
Without another word, Santana and Noah exit the room. As they walk down the hallway to retrieve an unopened water bottle for Israel, Noah looks back at his partner.
"You soooo owe me."
"I know," Santana sincerely replies, thankful that he voiced her concerns and unexpectedly got an ass chewing from their boss.
"Let's get this over with."
Both agents then re-enter the interrogation room and take their respective seats. Puckerman hands Israel the bottle of the water.
"Thank you."
"So, Mr. Israel... we're just about done here, but there's something that's just not adding up," Santana begins. "You see, me and my partner here have a bet going. He thinks that you're telling the truth about having no involvement in the death of Kitty Wilde. I, on the other hand, think that's impossible."
"Why would I lie?" Israel counters back, sounding a little irritated. "I admitted to killing the others. What could I possible have to gain by lying about killing her too?"
"I'm glad you asked. I have a theory," Santana answers before breaking down her logic. "Georgia is a state that endorses capital punishment. By confessing to four of the murders, and even showing a little remorse for Mrs. Grisby, maybe you're hoping that the DA will have a little mercy on you and take the death penalty off of the table? Sure, you'll still be serving four consecutive life sentences in a federal prison, but hey... four's better than five, right?"
"Do you guys like practice what you're gonna say beforehand in your interrogations or do you just wing it?" Kyler curiously inquires.
"Based on the UnSub's personality, we usually have an idea on how we want to approach each of them," Schue responds.
"With Santana and Noah though, they've been partners for so long that they naturally feed off of each other and whatever vibe they get from that particular UnSub," Brittany adds in. "It's always fun and fascinating to watch them work an UnSub who thinks they're in control, but really they're just playing into our game."
"I didn't kill her," Israel replies flatly. "I've never even seen her before."
"Yeah... still don't believe you."
"Believe what you want," Israel says curtly. "I told you... I didn't kill her."
"Well, you also told us that you felt bad for what you did to Mrs. Grisby, but that still didn't stop you," Santana reminds as she really starts to lay into him. "You said that you were 'angry' and you 'lost it' so I'm just curious to know more about these control issues you seem to be having."
Israel just looks back at Agent Lopez, his face twitching with anger.
"Pierce, you're up," Schuester says to the younger agent.
Brittany nods and then exits the room. She then stands outside of the interrogation room, putting her ear up to the door, waiting for her signal to enter.
"If you don't mind me asking, how is sending Agent Pierce in there supposed to conclusively show whether or not Israel killed Miss Wilde?" Kyler implores.
"Right now, Agent Lopez is taunting Israel and gauging his reactions," Schue begins to explain. "His anger is building up and now solely focused on Lopez. Once we add Pierce into the mix – an almost exact replica of the woman he loathes – we'll see his true colors and just how much of his control his loses."
"Makes sense."
"Are you upset, Mr. Israel?" Santana asks, condescendingly. "You seem a little upset... maybe even a little angry?"
"I don't like being called a liar?" Israel replies, gritting his teeth.
"I never called you a liar," Santana says calmly. "Agent Puckerman, did you hear me call Mr. Israel a liar?"
Just as Puck is about to answer, Israel quickly cuts him off and yells out, "You implied it!"
"First of all, lower your voice," Santana says sternly, letting Israel know that she was the authority in the room. This pissed him off to no avail. "And secondly, yes... I did imply it. But what am I supposed to think, Jacob? Kitty Wilde is basically a replica of everything you hate."
"She was a kid!"
"So what, did you card your other victims before you decided to use them as human pincushions?" Santana retorts. "I'm trying to help you here, but you gotta give me something."
"You don't want to help me," Israel says perceptively. "You've been looking at me with disdain ever since you step into this room."
"Is that why you hate women?" Santana suddenly asks, lowering her voice. "You think we're all out to 'get' you?"
"Don't patronize me," Israel responds, his nostrils flaring red.
It's at this point that Brittany decides to enter the room.
"Sorry to interrupt..." Brittany says apologetically. "Agent Lopez, I need your signature on this."
As Brittany hands Santana a phony document for her to sign, Noah carefully watches as Israel's eyes darken and he clenches his fist.
It seemed as though everything else in the room became obsolete.
"Did you need anything else, Agent Pierce?" Santana softly asks.
Before Brittany has a chance to reply, Israel violently rises from the table, making his chair tip over. While yelling out 'you bitch' towards the blonde agent, Israel attempts to leap across the table with his arms flailing out.
Seeing the sudden movement, Brittany immediately takes a step back. Meanwhile, Santana expertly slides back in her chair and uses her dominant hand to catch the back of Israel's head and effectively slams his face into the table.
"Fuck!" Israel yells out in agony as blood begins to leak out of his nose.
"Seriously dude... how did you think that was gonna end?" Puck says rhetorically as he handcuffs Israel again. He then lifts his face off of the table and sits him down, revealing Israel's crooked glasses and bloody face. "Hey Freeman... you might wanna get an ambulance rolling this way. I'm pretty sure Lopez broke his nose."
Kyler knocks twice on the two-way mirror, letting Noah know that she heard him.
"I better go in there," Schue says as he leaves the room and joins the other agents in the interrogation room. "Everybody alright?"
"No! That bitch broke my nose!"
"Actually... what I just witnessed was my agent defending herself and Agent Pierce as you casually decided to add an additional charge of Attempted Assault on a Federal Agent to your resume. Congratulations," Agent Schuester says with no hint of joking in his tone. He then turns to his female agents. "Why don't you two take a break? I'll wait here with Agent Puckerman."
"Yes sir," they reply in unison as they step outside of the room.
As they begin to walk down the hallway and pass by the unoccupied interrogation room next door, Brittany quickly pulls Santana inside and closes the door. Before she can question what her girlfriend is doing, Brittany gently pushes Santana's back against the door and captures her lips in a passionate kiss, reminiscent of a few nights ago when her and Santana decided to be more than friends.
Santana immediately reciprocates and allows herself to get lost in her girlfriend's lips for a few moments before getting too carried away, given their current location.
Regretfully, the two agents break a part, enjoying the comfort of being this close to each other for just a little while.
"What did I do to deserve that?" Santana ponders.
"You're such a badass... y'know that?"
"Is that right?" Santana says in her sultry tone. "You should really save that sexy talk for when we get back home and I can actually do something about it."
Brittany places a chaste kiss to her girlfriend's lips before taking a step back from Santana. "I'll keep that in mind."
Santana smiles at Brittany, that simple but special kind of smile that was reserved just for her.
"What? Do I need to reapply?" Brittany cutely asks, pointing to her lips.
"Nope... you're perfect."
Brittany's breath catches in her throat as she lightly blushes. She would never get used to this side of Santana.
As she tries to look away from her girlfriend, Santana cups her chin and gently turns it back towards her.
"You don't have to do that anymore," Santana softly says.
"I'm sorry... I just never know what to say sometimes when you say amazing things like that to me."
"You don't have to say anything Britt," Santana simply replies as she leans in and lightly connects their lips for a second. "We should get back to work. I'll go get us some coffee."
With those parting words, Santana leaves her girlfriend in the room, alone with her thoughts.
Brittany deeply inhales before slowly letting it out, trying desperately to gather herself before rejoining her co-workers.
"I can't wait until we get back home," Brittany quietly mumbles to herself before leaving the room.
Once Brittany gets back to the observation room, she sees Kyler in there by herself.
"How's Israel doing?"
"Well... his nose is still broken," Kyler says humorously. She then looks at the blonde agent more directly, noticing the pinkish tint on her cheeks. "You okay, Brittany? You look a little flushed."
Inside of her head, Brittany screams loudly because she didn't think that her blush would still be present or even that noticeable. Luckily for her though, she was able to keep her face neutral.
Brittany raises her hand and lightly touches her face. "It must be from all of the excitement of watching Santana slam that guy's face into the table."
It wasn't too far from the truth.
Although exciting to watch, seeing her girlfriend protect her like that was definitely sexy as hell... not to mention that it totally turned Brittany on.
But... Kyler didn't need to know about all of that.
"Yeah, that definitely was incredible to watch," Kyler agrees. "Where's Santana?"
"She went to get us some coffee."
"Oh okay."
"Shannon still hasn't come back yet?" Brittany asks.
"Nope."
"Sorry to hear that," Brittany says sympathetically. "At least we know we were right though... about the copycat."
"How so?" Kyler questions. "Did you guys know that Israel would react like that?"
"Not exactly, but given his hatred for Ms. Bartlett, it wasn't hard to assume that he might try to attack me," Brittany explains. "Before I went in there, he was completely fixated on Santana. She was the center of his anger. But... as soon as I walked in, even though I didn't speak to him or make eye contact, he snapped and tried to fling himself at me."
"For him to have that kind of response to you but completely ignore the photo of Kitty Wilde is odd, but it makes sense," Kyler says, starting to put the puzzle pieces together. "Although Miss Wilde looks very similar to what Ms. Bartlett would've looked like at that age, Israel's rage is only directed at what she looks like now."
"Exactly. Israel didn't know Jessica back when she was in her early 20s. He only knew her from when they worked together," Brittany concurs. "Because that particular image of her is engrained into his mind from the last time he saw her, that's the reason why even if he had come into contact with Miss Wilde... he wouldn't have lost control like that and killed her."
Before their conversation continues, Santana returns with three cups of coffee.
"Thanks," Brittany and Kyler say at the same time.
"So, what did I miss?" Santana ponders.
"Nothing much... I was just learning more about how you guys basically infiltrate the mind of a serial killer," Kyler responds. "I mean... I have a Master's in Psychology, but damn..."
Brittany and Santana share a laugh.
"It's definitely a very long and tedious process, but it's worth it," Brittany starts to say. "When we can bring closure to these families that have pretty much lost all hope... it definitely makes it worth it."
Hearing her girlfriend speak about hope and why she does this job makes Santana's heart swell. It's one of the main reasons that she fell for Brittany so long ago.
"It takes a special type of person to be able to see the things we see on a daily basis and continue to do this job," Santana adds in, slightly glancing at Brittany. "I wouldn't trade for the world though. Like I said before, these people are my family. What we're able to accomplish together is unlike anything else I've ever been a part of."
Now it's Brittany's turn to get all emotional, even if no one else in the room could see it. Hearing the sincerity in Santana's voice just reminds her of how lucky she is to be able to call the Latina her girlfriend.
"Okay... we're gonna have to stop all of this mushy talk before I start crying over here," Brittany says suddenly.
Kyler and Santana lightly laugh at the blonde's cute outburst.
"Okay, moving on..." Kyler says, still giggling a little. "So, what's the plan?"
"We find ourselves a copycat," Santana replies.
Kyler nods her head. "Let's get to work then."
Author's Note:
Hello out there! I hope you guys enjoyed this extra-long update. Thanks again for continuing to read my stories. I really do appreciate it and all of the comments that you guys leave for me. We're one step away from finding out who the copycat is so stayed tuned.
For those of you reading my other story 3rd & Lucky, I haven't forgotten about you guys. My intention was to update that story first before updating this one again, but I just kinda got on a role with this universe. I really want to wrap up this case before heading back to the 3rd universe, but if you guys would prefer to wait so that I can work on updates for other stories, then let me know.
Until next time,
-K
Disclaimer: I do not own or have any affiliations with the police department or any of the businesses/companies mentioned in this story.