The Female Unsub

Chapter Eight: Spencer's POV

The door opens and Hotch enters the room. He walks over to me and hands me a new file.

"They found Richard Banks," He whispers, low enough so Sloane can't hear. "The M.E is looking at the body now, but I think the crime scene photos might shake her just enough to cause her to slip up."

I nod and Hotch walks out of the room. I look in the file and see the bloody crime scene. It's clear that Mr. Banks was shot in the face, probably had the gun in his mouth based on the state of the corpse. I look through the evidence quickly, there's not much to go on based on this, but perception is key here. If I act like there's evidence she was there in here, it might be enough to shake her.

I allow my mouth to turn into a smirk, "you're smart, Sloane, you really are," I state, as I close the file and place it on top of the other one, "but sometimes even the best laid plans have their flaws."

She looks annoyed, like whatever I have in this folder isn't worth her time. I open the file again and pull out a photo of Mr. Banks' body. She barely looks at the photo before registering what it is and looks away. She looks like she might throw up or cry, but hasn't decided which yet.

"Why are you showing me that," she asks, her voice is shaking slightly, like she's trying to remain calm but is struggling. She's starting to break.

"That is the body of Richard Banks, the fourth man who went missing," I say, gaining confidence. "Nashville PD just discovered him while searching his property."

"Can you please put the picture away?" she asks, her voice is trembling now. Wait, is she actually showing emotions about the photo? I glance at the mirror, knowing I won't see my team, but giving them a look to show I'm not sure what's going on.

I pick up the photo and place it back in the file. My eyes are trained on her as she cautiously glances over, this is the first sign of hesitation she's shown today. Since we brought her in, she has been nothing but stone faced, confident, and challenging me at every turn. But now her confidence has been shaken, I think she's realizing the gravity of the charges pending against her and it's getting to her. She fully turns to face me again and there's a softness in her eyes that wasn't there before.

"Thank you," her voice is so quiet. It takes me a moment to register her new tone, "I don't do well with blood, even if it is just in a picture."

I ponder this for a moment, she's acting genuine. But the voice in the back of my mind is telling me that this might be a mask to hide the monster within.

"Look," Sloane says, after taking a deep breath, "I get that you want to find out what's happening to these men, I would too if I were in your position, but I didn't take them."

Her voice is soft, she sounds defeated. I know my face is giving away my confusion and wariness of her change in attitude. This is the first time she has shown any real humanity and I'm trying to determine which personality is the real Sloane.

There's a knock on the glass and I leave the room without a word. After closing the door softly, I turn to see JJ, Hotch, and Derek looking into the interrogation room. I join them at the window to see Sloane has wrapped the blanket around herself again and is nervously picking at her nail polish.

"M.E report came back," Derek says, looking at me, "he's ruling it a suicide."

"What?!" I say, tearing my eyes away from Sloane to fully face Morgan, "a suicide?"

He nods, "apparently the only finger prints on the gun were the vics and given how he was shot, it's only plausible that he did it to himself."

I rub the back of my neck, trying to process this. "Was there a note on the scene?" I ask.