SSA Scottley - A collection - S.R.

Till death do us part

Episode: 11x03

"Let's get started." Hotch said, as he, Morgan and Penelope entered the conference room after talking about whatever it was they needed to talk about.

Lily got up from her place between Spencer and Rossi and straightened her skirt, before picking up the remote to start presenting the case to the team.

"Ok. So, Savannah, Georgia. Brandy Green of Dover, Delaware, was found 3 months ago in a dumpster in the back of an alley when she went to town for a bachelor party. Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head."

"What's that wrapped around her face?" Rossi asked, as he looked at the pictures on the screen of his tablet.

"That would be sash she was wearing all night that says 'bride-to-be' embroidered on it." Lily answered.

"The wrapping could be ritualistic, like a shroud of some sort." Tara said.

"Or a sign of the killer's remorse." Spencer added.

"But this happened 3 months ago. Why are we getting this now?" Morgan asked.

"Because two days ago, the body of Ashley Wilcox of Dayton, Ohio, was also found in an alley dumpster in Savannah. And she also had blunt force trauma, but she was strangled to death with her 'bride-to-be' sash."

"It's unlikely the work of the same jilted lover, since the two women lived in different states hundreds of miles apart." Tara said.

"They could be surrogates." Rossi shrugged.

"Any sign of sexual assault?" Morgan asked, as Lily shook her head.

"None on Brandy. We don't know about Ashley yet."

"What's interesting is the unsub doesn't care about hiding the bodies very well." Spencer noted.

"Well, he'd have to be physically fit to lift the bodies into the dumpsters." Morgan added.

"He could be sending a message that to him women are trash, disposable." Lily offered.

"No, this is about marriage. He's taking these brides on the eve of what should be the happiest day of their lives. He wants to crush that." Tara said. "Their weddings have become their wakes."

***

"Here you go." Morgan said, as he passed Lewis a cup of coffee, sitting down beside Hotch on the jet back home.

"Thank you." She smiled, taking the warm cup in her hands.

"Wow, so that's where the sun went. Nice rock." Rossi commented, when he finally noticed the engagement ring that Tara hadn't showed them until that day.

"It is beautiful." Lily agreed from her place beside Spencer on the couch next to the table they were sitting.

"Thank you." She smiled, as she looked down at it and frowned just slightly.

"Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?" Rossi asked, also taking noticing of her small change of expression.

"Uh, no. I love him. I really do." She quickly responded. "It's just, um... This job makes things..."

"Complicated?" Morgan finished for her, as she nodded.

"What's complicated?" Spencer asked, finally lifting his eyes off the book he was so into the past hour.

"Relationships." Rossi answered with a chuckle. "You're not the only one, Tara. So, Morgan, when are you and Savannah walking down the aisle?"

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa." Derek said, as he lifted his hands up in mock-surrender. "Baby steps. Baby steps. What are we doing?"