Never Together Nor Apart

[Chapter 47]

Emily's POV:

"We sure this is the same unsub?" Rossi questions.

"Garcia setup a search parameter for closed adoptions. Bill Kinderman was adopted May 5, 1985," I reply.

"The M.E. said the victim slit his own throat. That's a big change in M.O," Rossi warns.

"Well, what if that wasn't the unsub? What if that was Bill? So the only other person in the apartment was his son, who slept through the whole thing. What if the unsub tried to get him to kill his son, but his parental instinct trumped the effects of the drugs?" I suggest.

"Thank god for that, but we're still at square zero. This unsub committed four murders in four states. How is he connecting these victims so quickly?" Rossi wonders.

"Well, that's what Hotch is trying to figure out right now with Kinderman's ex-wife," I shift my eyes to view them.

*time skip*

"All right, let's assume all the victims share Bill Kinderman's propensity for recovered memories. What does that mean for the unsub?" Aaron asks.

"It means his drug would have more of an effect on them," I state.

"Why them more than a normal person though?" Alex chimes in.

"Because when something's remembered for the first time on a therapist's couch, it's often a fantasy the patient is talking themselves into believing. Popular thinking is that recovered memories are actually just a form of self-hypnosis. That's why the patients are so convinced the delusion is real," Reid rambles.

"So if these victims are already talking themselves into believing fiction, they would be more suggestible when they're dosed," Rossi concludes.

"We profiled these victims had a pre-existing condition. I think this is it," Aaron exclaims.

"How would the unsub know that?" Morgan asks.

"Because he was there the last time they made up a story, in 1985," Aaron answers.

"So they were only 3-4 years old. Kids that age can't distinguish fantasy from reality," I vocalize.

"Exactly. And their age plus the time period puts us right at the night of the satanic ritual abuse allegations," Aaron explains.

"Oh, crap," Rossi realizes.

"This is a complete different set of circumstances," Alex argues.

"Was it? Throughout the 1980s, pre-school age kids made accusations against their teachers," Aaron try's to prove his point.

"McMaryjn, Fells Acres, Kern County. 279 cases by 1988. Numerous innocent teachers had their careers and lives ruined, and all the cases were ultimately debunked," Reid spits out the information.

"By the BAU and the Lanning report, thank you very much," Rossi credits himself.

"Except that was a mass hysteria involving teachers and kids, and these victims were adopted," Alex catch's up.

"Well, that's the deviation that made us miss the profile until now. Thirty years ago, these victims could have made similar accusations in a foster home, all saying the sam thing, that they saw this," Aaron holds up the drawn shadow monster drawings.

"There year old Larry Merrin would have the monster dragged him down the stairs," Rossi adds to the story.

"And four year old Daniel Karras one-upped it by adding a sexual detail. That's how kids tell stories especially when they're reinforced by well-meaning parents, therapists, and cops," Morgan nods.