Heurism | Spencer Reid¹

CHAPTER FIVE: THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT

"Ideologies separate us, dreams and anguish bring us together."

     — Eugène Ionesco

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I find JJ shut away in a side office. She has a grid map and various post-its spread across the desk, a landline telephone lying speaker-up by her elbow. Sticking my head around the door, I knock gently. "How's the search party getting on?"

She turns and grimaces. "Haven't heard anything. How's Mrs Hanson?"

"Not good. She's insisting on staying here in case there's news. Cherish's dad is out looking. According to her mom, the kid's an angel, always willing to help others out. She'd just gotten a promise ring from Adam."

"I heard a voice! Is that her? Is that Sully?"

Cringing, JJ calls into the phone, "Garcia, you're on speaker."

"Oh. Hi, I'm Garcia. Tech analyst. And you're Sully! Cool name. I've heard things — good things! Such as your cool... name."

I chuckle as I pull up a seat. The chair legs screech unpleasantly against the hardwood floor. "Good to know. Hey, have you found anything on the residents?"

A huff can be heard, the long breath of someone ready to be done with all of the research into a seemingly tiny population. "Man, this is one Peyton Place of a town. Most everyone lives well above the median income of the country. You have doctors, lawyers..." She pauses and I think I hear a hint of excitement in her voice as she says, "One guy owns a bunch of shoe stores up and down the Eastern Seaboard."

JJ also perks up, sending a sidelong smirk in my direction. "Is he married?"

"Yeah. Story of my life, Sunshine."

"Since when has that stopped anyone before?" I jokingly point out. It earns me a light kick in the shin.

"Ooh, bad girl alert. I like her! But wait a second... Reverend Paul Burke. Looks like he became born-again in prison."

We share a wary glance. Nudging the phone out of her way, JJ consults her notes. "Prison?"

"Two years as the guest of State of Ohio for embezzlement," she explains. "I'm seeing a lot of tax sheltering and various hanky-panky here, but I'm not sure what would suggest potential Satanic cult members."

I wrack by brain for anything before leaning in to be better heard. "I mean, I'm kinda guessing here but any sign of truancy — specifically a history of anti-social behaviour — could indicate that kind of oppositional ideology. That and any obvious withdrawal from society. Cult members rely solely on their leader and one another. It may manifest as a ton of absences or gaps in résumés."

"Hold on."

"What, you got something?"

"Yeah, I got a guy with a ton of debt. Spotty work history, like you said. His house is in foreclosure," she lists off. Then she seems to gain more certainty. "He's got a record, too. Assault with a deadly weapon three years ago."

JJ leans in again to ask, "Wait, does it say what the weapon was?"

"Baseball bat."

"Our UnSub used a blunt object."

"Bats are blunt, aren't they?"

Her eyes narrow at the map. "What's this guy's name?"

"Dent. Henry Dent."

Taking the initiative to scan the list of names, I mutter, "Just a couple letters short of being a totally cool comic book villain. Poor guy was so close. There, grid B-5."