timeless, spencer reid [ 1 ]

019. 52 pickup

They're in Atlanta on a case and are currently at the police station.

"The unsub killed the prostitutes in separate pay by the hour motels in Fulton County, right there in one of the poorer neighborhoods in the area." Spencer says as he walks over to the others, three coffees in hand. He gives one to Derek and another to Bedelia.

"Now, Vanessa Holden's apartment was in the Peachtree district, where there's a lot of big money. Based on the geography, he isn't just changing his victimology, he's changing his whole tax bracket." Spencer says.

"The high profile of Vanessa Holden bears that out. By killing her, he was climbing the social ladder." Derek says.

"If that's the case, this unsub had a long way to climb. Both prostitutes advertised here. Look at their pictures." Rossi says. He shows the newspaper page to the others.

"Subservient positioning, asking to be dominated." Hotch says.

"Promising to come to you? That cuts out the social interaction of meeting on a street corner." Emily says.

"That's a long way from a self-assured unsub who hits the clubs." Derek says.

"Except he took a year off between the murders. Maybe he took that time to change himself." Hotch says.

"That's impossible." Derek says.

"Why?" Hotch asks.

"Well, I mean, you're talking about a total transformation here. I mean how you talk, I mean how you dress, how you think about yourself." Derek says.

"Difficult, maybe, not impossible." Hotch says.

"He already started killing." Rossi says. "There must have been a secondary trigger that motivated him to change who he was. So if you're gonna transform yourself, how would you do it?"

"A steady diet of self help books." Emily says. "Start hitting the gym?"

"You have to learn how to read people. I mean, what is a pickup? It's basically just a profile." Spencer says.

"Decoding clues of interest and recoding similar ones." Derek says.

"If you're too obvious, you turn off your target. If you're oblivious, your target moves on to a better profiler." Bedelia says.

"That doesn't sound like something he could do on his own." Hotch says.

"No. He'd have to go somewhere to learn it." Emily says.

"Yeah. A self help class maybe?" Spencer suggests.

"Uh, wait a minute. Come on. An unsub who kills prostitutes. Is he really thinking about signing up for a Tony Robbins seminar?" Derek questions.

"He would if he found a class in the same place he found the prostitutes." Rossi says, showing an ad in the newspaper for a class on how to pick up chicks.

+++

"So why did he pull out the cleaning supplies and then not use them?" Hotch questions.

"On all the other scenes, the bottles were arranged in a precise order. Here they're just part of the mess." Emily says.

"Maybe she fought back." Hotch says. "And when Becky went over the railing, his routine had been compromised because he knew the police would respond."

"Or she could have jumped." Emily says. "Her nervous system was pumping adrenaline. Her fight or flight response kicks in."

"He's struck two Fridays in a row." Hotch says. "And if his routine's been interrupted, it might compel him to strike again."

"It's Saturday. The clubs will be packed tonight." Emily says.