timeless, spencer reid [ 1 ]

022. pleasure is my business

"Female serial killers are a fascinating field. We don't have much information on them, but what we do know involves throwing the rules completely out the window." Spencer says. "Signature, for instance. They don't torture or take trophies."

"Because there's no sexual gratification when a woman kills." Derek says.

"Exactly. Murder is the goal." Spencer says. "They don't have to do anything extra."

"So, basically, women are more efficient at killing." JJ says.

"Historically, they have had body counts in the hundreds." Spencer says.

"So assuming that the job is the stressor, what are some of the reasons prostitutes kill their customers?" Hotch asks.

"Money, drugs, post traumatic stress disorder." Derek lists.

"At some point, every call girl, no matter how well paid, gets coerced into an activity she didn't consent to." Rossi says.

"Aileen Wuornos used to purposefully stage paid sexual encounters as an excuse to murder men she thought would rape her." Emily says.

"But Wuornos was psychotic and disorganized. I think this girl is poisoning them before she has sex with them." Hotch says.

"She's using tetra-methylene-disulfotetramine." Spencer says. "It's a popular rat poison in China, easily soluble in alcohol."

"Poison is the perfect M.O. Quiet, quick, and the victims never see it coming because they think they're getting lucky." Rossi says. "Does that mean something to you?"

"Well, at $10,000 a night, these men are paying for discretion as well as sex." Hotch says.

"She has a history with them. They see her repeatedly." Rossi says.

"She didn't decide to kill them in the moment. She walks in with the intent to kill them and she's doing it before she sleeps with them." Hotch says.

"So she's not just organized, she's also methodical." Spencer says.

"She decides early which one of her clients are worth killing and which aren't and she plans accordingly." Derek says.

"Maybe the victims all share the same fetish." Emily says.

"Both victims were in their 50s, highly visible. Careful about their image." Derek says. "I mean, if they were kinky in the same way, they'd go to great lengths to hide it."

"And we're facing a corporate culture that'll do everything it can to keep us out." Hotch says.

"Actually, I had some luck there." JJ says. "Hoyt Ashford's wife isn't too happy with how he died."

"She's agreed to talk to us?" Hotch asks.

"Yeah, but because every silver lining has a dark cloud, uh, the hedge fund released a statement. Uh, "Ashford died peacefully in his home, according to lawyer David Madison." They're already trying to close ranks." JJ says.

"Does that language sound familiar to anyone else?" Emily asks.

"What do you mean?" Hotch asks.

"The press release from the first victim." Spencer says. "Uh, "According to company lawyer, Stanton died peacefully in his home.""

"Prentiss and Morgan, start with the wife. See if you can get her to open up. JJ, call the lawyers and tell them I want to meet with both of them." Hotch says.

"You want to play them off each other?" Rossi asks.

"I think one of them wrote both press releases. Let's see which one calls us back." Hotch says.