timeless, spencer reid [ 1 ]

026. conflicted

"Daniel Keller, 21, a junior at Benjamin Franklin University." JJ says. "He was killed last night while spring breaking in South Padre Island. C.O.D. asphyxiation. He was the second victim to be murdered there in the past 3 nights. The first was William Browder, also on spring break, C.O.D. asphyxiation. They were both sexually assaulted prior to death."

"Men being raped and murdered on spring break? Well, that's a twist." Emily says.

"So far the deaths have been localized to one hotel -- the Hudson Street Hotel." JJ says. "Initially, the hotel was filled to capacity but lost 20% occupancy overnight."

"We should get a list of everyone who works there. There's a good chance one of them is the unsub or at the very least interacted with him." Derek says.

"Yeah, Garcia's already on that." JJ says. "Both victims were discovered by hotel staff, the last after online checkout indicated the room had been vacated."

"So he wanted the bodies discovered, and sooner rather than later." Bedelia says.

"Look at the way they're posed -- naked, cowering in the fetal position." Spencer says.

"He's sending a message. Something about this is important to him. We just need to figure out what." Rossi says.

"And we need to do it soon. The police suspect the unsub could be another vacationing student." Hotch says. "Though I'm not willing to rule out local involvement."

"Makes sense. If the killer is a student, they could be halfway across the country by the time we're onto them." Rossi says.

"If he's a local, we could lose him as soon as his victim pool dries up." Emily says.

"Either way, we're almost out of time. South Padre spring break season ends this weekend." Hotch says.

+++

Bedelia, Derek, Spencer, and Rossi get to the hotel.

"You must be the FBI." A woman walks over.

"David Rossi." He shakes her hand. "These are agents Morgan, Davis, and Reid."

"Julie Riley. I'm the manager." She says.

"You were on duty when the last body was discovered?" Derek asks.

"That's right." She nods.

"Did you happen to notice anyone out of the ordinary?" Spencer asks.

"I'm afraid not. You see so many faces during the spring break. Pretty soon they all start to blur." Julie says.

"We need to set up interviews with the rest of your staff as soon as possible, also talk to the hotel guests." Rossi says.

"Of course." Julie says, leading them off.

"How many security cameras do you have on the property?" Derek asks.

"Not enough. We have all the main entrances and the garage covered, but the hallways and the service tunnels aren't equipped." Julie says.

"Can you show us the room where the last body was found?" Rossi asks.

~ ~ ~

Spencer opens the door to the room and the four walk in, Julie staying in the doorway.

"Uh, I'll start rounding up the rest of the staff for you to talk to." Julie says before walking off.

"No signs of struggle reported. Everything seemed normal when housekeeping arrived." Rossi says. Spencer kneels by the bed.

"Look at this." He says. "Scratch marks on the footboard. The victims were bound before the struggle began."

"Well, that would make sense. Both victims were in pretty good shape." Derek says. "Probably needed them tied up in order to control them."