timeless, spencer reid [ 1 ]

056. corazon

"Hey, you okay?" Emily asks Spencer as he walks in.

"Yeah. Why?" He asks.

"You're never late." Derek says.

"Have we started the briefing yet?" Spencer asks, sitting down.

"Just about to." Penelope says.

"Then I'm not late." Spencer says.

"Oh. Yeah." Penelope mumbles. "Attention, intrepid BAU adventurers. The land of Bermuda shorts, white leisure suits, and sansabelt slacks requests your presence."

"Vegas?" Rossi asks.

"Arizona." Derek says.

"Palm Springs." Emily adds.

"Please." Hotch stops them.

"I was going to say Miami, but point well made about the dizzying number of locales with unfortunate fashion tendencies." Penelope says. "Here we go." She hits the button on the remote, pictures showing up on screen.

"Shells in the eyes and mouth. You don't see that every day." Emily says.

"Not even in Miami." Rossi says.

"3 victims, the last one found with a..." Penelope says.

"Decapitated cat?" Derek asks and Penelope nods.

"All were found within a mile of each other in a mostly Latino neighborhood in Miami called Allapattah." Hotch says.

"Eduardo Guzman, homeless. He was shot to death 7 days ago. Yanira Espinal, prostitute, bludgeoned to death 3 days ago. And then Victor Cabrera, he was an unemployed janitor. He was slashed with a machete yesterday, as was his cat." Penelope says.

"You know, considering the homeless man lived in that alley, all of the victims essentially were killed in their homes." Rossi says.

"This took some time." Derek says.

"In the open." Bedelia adds.

"You know, cowrie shells and ritual offerings are common to a number of Afro-Caribbean religions." Spencer says.

"But the upside down cross looks like Satanism." Emily says.

"The first two victims had fingers missing, but on this one, he took both hands." Derek says.

"All of this could have been religious?" Ashley asks.

"This could have specific religious meaning or it could just be part of the unsub's signature." Spencer says.

"Either way, his timetable's accelerating. We have a day, maybe 2, before the Miami P.D. has another body on its hands." Hotch states.

+++

They're on the jet and Ashley, Rossi, Derek, and Emily are sitting in the four chairs. Hotch is sitting on the table by the couch and Bedelia is sitting on the couch. Spencer is sitting on the other end of the couch and focused on whatever he's reading.

"The first victim was frail and an easy target, and yet the unsub shot him from behind and at a distance." Hotch says.

"By the second victim, the unsub chose not to use a gun anymore. He got up close and personal. 4 days is a rapid increase in confidence. By the third victim, he was comfortable enough to use a machete. But still from behind. So he's not invested in watching his victims suffer. Which fits what the M.E. said about the mutilations being postmortem. So we're back around a religious ritual."

"Reid?" Hotch calls.

"Hmm?" He looks up, squinting despite being in the unlit corner.

"Anything helpful?" Hotch asks.