timeless, spencer reid [ 1 ]

060. valhalla

"Two D.C. homes torched, two families, on the same night, last night." Penelope says.

"I'm surprised it still hasn't hit the news." Derek says. "It's already midday."

"Yeah. All anyone's talking about is this storm that may or may not hit." Penelope says, rolling her eyes. "I managed to find an online article about the fires written by this guy Jeff Hastings, but no one's running with it."

"How strange. They usually thrive on tragedy." Rossi says.

"Yeah, and it gets weirder." Penelope says.

"Ron and Lauren Cosenza and their 10 year old son were found in the master bedroom of their home, each shot through the forehead." Hotch says. "The gun belonged to the father."

"Murder-suicide?" Ashley asks.

"Well, it looks like Metro P.D.'s investigation is going that way, but it's still the first 48. They want our help." Derek says.

"Kerry and Frank Fagan, like the Cosenzas, were found in their master bedroom from a suspected gas leak." Spencer says.

"It had to be massive to cause that." Rossi says.

"How does the news miss a house explosion?" Bedelia questions.

"Any connection between the victims?" Ashley asks.

"Only one. A continent. Kerry Fagan was born in Germany, Ron Cosenza is from Italy." Penelope says.

"So 2 of the 5 victims are from Europe. How does that help?" Derek asks.

"It doesn't." Penelope says. "I'm just stating the facts, and the facts happen to be--"

"Guys, sorry I'm late." Emily walks in, cutting Penelope off.

"You okay?" Hotch asks.

"Yeah, it's just one of those weeks, I guess." Emily says, sitting down. "I'm sorry. What did I miss? Arsonist?"

"One appears to be murder-suicide, the other a freak accident." Derek says.

"So why are we looking at it?" Emily asks.

"House fires are rare. Add to that a few miles apart, within the same hour, kind of tips the scales of coincidence." Rossi says.

"Yeah. If somebody did this, they're highly motivated and organized." Spencer says.

"And if he wants to strike again, he's got 72 hours before the storm shuts the city down." Hotch says.

+++

"There is no history of any kind of psychological weirdness with either family." Penelope says, walking into the round table room where Spencer, Bedelia, and Ashley are. "They were healthy, happy, fit."

"Until last night." Ashley says. "Any signs of financial stress?"

"No. They were healthy on that front, too." Penelope says.

"What's with the..." Ashley trails off, seeing Penelope's gloves and scarf.

"Oh. The heat is out in my lair. Not a single snowflake has fallen and yet the weather remains the top news story." Penelope says.

"Nothing about these cases?" Ashley asks.

"No. They're bound to get hip to it. Once our presence is felt and we connect the cases, it'll be a ballroom blitz." Penelope says. Spencer hums. "What is it?"

"You know, considering the time these fires occurred, the habitual patterns of both families were in direct conflict with where the bodies were found." Spencer says.