Aftermath

Chapter 1

The entire team of profilers was already gathered in the briefing room when their unit chief Aaron Hotchner entered.

"What do we have?" he asked while grabbing his chair and sitting down.

"Two months ago, Erik Chamberlain was found dead, shot in the head not far from Denver, nearby Lakewood. Six days later, Sasha Brown was uncovered by a jogger in Crown Hill Park Denver". Garcia paused and swiped to the next photo displaying Sasha's body.

"Was she shot too?" asked Prentiss.

"No. Her body was in a rough shape due to the contact with the water, but the medical examiner concluded that she had been restrained, probably raped several times given the contusions and marks before being strangled.

-Then what is the link between the two?" wondered Morgan raising his eyebrows and looking back and forth between the screen, Hotch and the rest of the team.

"Denver police requested our help to find out if there is one because the two were neighbours. And this is not the only weird thing happening here. Wait for the rest" responded Garcia. Then she turned back to the screen to continue scrolling and providing her colleagues with all the information she had.

"Two weeks ago, they found this girl Sherley Davis, dead in Rocky Mountain Lake Park, similar MO to Sasha but unfortunately no link between the two has been identified so far. Also, her body was in a slightly better condition, and they were able to extract some DNA from her body. But here we go again: no match was found in the FBI database.

"She does not look anything like Sasha" says JJ thinking out loud. "Something's odd definitely but are we sure we are looking for the same killer here?

-I agree with JJ the MO is similar, but killings are spread across two months which is unusual, then you have two women no distinct resemblance, no apparent link; and finally, you have Erik who stays a question mark. Sure, he was Sasha's neighbour. But then what?". Rossi paused and looked at the other agents.

"Well, then this is where it becomes creepy – if it was not already the case" sighed Garcia. "Amber Marshall was found dead this morning a few 50km away from Denver. She also presented ligature marks, contusions and bruises on the legs. DNA found on her matches Tommy Hilburg, a 40-years-old business developer reported missing one week ago in Phoenix, Arizona after he never came home from his swimming session.

-Was Tommy's DNA tested on Sherley?" asked Hotch.

"They did, sir. And they are still waiting for the results the moment we speak.

"Ok, let's work on the victimology. We need to analyse it and build it from scratch to see if there is any evidence there could be a case" added Hotch while opening the file he had in front of him this entire time.

"We have 4 dead bodies and 1 potential missing person that we know of – of which 3 are women, 2 are men. As Dave already mentioned, the police did not find any link between all three feminine victims whether it was their looks, activities, jobs, social status, and/ or living conditions. But we cannot ignore the MO. It seems that the unsub is kidnapping them, detaining and raping them for a few days" started Prentiss.

"Then why did we find Tommy's DNA on the last victim? Is it possible that we are looking at two unsubs working together?" questioned Reid who has been silent since they'd started the briefing.

"Could be, yes. Now I am wondering what Erik has to do with this" added Rossi. And meeting with his colleague's eyes, he could tell he was not the only one looking for answers in this room.

"Maybe he witnessed something he should not have, after all do we know when and how Sasha was taken?". Now it was Derek's turn to open the door to questions the profilers did not have the answer to. This case was strange and complicated in a way they had rarely seen. Usually the MO was clear, the similarity or existing link between the victims was easily identifiable. This time, they were grasping at straws, hoping these could lead to something.