timeless, spencer reid [ 1 ]

117. mr. & mrs. anderson

"Welcome back." Rossi tells JJ.

"You sure two weeks is enough?" Spencer asks her.

"Oh, I'm fine. And, yes, Will made sure I got clearance from two doctors." JJ says.

"Glad you're okay." Hotch says. "We should get started."

"Yes, sir. Pittsburgh field office has reported two murders in the past 48 hours." Penelope says.

"Both of them were strangled, then stripped down to their underwear and then dumped off of a highway." Hotch says.

"Have we ID'd the victims?" JJ asks.

"No, not yet." Penelope says.

"The guy has a lot of rage. He's using some kind of ligature, maybe a strap?" Rossi says.

"It looks like he's choking them intermittently, allowing them to breathe only when he permits it." Derek says.

"But the M.E. report says neither was sexually assaulted." Hotch says.

"That's odd given the fact that 80% of crimes against women involve some sort of sexual component." Spencer says.

"Well, it's the choking that gets him off." Derek says. "Some form of erotic asphyxiation filtered through a psychopath's need for power and control."

"Okay, what is this? Are they wrapped in shower curtains?" Bedelia asks.

"Strangely, yes. Which is why I'm checking with a number of manufacturers to see where these distributed from." Penelope says.

"The M.O. says sexual sadist, but the curtain reads as remorse." Blake says.

"Sexual sadists don't feel remorse." Bedelia says.

"Maybe it's his shame?" Blake suggests.

"Or maybe he's impotent. He doesn't rape because he can't." JJ says.

"And the embarrassment of not being able to perform manifests in him wrapping up his victims." Derek says.

"He doesn't want to look at them after he kills them." Rossi says.

"Which points to either symbolic or a literal emasculation." Hotch says. "We need to find out. Wheels up in 30."

+++

"Local police are canvassing restaurants and gas stations urging female hitchhikers to be on high alert." The detective says.

"It won't completely deter the unsub, but hopefully it will limit his available victim pool." Blake says.

"Where are we on identifying the victims?" Hotch asks.

"Nothing yet. You guys can work in here." He leads them into a conference room.

"Thanks." Hotch says. "We should see if there are any unsolved murders that match this unsub's M.O. The transient nature of the victimology suggests there may be bodies we haven't discovered yet."

"I'll have my guys get right on it." The detective says, walking out.

"These women were just looking for a ride. They never saw the attack coming." Bedelia says.

+++

"Take a look at this." The detective walks over, handing out files. "You guys were right. I was able to match their M.O. to 10 other strangulation murders. We were only able to identify four."

"They've been at it since 1994." Rossi says.

"Looks like they stopped in 2010 and remained dormant up until now." Spencer says.