Eidetic - A Criminal Minds/Spencer Reid Story

Chapter Twelve - Misguided Savior

"If there's a regulation that's saving 10,000 lives and costing one job, it's worth it." - Cass Sunstein

*Spencer Reid*

"Agents, I'm sorry to keep you waiting," a voice said from behind us. Morgan and I turned around to see a middle-aged man standing in the doorway of the autopsy room. "I'm Doctor Franklin Bourdeaux," he said shaking Morgan's hand. When he turned to me, I waved slightly.

"What can you tell us about our latest vic?" Morgan asked. Dr. Bourdeaux walked over to the other side of the autopsy table and slipped on a pair of rubber gloves. He removed the white sheet from the latest victim's face and Morgan and I examined Daniel Duval's skinless face.

"He was skinned alive just like the other two," he replied.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"If the victim was dead before he was skinned, there would be a lot less blood. There is almost no skin left and it was done with a smooth edged blade.," the doctor said. "I did find Desflurane. It's a..."

"...brand name general anesthetic used for induction of anesthesia during surgery," I said finishing his sentence. I looked up to see Dr. Bourdeaux staring at me.

"Oh, I have heard of you," he said a bit sarcastically. I was confused by the comment, but Morgan seemed to be trying to contain his laughter. "There is something else you guys should know." He handed over the three autopsy files to me and I flipped through it. "I didn't catch it at first, but after running some tests it became clear what the connection was.."

"Catch what?" Morgan said, looking over my shoulder. My eyes went wide when I read what he was talking about.

"All three victims were had early stages of cancer," I said, reading the reports. "Noah had bone cancer, Kyle had thyroid cancer, and Daniel had leukemia."

"Oh my god. We have to regroup with the others," Morgan said. After thanking Dr. Bourdeaux, we walked out of the building. We got to the station fifteen minutes later and found everyone in the conference room. Morgan nudged my side when I sat down next to Viv, but I ignored him.

"What did you guys find out?" Hotch asked, standing in front of the evidence boards.

"Turns out all three of our victims were in early stages of different kinds of cancers," I replied.

"Whoa, that's an interesting, but prevalent connection," JJ said. "Is this guy trying to rid the world of its sick and dying people?"

"That seems unlikely. All three victims were in the early stages and could even probably be cured. If this guy was trying to get rid of them, wouldn't he be killing people who were even sicker?" Viv said.

"Viv has a point. We found a bible verse that talks of someone being healed of their sickness," Hotch added in. "It is possible that the unsub is trying to heal these people."

"But why remove their skin? None of the victims showed any signs of skin cancer. This has to be personal to the unsub somehow," Morgan said.

"We also have to consider that the removal of the skin was done with precision. The ME said that there was almost no skin left on any of the victims," I said.

"Well, we don't have anything else to go on, so let's go to the hotel and get some rest. None of us have had much sleep, so let's take a break and regroup in the evening," Hotch said.

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I was sitting at the desk in my hotel room looking through the case files when I heard a light knocking on the door. When I opened it, I saw Viv standing there wearing one of my sweaters over her shirt. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I said after kissing her and pulling her inside of the room. She shrugged and leaned her shoulder into my shoulder.

"Yeah, but I missed you," she replied. She yawned a little and then flopped down on the bed. "You know Hotch figured us out," she blurted out after a few seconds. I laid down next to her on the bed.

"How?" She pointed to my neck and I looked at myself in the mirror. The left side of my neck was almost completely covered with purplish bruises. "Oh," I said laughing. "Wait why don't you have any?" I asked. Viv smiled and snuggled into my chest.

"Makeup, sweetie." I pulled her closer to me.

"You should teach me how to do that," I said jokingly.

Viv and I just laid in bed and talked for about an hour before she drifted off to sleep in my arms. I could feel her heartbeat slightly and her breathing was slow and soft. Even when she was asleep, she was still gorgeous.

I thought back to when she first came to the BAU and how I couldn't take my eyes off her. She was just so perfect in every way imaginable. She was smart, funny, beautiful, and just...wow. I have been lucky quite a few times in the past, but this is way past luck, Vivian Santos was a blessing, my blessing. Before I knew it, my eyes started to droop and pretty soon I was fast asleep as well.

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I woke up to the sound of Viv's voice. After rubbing my eyes, I looked up to see her pacing back and forth in front of the bed talking on her phone. When she saw that I was awake, she shook her head, signaling that there was another victim. "Yeah, he's awake now. Okay, we'll check out the scene," she said. She hung up and slipped her phone in her pocket. She took the sweater off and draped it over the office chair before lacing up her boots. "Another skinless body was just discovered at the same dumpsite," she said. "Hotch wants us to go check it out."

"He hasn't changed dumpsites. It has to be symbolic to him somehow," I replied. I stood up and slipped on my shoes. "You would think he would because of all of the media attention this case has gotten."

"Well, hopefully this new victim will help fill in the blanks," Viv said. With that, I grabbed my bag and the keys to the SUV and we headed out the door.

Detective Lasalle met us at the crime scene. "It's a female this time. Her name is Jane Lidel, a student at Louisiana State her purse was found with her," he informed us. "She was reported missing by her parents after she left for a doctor's appointment and then never returned home."

"Was the appointment with an oncologist?" I asked. The detective nodded.

"She was going to talk with her about a treatment plan for her lymphoma. It was detected early enough that the oncologist said that she could be cured." Detective Lasalle then pulled out an evidence bag and handed it to me. "This was also found in her purse." It was a ripped page from a book. I read it aloud.

"Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;"

"Psalms 103:3. It's another bible verse," Viv said. She thought to herself for a few moments. "Okay, so let's say that our theory about the unsub trying to save these people from their illnesses is correct, where does that leave us?"

"It gives us a motive, but also leaves us with an MO that doesn't make any sense," I replied. "These victims didn't have any type of skin cancer."

"Do you think the guy is delusional?" the detective asked. I shrugged a little.

"It's possible. If that's the case then someone suffering from skin cancer must be part of that delusion," I replied.

"Wait a minute..." Viv said. "Spencer, I think you're onto something." I gave her a sideways glance.

"What do you mean?" Detective Lasalle asked.

"What if both of those theories are correct? What if the unsub is having a delusion that someone he loves is suffering from some type of skin cancer and is trying to save them by removing their skin?" she said. I thought to myself for a few seconds.

"You know what, as crazy as it sounds, it actually makes sense," I replied. Viv turned back to the detective.

"We need to deliver the profile ASAP."

"Sickness is mankind's greatest defect." - Georg C. Lichtenberg