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Mara and Reid met JJ and Hotch at the most recent crime scene.
"Have any letters of ciphers been received?" Mara asked upon arriving.
"Agent Lin, this is Doctor Reid, Agent Tate."
Mara took the agent's hand before Hotch turned their attention back to them. "Oh, how was the conference?"
"Uh.." Reid glanced at Mara. "Enlightening."
She sent him a look before following him to the car, looking for clues to prove this wasn't the real Zodiac. Because if it was, they would never find it.
"Has the UnSub made any contact?" Reid asked.
"The Chronicle's Web site manager received two phone calls this morning," Hotch answered. "There was just heavy breathing on the other end, like the phone calls Zodiac used to make."
"Can I get a physical copy of the online version of today's paper?" Reid asked Lin.
"You want a printout of the online version?" Lin asked him in confusion.
"Yeah, with all the comments printed out as well, if possible, thanks."
Agent Lin turned to Hotch and scrunched up her face. Hotch only shook his head. "Don't ask."
"It's not the real Zodiac." Reid said after looking over all the evidence in the car.
"How can you be so sure?" Mara asked him.
"I just know it," he replied. "Sometimes I can't really explain it."
They left the crime scene and headed back to the station, Reid noticing a person talking to the new reporters about his cousin being the real Zodiac.
"He was working on a production of The Mikado in sixty-eight and the Zodiac talked about the Mikado in a letter."
"Excuse me, I'm Doctor Reid with the Behavioral Analysis Unit," he stepped in front of all the camera. "Was your cousin by chance a fan of Wagner? Because a CD of the Tragic Overture was sent to the police this morning."
"He loved Wagner, especially the Tragic Overture," he replied. "It's him."
"Yeah, well, for the record, a CD was not sent to the police this morning, and the Tragic Overture was written by Brahms, not Wagner, so luckily, I guess it's not your cousin," Reid snapped, Mara watching him from the doors. "The FBI would greatly appreciate it if people would stop making false claims to get their fifteen minutes of fame. Thank you."
He walked past Mara and right into the police station, Mara watching him clench his jaw in anger.
Mara was staring at the evidence board, Reid flying through the printouts of the Chronicle's online newspaper.
"The DNA doesn't match the original cabdriver," Hotch said. "And the cloth is fairly new. It was distressed to look old."
"Guess I was foolish to think it was the real Zodiac." Agent Lin replied.
"No, he went to great pains to make us think it was him," Mara said, shaking her head at the evidence board. "And he was criminally sophisticated enough to pull it off. But why?"
"Reid, how's it going?" Hotch asked, the three during their attention to the young doctor.
"Computers slow me down, so I prefer paper, but I wasn't expecting all these comments." He replied, his fingers moving down the paper as he read.
"Where do people find the time?" Rossi shook his head.
"I think I just found a cipher from the UnSub," Reid said, everyone turning to look at what he was talking about. "The symbols buried in the spam are the same ones the Zodiac used in his first message back in nineteen sixty-nine."
"What does it say?" Hotch asked him.
"Killing is most fun you have, ninety-eight minutes below the horizon, in Magic City with President Garfield. Happy hunting."
Reid dialed Garcia's number, putting her on speaker. "The oracle is in. How may I assist?"
"Garcia, to what specific location does Magic City refer?"
"Birmingham, Alabama." She replied.
"Ninety-eight below the rising.." Reid mumbled to himself. "Garcia, what time is sunset there tonight?"
"That would be eight pm."
"What's dedicated to President Garfield in San Francisco?" Reid asked Agent Lin.
"President Garfield.." she pondered. "There's a statue of him in Golden Gate Park."
They all waited, undercover. Waited for the UnSub to show his face. For the next attack. They even put out a fake couple.
"We've got a vehicle." Someone said into their mic, Mara's fingers hovering over her gun.
"It's a lone driver." Morgan said from beside her.
"Move in." Hotch said.
Everyone moved from their hidden positions, guns aiming at their UnSub.
"FBI!" Mara yelled. "Show me your hands!"
"Wait, wait!" the man said. "I'm just the messenger. I'm supposed to deliver a letter."
Mara grabbed the letter from his hand while Morgan arrested him. She furrowed her eyebrows at the name written across the front. "It's for Reid."
He grabbed his from her hands and ripped it open, reading it. He sighed and looked around before reading the letter out loud.
