Transfer Request

Chapter 5

The crime scene was located 100 feet off of the main trail, not the best place to hide three bodies. It was very obvious that the killer was disorganized, even frantic. The bruises on the bodies show they were knocked unconscious before they were killed, meaning the unsub was not confident they could overpower the victims. It is possible we could be looking for a woman, but it is more likely that the unsub is a younger man who has low confidence and may be physically weak. The nature of the crime suggests that the killer showed some kind of remorse. Instead of flaying the bodies, he suffocated them while they were unconscious so they did not suffer.

"I think our unsub is a family member. The only physical damage is hits to the back of the head to knock them out. Maybe he was an older brother or cousin. He needed to kill them but he didn't want them to suffer", I say to the team.

Surprisingly, Hotch agreed with me. After a bit more discussion, he gave the go-ahead to JJ to release the description to the press.

Garcia was searching every known address of the remaining family members, and she found the location of John Pate, the uncle's estranged son.

Reid and Morgan were sent to his house, Hotch went with JJ to the press conference, leaving Emily and I at the crime scene.

"He actually agreed with you", Emily said.

"Yeah, I'm as shocked as you are. He can hate me all he wants, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm a good agent", I reply.

"You know, maybe he doesn't actually hate you. He's not the most... affectionate person. He may just not know how to show his appreciation." I laugh so hard I almost snort.

"You should be a comedian, Em. If you were there for our conversation last night, you'd know he definitely does not like me." She puts her hands up in surrender.

"All I'm saying is you could just try to get along with him."

"Trust me, getting along with Aaron Hotchner is basically making friends with the Devil", I laugh.