Cold Hands ✔️

six

chapter 6; bonnet

The group gathered around the round table back in Quantico, the two emails side by side on the screen.

"So, we've got two different emails, two different ciphers that follow different subjects, and a Raven." Rossi says, leaning back in his chair.

"Adeline, is there anyone you know who may have a grudge against you?" Hotch asks, turning away from the screen to ask. I shook my head.

"If I was a victim, everyone around me would probably say the customary 'she was loved by everyone' quote. I can't imagine anyone having a grudge against me, unless I stole their parking spot." I tried to lighten up the mood, but I could tell it didn't help much.

"Well I'm uh, I'm sure you've rubbed someone the wrong way." Reid said, sending me a tight lipped smile.

"Unlike the ever-so sociable Dr. Reid, I don't easily make enemies." I responded, my tone laced with false sweetness.

"Okay so no apparent enemies, what about your family? Your parents or maybe your siblings?" Prentiss answered, standing behind Reid across from me. She sent a glare towards the back of Reid's head, which from his shifting in his seat I can tell he felt.

"My father is a dentist, so they don't really make enemies. My mother is a family lawyer, so maybe from her work?" I highly doubted that, for she only really worked with families after the initial hearing.

"Baby girl we need a list of all of her clients going back ten years, it could be a kid that has held a grudge this whole time." Morgan told Garcia, who tapped away on her keyboard.

"Sugar hold your applause, cause this is one long list, we are looking at over 500 names." Garcia quipped back, looking to us for anything else.

"Unfortunately, I don't think this line of questioning is helping. I think we should look at the sorority house again, there has to be something in the profile that will help us find him before he strikes again." I said, getting up from my seat and stalking over to the screen.

"Garcia, can you pull all that up again?" I asked. 

"Can I ever." She smiled at her screen and soon it was all sprawled across the big screen.

"The Raven claims responsibility for this, so we know it's connected. He did a lot of work so we know he is patient and meticulous about his routine. He's probably charming and attractive to gain the trust of the girls and let him inside. He cut out their tongues to show what happens to gossipers, and destroyed their hair and face because they aligned with society's ideal beauty standards." I recapped.

"You know the capitalization of the book Gone with the Wind in the second email may be important to them. Maybe it has a personal connection with the unsub, along with the Monte Cristo quote." Reid pondered, drawing our attention back to the emails.

"But the unsub draws our attention to the Jack The Ripper case, first and foremost as a taunt towards Adeline, but also with a direct quote from his first letter." JJ said, bringing up yet the third complexing point.

"My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance." Reid and I said at the same time. 

"Yeah, that one. Do we think he's going to replicate the murders?" JJ said, but I think she already knew the answer to that.

"The first murder wasn't like anything he did, but we can't rule it off the table." Prentiss said. 

"You know the first confirmed murder took place on August 31st, 1888 with the death of Mary Ann Nichols. She was found by a man on his way to work, wrapped in linen. Her clothes were soaked with blood from the neck wound and the cut up her abdomen from disembowelment." I said as I returned to my seat, reading off the case file in my mind. Although I should hate it, I loved the mystery of Jack the Ripper. Someone who taunted the police, killed specific victims and then disappeared? It's like the perfect "who done it?" mystery. Reid nodded, bouncing off my facts as he picked up the lesson.