Cold Hands ✔️

ten

chapter 10; dear boss

"Alrighty crime stoppers, unfortunately we are heading to Georgia." Garcia grimaced as she clicked the remote, images coming up on the screen. Dread pooled in my stomach.

"I told Georgia field offices to be on the lookout for crimes relating to or mimicking Jack The Ripper, and we were contacted this morning with this." Hotch responded. I would hate to have that job, to inform police ahead of time that a specific murder will take place. And to be those officers, waking up every day dreading that someone from their town could be killed. Although I guess I could relate, every day I woke up fearing we would get another call from the Raven. Looks like today was my lucky day.

"25 year old Bruce Chapman was found in the early morning, his throat cut like the Washington victim, his stomach also cut open." Garcia noted, looking ill at the sight of the photos.

"Am I reading this correctly?" Asked a bewildered Morgan. I don't disagree, this killer went to great lengths to replicate the murders as close as he could.

"Sorry hot shot, you are reading correctly. M.E report says that the bladder was missing. But official cause of death was asphyxiation." Garcia sat down in front of the screen, back to it.

"Was the calling card left?" I asked.

"Yes, a Raven portrait was next to the victim." Hotch told the group.

"Why does the name Bruce Chapman sound so familiar." JJ mused, looking to the group for answers.

"Bruce Chapman was accused of killing 3 young girls, but the jury didn't find him guilty. The defending lawyer did a hell of a job for his client." Prentiss beat me to it, her hands folding in front of her.

"It just so happens what benefits me, benefits you." I quoted from the email I was sent.

"Do we think the Raven had a direct relation to this victim?" Morgan asked. We all stayed silent, I shrugged in response.

"It's possible. The Raven is narcissistic and egotistical, there's no way he would kill a supposed serial killer just to make the world a better place without some satisfaction from his end." I said.

"Is it possible that he just gets the satisfaction from the kill itself?" JJ asked.

"I don't think so." Reid walked over to the board we had set up to keep our timeline straight. He continued.

"The sorority house murders tell us that cause of death was quick and painless. If our victim was asphyxiated, then what satisfaction would the killer get from cutting his throat open when he was dead? Our victim must've crossed paths with him, or was a friend." Reid's hands were buried deep in his pockets, his posture lazy as he stood at the board. I agreed with him, it aligns with our profile.

Garcia was already typing away on her keyboard, absorbing all that she could from us as we talked.

"How did they know this wasn't just a murder or a copycat of the Raven?" I asked Hotch, hoping that there was not a copycat out there. Although he hadn't been leaked to the news, information always spreads. Hotch nodded at Garcia.

"Because of this."

On the big screen was a blown up picture of the victim, posed beneath the writing on the wall that read "DEAR BOSS".

Great. So now I was being singled out at crime scenes, with messages written in what seems to be blood.

"Sheriff has given us total jurisdiction over this case, so let's head down there and gather our clues. Wheels up in 20." At this Hotch was out of his chair and heading out the door, the others soon following with folders in hand.

"Something here doesn't add up." Reid didn't turn away from the board, so I guess I will just think out loud.

"The first murder must have taken place to gain my attention. The unsub waited two years for me to notice. Then, exactly two years later committed another murder. We deduced that the girls were gossipers, and that is why the tongues were cut out and a page of the journal in the mouth of a victim.

"But this latest victim, he's a serial killer. Yes he wasn't convicted, but he had more than enough evidence to convict him. So why did the Raven go from a random woman to mimic the Jack The Ripper kills, then to a sorority house with seemingly no connection to him, then to a serial killer who wasn't convicted, again mimicking?" I couldn't see the string that tied them all together. We were missing something.

"We might get more clues at the crime scene." Reid said absentmindedly, looking at the board once last time before grabbing his book bag and leaving. I sighed, hating how helpless I felt in between murders.

~~~

"Hello Sheriff, I'm SSA Hotchner, these are Doctors Reid and Ripper." Hotch shook the ladies hand, Reid and I behind him like two lost children. The woman returned the pleasantries.

"Just in here. He was found by his lawyer, who had come to finish some paperwork. We left everything as we found it." The sheriff led us into the living room where the victim laid.

It was a quiet scene, looking like it belonged in a tv show. The body was displayed how Annie Chapman was displayed in 1888. His feet were on the ground, knees up and facing outward. I knelt down to look closer at the wound on his neck. A handkerchief was loosely tied against his neck, leaving the two deep gashes open for viewing.

"Cuts on the knife and the handkerchief are concurrent with Annie Chapman." I voiced out to Reid and Hotch.

"I'm sorry, who's Annie Chapman?" The sheriff asked. Poor woman, I let Hotch do the explaining. I heard him lead the sheriff into another room, giving us peace and quiet.

"The posing is how Annie Chapman was also posed. The left arm is across his chest like how she was, and his head is turned to the right. This is definitely the work of the Raven." Reid's quizzical look turned to the wall where the words DEAR BOSS was written.

"It looks like blood, doesn't it?" I asked. He was closer to observing then I was, so I left that happy observation to him. He hummed in response, giving me the answer I didn't want.

"We should run DNA on it, just to be sure it's his." Reid said, signaling over a tech. I shuddered at the thought that the Raven would be so sadistic to bring someone else's blood to the murder scene. I looked around the body, trying to locate the calling card.

"Where's the Raven?" I asked, looking at all the surfaces close to us. Hotch came from the kitchen.

"It's in the kitchen, just on the kitchen counter. It doesn't look like anything was stolen, but the victim didn't have many possessions to have stolen anyway." He informed us, giving a look towards the victim at my feet.

"It's the same as the second victim from Jack The Ripper, down to the posing. It's definitely our guy."

Reid stood in front of the wall, looking out towards the room and the personal effects, looking for anything that might stand out. From my view, he looked sinister standing underneath the bleeding wall, gun on his hip and hands in his pockets.

My phone pinged from my pocket. I hope that Garcia found something useful that could help us narrow what we are looking for. I read my screen.

ATTN: DEAR BOSS

"Reid." I called out. He came over to me and looked at my phone, following my gaze.

"He emailed again." His voice barely above a whisper.