Resident Genius 2.0 (Spencer Reid)

2. Cementing the future

AJ
"These are 17-year-old twins Harvey and Ellie Beasley. Last night, their parents were shot dead in their Florida home, the kids nowhere to be found." Penelope exhaled as she kept her gaze away from the projector, obviously knowing that there were a few gruesome images.

"When were the parents found?" Hotch asked as he looked up at the screen.

"They were found by local police an hour ago. The neighbours didn't see either Beasley child leave for school this morning and when the father, Chris Beasley, didn't show up for work, the police were called." Penelope sat down.

"If they were only found this morning, how does this case become ours?" Morgan asked, confused.

"Because a month ago, the O'Neil family was discovered the same way in Georgia, and 2 weeks ago, the Albert family in Louisiana. Both kids from the O'Neil and Albert families were found dead in alleyways near their homes 3 days later." JJ exhaled, leaning back.

"The UnSub crossed 3 state lines." Rossi seemed impressed.

"659 miles from Georgia to Louisiana. 836 miles from Louisiana to Florida." I spoke without even thinking, shocking everyone, especially Reid.

"Were there any signs of sexual assault?" Reid asked, looking down at his file.

"Yes. The mothers all had signs of sexual assault, but only the mothers in Louisiana and Georgia. Mrs Beasley showed no signs." Penelope exhaled, seeming very confused.

"Maybe the UnSub was going to assault the mother, but was spooked off before they had the chance?" Prentiss asked, reading her file.

"The chances of someone or something spooking the UnSub off are low, considering each family lived in a semi-remote location within Florida, Georgia and Louisiana." Morgan shook his head.

"Besides, there were no witnesses, or security cameras, making the crime easier to commit." Penelope put down her controller, exhaling.

"But what about neighbours? Even though they're living in a semi-remote location, their neighbours must have noticed something unusual?" JJ questioned, looking between the projector and the file in front of her.

"The UnSub seemed to plan the murders around the neighbour's vacations. Every single murder took place while any neighbours were out of town." Rossi scoffed, reading the finer details of the file.

"Ligature marks are clearly around the mothers wrists and ankles, possibly from being tied to the bed, or maybe some other piece of furniture." Hotch leaned back.

"There's some defensive wounds. One on their ankles and a few on their wrists. There's a few cuts on Mrs O'Neil's left forearm." Morgan pointed to the photo, confused.

"So the UnSub brought both a gun and a knife to the fight?" Prentiss furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"The gun seems to belong to the UnSub. The knife of the other hand seems to be from the kitchen, as one of the sets had a missing knife." Rossi shook his head.

"Okay, so based off the images and what we know, the UnSub struck in Georgia with the O'Neil family, then Louisiana with the Albert family, and then Florida with the Beasley family. In Georgia and Louisiana, the UnSub managed to sexually assault both mothers after they defended themselves, leaving a few cuts in different places left by the UnSub. After the father was killed and the desired acts were carried out, the UnSub shot and killed the mothers, but Mrs Beasley must have put up a good fight, so the UnSub didn't assault her, but instead go straight for the kill." I explained, watching as everyone stared at me.

"So that explains what must have happened, but what we don't know is why or how." Reid exhaled, shutting his file.

"Florida State Police are expecting us. Wheels up in 20." Hotch announced as we all stood up and walked out of the room. JJ drove me home, where I quickly grabbed my bag before we headed to the private airfield. Handing our bags to the staff, we got onto the plane, my heart racing as we all sat down.

"You guys have your own jet?" I was amazed.

"Yes, we do." JJ smiled as she nudged me.

"Files out. Let's get started on victimology." Hotch stated as he sat down, each of us getting comfortable before opening our respective files.

"Hello my lovely humans!" Garcia smiled as her face appeared on the computer screen set up by Rossi.

"Garcia, have you found anything on each family?" Hotch asked as Penelope smiled, starting to type.

"Each family seems to exist straight out of the American dream. John O'Neil was an accountant at a very pricy firm for 10 years. Harold Albert was a criminal defence lawyer for 6 years. Chris Beasley was also a criminal defence lawyer, just with a different firm, for 7 years." Penelope started.

"So, two out of the three fathers were criminal defence lawyers. How many are there for that to be a coincidence?" JJ asked, confused.

"There are over 1000 criminal defence lawyers in Florida-" Before Reid could continue, I stopped him.

"-and there are over 543 criminal defence lawyers in Louisiana, which means that the UnSub must have some sort of vendetta against the criminal justice system." I explained.

"What about the mothers?" Hotch asked, Garcia still typing.

"Joanna O'Neil was a social worker for 9 years. Brenda Albert was a elementary school teacher for 10 years. Tahlia Beasley was a high school teacher for 6 years." Garcia looked at other screens. I watched as she seemed shocked by the revelation.

"Well that can't be a coincidence. Both the Albert parents and the Beasley parents shared the same line of work. Both fathers were criminal defence lawyers and both mothers were teachers." Rossi raised an eyebrow.

"Do we know anything about the kids?" Prentiss asked.

"Sienna O'Neil was a very good student. Had mostly A's and B's. Only missed 1 day of school and did dancing as an after-school sport. Bradley O'Neil was slightly...better than his sister, earning A's in every subject. He also barely missed school and he chose basketball as his after-school sport." Penelope started before moving on.

"Kennedy Albert was homeschooled due to extensive and horrific bullying. Samuel Albert was a good student and never missed a day of school. He spent half the year being homeschooled before going to an actual school." Penelope exhaled, continuing.

"Harvey Beasley was the head of his football team. He got mostly good grades. He did have a few run-ins with the law, but nothing his father couldn't get rid of. Ellie Beasley an honour-roll student. Passed every class with flying colours. Both students and teachers admired her." Penelope exhaled again.

"Go and do what you do best." Hotch smiled before Penelope turned off the call.

"Okay. Morgan and JJ, go to the M.E. and inspect the bodies. Rossi, Reid and Prentiss go to the crime scene. AJ and I will go to the Florida police station to set up our investigation. Judging by the previous cases, we only have just over 2 days to find the Beasley twins alive." Hotch assigned jobs to all of us just as the plane landed, allowing us to get started.