willow, criminal minds [ 1 ]

014. unforgettable

"A woman?" JJ asks.

"Yeah. He was very clear about it." Tara says. "He remembered her hair, her painted fingernails."

"So she killed Nadie Ramos?" Luke asks.

"Yes. He says he saw her do it." Tara says.

"Okay, but what about Scratch?" Penelope asks.

"He says he remembers her spraying some kind of fine mist in his face." Tara says.

"Which is consistent with Scratch's M.O." Emily says.

"Right. But he does not recall seeing Scratch at all." Tara says.

"You're sure this memory is accurate? You said he manufactured a false memory earlier in the cognitive." Rossi says.

"And he is sleep deprived. Which can interfere with memory." JJ says.

"Right, that's true, but that false memory was directly related to the stress he's currently experiencing." Tara says. "This was different. He was not projecting. Look, in my opinion, this is a credible recollection."

"Okay, so that could mean that Scratch is manipulating another victim suffering from dissociative identity disorder." JJ says.

"Or he's working with a full fledged accomplice for the first time." Stephen says.

"What woman would willingly associate herself with Scratch?" Penelope asks.

"And why would Scratch risk taking on a partner?" Luke asks.

"That's what we need to find out." Emily says. "We'll start by checking all of the women in the database we compiled of D.I.D. patients."

"Wait, how was he?" Penelope asks.

"He's, um, he's having a hard time." Tara says.

"We gotta get him out of there, you guys." Penelope says.

"We will, but right now it's late, and we're no good to him running on fumes." Emily says. "Clear your heads, get some rest if you can, we'll start fresh in the morning."

+++

"This one hits close to home." Emily says. "Stephen's friend from the BAP, Sam Bower, was hospitalized yesterday after being poisoned."

"What kind of poison?" Luke asks.

"That's still unknown, but there's a whole team of doctors trying to figure it out." Penelope says.

"Stephen was with him at the hospital." Emily says. "Initial symptoms mimicked a heart attack. But whatever it is, it was irradiated."

"Wait, an irradiated poison?" Tara asks. "What's the prognosis?"

"Right now it's wait, see, and hope for the best." Penelope says, crossing her fingers. "He's already showing signs of radiation sickness, which is all kinds of terrible."

"Was Stephen contaminated?" JJ asks.

"His exposure was minimal. They put him through decontamination protocol and he's about to be cleared." Emily says.

"What do we know about Sam Bower?" Rossi asks.

"Uh, 54 years old. Recently went through an acrimonious divorce about a year ago. He has one adult son who's a sophomore at Emory University in Atlanta." Penelope says.

"Our biggest suspect pool comes from his work at the BAP. In the field, he was primarily stationed in Russia and he worked in counterintelligence."

"He could make a lot of enemies in that line of work." Luke says.