1 out of 150//Spencer Reid

47. In plain sight

With all the paperwork done, Y/N and Spencer excused themselves from the office, making sure that no cases popped up.

"I checked the security feed, and it looks like the man who broke into Alyssa's home had been stalking her for weeks. I saw him at least 6 times lingering near Alyssa's front door over a 2 week period." Penelope exhaled as she and Y/N talked over the phone while Y/N and Spencer drove.

"We're almost there, so we'll see if he actually picked the locks, or if he broke them." Y/N informed her.

———

Y/N and Spencer stood on the 4th floor of the apartment complex, looking at Alyssa's apartment. They knew for a fact that Penelope had been using one of her many screens to watch the cameras, ready to update the two Agents if anything happened. Alyssa's front door was closed more than it had been in the security feed. In the feed, the door was open most of the way. Now? Now the door was open 3 inches, probably having been closed by the owner of the complex.

"How do the locks look, Spencer?" Y/N asked, glancing over at Spencer, who had bent down to inspect the locks below the doorknob.

"None of them look damaged." Spencer shook his head. Y/N inspected the locks above the doorknob, seeing no damage either.

"So, whoever this person is, they have enough lock knowledge to prevent them from needing to break them." Spencer exhaled, standing up normally. Y/N walked into Alyssa's apartment, instantly looking for anything out of place. While Penelope hadn't yet seen any other odd people or behaviour, Y/N feared that maybe this person had been able to access her apartment while Alyssa wasn't home, or had accessed her apartment since he broke in.

"Y/N, is it possible that this person is a locksmith?" Spencer turned to Y/N, curious.

"Maybe? I mean, it would explain why he didn't break the locks. Most burglars and/or stalkers will break the locks if they come upon them, but this person didn't." Y/N nodded.

"It could also explain why some locks were picked and some weren't. Below the doorknob, there are two locks. One of them was picked and the other seemed to have been unlocked using a specific key. Above the doorknob, there were 3 locks. Two of them were unlocked and one of them were picked." Spencer nodded.

"What makes this theory even more plausible was the fact that when you buy a lock, there will be two locks and two keys in a pack. You may buy the exact same lock and key pair that you bought the first time, but the second pair of keys won't work on the first pair of locks, because every lock and key pattern is made differently." Y/N exhaled, inspecting Alyssa's desk.

"Wait a minute." Y/N stopped, noticing that Alyssa's spare key seemed off.

"The spare key, the one that I used to own, it looks like it's been marked with something? A permanent marker, or some type of tape maybe?" Y/N turned to Spencer, letting him inspect the key himself.

"That can definitely point to someone tracing the outline to copy the key. He must have accessed the apartment, stolen the key, copied it and returned it." Spencer put the key back.

"Oh, Alyssa's here." Y/N noticed, seeing Alyssa standing outside her apartment with a man who looked to be a worker of some sort.

"Hey, Y/N. This is Henry. He was contacted by the owner of the building, and he was highly recommended by my dad. He's apparently the best locksmith in Virginia. He's gonna be replacing the locks on my front door." Alyssa smiled. Henry shook yours and Spencer's hands, smiling.