Criminal Minds Series Rewrite: Season Four

Omnivore: Part Two

It sucks beyond compare but The Reaper struck again before nightfall. Another couple fell victim and because it's so recent, you don't need to touch anything to see what happened. The male driver, Arthur, was stabbed repeatedly while the female passenger, Diane, was shot in the backseat.

Ghost cars pass you by on the highway until Arthur's car comes around the bend. Almost immediately, you see police sirens right behind him causing Arthur to pull over. Instead of a policeman getting out of the car, The Reaper does. He's wearing cop clothing to keep up the ruse but the same black mask sits upon his face. Those same hazel eyes stare right back at you with the same menacing look.

Arthur and Diane never saw him coming. She tried to get away and escaped to the backseat where she was shot to death.

"Another couple that's much older this time. One was shot and the other was stabbed. There's no reason I can see to stop here."

"He pretended to be a cop and pulled them over. I saw the police sirens behind them," you say.

Hotch inspects Arthur and sees a watch on his wrist that doesn't belong to him. It's too small for his wrist and there is already another watch on his other wrist.

"He left Nina's watch."

"What did he take?"

"His wedding ring."

"Their names are Arthur and Diane Lanessa. They were coming home from the Elks where they played bingo twice a week."

"It looks like he went through her purse."

"Any idea what he was looking for?"

Hotch notices something in the visor above the steering wheel and with a gloved hand, he lowers it. A picture of a family falls out with the word "Fate?" written in blood across the front.

"The question mark is new," Rossi comments.

"It's for us. He's saying it's not fate. He's saying we had ten years to save them, and that these latest ones are on us."

"You got all that from one question mark? That's impressive."

"I may know him better than I've let on."

"What does that mean?" you ask.

"It means that there is a profile on The Reaper."

"I thought we were called off before we had one."

"We were. I had just started the profile and then he stopped killing, so officially we were done. I kept coming back to it over the years and I worked on it alone."

"You never shared it with anyone?"

"I know I'm always preaching that profiling is a collaborative effort, but this one wasn't. If there was a chance I was wrong, I was gonna head us in the wrong direction."

"Do you feel like it's right now?"

"The more I see it, the more accurate I think it may be."

"Then we need to hear it."

Sergeant Mike is more than happy to gather his men and women so that Hotch can give the profile. Since he's the only one who knows it, he's the only one who is doing the talking.

"The Reaper fits a profile we refer to as an Omnivore. Unlike most serial killers, an omnivore doesn't target a specific victim type. Although he tends to focus on his younger female victims with his knife, he essentially is a predator who will kill anyone."

"Why is he so democratic?"

"Because his kills aren't just about his victims. He needs recognition. He needs us to know. It's why he drew those symbols and the placement of prior victims' possessions on other ones--it's all for us."