Heurism | Spencer Reid¹

CHAPTER NINE: WHAT FRESH HELL?

"Evil is always unspectacular and always human. And shares our bed and eats at our table."

     — W. H. Auden

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"Missing child in Wilmington, Delaware. Eleven-year-old Billie Copeland was last seen on the playground at 4:30 yesterday afternoon."

Hotch watches her make the rounds from the front of the conference room, brows knitted. "That's twenty hours ago."

Rubbing the last bit of sleep from my eyes, I accept a file from JJ. "Yeah, with the Child Abduction Response Plan, we're supposed to be notified immediately."

"Well, there was reason to believe that she was with her father. Her cell phone shows a call to him at around the time of the disappearance."

I give the girl's data a brief onceover. "Parental abductions are pretty common, especially post-divorce. Are we certain that isn't it?"

"He called the mother about an hour ago," she explains.

Gideon holds the file to his chest with a hum of uncertainty. "That doesn't mean he isn't involved."

"He's on the way to the family home so you can talk to him there. But, the local police are now considering this a stranger abduction."

Morgan scoffs, "Twenty hours late?"

Reid has begun to pace. I watch him, the way his brow furrows. "Long-term stranger abductions of children Billie's age are rare. They represent only half of one percent of all missing cases per year, but they are usually more likely to be fatal. Of the children that are abducted and murdered, 44% die within the first hour. From that point forth their odds of survival greatly decrease. 75% are gone after three hours. Virtually all of them are dead after 24."

"Which means we have just under four hours to find her."

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I zone out for most of the drive down to Wilmington. In the back seat of the SUV, my gaze drifts away with the blur of passing trees. They form a film of green over my vision. The nicotine gum has turned to a tasteless lump in my mouth. It takes me a second to register that we have arrived. Gideon, JJ and Reid all get out but I remain.

"She's been missing 21 hours," I hear Reid say, distant as though submerged.

"We're going to meet with the lead detective at the park where the girl was last seen."

Hotch's statement leaves me a little relieved, giving me a reason to stay put for a little longer. Gideon gives a nod of acknowledgement. "We need to know everything that's being done."

On the sidewalk, JJ stretches her legs. "I'll find out what the press is running, see if I know any of them. We may need to manage what they put out."

With that, we pull away. I take the rest of the short drive to shut off thoughts about anything but the case. Taking one last deep breath, I step out of the car. The park has been cordoned off with reels of police tape. Cops have been posted all around it, but it is empty now. The area is mostly flat, with a hill sloping down into the trees. Detective Russet greets us right away but there is little time for pleasantries. She leads us across the soccer pitch. "Put out a citywide alert. We've got multi-agency law enforcement running canvass. Body and evidence grid search is up and running on foot with canine units. Talked to the press twice, gave them a description of the SUV and the suspect, and formed a round-the-clock volunteer-manned hotline service."

They have every procedure thought out, I gladly note. That means less organisation is required by us. "Did you run a background check on these volunteers?" Morgan enquires.