Sweeter Than Honey

Chapter 6: Case Closed

At the Station:

I groaned in relief as the air conditioning hit me, smiling as we made our way into the conference room. "Ugh this is a nightmare, my skin feels like it's on fire and I'm 2 minutes away from a brain aneurysm." I cried, laying my head on the desk as we all sat down. "Come on little mama, don't give up on us now," Morgan laughed, nudging her shoulder playfully as he sat down opposite her. We soon continued to work the case, Spencer and I going over the case files as Morgan and Emily went over the victimology. Hotch was with JJ discussing some things about the crime-scenes with the captain, whilst Rossi was discussing the M.O with some of the other cops.

As I looked over the files, I felt as though there was a pattern we had missed. None of the children went to the same school, had any mutual friends or were in any of the same afterschool clubs or activities. None of the parents had even known of each other until after the deaths. "Find anything yet?" Spencer asked, placing a cup of coffee in front of me. "No, I mean, these kids had nothing in their lives that were even remotely related to one another. Bethany, the first victim, was on the football team, whereas Susan was in the school choir, and then Katie didn't even do any clubs except the debate. I swear it's as though they were just picked at random!" I groaned, angrily picking up my coffee before taking a big swig.

"Wait, how did you know how I like my coffee?" I asked, shocked it wasn't just a bitter americano. Spencer smiled, sheepishly scratching his neck as he spoke. "Well, I remember on the plane when you made your coffee you put 2 spoons of sugar and about a third cup of creamer. So when I made it just now I made sure to follow that exact method. Perks of an eidetic memory I guess," He chuckled, his cheeks flushed. "S-Spence, that's... really sweet of you," I whispered in awe, my mouth stretching into a grin as I looked up at him, our eyes never moving away from each other's gaze.

The sound of Morgan calling out for Spencer broke us from our dream-like state, shoving us back into the harsh reality in front of us. I sighed, burying my nose back into the case files as I desperately looked for something that could help us catch our killer. Then it hit me. "Oh my god..." I whispered out, so quiet that not even my own brain picked up on my words. "Oh my god! I got it!" I screamed out, shooting up from the desk and running over to the phone.

Spencer's POV:

"Oh my god! I got it!" Cassia shot up from her chair, a cheshire-like grin plastered on her soft face. She quickly scrambled out of her seat, running to the phone to call who I assumed was Garcia. "Mistress of knowledge, how can I serve you fine peasants," 'Yup, definitely Garcia,' I thought, laughing slightly at her voice. "Hey Garcia, it's Cassia. Can you do a quick search for me?" Cassia bit her lip, flipping through the case file in her hand.

Once Garcia agreed, happy to do her job, Cassia nodded, finally stopping on a page in the file. "Ok, can you find the list of parent or adult volunteers who signed up for the following children's recitals that were going during these dates," This immediately got all of us intrigued. "Alorez, what's going on?" Hotch asked, moving over towards her side of the table.

"Well, I was looking at all the statements of the parents about their children, I realised that all 3 of the girls had one thing in common, they were all a part of some sort of recital that's been taking place this week. It's set up by this non-profit who have this recital where the kids put on performances, sing songs and they sell souvenirs, with all the profits going to charity. All three girls had signed up and were taking part in it. The reason we didn't see it before was because there was no sign up sheet for the children. The only people who know the participants are the parents, the organisers, fellow children and... the people who volunteer as helpers." She explained, showing us the parents' statements she had taken earlier today. "You're right, they all were a part of the recital." Hotch agreed, giving Cassia a nod of approval before Garcia's voice faded into view.