the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

005. if the shoe fits

"Hi. Good evening." Penelope greets as JJ is the last one to get to work. "Okay, University of Montana student, Douglas Clark, was found this afternoon next to his car, stabbed at least a dozen times, and the killer left us a calling card."

"Oh, that's a distinctive signature." Derek comments. "Have there been similar murders reported in the area?"

"Thankfully, no." Penelope says.

"So then why are we being called in?" Kate asks.

"Last month a local shopkeeper was killed in a hit and run. The driver was a student whose very rich and well connected daddy got him off with a slap of the wrist." Penelope says.

"Which I imagine didn't sit well with the locals." Rossi says.

"Oh, you could say that. A random fraternity was firebombed in retaliation." Penelope says.

"And there's concern that the murder might escalate the friction between the student community and the permanent residents." Hotch says.

"Town versus gown. It happens." JJ says.

"All the way back to the Battle of Saint Scholastica Day." Spencer says. Everybody stares at him.

"Okay, I'll take the bait." Kate says. "What is the-- whatever it is that you just said?"

"The Battle of Saint Scholastic Day? I'm glad you asked." Spencer says making Bedelia quietly giggle. "Oxford University, 1335, citizens attacked students and professors with bows and arrows. Fighting went on for tow days and nearly 100 people were killed."

"You know, it's probably just my easygoing nature, but if I stabbed someone a dozen times, it'd pretty much be out my system." Rossi says. "Why smash a car window?"

"Well, a car killed the shopkeeper. Maybe it's a message." Bedelia says.

"Or just plain anger, and a lot of it." Kate says.

"Whatever the reason, we have to assume there's more where that came from." Hotch says. "Wheels up in 30."

+++

"5:30 in the morning east coast time." Spencer says. "You don't seem tired at all." He notes to Rossi.

"What can I tell you? I'm a night person." Rossi says.

"Speaking of that, you might want to consider revamping your circadian clock to a more traditional chronotype." Spencer says.

"Yeah, I'll put that on my to do list." Rossi comments.

"Seriously, studies have found that night owls show reduced integrity of white matter in the brain compared to early risers." Spencer says.

"While I appreciate your concern, I'm very happy with my brain just like it is." Rossi says.

"There's a lot more damage to this car." Spencer says. "Look, the tires are punctured and all the windows are broken."

"Our killer's getting bolder." Rossi says. "The car's in plain sight. And given the proximity to the earlier crime scene, he had to know there'd be a police presence in this area." He kneels next to the body and takes the cell phone out of the victim's mouth. "Oh, bite marks. Douglas Clark's cell didn't have that."

"The phone was put into Clark's mouth postmortem. This victim must have still been alive." Bedelia says.

"Well, let's see if this baby holds any surprises." Rossi says, bagging the phone.

+++

"The unsub took a big risk going back to this location. It must have special meaning." Spencer says.