To Solve

Chapter 17: The Boogeyman

"Spence, look," Parker said.

One of the vases caught their eye. It was an ordinary vase, nothing special. But Parker noticed that they had never owned a vase before.

Sometimes, when the couple brought each other flowers, they had to be placed in a common drinking-glass.

Parker turned to where they expected Spencer, but he wasn't there. The young genius was standing a few steps away, talking to someone on the phone.

He hung up and turned to Parker. The young profiler could tell by looking at Spencer that this wasn't going to be a pleasant case.

And as it would later turn out, Parker's gut feeling was right, as always.

~~~~~

"Nicholas Faye, of Ozona, Texas, was beaten to death approximately 13 hours ago," JJ began.

As usual, the team sat in the meeting room. Only Hotch and Elle were missing from this meeting.

Parker didn't know where Hotch was, but they did know that Elle was still on leave since she fired those questionable shots the other day.

"Blunt force trauma to the head. He's the second young boy in Ozona to die the same death in the last two months. Local hunter found his body in the woods. The first victim's name, Robbie Davis."

"Were these boys connected somehow?"

"Ozona's population is roughly 2,500. Everyone has some kind of connection."

"Well, if they weren't linked before, they most certainly are now."

"Both murdered by the same offender."

"Who's hunting children?"

~~

Plato wrote,

"We can easily forgive a child who's afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."

"You guys hear Elle was cleared?" Spencer started the conversation after the jet took off.

"It was self-defense."

"So it was a good shoot."

"Well, she hit what she was aiming for," JJ commented.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know."

"If they cleared her, how come she's not here with us? Or Hotch?" asked Derek.

"Focus on the case," Gideon changed the subject.

Parker opened their file and scanned the papers again.

"Ozona police and autopsy report for Nicholas Faye and Robbie Davis," JJ explained, handing the papers to each of her colleagues.

"Well, the bludgeoning could suggest frustration or rage."

"And with no apparent sexual motivation," Parker noticed. "That's rare when the victims are this young."

"This UnSub seems to be taking pleasure from the kill itself."

"So, if it's not sexual, what's the significance of targeting young males?" Derek wanted to know.

"Most serial killers prey upon specific types to carry out their fantasies of revenge-" Spencer began.

He was briefly interrupted by the ringing of JJ's cell phone.