the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

049. dust and bones

They're in Austin, Texas on a case and Bedelia, Spencer, and JJ are at the hospital.

"Miss Meyer's room is this way." The doctor leads them through the corridor. "She's sedated. We needed to clean her wounds and she was in a lot of pain."

"In the photos, it appears as though her attacker cut away the first dermal layer of skin." Spencer says.

"That's correct. And pretty consistently, too, I might add." The doctor says.

"The precision suggests someone skilled with a knife, maybe a plastic surgeon, a butcher, a craftsman, or an artist." JJ says.

"Let me ask you this, what do you make of these two puncture wounds on her chest?" Spencer asks.

"My guess is they might be darts from a stun gun or a taser." The doctor says.

"Could have been used to subdue her." JJ says.

"Did she report having a metallic taste in her mouth?" Spencer asks.

"Yeah, she did, actually." The doctor nods. "Probably adrenaline."

"Why? What are you thinking, Spence?" JJ asks.

"Stun gun darts tend to have a wider radius and leave burn marks. And if it's all right with you, Dr. Bateman, I'd like to order a few additional blood tests." The doctor says.

"Okay." The doctor nods.

"So, a PTT, an APTT, along with FDP and creatinine kinase, creatinine calcium, P.O. 4and CK serum, as well as A type and screen and electrolytes to start with." Spencer says.

"Agent Jareau introduced you as Dr. Reid, but I didn't think you were a medical doctor." He says.

"Oh, I'm not." Spencer says, earning a confused look from Bateman.

+++

"It's what I suspected." Spencer says, walking in. "Liz's blood tests showed signs of envenomation."

"So the puncture wounds were from a snake bite." Emily says.

"The quick onset of symptoms, the mental fog, blurred vision, muscular paralysis, along with vomiting and a complete lack of localized swelling and necrosis suggests a neurotoxic venom, maybe from a viperine or something in the elapid family." Spencer says. "In fact, the shallow puncture wounds and short bite could indicate a bite from bitis atropos or pseudonaja textilis."

"Babe, you lost all of us a few seconds ago." Bedelia states.

"The berg adder and the eastern brown snake, neither of which are indigenous to North America." Spencer explains.

"Wait, isn't a bite from a brown snake fatal?" Matt asks. "I mean, the unsub would need to have the anti venom on hand."

"Not necessarily. The eastern brown snake is the second most deadly snake in the world, but its bites tend to produce a relatively low volume of venom, so though fast acting and debilitating, its mortality rate is rather low." Spencer says.

"So the unsub's ruse is to trap his victims in their own car with a venomous snake and let it bite them until they become incapacitated." JJ says. "I don't know. That's leaving a lot to chance."

"This guy could have used any number of abduction ruses." Rossi says. "The fact that he chose a snake says a lot."

"Okay, wait, is it even legal to own the second most deadly snake in the world?" Emily asks. "I mean, I'm hoping it isn't."

"Well, most states require you have a permit to keep an exotic or venomous reptile." Matt says.

"The real question is, what does this elaborate abduction scenario and the use of a snake have to do with the disfigurement of these women?" Rossi questions.