the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

052. bad moon on the rise

They're on the jet to New York for a case.

"The latest victim, Brad Norton, moved to New York City 5 years ago from Danbury, Connecticut." Emily says.

"He was single, worked as an insurance agent, and had the same job for 10 years." Luke says.

"From all accounts, he lived a low risk lifestyle." JJ says. "Though jogging in the park alone after dark is pretty high risk behavior for anyone."

"According to his social media, his goal was to run a marathon." Penelope says. "He said, "nothing was going to stop him.""

"Yeah, well, we all know how that turned out." Rossi says.

"Victor Guzman, the victim from last month, is a much different story. He was a member of the Amsterdam crew, which is a particularly violent gang on Manhattan's upper west side." Matt says.

"You know, some street gangs use aggressive dogs as a weapon to intimidate or instill fear." Spencer says. "A rival gang might have targeted Guzman to send a message."

"The jogger had no gang ties. But he could have witnessed something in the park while he was running." Luke says. "Maybe it's a case of wrong place, wrong time."

"Maybe not time. Both attacks happened during a full moon." Penelope says. "Just saying."

"Coincidence or lunar effect?" Rossi questions.

"Oh, come on." Tara laughs. "No one really believes the full moon triggers strange and erratic behavior in people."

"Uh, yes, they-- I-- I do. I believe that." Penelope states.

"There are other people who believe that." Bedelia says, Tara know she's talking about herself.

"Yes. Studies, albeit informal, actually show an increase in suicides, homicides, E.R. visits, psychiatric hospital admissions, traffic accidents, and also fights in professional hockey games." Spencer states.

"See?" Bedelia motions to her husband.

"You guys, another victim was just found at the park." Penelope says. "Same M.O., same full moon."

"When we land, Luke, JJ, go to the latest crime scene. Dave, Matt, see what the M.E. can tell us. The rest of us will set up in the precinct in Central Park." Emily orders.

+++

"Does the park have any surveillance cameras?" Emily asks.

"Around the perimeter. Not inside. We checked the footage but didn't see anything unusual."

"We'd like to take a look." Emily tells him.

"Of course." He says.

"What are the park's hours?" Tara asks.

"Open 365 days a year. It's closed daily from 1:00 to 6:00 A.M." He says.

"You'll need additional units, on foot, bike, horseback, and in vehicles." Emily says.

"Already deployed. But with a park this size, there's no way we can be everywhere at every moment."

"Well, hopefully our geo-profile can help." Spencer says.

"Thank you." Martin tells a cop who hands him newspaper. "I was hoping we could keep a lid on this for a little longer, but the media's gotten a whiff. They always do." He hands them to Spencer.

""Central Park Ripper." "Welcome to Slaughter Park."" Spencer reads.

""Monster in the Park."" Tara reads. "Headlines like these are only gonna cause panic."