the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

070. chameleon

"A single homicide in Nashville, Tennessee." Penelope says. "That is, firefighters responded to a house fire in the Green Hills neighborhood and were able to put out the fire before it destroyed everything, but they discovered the body of Monica Feinstein, with a complete face lift. And I'm not talking about the kind that you need a weekend and a bottle of Aspirin to get over. I'm talking cheek to cheek, neck to noggin. Her whole face was lifted, like, removed from her--"

"All right. Well, burns on the body were limited to the legs and feet." Tara says. "But knife marks went all the way down to the skull."

"Possibly symbolic." Luke says. "Were the cuts postmortem?"

"They were. Cause of death was strangulation." Penelope says.

"So the face is a trophy." Emily says. "He took it with him to relive what he did."

"As with Jeffrey Dahmer, killers often collect body parts to combat a feeling of inadequacy." Spencer says. "They see the trophy as an extension of their own identity, something they'd rather die than give up."

"How did the unsub set the fire?" Rossi asks.

"Firefighters sourced the flames to a lit stove and then discovered evidence of corroded gas pipes." Penelope informs.

"The gas pipes are made of galvanized steel, and the house is only a few years old." Matt says. "The unsub could've used sulfuric acid to mimic the effects of corrosion."

"Yeah, he's gone to great lengths to make the fire look like an accident." JJ says.

"No forensic countermeasure. Burning the house down would be a perfect way to cover your tracks." Tara says.

"The sophistication suggests this isn't his first, and he's probably planning more." Emily says. "Wheels up in 20."

+++

"So let's assume that part of the unsub's story is true." Emily says. "Letting his daughter die could be the source of his rage toward his mother."

"We profiled something in his more formative years, though." Rossi says.

"You know, the drowning could be the culmination of the mother's lifelong neglect towards the unsub." Spencer says.

"Well, most grandmothers would watch their grandchild like a hawk in the bathtub." Emily says.

"Well, she obviously isn't most grandmothers." Bedelia comments.

"You know, as confidence games go, his story is both utilitarian and elegant, drowning garners instant sympathy from his victims." Spencer says.

"How big is Aberdeen?" Emily asks.

"It's about 5,000 residents. Why?" Spencer asks.

"Town that small, it shouldn't be too hard to find a record of a tragedy that big." Emily says.

~ ~ ~

"Any luck?" Emily asks Penelope.

"Sadly, I tell you no." Penelope says. "Aberdeen is a little too small. The police haven't digitized the records yet, let alone anything from the early aughts."

"We'll have to go through them by hand." Rossi says.

"I'll send Luke and Matt." Emily says.

+++

"Roberta Lynch, 62." Spencer says. "Starting int he late '70s, she hopped from suitor to suitor, getting them to marry her and then taking them for all they're worth."

"An arrest in 1991 revealed she had a son, Everett, who was playing second fiddle to the con she was busted for." Tara says.

"Having a con woman for a mother would have instilled the narcissism and misogyny that we profiled." Spencer says.

"Okay, the path to finding him is through his mother. Where is she now?" Emily asks.

"South Mississippi State Prison. She's doing 25 to life for killing a boyfriend in a domestic dispute." Tara says.

"Sounds like that runs in the family, also." Bedelia comments.

+++

"The detail about the drowning hit a nerve with Roberta." JJ says.

"Which suggests there's another element of truth to Everett's backstory." Emily says. "Now, he puts himself in the submissive role that he and his mother would take advantage of in her cons."

"So every time he gets down on one knee with his victims, he hears his mother's laughter ringing in his ears." Spencer says.

"Roberta said that she taught Everett everything he knows." Rossi says. "What if there's a pattern in that?"

"What kind of pattern?" Emily asks.

"Following her trail, maybe, going to the cities where her con worked, thinking he can work the same magic." Rossi says.

"Rossi's right. All 3 of Everett's kills happened in cities where his mom conned a man." Spencer says, getting up and walking over to the map on the crime board. "Birmingham, Memphis, Nashville. He's even mirroring the order in which his mother visited each city."

"Where did Roberta go after Nashville?" Bedelia asks.

"Little Rock." Spencer says.

"Well, that's got to be where he is now." Emily says, calling Penelope.

"I was getting lonely." She says. "What do you need?"

"We think our unsub's next target lives in Little Rock." Spencer tells her. "I need you to assemble a pool of potential victims based on our victimology -- women roughly 50 years old, recent empty nesters."

"No bout a doubt it." Penelope says.

"Limit your search to women on dating websites." JJ says. "Specifically those interested in getting married."

"Okay, women in Little Rock looking for... a little rock." Penelope says.

"Send us their dating profiles and social media." Emily says. "We'll work it on our end."

"Yeah, yeah." Penelope says.

~ ~ ~

Spencer gets up and walks to the crime board, comparing a photo from one of the women's social media to the photo of Everett.

"Got him." Spencer says.

+++

"Spence, come on. Let's go home." Bedelia insists.

"No. I-- I should've seen it." Spencer mumbles, going through the files. Bedelia sighs.

"Baby, none of us saw it." Bedelia says.

"I should've." He mutters.

"Okay, hon, I-I know you have the biggest, most beautiful brain on the planet. But even that brain is sometimes gonna miss stuff. You are still human, after all. Not some genius robot or something. You cannot let it drive you insane, that is how you lose it. And nobody, especially you and I, need you to lose it."

"You can go home. I gotta stay." Spencer says. "I should've seen it." He mumbles to himself again.

Bedelia sighs, but only sits back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.

"B, go home." Spencer tells him.

"No. I'm not leaving without you. I'll stay here as long as you are. If you're sleeping here, I'm sleeping here." Spencer says.

"You don't need that stress. You're pregnant." Spencer says.

"If I don't need the stress, come home." Bedelia orders.

Spencer sighs, rubbing his face.

"Okay. Okay. I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't beat myself up over it." Spencer says.

"But you will." Bedelia adds. "But if it goes on too long, I'll smack some sense into you. Can we go home now?"

"Yes. Yes, we can go home and lay in bed, admire Theo." Spencer says.

"Thank you." Bedelia says, getting up. "I'll make you some tea to help relax you. It'll help."

"Okay." Spencer mumbles, accepting her short kiss and when she grabs his hand.