Serendipity

Chapter 9

TW: Talk of abortion, and bad moms.
Still a little angsty, but I promise it’ll get better
*****
Hotch called them to the conference room one afternoon in early March. “We have a case in DC. The bodies of four women have been found over the last two months. They were found in alleyways close to their homes, their throats were slit, and they were all eviscerated.” JJ explained, four crime scene photos popped up on the screen. Isabella looked intently at them, they had an aerie similarity to the infamous Whitechapel murders. “Like Jack The Ripper?” Morgan asked.  “Actually, Jack the Ripper still hasn’t been confirmed to be one person. Also, contrary to popular belief, the victims weren’t all prostitutes, and they weren’t all eviscerated.” Spencer stated. “Yeah, but there’s more, all four victims have had their uteruses removed. Post mortem.” Isabella felt a phantom stab in her lower stomach at the thought. “Like Annie Chapman.” Emily added. “Local LEO’s sent over all the info they’ve gotten so far, we can run through it from here today.” Hotch said, “See if we can get a profile done for them before going there tomorrow.” The Jack the Ripper case had always fascinated Isabella; how it was possible for a person to do all of that damage, and still evade capture. Isabella grabbed a file from the table and began reading.

***

It took them 2 days to trace all four victims to a support group for women who had given up babies for adoption. JJ, Isabella and Morgan went to talk to the women in the group, but as could be expected, no one had anything to say. “It was stupid to even try.” JJ said, “These women are here for support because they had to make one of the most difficult decisions a woman would ever have to make.” Morgan stopped in his tracks “Do you have something to share, JJ?” “What? No, I just, I know someone who went through it. It was very hard on her. Even now, decades later.” JJ thought about how this case must be making Emily feel; she would never admit to anything, but JJ knew she must be struggling. She’d have to try to talk to her again.

“Agents!” Someone called at them from behind. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to say anything in there. That one woman, the last picture you showed, I heard her son showed up a week ago. She wasn’t exactly happy to see him. She didn’t want a kid, y’know. She gave him away because she was too far pregnant to get an abortion when she found out.” “Do you maybe know the son’s name?” Morgan asked, “No, sorry. We didn’t talk specifics, I just know she was not happy to see him.” “Wow, okay. Thank you.” JJ said, she gave the girl her card, “If you remember anything else, please give me a call.” Morgan dialled Garcia as soon as they got in the car. JJ hung back a second, waiting for Morgan to get in the car before reaching out to Isabella and squeezing her hand; she was surprised to feel the woman squeeze back.

“Want to hear me purr, Adonis?” Garcia answered seductively just as the two women got in the car. JJ giggled. “You’ve got me, Isabella and JJ, Baby girl.” Morgan informed her with a snicker. “Oh well, I’ll purr for you too, girls.” JJ laughed again. “We need you to check something, PG. Our second victim's son apparently looked her up. She was less than happy to see him. We need to talk to him, can you find him please?” JJ asked, “Sure thing Cupcake. I’ll call you when I have something.”

JJ watched for micro reactions from Emily when they shared the news they had learned from the woman at the support group. She saw a flicker of something in her eye, but it was gone before she could determine what it was. Her heart broke for both Emily and Isabella, as well as they manage to hide it, the pain doesn’t just go away. Morgan’s phone interrupted her musings. “What have you got for us?” “Well, I found the son, he’s in Montana. Was only in DC for two days. I’ve sent you his number. But I dug a little deeper; the other three victims also had their kids show up recently. I got their numbers for you, too. None of them live anywhere near DC, so I don’t think they could be involved though.”
“Thanks Garcia.” “Glad to be of service, my furry friends.” “It’s too late to call them now. Go home, we’ll pick this up first thing.” Hotch instructed. They were all happy to be leaving.