deep end, cm [ 1 ]

003. won't get fooled again

"Pipe bombs. Packed in cardboard boxes." Derek says, handing Gideon photos.

"Package bombs." Hotch says.

"Sent through the mail?" Gideon asks.

"No. The other picture in your hand is of the switch that ATF found." Derek informs. "Same mechanism for both bombs, mercury activated."

"What does that mean?" Elle asks.

"There are contacts on a denotator on either end of a bent tube full of mercury." Spencer says.

"What it means is all you have to do is tilt the package to detonate it." Derek says.

"So they couldn't have been sent through the mail. The bomber had to deliver them himself." Jessica says.

"Exactly." Derek says.

"Strange way to commit an act of terrorism." Hotch comments. "Why go to all this trouble to kill just a few people?"

"Let's recommend not raising the terror alert level for now." Gideon says. "No reason to spread panic."

"We got news." JJ states, walking in. She turns the TV on. "This is just a local channel, but the coverage is everywhere now. CNN, Fox, MSNBC, Al-Jazeera, you name it."

"So much for not spreading panic." Hotch comments.

"According to doctors, he's badly injured, but in stable condition in the ICU. Now, neighbors say that they heard a blast at about 10:30 this morning, and police arrived..." The reporter says.

"If DHS doesn't raise the terror alert now, they'll look weak." Gideon says.

"Make sure Homeland Security knows that this is everywhere." Hotch says.

Jessica looks at the TV, her eyes widening when an explosion happens in the background.

"Whoa." JJ whispers.

"Looks like we're going to Palm Beach." Hotch comments. "Let's meet at the airstrip in 20."

+++

"Bombings occurred within three miles of each other. First victim was a 74 year old widow, Barbara Keller." Hotch says. "Uh, two hours after that, Clurman got hit in his driveway. And forty-five minutes later... well, we all saw that." He sits down across from Gideon.

"Jill Swenson, 34 year old housewife who lived across the street from Clurman. Of the three, only Clurman survived."

"Is there any connection between the victims?" Spencer asks.

"One. Clurman was a partner in a $10 million condo development deal in which Keller was an investor, and a few weeks ago, the whole deal went bust." Hotch says.

"Went bust how?" Elle asks.

"Geologists discovered that the land was on methane, the condos never got built, the land became worthless, and, uh, Clurman lost a lot of people a lot of money."

"So maybe one of them was mad enough to take aim at Clurman." Spencer suggests.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's a little too early to theorize about motive." Gideon says.

"Then where do we start?" Elle asks.

"From the beginning. What do we know about bombers?" Gideon asks.

"Mostly male, loners, history of criminal activity. About 50% of all bombings are actually the product of vandalism." Spencer says.

"And more often than not, bombers end up accidentally blowing themselves up, so the first suspects you always look for in a bombing case are the victims." Hotch says.