𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄- 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐃

𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀 𝐒𝐈𝐏 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐄 as he glanced at the crime scene photos in front of him. The scene was gory, and Spencer's eyes trailed over the photo, as though he were trying to find some kind of imaginary link between them. 

"How can you stand to drink while looking at these?" Garcia grimaced, looking away from the photos after she caught a glimpse of the ones laid out on the table. The scene was disgusting, but Spencer had learned to stomach that kind of stuff years ago. He wouldn't have lasted long in the field if he spilled his guts every time he looked at a crime scene photo. Although, the photos in front of him were so brutal, that he felt the need to look away every now and then. He'd seen a lot of terrible things with this job, but this? This was a whole other level of gruesome. 

"What did the medical examiner say about Tyler Ford's body?" Hotch questioned, not giving Spencer the opportunity to answer Penelope's question. Garcia glanced down at the file in her hands and winced as she read out what it said, "They estimated that he was tortured for roughly six hours. His fingers were cut off, and just like the others, he was-" Garcia shook her head, unable to read the rest of the contents of the file as she scurried out of the room. Derek took the file she'd handed him, and winced himself. 

"Castrated,"he finished. Even that had Spencer wincing, even though he'd predicted it was coming. That was the only thing that remained consistent with the kills. "It looks like the unsub used cauterization methods in order to stop the bleeding in order to keep the victim alive long enough. Ford was found hanging from his ceiling, half mutilated."

"Neighbours didn't hear anything?" Emily questioned. Spencer shook his head, "No. It looks like so far, all of our victims have lived alone, in isolated homes that are too far away for anyone to notice anything suspicious."

"That's probably how he's picking them," Rossi pointed out. "He wants to draw out the torture without the risk of interruption."

The one thing that Spencer couldn't seem to wrap his head around was the fact that the unsub didn't seem to be devolving. Every cut made on the victim's bodies were controlled and meticulous. Deep enough to cause pain, but not enough to make him bleed out before the torture was done. The unsub wanted these men to be alive for the whole thing, even if they didn't yet understand why. 

"I don't understand one thing," Derek pointed out. 

"Just one?" Emily mused, snickering quietly. Derek narrowed his eyes and pointed to the case files thrown on the round table. "Castration," he said. "Groin mutilation usually points to a female unsub. Men usually have no reason for it."

"While that's typically true, female serial killers statistically don't torture their victims. They usually prefer a quicker and more efficient approach- usually a gun," Spencer pointed out. Other than the castration, everything about the methods of torture pointed to a male unsub. If Spencer had to guess, he'd say that impotence was playing a part in these kills, but it was so much more complicated than that. 

"We could be looking at a sexual sadist," Hotch pointed out. "The torture is consistent with a sexual sadist. They experience sexual release through the torture, and they can't stop until they reach that point."

"But there were no signs of rape," Rossi pointed out. 

"Unless he hasn't evolved and grown the confidence to do it yet," Emily suggested. "Our unsub is probably a homosexual male coming to terms with his sexuality." Spencer would usually agree with Emily, if not for the fact that all of the men, according to witnesses, were straight. Although, none of them had girlfriends or wives, so it was possible they weren't forthcoming about it.