deep end, cm [ 1 ]

043. honor among thieves

The team are in the round table room and briefing a possible case.

"Mother?" They all turn at Emily's voice, following her gaze to a woman.

"Mother?" Jessica asks, looking at Penelope who shrugs.

~ ~ ~

An agent holds up the severed finger to put it in a bag, Jessica grimacing at the body part.

Mrs. Chernus gets up, rambling in Russian.

"Where are you taking that?" Her daughter, Natalya, asks.

"We need to process it." The agent informs. Mrs. Chernus says something and Elizabeth quickly starts talking to her.

"She wants his wedding ring." Elizabeth informs.

Emily talks in Russian to Mrs. Chernus, leading her over to the couch.

"Please, let us hold the cooler. It'll be here if you need it." Natalya says.

"Agent, it's fine for now. You can leave it." Hotch tells her.

"Yes, sir." She gives the cooler to Natalya before leaving. The woman sits down, holding the cooler in her lap.

"This note's in Russian. I need to know the exact text." Spencer says.

""Wire $100,000 to Nadka bank account by tomorrow, noon. Number 155293846729. If you don't-- if you don't, you'll receive another body piece then and every six hours after.""

"That's it exactly?" Spencer asks.

"Exactly." Natalya nods. "I'll never forget it."

"There's no personalization, no salutation? It's not addressed to anyone? Your father's name isn't mentioned specifically?" Spencer asks.

"No." Natalya answers.

"That's odd." Spencer says.

"Most ransom notes are personalized. Frightens the families to know they've been specifically chosen, watched for a time." Jessica explains.

"It doesn't even say not to call the police." JJ says.

"Russian expats don't have the greatest experience with their home government." Emily says. "They tend not to trust officials."

"Well, there's another reason they aren't worried." Gideon says. "According to the note, they aren't planning on contacting them again."

"It's completely self contained. They expect their instructions to be followed." Hotch says.

"We don't have $100,000." Natalya says.

"They seem to think that you do." Derek says.

"Garcia, can you get any information on the account?" Hotch asks.

"I'm already checking. The account number does seem to correspond with that bank." Penelope says.

"Can you get the account holder's name?" Hotch asks.

"I have no idea how Russian banks store their data, how their servers are structured. We'd have to call the bank directly." Penelope says.

"No way." Emily immediately shoots down. "There's no way a Russian bank is gonna give information on personal accounts."

"Well, I could try to go through the embassy in Moscow." Elizabeth says.

"Wh-- and say what? The FBI is looking for information on Russian citizens' bank accounts?" Emily remarks. "I mean, if we were lucky, we'd spend the next six years drowning in red tape."