Unveiling Hearts: a love beyond duty

PART 11

SOFIA

The police department was crowded. We parked the car near the one Morgan and JJ took, that meant they were there. I had to ask an officer to guide us to the room that had been given to the FBI since the whole crowd made it impossible to look around. Once we were in I shut the door, closing out also the sound.

"Why are there so many people in here?" I asked as I sat next to Emily.

"Apparently a stupid police officer cracked a joke during a press conference saying that anyone who knew anything about this killer was going to get a cash reward. Now, we have all Cleveland in here. JJ is out there trying to calm everyone down." she said

"Reid, Martini. What did you find?" Hotch questioned us. 

"On the body's hands were found traces of sawdust. We have a wild yet remotely possible theory, but we need to call Garcia." I responded.

"She's already in line, hot stuff." Garcia's voice came from a laptop somewhere. 

"Hey, I'm hot stuff."Derek said in a playful tone.

"Right. Then she's going to be Gin. Yes, Gin."

"You know what? Fine by me. Guys, did you notice the girl's fingers?" 

There was a moment of Silence before Spencer took my place talking.

"Exactly. We read what Hotch wrote about the questionings. All tree victims were college dropouts. No work, not many friends. Did you notice the geographical map? All murders happen to be in Downtown Cleveland." 

"Downtown Cleveland is the business district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The economic and cultural center of the city and the Cleveland metropolitan area, it is Cleveland's oldest neighborhood, with its public square designed by the city's founder, General Moses Cleveland, in 1796. It's a conservative neighborhood. 'They are all rich and only talk to rich', kind of mindset. All tree girls lived with their parents who are really well placed. Garcia, can you check how well placed they are?"

"Sure thing, Gin. Gimme a second. All tree families have quite the money. The 'let's buy a Yatch today' kinda money."

"The Unsub stole the rings. All girls had a missing ring on the ring finger. They dropped out of college to get married, right?"Spencer clarified.

"We think that this Unsub not only loves the thrill to kill, but he is trying to make these girls fit the fantasy of killing that one person who is the trigger. He's using them as practice for the final objective." I concluded. 

It was slowly starting to piece together. Rossi indicated the team to Hotch. They looked at the watch on the wall then back at the team. We worked all evening and delivered a profile late the afternoon. It was starting to get late. Morgan was slumped on a chair. JJ and Emily were sitting on the couch, talking slowly about the case. Reid kept reading notes but he was obviously tired. I tried to help him out by reading some more but my eyes were starting to close on it's own. 

"Guys. It's late. Let's get to the hotel. Luckily it's literally next door so see you in here at seven thirty, got it?" Without waiting for a response he left, followed by Rossi.

"Thank god. I'm hungry and sleepy. Who wants to grab food before going to sleep?" JJ asked while helping up Emily from the couch.

"I'm in. I'm starving." I said, grabbing my jacket.

"Count me in" Emily added followed by Morgan.

"Spence, are you coming?" JJ asked.

"Sure." he said with a smile. 

That said, we all headed out of the precinct, to that one Thai restaurant across the street. We were at the beginning of November and the air became colder each day, to the point where it could snow on Christmas. We all sat down at a table near the freezing window, most of us with still our coat. JJ ordered the same thing for all of us, claiming we had to try it since she also ate it for lunch and it was amazing.

"So, Sofia. Tell us about you, we know almost nothing." She inquired in a kind tone.

"Well, to be honest there is not much to be said..." I tried hinting that I didn't want to talk about me.

"I have a question. You have all different types of P.H.D's. Why's that?" this time it was Derek who talked.

"I got my P.H.D in Chemistry and B.A in toxicology  while getting also my P.H.D in Psychology. I did them at the same time so when I got out of school I already had a few job offers in line. I ended up taking one and it was the second job on my 'dream work list' but I soon realized that It couldn't work for me."

"What job?" Emily asked while we all got our dishes. 

"I worked for a year as a Chemical researcher for NASA"

Everyone glared at me like I said I was an alien. 

"NASA? Like the astronaut and space thing, NASA?" Derek gasped.

"Yea. I was one of the youngest. Worked at NASA but couldn't even legally drink. When i turned 21 I just understood that doing that kind of research didn't fit for me how I imagined. I ended up going for the Chemical Analyst for the FBI. When I was 23 I just finished getting my BA in criminal justice and then Rossi convinced me to try out for the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Went through trainmen and all but when it was the time to apply I chickened out. I wasn't ready so I stayed where I was and since there i no such thing as knowing enough I got my P.H.D in Foreign Languages and Litterateur and I gave my final exam for my B.A in English Literature on Saturday. So I now officially have three P.H.Ds and three B.A.s." I smiled, shoving in my mouth a spoonful of soup. Damn JJ, it was really good. New obsession unlocked. 

Everyone was silent, eyes fixed on my person. I just smiled in return, it was getting awkward.

"In what languages did you specialize? Many universities have different languages from one another." His voice was thin. He looked at me genuinely interested, unlike many others who had asked me.

"Oh, I had French, English, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Spanish and German."

"Ok, umh, wow. Could you and Reid stop embarrassing us with your intelligence, please?" Emily asked and we all laughed.  

We finished eating and JJ paid for all saying it would be the on the bureau's curtsy tonight. The hotel was small and cozy, apparently we each had a single tonight. Finally I could sleep in my summer pajamas with heat on.