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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: DELUSION ( aka 04x11: normal )
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"THE HYPER-MASCULINE DISGUISE, victim preference and the emasculating trigger of the first attack all tell us this is an unsub suffering a masculine identity crisis," Hotch declared to the attentively listening crowd of officers in front of them. Emily had returned with a contact from the latest road work site that Hotch took Rossi and Salinas to interview. When they returned, he declared with unabashed urgency that they were ready to give the profile.
"A masculine identity crisis?" Salinas echoed with a disbelieving shake of her head. "That is why he's driving around, blowing women away?"
"No, Judy Hannity is just the trigger," Emily corrected politely. "We need to identify the precipitating trauma."
"Something happened in the unsub's life," continued Morgan. "Something so traumatic that it turned a normal man into a serial killer."
"So, he's suffering from some kind of psychotic break."
Rossi nodded. "Which means the world he sees around him has changed and so has his role in it."
"And that of his family," Hotch added with emphasis. "His perception of his home life is the key to his pathology. At home, this unsub feels less than a man, a failure as a father and as a husband. He feels his children don't need or respect him, and that he's unwanted or obsolete in their lives."
Dallis stepped forward. "If his relationship with his children is a point of frustration, then his wife is the trigger that sends him over the edge. As a husband, he feels humiliated by her. She'll match the appearance of his victims; blonde, middle-aged, and dominant enough to challenge him. She takes over the role that he believes is traditionally his but it's one that he doesn't fit and he believes everyone knows it."
"This unsub is delusional," Emily stressed. "He's now dressing in this Road Warrior persona. This gives him feelings of power and purpose that he craves. It is now the single-most important thing in his life and he willdie before giving it up."
"His new fantasy persona can't coexist with the everyday reality of his home life."
"Which means, sooner or later, he's going to kill his entire family."
Dallis watched as the serious and thoughtful expressions on the officer's faces morphed into various states of concern and alarm at Morgan's confident statement. Salinas couldn't stay seated anymore. She began to pace the length of the room. "So what do we do?"
"First, we find every small-modelled blue SUV owner in the estimated kill zone," Hotch said. "Two, we set up a single alternate merge scenario in that zone and we manage it with our people, and three is releasing our profile to the public. Somebody out there knows this man and they just don't realise it."
