Strange Love// Spencer Reid// Criminal Minds

11

Reid's POV

It was a normal day at the BAU, we all huddled around the round table, talking about a new case. 

"This is Dorris Archer, she's the third woman to go missing here in Virginia this year, along with Paula Renmar and Samantha Rush," JJ said, putting pictures up on our board. They went missing roughly 2 months apart."

I looked through the file, not seeing anything that caught my eye. "They seem normal. Single, lived in the suburbs, had stable jobs, nothing that connected nor set them apart."

"Why were we called in?" Morgan asked.

"It's the M.O," JJ said to us. "The abduction sites are pristine. And there's no DNA besides the victims', And there's no sign of forced entry or a struggle. The victims aren't reported missing until 2 or 3 days after they're abducted. Women like this don't just vanish without somebody noticing."

"I found one striking similarity," Garcia said. "Their sudden upload on social media."

"All of these woman weren't very social online, until right before their disappearance," JJ said. "The post would be something about going on vacation or a business trip, and then poof, they were gone."

"But that's not all my crime fighting friends," Garcia smiled at us. "He also posts these murders in online chat rooms."

"He's patient, organized, and neat," Rossi says. "Maybe a computer tech?"

Garcia put the last murder that was published online on the screen as I watched it. He got up the stairs, looking into the camera. "He must have installed the cameras himself, I think he knows he has an audience, looking into the camera. He wants to please his viewers."

"Doris Archer has a sophisticated alarm system, and a German Sheppard dog and he still managed to bypass both," Rossi says. "He's been in their house before."

While Garcia tracked the different chat rooms, we put out the profile.

"He is a white male, Roughly 5'10," Hotch says. "He's highly skilled with computers and networks."

"We encourage everyone to monitor the information they post about themselves On social networks," JJ intervened. "Do not document the details of your day. Don't post pictures of yourself, friends, or family."

I was staring at the different pictures of the victims when I noticed it. "Their faces are symmetrical."

"Garcia, can you strip away eye color, hair color, and skin tone, and what are we left with geometrically? They're all slightly unsymmetrical." I said to Garcia.

She did as I said, leaving them. "The left eye is slightly lower than the right eye on all the victims. All the noses are narrow. The forehead has the same ridge. He might not even be aware that he sees it in them. There have been studies that suggest that we pick our spouses subconsciously, based on a facial symmetry that we recognize. So consciously or unconsciously, when he recognizes it, he has to destroy it. Which means he only has interest in the bodies as they relate back to him."

"Maybe they're reflections of himself." Hotch suggests.

Madeline's POV

I was walking towards the cafe after work, like I would usually do. I passed by my car, grabbing some extra money from my purse. I was turned around, bumping right into someone. I looked up meeting his eyes, furrowing my eyebrows. 

"Excuse me? What the hel-"

He pressed a cloth against my mouth, the sweet smell of chloroform filled my nose. I struggled against his arms, trying to get away. I started to feel woozy as the world started fading and I slumped against him, falling unconscious.