be the one ⇢ s. reid

xiv.

The team had been working day and night on the case Penelope had provided them until they had reached a road block, and an interesting piece of information. One of the victim's, Tracey Ferguson, file was sealed and the only person who could possibly get them to take a look at it was none other than Barnes. And because she didn't know that the team had regrouped behind her back to work on a case together. Because they needed the file to be unzipped, and because she was the acting unit chief, it was wise for JJ to confront Barnes about the case and ask for the file to be unsealed. While JJ was off to see Barnes, and most of the team off doing what Emily had instructed, Sam, Spencer, and Melanie stayed put at Emily's place to look over photographs (Emily was out on a food run). 

Melanie stood in front of the board, that they had brought in to place all the photographs and notes for the case, and chewed at the end of her pen. She had been trying to figure out where one of the victims was being photographed. It was hard to tell when the picture was taken in the dark. 

"Where was this picture even taken?" She asked no one in particular. She had been thinking out loud. 

Sam, who had been sitting down, got up from the couch and stood next to his friend. He squinted his eyes a bit to get a better look at the image hoping that would help him out (side note: it didn't). 

"Basement, maybe?" He guessed.

Melanie eyes glossed over the image trying to find something that would stick out like a sore thumb and eventually something did: a wine rack. 

"I think...I think this was taken in a wine cellar." Melanie said. 

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?" 

"Well...I've had a fair few of wealthy friends in my life and most of them had a wine rack just like that." Melanie answered. "Spence? Come take a look at this and give some input." 

Spencer walked up next to Melanie and looked at the picture she had been practically staring at in the last half hour. Noticing the wine rack himself, the thought process began. 

"Well, if that's the case, the unsub could be a person of resources," he theorized. "Money, maybe even prestige."

"You think the unsub is made out of money?" Melanie questioned.

"Could be. I wouldn't rule it out." Spencer said.

Melanie walked off to grab her tablet to pull up the news articles that she had found of Tracey Ferguson. She was trying to figure out the connection between her and the other victims and the new theory that the three of them had come up with.

"You could actually be on the right path here, Dr. Reid." She said. "I've glossed through these articles multiple times but none of it really struck out to me. Tracey's dad, George, is a power broker. That means this family has money. Where she died was at the Montclair Hotel which is one of the most priciest hotels in D.C. and a lot of wealthy people go there."

Melanie rubbed her forehead as her brain felt like it was about to shut down. She really had thought she was going somewhere with this. It wasn't until Emily had walked in with a box of pizza.

"Fuck yes, food!" Sam exclaimed. Emily had barely set the box on the table when Sam had decided to flip the top of it open to grab a slice; Emily chuckled softly.

"Clearly someone couldn't wait." Emily teased.

Sam rolled his eyes. "You try thinking on an empty stomach, Prentiss. This is brain food."

Melanie playfully rolled her eyes at her friend as she got herself a slice. Maybe food is exactly what she needed to fuel herself up and have the wheels in her brain start turning. Though after taking a slice and eating, that's all she wanted to do: sit back and eat. When she had worked as hard as she did, Melanie often times forgot to eat.