Come Downstairs and Say Hello; S.R.

Case 3 Part 1.5

   Much to her expectations, Jo was sitting next to Reid on the couch in the jet, leaning forward as Garcia shared details with the team.

"Philly PD confirmed that Carla Bromwell has been dead less than 12 hours. She was 47." She explained. Hotch looked up.

"The victims are getting older."

"That's unusual." Morgan observed, and Jo nodded.

"Victimology rarely changes."

"Her hands and feet were bound with flex-cuffs." Garcia added.

"Flex-cuffs? No ropes?" Max asked.

"That's what they said. They're waiting at the crime scene for you."

"Thanks babe!" Jo winked, giving Garcia a flirty remark before Morgan could, which resulted in a glare from him and a smile from Elle and Reid, and the smallest possible look of amusement from Gideon and Hotch.

"What the hell are you doin?" He asked, eyeing up Jo.

"I think a compliment means the most when coming from someone from the same sex~" Jo sang. Morgan shook his head.

"You're unbelievable."

"So, older victims and a different mode of binding and killing." Hotch recalled to split up the teasing tension from his subordinates.

"Maybe it's a copycat?" Elle guessed.

"A copycat who just happens to have Amy Jennings' drivers license?" Max asked, picking up the photo of Carla Bromwell from the table, "No. No, it's the Keystone Killer." He said. Morgan looked less than pleased with him, and as soon as he was out of earshot, he leaned in with a scoff.

"how are we supposed to work with him?" The other agents around the table seemed to be wondering the same thing, yet Gideon didn't respond, "Gideon. He's not even an active agent."

"He's here because he knows this case better than any of us." Gideon explained, "We're leading the investigation. He's only consulting."

"Does he know that?" Joey asked, slightly ticked off herself.

"What do you think of Ryan?" Reid asked Hotch and Jo as they walked up the steps in Carla Bromwell's home, where she had also been found dead.

"He hasn't changed much." Hotch said.

"Definitely intense." Jo added.

"I think we can learn a lot from him." Reid said.

"Yeah, maybe learn how not to act." Jo snorted.

"Besides, what could you learn that you don't already know?" Hotch asked.

"Hotch, repetitive thinking is a death knell for the brain." Reid began, and a smile stretched across Jo's face, "For complete brain usage, diverse stimulation is the key." Reid trailed off as he approached a desk covered in files, "Look at this." Jo and Hotch walked over. Reid picked up a piece of paper that looked like the letter they had already received. Jo put it in an evidence bag.

"Let's go show this to everyone." Hotch said. The group walked across the hall to where Elle, Gideon, and Max were looking. "We found another note."

"Let me see that." Max took the letter from Hotch, "'In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.'" He read.

"He's quoting Sir Francis Bacon now." Said Gideon.

"I used this specific quote-"

"-on your book, on page 184." Reid, not surprisingly, cut off Max, and Jo realized she had also recognized the quote, and now she knew where from.

"You remember the page number and the quote?" Max asked, and Jo smiled.

"It's best to not ask." She said.

"It says to expect another gift in 2 days." Said Hotch, making Elle look up.

"A gift?" She repeated.

"His victims.." Jo said grimly.

"Who are his "gifts" for?" Elle asked further.

"Me."