BAU Headquarters, Quantico VA
"Now that everyone is here, let's get started." Hotch said, glancing around the table at which everyone was seated. "2 nights ago, two Coastguard officers were murdered and dumped at sea. Their bodies have since been recovered." He clicked the button on the remote and two bodies appeared on the screen. "Footage from the camera on the coastguard vessel showing the murders taking place was also recovered."
Morgan frowned, "Sounds like a pretty open and shut case to me, Hotch. Why did we get called in on this?" Hotch clicked again, flicking to the footage. They all watched unflinchingly as the tall, well-built man in the shorts and t-shirt broke the first officer's neck, quickly followed by the shorter man, dressed in jeans, boots and jacket, shooting the second officer in the head as he emerged from the cabin.
Hotch continued. "Divers searching for the bodies of the missing officers found the bodies of 5 other people, tied together with rope and weighted down, a short distance away. Until evidence tells us otherwise, I think we can safely assume that both sets of murders were committed by the same trio." Each profiler nodded their agreement.
"We can do a full briefing on the jet, but we need to get a move on. Wheels up in thirty."
The BAU jet
"It's unusual to see a trio carrying out murders together but a trio with this kind of group dynamic is bizarre" said Blake.
"Watching the footage again, it's fascinating actually," Reid continued turning the screen of the laptop around to face Blake, "Physically speaking, the taller unsub is far superior to the other man and yet his actions suggest he is totally subservient to him. Even when the smaller one hits him," Reid rewound the footage to that point so the team could watch again, "he doesn't retaliate in any way."
"The way the man and woman are dressed would certainly support that; they have no form of footwear or protective clothing. Despite that, they don't complain to the dominant unsub. Watch their body language. These murders were not planned, they were unexpected, but neither so much as blinks when their partner attacks the first officer or the second." Added Morgan.
"Reid, can you turn the audio up and flick forward a bit, to just before the unsubs leave the scene?" asked Prentiss. Reid quickly obliged, letting the footage play again just as the second officer's body was thrown overboard. Prentiss frowned in concentration, listening intently.
After thirty seconds or so she looked up again. "They're definitely Russian. I can't make out any kind of name for the dominant, he is only addressed as 'Sir' but the other two… The woman he calls shavka, it means cur or mutt. The man he calls vorona, or crow."
"They're certainly an interesting choice of name. Without a doubt they confirm the heirachy within the group." Mused Blake.
Reid looked up from the file on his lap suddenly; it was a crime scene photos of one of the five unidentified victims. Without a word he rewound the footage by a fraction and paused it. He looked from the screen to the file and to the screen again, looking almost excited.
"Kid, what've you got? Quit it with that little grin you do and spill it." Morgan said good-naturedly.
"Guys, I think one of the victims may have been a fourth unsub. Here," Reid said, pointing at the picture in his hand, "this John Doe has three black squares tattooed onto the left side of his neck, in a line one above the other. Now look at the woman just as she crouches down to pick up the knives" he continued, directing their attention to the laptop screen and zooming in on the image, "We just get a glimpse of them. Two matching tattoos."
