"Dr Lynn? I'm SSA Hotchner, this is my colleague SSA Prentiss." Hotch and Prentiss were stood in the reception of the Roundstone Psychiatric Facility. Dr Lynn hadn't said much on the phone; just that she had a patient in her care who may be relevant to their case. She was an average height, thirty-something Chinese woman. She smiled at each of the agents.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, agents." Dr Lynn replied, shaking their hands in turn. "I'm sorry I couldn't say more on the phone. Please, follow me." She led them out of the reception and into an adjoining corridor. The facility had a sterile feeling to it, but it was not as overwhelming as in a hospital. The walls were a very light blue instead of stark white.
"Let me explain, I am a friend of Dr Betker's. We meet for lunch every week but thanks to the motherload of autopsies currently on his plate I said I'd pay him a visit in the morgue rather than waste time going out to eat."
Emily raised her eyebrows slightly; while she had no problem with death or corpses, somehow an amicable lunch in a morgue surrounded by dead people seemed… a tad morbid to say the least. Dr Lynn continued "To cut a long story short, while there I saw the tattoos on one of your victims and recognized them- one of my patients here has some that are almost identical. I knew I had to call you."
"Thank you for doing so, Dr Lynn. I should tell you though, the victim whose tattoos you recognized may well have been involved in the other murders. His tattoos are the same as those seen on the other unsubs. His physical condition, namely his scars, suggests he had a long history of violence." Hotch replied, watching her reaction closely. She did not show any sign of surprise.
"You don't seem surprised?" asked Prentiss.
"No, my patient also has a significant level of scarring. He has been in the care of this facility since about two weeks after his arrest."
"His arrest?" Hotch's voice betrayed the smallest hint of shock.
"He was found by state troopers wandering along the side of the I-295. The troopers didn't know what to think; he was in the middle of nowhere in nothing but a T-shirt and shorts, no shoes, no ID. When the officers attempted to ask him what he was doing, he tried to stab one of them. Thankfully the officer in question had his stab vest on. He came off with a couple of bruised ribs but nothing worse."
"Do you know what he was doing? Or why he was even out there?"
"I'm afraid not. We don't even know his name, or even if he speaks English. We have taken to calling him John, for convenience's sake. He hasn't spoken a word since he got here. He is of Chinese origin, although when I speak to him in Mandarin, he understands but refuses to respond. It's odd though, sometimes it's as though he wants to speak but stops himself"
"How do you know he understands you?" asked Prentiss.
"His body language. He also does things I tell him if I phrase them as an order. We have to keep him sedated most of the time as he often behaves aggressively towards staff and patients. What makes it so difficult is that his aggression is not blind violence; he knows how to fight and puts that ability to good use. After the wrist incident we were left with little choice."
"The 'wrist incident'?" queried Hotch.
"One of our patients with learning difficulties poked him. John broke his wrist."
Both Hotch and Emily raised their eyebrows.
"This sort of behavior has been observed in prisoners of war and child soldiers, as well as in some victims of long term abuse." The doctor continued, "His injuries would seem to support a background of that sort. Here we are." She said, gesturing to the door in front of them.
