FREAKING OUT ² ➢ spencer reid

XXXII

After some well deserved jokes at my expense during dinner, the team got back to work. At this point it was close to midnight and while the energy in the room was quite low, we still found ourselves working to stay awake. Like usual, Hotch took the lead, giving us tasks to focus on, while he excused himself to speak with Garrelson.

"Can someone bring me up to speed?" I asked.

Rossi, who sat to my right, inched his chair closer to mine and slid the tablet in front of him my way. "Sam was in direct contact with Regan," he began, "the two of them met through an online letter writing service which pairs inmates and regular civilians." He ran his finger along the screen, swiping through a series of copied letters the two of them had exchanged. When he got to the first one he nodded his head and pointed. "After he saw one of her interviews he became curious about Regan's religion and contacted her in hopes of getting some answers."

I grabbed the tablet from off the table, leaning it against the edge as I gave it a quick read. According to Sam, he needed help. After hearing about the relationship between his sister and Leeman he was devastated and wasn't sure what to do.

"I know we don't know a lot about Sam, but you'd think given the relationship between him and his sister that maybe he'd at least try talking to her first," I stated with a sigh.

Rossi nodded his head and scrolled to the second letter. At that point Reid chimed in, pointing to the paper file in his hand as he glanced our way. "If you look at Regan's first response letter you'll see all kinds of signs of manipulative language."

"Like?" I raised my brow.

Reid licked his lips, preparing himself for the information dump he was about to throw our way. "She uses all the core examples. Fact vs. Opinion, omission of necessary information, words with connotations and bias. They're all there." He pointed to each of the examples, running his finger along each sentence before glancing up to meet my gaze.

"So we think she told him to do it," I concluded. It was definitely an interesting take, but not an uncommon one. Most copy cat killings were committed by people in direct contact with the original killer, but for some reason this felt more sinister. Regan was still a teenager and while she definitely had the means of becoming a full blown psychopath it seemed odd that she would orchestrate this.

"Perhaps," Rossi sighed.

"I mean," I bit my lip, narrowing my eyes as I took the time to read through the rest of the letters. "Based on the way she carries herself, even through her writing, it's obvious she's really good at the whole gaslighting thing." I pointed to a couple of different paragraphs as examples, watching as Reid and Rossi read them over and nodded in agreeance.

"By the end he's questioning his judgment," Rossi responded.

I nodded. "And in the beginning you can see the innocence in his words. Sam wasn't contacting Regan to kill, he was contacting her to learn about Wicca and how to cope with the feelings he was having."

"But why out of everyone would he contact Regan?" Rossi asked.

"Did either of you end up watching the interview that First Coast News did with her?" Reid retorted.

Rossi and I both shook our heads.

"While they did ask her about the murders themselves, the majority of the interview was based around the topic of Wicca and its rise in popularity." Reid reached over the table to grab the tablet from my hands, giving it a quick scan before opening up YouTube to search up the interview. When he found it, he handed it back, motioning me to play it.

We watched the fifteen minute video in silence, listening to Regan's strangely calm voice as she explained her opinion on the matter. According to her, Wicca was more of a lifestyle; a practice in which she could use the various tools involved to deal with the trauma she'd experienced. I had to force myself not to roll my eyes while watching. It was obvious she was using her sudden new found fame as a platform to manipulate interested parties, which given the circumstances definitely worked.