puzzles of a heart | spencer reid ✓

five

It smelled like death in here and technically it was from the two dead bodies placed on the cold examination table in front of him, but to Spencer, it was the death of two souls who had yet to make their mark on the world.

"This is the first victim?" Hotch circled the disfigured body of Wendy Johnson, peering at the visible strangulation marks on the girl's neck and his eyebrows raised slightly more than usual. It was eerily cool down in the basement level of the hospital, but it was expected for the morgue to preserve the bodies at such temperatures. Spencer shuddered a bit under his light collared shirt and track pants, perhaps he should've worn the iconic FBI jacket that could have kept out the already bitter chill of autumn and the uncomfortable icy feel of this room.

The forensic doctor pulled down his surgical mask, an attempt to filter the repulsive odour radiating from the rotting bodies. "Yes, death by strangulation. Pretty explanatory from the marks, whoever did this was brutal and both are an overkill."

"Lots of rage, this unsub feels personal about these murders. Is there a similarity between the two bodies?" Spencer asked, his hand hovering over the lifeless body of Molly Winsley and it was less than twenty-four hours ago when he had met up with her family. "We call it a signature, something that should be found on all the victims."

"Not any that I've noticed."

Spencer exhaled, it was going to be difficult to narrow down the suspects and track the potential new murders. The only way they've concluded that the four victims were connected was from the missing person reports from the university. It was unlikely for four girls to go missing from one campus, they had to be connected. If the unsub started killing elsewhere, it would be challenging to link the murders together.

"The second victim was stabbed and left to bleed to death..." Hotch trailed off. "But why? Why strangle the first girl and stab the second?"

"Maybe he's trying to see which method he prefers?" Spencer suggested. "It wouldn't make sense, of course, he has definitely done this before."

Hotch nodded. "No fingerprints or footprints, no DNA, no nothing. He must have a history, I'm calling Garcia for her to check cases in Tennessee and the surrounding states for particular cases within the recent five years."

They were getting somewhere, and Hotch looked hopeful when he hung up. "She's onto it."

Spencer walked around the room, his eyes trained upon the bodies and registered in the bizarre scene from all different angles. Nothing.

"No signs of sexual assault?" Valeria perked up from the other corner of the dim room, and all heads turned towards her short figure amongst the cabinets near the wall. She widened her eyes at the reaction but quickly recovered herself. "S-sorry, I thought it would be important to ask."

"No, no," Hotch waved his hands dismissively at her sudden input. "It's very crucial, in fact, helps us determine a lot about our unsub. I was going to ask that, but you took the words out of my mouth. Good work, Quinton."

Valeria glowed faintly at Hotch's praising words, and appeared fairly proud of her contribution. Spencer would have to congratulate her on that later, or did he just want an excuse to talk to her? His head was complicated and he pushed the dragging thoughts out of his mind. He needed his complete concentration on the case.

"No signs of sexual assault on Wendy Johnson," the doctor brushed a hand over Wendy's soft blonde hair then turned towards the brunette lying on the other table. "But Molly Winsley has obvious bruising and marks. It's very odd, indeed."

"Strangled to death with no signs of sexual assault," Spencer repeated the doctor's statement. "While Molly Winsley was sexually assaulted then stabbed to death. This makes no sense unless Molly had a deeper connection to our unsub."