Enjoying Your Company //

chapter forty nine

Vanessa's POV:

Walking into the living room of the Ruster house was like entering a portal to Christmas Hell...The body was already releasing a foul smell, the three of them took a shaky breath.

"Why is the smell so strong?" JJ asked with a hand to her nose. "It's like thirty degrees out."

"Twenty seven." Reid corrected as I put on an exam glove. I stepped over the words slathered over the floor and went behind the tree. The smell was definitely emanating from her. but why? I started looking for a hole, or heat source, something to speed up the deteriorating process.

"Guys." I say, not moving. "I think I found it. Can I get some help?" Two officers came over, moving the Christmas tree and helping me move the body from up against the wall. As we moved her. she began to fall apart in our hands. An officer let go of Diana's body and she smacked to the ground, revealing the smell. Her back was carved out with dead rats stuffed in the crevice. I stood cringing my nose at the team, JJ and Reid shared a confused disgusted look and sheriff Kingsley covered his mouth.

"Is that..." JJ started but stopped, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Rats." Reid answered.

"Oh my..." Sheriff Kingsley stepped aside avoiding the rotten image.

"Dead..rats?" JJ asked flatly, unamused.

"In the Indian beliefs, Lord Ganesha, the embodiment of auspiciousness, rides a rat to help people get rid of all problems troubling him. Since a rat symbolizes troubles, Lord Ganesha aims to keep it under his control by sitting on it, thereby preventing it from disturbing humans." Reid said peering over into the pit of fur with a disgusted nose scrunch.

"So he sees senior citizens as troubles, a problem he can't control?"

"Rats are also looked at as sickness and disease, he could be saying they're pests." I suggest.

"Something he wants vanished." JJ looked at Reid with a hint in her eye before turning to me. "We may be looking at an extinguisher."

Rossi's POV:

The team and I walked through the police station.

"You the BAU guys we been waitin' for?" A female officer asked greeting us with a friendly smile.

"Yes, I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner these are agents, Rossi, Morgan, and Prentiss." Hotch responded reading her gleaming eyes.

"Hi there, nice to meet ya. I'm Becky, Becky Valdez." She shook his hand feverishly, "Welcome to Wisconsin!" She cheered shaking mine, then the others excitedly.

"Is the Ruster family here?" Hotch asked tenderly.

"Oh yeah, sure are, had'em set up in different rooms just like ya asked." I spotted each family member through the open blinds of every window. "Sheriff called a bit ago said you need a space. I got you all set up in the best office with Wisconsin's finest coffee."

"Great, thank you." He turned to us. "Morgan you take Andrew Ruster, Dave you're with Paula Diana's daughter. And Prentiss talk to the children." We all got our directions and started our route.