Lead the Way - Chapter 016 - Unearthing Secrets
Happy Birthday triller69 ! I know I'm a day early, but I'm sure you won't hold it against me! I hope you enjoy your special day tomorrow and you'll get a lot of gifts. Don't go breaking any more bones, though.
In other news, it is time for a new chapter. Tell me what you think Emily will have to say on Monday. What is the reason for Cooper's MO? Please help me pass the time until Monday. We'll have lots of fun on Monday. Have I said Monday yet? I don't know. Alright, alright, no more teasing. Here you go:
Lead the Way - 017 - Unearthing Secrets
Memories of the past evening flashed before her eyes as Agent Prentiss sat in the lobby waiting for Detective Saunders. They had told her about the new developments in the case and she wanted to hear about them before the team made any decisions on how to proceed.
Last night Emily had pretended to need to work. She had looked through Gerald Cooper’s case file until she was sure the blonde had fallen asleep. Only then did she have the nerve to turn around and look at the other agent.
The delicate face lying solemnly on the white pillow, blonde hair framing it like a divine picture Emily was strongly reminded of an angel. Her gaze wandered down from the hairline to the thin eyebrows, over the now closed eyes that gave her heart a jolt every time she looked into them. From the straight, short nose that she would give anything to bite gently, over the red, full lips that she so desperately longed to taste, Emily’s eyes strayed off to a delectable clavicle.
She had not been able to take her eyes off the sight knowing she would probably never see it again, once this week was over. At least not until she closed her eyes again, because God knows she wanted to memorize it as best she could. The hours had passed and it wasn’t until the birds began to greet the new day that Emily noticed she had spent the night at the little desk, doing nothing but watch what she could never have.
Emily shook her head at the despairing thought and concentrated again on the task at hand. Within seconds her wall was up again and she was ready to convince the entire TPD of the necessity to dig up a woman that had been murdered 24 years ago so that a convicted killer could get a fair trial.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You know the law.” Hotch’s firm voice resounded in the car. JJ had called him and brought him up to speed. Even Saunders had been convinced that Rose deserved that the world learned the truth about her disappearance. Why, then, was it so hard for JJ to feel anything besides guilt?
“I doubt the Governor will be pleased to hear it.” Reid stated. Emily rolled her eyes. She hated politics.
“Frankly, I don’t care right now. If you find her, you have to tell the D.A. It’s his call. If anyone causes you trouble, call me and I’ll take it from there.”
“Don’t worry Hotch, we’ll handle it.” Emily reassured him. He hung up without saying goodbye.
“That’s two for three.” Reid said. Indeed, now that Hotch and Saunders were aboard, all they had to do was to get the approval of the TPD to dig around on Cooper’s farm. As soon as the team explained to Sheriff J.B. Smith what they had learned, he immediately called D.A. Clark.
Clark needed no convincing at all. He seemed more than eager to try Gerald Cooper again. Outside Saunders explained that Clark could be sure to win the case, raising the number of cases he’d won, without putting much effort into it.
Emily and JJ exchanged a look, but all four of them headed out the Cooper farm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So where do we start looking?” Emily asked while looking around.
“He buried all of his victims here, right?” JJ asked.
“Yes in unmarked graves. The parents were the first to be found. Their graves were so shallow the moles had unearthed a leg bone that just lay there when the police arrived.” Silence fell over the group as everybody saw the scene before their inner eyes.
“But the other graves were deeper, right?”
“They were. Honestly people were so appalled by everything they saw here; they didn’t question the depth of the graves.” Saunders explained.
“Maybe it seemed insignificant back then, but there must have been a reason for him to change his method. He buried Karen deeper in the ground and all of his later victims too.”
“I think JJ’s right,” Emily said. “There must be some kind of significance to this.”
Reid followed the women, his nose buried in the original crime scene photos. As they had almost made their way around the house he yelled at them:
“Hey, guys?” The women turned around.
“What is it, Reid?” JJ questioned, holding her hand up to shield her from the sun.
“Not all of the graves were unmarked.” Emily crossed the distance between them and looked at the photos.
“Who is it?” Barbara wanted to know.
“Rascal - the dog,” Reid said, looking up. Agent Prentiss bit her lip. The TPD did not have the financial resources to provide them with an ultrasound that could help them look and she wasn’t about to start digging anywhere.
“So we have two interesting burial sites: the parents and the dog,” JJ said.
“But if he cared enough about the dog to name the grave and - according to these pictures that were taken on the day of his arrest - put flowers on it on a regular basis… He wouldn’t want to disturb the earth around it to bury his sister, would he?”
“Besides, the dog grave is in front of the house. His parents would have been bound to see it in the morning.”
“Whereas the grave he dug for his parents cannot be seen from the house.” Reid nodded in agreement and the four of them made their way to Cooper’s parents’ grave.
An hour later Emily’s shirt was soaked through. It was a hot day, the thermometer showed some 83° and she had been digging carefully so as not to disturb the bones, should she find any. Reid had been exhausted after a mere ten minutes and Saunders had been called in for a robbery downtown.
Just as she was about to throw the shovel away and call it quits JJ walked up to her, handing her a cold can of coke.
“You read my mind.”
“Nah. It’s called profiling.”
Emily smiled and drank gratefully.
“Let me go again.” JJ too had had occasion to probe the dirt behind the barn but her shift had ended without getting them any results.
“Do you think we’ll ever find her?” Emily asked quietly.
“Eventually. Yes.” JJ responded.
As it turned out eventually came around some ten minutes later when JJ accidentally cut through a hip bone with the edge of the shovel. Rose Cooper had finally been found after 24 years. The plastic bag Gerald had used to suffocate her was still on the skull. Right then everything fell into place for Emily.
She understood why Rose had had to die, why Cooper killed the way he did, and anger bubbled up inside her. Without another word she ran to the car Saunders had left them and drove to the prison.
Meanwhile, JJ called in the local authorities and dealt with protocol. She wondered what had gotten into the other woman all of a sudden, but she knew now was not the time to mention it.
In other news, it is time for a new chapter. Tell me what you think Emily will have to say on Monday. What is the reason for Cooper's MO? Please help me pass the time until Monday. We'll have lots of fun on Monday. Have I said Monday yet? I don't know. Alright, alright, no more teasing. Here you go:
Lead the Way - 017 - Unearthing Secrets
Memories of the past evening flashed before her eyes as Agent Prentiss sat in the lobby waiting for Detective Saunders. They had told her about the new developments in the case and she wanted to hear about them before the team made any decisions on how to proceed.
Last night Emily had pretended to need to work. She had looked through Gerald Cooper’s case file until she was sure the blonde had fallen asleep. Only then did she have the nerve to turn around and look at the other agent.
The delicate face lying solemnly on the white pillow, blonde hair framing it like a divine picture Emily was strongly reminded of an angel. Her gaze wandered down from the hairline to the thin eyebrows, over the now closed eyes that gave her heart a jolt every time she looked into them. From the straight, short nose that she would give anything to bite gently, over the red, full lips that she so desperately longed to taste, Emily’s eyes strayed off to a delectable clavicle.
She had not been able to take her eyes off the sight knowing she would probably never see it again, once this week was over. At least not until she closed her eyes again, because God knows she wanted to memorize it as best she could. The hours had passed and it wasn’t until the birds began to greet the new day that Emily noticed she had spent the night at the little desk, doing nothing but watch what she could never have.
Emily shook her head at the despairing thought and concentrated again on the task at hand. Within seconds her wall was up again and she was ready to convince the entire TPD of the necessity to dig up a woman that had been murdered 24 years ago so that a convicted killer could get a fair trial.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You know the law.” Hotch’s firm voice resounded in the car. JJ had called him and brought him up to speed. Even Saunders had been convinced that Rose deserved that the world learned the truth about her disappearance. Why, then, was it so hard for JJ to feel anything besides guilt?
“I doubt the Governor will be pleased to hear it.” Reid stated. Emily rolled her eyes. She hated politics.
“Frankly, I don’t care right now. If you find her, you have to tell the D.A. It’s his call. If anyone causes you trouble, call me and I’ll take it from there.”
“Don’t worry Hotch, we’ll handle it.” Emily reassured him. He hung up without saying goodbye.
“That’s two for three.” Reid said. Indeed, now that Hotch and Saunders were aboard, all they had to do was to get the approval of the TPD to dig around on Cooper’s farm. As soon as the team explained to Sheriff J.B. Smith what they had learned, he immediately called D.A. Clark.
Clark needed no convincing at all. He seemed more than eager to try Gerald Cooper again. Outside Saunders explained that Clark could be sure to win the case, raising the number of cases he’d won, without putting much effort into it.
Emily and JJ exchanged a look, but all four of them headed out the Cooper farm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So where do we start looking?” Emily asked while looking around.
“He buried all of his victims here, right?” JJ asked.
“Yes in unmarked graves. The parents were the first to be found. Their graves were so shallow the moles had unearthed a leg bone that just lay there when the police arrived.” Silence fell over the group as everybody saw the scene before their inner eyes.
“But the other graves were deeper, right?”
“They were. Honestly people were so appalled by everything they saw here; they didn’t question the depth of the graves.” Saunders explained.
“Maybe it seemed insignificant back then, but there must have been a reason for him to change his method. He buried Karen deeper in the ground and all of his later victims too.”
“I think JJ’s right,” Emily said. “There must be some kind of significance to this.”
Reid followed the women, his nose buried in the original crime scene photos. As they had almost made their way around the house he yelled at them:
“Hey, guys?” The women turned around.
“What is it, Reid?” JJ questioned, holding her hand up to shield her from the sun.
“Not all of the graves were unmarked.” Emily crossed the distance between them and looked at the photos.
“Who is it?” Barbara wanted to know.
“Rascal - the dog,” Reid said, looking up. Agent Prentiss bit her lip. The TPD did not have the financial resources to provide them with an ultrasound that could help them look and she wasn’t about to start digging anywhere.
“So we have two interesting burial sites: the parents and the dog,” JJ said.
“But if he cared enough about the dog to name the grave and - according to these pictures that were taken on the day of his arrest - put flowers on it on a regular basis… He wouldn’t want to disturb the earth around it to bury his sister, would he?”
“Besides, the dog grave is in front of the house. His parents would have been bound to see it in the morning.”
“Whereas the grave he dug for his parents cannot be seen from the house.” Reid nodded in agreement and the four of them made their way to Cooper’s parents’ grave.
An hour later Emily’s shirt was soaked through. It was a hot day, the thermometer showed some 83° and she had been digging carefully so as not to disturb the bones, should she find any. Reid had been exhausted after a mere ten minutes and Saunders had been called in for a robbery downtown.
Just as she was about to throw the shovel away and call it quits JJ walked up to her, handing her a cold can of coke.
“You read my mind.”
“Nah. It’s called profiling.”
Emily smiled and drank gratefully.
“Let me go again.” JJ too had had occasion to probe the dirt behind the barn but her shift had ended without getting them any results.
“Do you think we’ll ever find her?” Emily asked quietly.
“Eventually. Yes.” JJ responded.
As it turned out eventually came around some ten minutes later when JJ accidentally cut through a hip bone with the edge of the shovel. Rose Cooper had finally been found after 24 years. The plastic bag Gerald had used to suffocate her was still on the skull. Right then everything fell into place for Emily.
She understood why Rose had had to die, why Cooper killed the way he did, and anger bubbled up inside her. Without another word she ran to the car Saunders had left them and drove to the prison.
Meanwhile, JJ called in the local authorities and dealt with protocol. She wondered what had gotten into the other woman all of a sudden, but she knew now was not the time to mention it.