Lead the Way - Chapter 032 - 4x08 - Masterpiece
This chapter was really hard to write and had to be redone several times. By now I'm sure some of you have noticed that in the episode chapters I only transcribe scenes that either Emily or JJ are in and simply summarize the rest. In this episode we had no JJ and very little Emily and I had a hard time recounting the plot so that it was clear enough.
It was a lot more fun to watch than to write :) Which brings me to credit. Masterpiece is the brainchild of author Edward Allen Bernero. The plot, the Unsub, the reverse profiling - it's all him.
Lead the Way - 032 - 4x08 - Masterpiece
Ironically, it helped a lot that JJ wouldn’t be coming to work for a while. It was ironic because the very reason for her to stay at home was the reason Emily needed to keep her distance. Now that she knew what she was missing, it hurt even more, just as she had expected. The memories of those sweet lips and her voice moaning her name were certainly adding to the vivacity of her fantasies - sadly that worked for the nightmares when she saw JJ with him just as well.
For the umpteenth time, the profiler shook her head and concentrated again when she got notice that Hotch wanted to see her. She immediately walked over to his office and was almost run down by a very angry Jordan.
“What’s wrong with Agent Todd?” Hotch asked with a puzzled look.
“I haven’t really spent a lot of time with her,” Emily responded equally confused.
“Well, something’s bothering her.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her.” She added “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes, the Houston case. I’m missing the coroner’s supplemental for victim three.”
“That’s supposed to come in this afternoon…. I just turned that in last night! When do you sleep?”
“Give me the supplemental so I can close the case?” He avoided the question.
“Yes. Sir.”
“Thank you.”
Back at her desk, Emily’s pain was eased slightly by the prospect of now having the half-official task of spending time with the beautiful new agent. She had no intention of actually seducing her, but window shopping could be just as much fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey… how’s it going?” Emily said as she walked into the press liaison’s office.
“Why?” was the cold retort. Emily was baffled. She certainly hadn’t expected this.
“Ahm… it’s just a question,” She said in a calmer way.
“I’m sorry. I just… I…” Agent Todd apologized.
“Ahm… I… Jordan…” The profiler closed the door before she continued “As the last person to join this team, I know how overwhelming all of this can be. It really does get easier. I’m not exactly sure if that’s a good thing though.”
“I’m going to manifest happiness and calm for the rest of the day.”
Emily’s giggle turned into a laugh at these words. “Happiness and calm… at the B.A.U…. That’s… Good luck with that.” Still smiling, she went for the door.
“Oh, did you need something?”
“Oh… yeah… ahm… I’m waiting for a supplemental from Houston field office so I can close that report. If you could just let me know when it gets here?”
“An internal report wouldn’t come through me,” Jordan frowned.
“Really?” As Agent Todd’s smile broadened, Emily knew she was busted.
“Thanks for checking up on me.”
“Yeah…okay…Well, if you need anything, I’m around.” The eye contact was held longer than necessary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five days. She had been a mother for five days now. And it had been five days since she last saw or heard from Emily. Five days could be excruciatingly long. But today she would finally get to go home. Henry was healthy and her post-natal blues were under control. She couldn’t wait to get her little baby into his crib.
Will had been very supportive the past few days. Right now, he was glowing with happiness as he loaded her stuff into his car. JJ smiled at him. He really was a good man - for someone. As much as she appreciated his being there, she never once regretted her choice.
Dating Emily was different and most certainly a challenge but nothing had ever felt so right to her before. As soon as she was alone today she would call Emily. Her smile broadened at the thought of hearing the brunette’s voice again.
Will walked up to her and slurred:
“Let’s get you home, mommy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A certain Professor Rothchild had approached Reid and Rossi earlier that day claiming that he had killed seven women. He now held five more victims captive, a woman and the four children from her daycare center, and threatened that they would die within ten hours if the team didn’t manage to find them first. He clearly had a god-complex and compared himself to Leonardo da Vinci.
The team needed leverage to make him slip up and reveal something that might lead them to his captives. They decided that the names of his first seven victims could do the trick but all they had to go on were distorted pictures. Even Garcia couldn’t help them. They had no other choice but to use reverse profiling. Now, that was a challenge.
They would study him, find out what kind of killer he was, and then use that information to determine what type of victim would fit him. How he was most likely to approach them, kill them and dispose of their bodies. From the Unsub to the victim.
He needed privacy and time to get rid of seven bodies without leaving a trace. He was local, methodical, obsessive, remorseless and narcisstic - a psychopath. Since his fingerprints weren’t in any database, which they would be if he taught, he was a professor who didn’t teach. A researcher. Garcia decided to check if he had a government grant.
Hotch sent Morgan and Todd to make nice with the local police so they would be invited to join the investigation into the most recent abduction. Prentiss pointed out that they could eliminate a lot of the missing women if they knew how he had met them.
They needed to find out how he reacted to strong women. As Emily walked into the interrogation room he backed up, apparently in fear of her touching him. Rossi concluded that he was a coward, incapable of confronting a woman on equal footing. He would most likely approach a woman from behind, hit her over the head while she was unsuspecting. To time that attack he would have stalked her for a while, which fitted his obsessive nature.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Garcia had received an email with a link to a live stream showing the woman and the children Rothchild had abducted. They seemed to stand in an empty hall.
“It just popped up on my screen. It’s them,” Garcia explained
“There are only three children,” Hotch noticed immediately.
“There were four when I went to go get you.”
“What is this on their faces?” Emily asked.
“They look like gas masks.”
“Oh…Uh… Why would you fill a place with gas and then provide gas masks?” This didn’t make sense.
“Well, maybe the gas serves some other purpose.”
“Such as?” Garcia asked.
“Well, look how evenly they’re spaced out, and the hoses are stretched out as far as they can go without coming off.” Emily understood where he was going with this.
“The masks are to keep them in specific positions.”
Reid and Rossi barged in and gave them the newest information. Rothchild had been building up to this for five years. And Rossi had underestimated him. He had believed that when he said that the team had ten hours to save five people, all five people would die at the same time. In reality, Rothchild had built a room, filled it with gas and provided oxygen masks. These were meant to keep the victims in specific positions. Every two hours one part of the room, along with the victim standing in it, would be shut off from the rest.
Garcia brought them up to speed on the progress she’d made in identifying the prior victims. Based on the geological profile, the technical analyst had brought down the number of possible victims to 39. Given that Rothchild was a narcissist, he would be extremely preferential. All of his victims would be about 30 years old like the latest. They were down to 28. Excluding all cases that were older than five years, the pool was narrowed to 17.
Hotch, Prentiss, Reid and Garcia went through them one by one to determine who had been taken during their routine. Morgan and Jordan were on their way to the only known crime scene, the day care center; Rossi kept interviewing Rothchild, trying to piss him off and make him reveal more of himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once the seven victims were identified, it became clear that they were not only extremely beautiful, but that 3 of them were from the same town: Saluda. Two more came from Gloucester Point. Morgan sent them a picture of the day care center. The toys were arranged in an odd pattern. It made Reid think of something and he stormed out to rip Rothchild’s pendant from his neck.
In the briefing room, he explained as best he could the theory of the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence. It mattered fairly little if they understood his theory, as long as they could trust that he knew what he was doing - a safe bet with Dr. Reid. He concluded that the victims were held in Chester, Virginia. Morgan and Jordan drove there and the rest of the team, except for Dave, joined them with the chopper.
He stayed behind to continue the interrogation of Professor Rothchild. Thinking he had won, the killer revealed that everything he did was because of the book Rossi wrote about Rothchild’s brother.
He had been a serial killer and Rossi was part of the team that profiled and eventually caught him. Rothchild’s fiancée left him because she was afraid that he had more in common with his brother than she thought. His life fell apart and he blamed everything on Rossi.
The professor confessed to killing seven women so he could take the ultimate revenge. He would kill all five team members who had gone to rescue the woman and the kids. Finishing his Fibonacci sequence: 1-1-2-3-5.
Rossi had connected the dots a while ago and had warned his team members in time. They were able to save the kidnapped victims and compile enough circumstantial evidence to back up the confession and send Rothchild to prison for the rest of his life.
It was a lot more fun to watch than to write :) Which brings me to credit. Masterpiece is the brainchild of author Edward Allen Bernero. The plot, the Unsub, the reverse profiling - it's all him.
Lead the Way - 032 - 4x08 - Masterpiece
Ironically, it helped a lot that JJ wouldn’t be coming to work for a while. It was ironic because the very reason for her to stay at home was the reason Emily needed to keep her distance. Now that she knew what she was missing, it hurt even more, just as she had expected. The memories of those sweet lips and her voice moaning her name were certainly adding to the vivacity of her fantasies - sadly that worked for the nightmares when she saw JJ with him just as well.
For the umpteenth time, the profiler shook her head and concentrated again when she got notice that Hotch wanted to see her. She immediately walked over to his office and was almost run down by a very angry Jordan.
“What’s wrong with Agent Todd?” Hotch asked with a puzzled look.
“I haven’t really spent a lot of time with her,” Emily responded equally confused.
“Well, something’s bothering her.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her.” She added “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes, the Houston case. I’m missing the coroner’s supplemental for victim three.”
“That’s supposed to come in this afternoon…. I just turned that in last night! When do you sleep?”
“Give me the supplemental so I can close the case?” He avoided the question.
“Yes. Sir.”
“Thank you.”
Back at her desk, Emily’s pain was eased slightly by the prospect of now having the half-official task of spending time with the beautiful new agent. She had no intention of actually seducing her, but window shopping could be just as much fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey… how’s it going?” Emily said as she walked into the press liaison’s office.
“Why?” was the cold retort. Emily was baffled. She certainly hadn’t expected this.
“Ahm… it’s just a question,” She said in a calmer way.
“I’m sorry. I just… I…” Agent Todd apologized.
“Ahm… I… Jordan…” The profiler closed the door before she continued “As the last person to join this team, I know how overwhelming all of this can be. It really does get easier. I’m not exactly sure if that’s a good thing though.”
“I’m going to manifest happiness and calm for the rest of the day.”
Emily’s giggle turned into a laugh at these words. “Happiness and calm… at the B.A.U…. That’s… Good luck with that.” Still smiling, she went for the door.
“Oh, did you need something?”
“Oh… yeah… ahm… I’m waiting for a supplemental from Houston field office so I can close that report. If you could just let me know when it gets here?”
“An internal report wouldn’t come through me,” Jordan frowned.
“Really?” As Agent Todd’s smile broadened, Emily knew she was busted.
“Thanks for checking up on me.”
“Yeah…okay…Well, if you need anything, I’m around.” The eye contact was held longer than necessary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five days. She had been a mother for five days now. And it had been five days since she last saw or heard from Emily. Five days could be excruciatingly long. But today she would finally get to go home. Henry was healthy and her post-natal blues were under control. She couldn’t wait to get her little baby into his crib.
Will had been very supportive the past few days. Right now, he was glowing with happiness as he loaded her stuff into his car. JJ smiled at him. He really was a good man - for someone. As much as she appreciated his being there, she never once regretted her choice.
Dating Emily was different and most certainly a challenge but nothing had ever felt so right to her before. As soon as she was alone today she would call Emily. Her smile broadened at the thought of hearing the brunette’s voice again.
Will walked up to her and slurred:
“Let’s get you home, mommy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A certain Professor Rothchild had approached Reid and Rossi earlier that day claiming that he had killed seven women. He now held five more victims captive, a woman and the four children from her daycare center, and threatened that they would die within ten hours if the team didn’t manage to find them first. He clearly had a god-complex and compared himself to Leonardo da Vinci.
The team needed leverage to make him slip up and reveal something that might lead them to his captives. They decided that the names of his first seven victims could do the trick but all they had to go on were distorted pictures. Even Garcia couldn’t help them. They had no other choice but to use reverse profiling. Now, that was a challenge.
They would study him, find out what kind of killer he was, and then use that information to determine what type of victim would fit him. How he was most likely to approach them, kill them and dispose of their bodies. From the Unsub to the victim.
He needed privacy and time to get rid of seven bodies without leaving a trace. He was local, methodical, obsessive, remorseless and narcisstic - a psychopath. Since his fingerprints weren’t in any database, which they would be if he taught, he was a professor who didn’t teach. A researcher. Garcia decided to check if he had a government grant.
Hotch sent Morgan and Todd to make nice with the local police so they would be invited to join the investigation into the most recent abduction. Prentiss pointed out that they could eliminate a lot of the missing women if they knew how he had met them.
They needed to find out how he reacted to strong women. As Emily walked into the interrogation room he backed up, apparently in fear of her touching him. Rossi concluded that he was a coward, incapable of confronting a woman on equal footing. He would most likely approach a woman from behind, hit her over the head while she was unsuspecting. To time that attack he would have stalked her for a while, which fitted his obsessive nature.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Garcia had received an email with a link to a live stream showing the woman and the children Rothchild had abducted. They seemed to stand in an empty hall.
“It just popped up on my screen. It’s them,” Garcia explained
“There are only three children,” Hotch noticed immediately.
“There were four when I went to go get you.”
“What is this on their faces?” Emily asked.
“They look like gas masks.”
“Oh…Uh… Why would you fill a place with gas and then provide gas masks?” This didn’t make sense.
“Well, maybe the gas serves some other purpose.”
“Such as?” Garcia asked.
“Well, look how evenly they’re spaced out, and the hoses are stretched out as far as they can go without coming off.” Emily understood where he was going with this.
“The masks are to keep them in specific positions.”
Reid and Rossi barged in and gave them the newest information. Rothchild had been building up to this for five years. And Rossi had underestimated him. He had believed that when he said that the team had ten hours to save five people, all five people would die at the same time. In reality, Rothchild had built a room, filled it with gas and provided oxygen masks. These were meant to keep the victims in specific positions. Every two hours one part of the room, along with the victim standing in it, would be shut off from the rest.
Garcia brought them up to speed on the progress she’d made in identifying the prior victims. Based on the geological profile, the technical analyst had brought down the number of possible victims to 39. Given that Rothchild was a narcissist, he would be extremely preferential. All of his victims would be about 30 years old like the latest. They were down to 28. Excluding all cases that were older than five years, the pool was narrowed to 17.
Hotch, Prentiss, Reid and Garcia went through them one by one to determine who had been taken during their routine. Morgan and Jordan were on their way to the only known crime scene, the day care center; Rossi kept interviewing Rothchild, trying to piss him off and make him reveal more of himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once the seven victims were identified, it became clear that they were not only extremely beautiful, but that 3 of them were from the same town: Saluda. Two more came from Gloucester Point. Morgan sent them a picture of the day care center. The toys were arranged in an odd pattern. It made Reid think of something and he stormed out to rip Rothchild’s pendant from his neck.
In the briefing room, he explained as best he could the theory of the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence. It mattered fairly little if they understood his theory, as long as they could trust that he knew what he was doing - a safe bet with Dr. Reid. He concluded that the victims were held in Chester, Virginia. Morgan and Jordan drove there and the rest of the team, except for Dave, joined them with the chopper.
He stayed behind to continue the interrogation of Professor Rothchild. Thinking he had won, the killer revealed that everything he did was because of the book Rossi wrote about Rothchild’s brother.
He had been a serial killer and Rossi was part of the team that profiled and eventually caught him. Rothchild’s fiancée left him because she was afraid that he had more in common with his brother than she thought. His life fell apart and he blamed everything on Rossi.
The professor confessed to killing seven women so he could take the ultimate revenge. He would kill all five team members who had gone to rescue the woman and the kids. Finishing his Fibonacci sequence: 1-1-2-3-5.
Rossi had connected the dots a while ago and had warned his team members in time. They were able to save the kidnapped victims and compile enough circumstantial evidence to back up the confession and send Rothchild to prison for the rest of his life.