Call-sign: Miracle

C~6: Not Sittin' In Hotels

"Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they are in the game."

~ Comedian Paul Rodriguez

"Methanol is compositionally speaking the simplest of the alcohols. It's actually ubiquitous in the environment." Spencer begins as my knee doesn't stop bouncing up and down, my hands gripping the iPad as if a planes yoke.

"There are small traces of its vapor in the atmosphere, but atmospheric methanol is easily oxidized by sunlight..." he trails off, opening the jar of Splenda to find it empty "What th-"

"Bottom cabinet in the corner." force letting out a breath. Spencer catches at he squats to get the sugar. "You really don't not like flying the jet-"

"Is it toxic?" Emily questions sending a knock-it-off look to Spencer. I nod her thanks as Spencer continues, "Ingesting 10 milliliters of it will cause permanent blindness, and as little as 30 is potentially fatal."

"There victims had between 5 and 6 ounces in their lungs." points out Morgan. In general, this was only my third case with the team, and it was strange.

We're heading to Los Angeles to investigate 3 women, all abducted from different parts of the city and murdered within the last couple of weeks.

All different socioeconomic statuses.

All 3 were held approximately 24 hours before being dumped in a public space.

The weirdest part, all of them were drowned, along with having a patch of skin missing from the bottom of their foot. Spencer brings up a possibility "You know if they were immersed in it, they would have died even without ingesting or inhaling it. When absorbed through the skin, it depresses the central nervous system to an unsustainable degree."

Morgan looks up at this. "What's it used for?"

Laughing a bit, squeeze my thigh, trying to stop my knee. "Its solvent, antifreeze, WW2 it made one heck of some rocket fuel." stopping myself, I meet Spencer's eyes. "But it's also used as a base to make a bunch of other stuff."

Seeing my point, he nods, "Plastic, plywood, paint, explosives, permanent-press textiles. It's a chemical used to separate other chemicals from each other."

"Can it be bought? Tracked?" Emily asks. Hotch looks up from the file, "California's got some of the strictest environmental laws in the country. I'm sure it's regulated."

"Yeah, but Methanol is also used in making biofuels." Rossi adds, "Which quite a few people have been doing at home. I'd imagine the sale of it is fairly commonplace."

"Small amounts, yes." I agree, allowing Emily to take the tablet from me "But the amount needed to immerse a body and the rate this man's killing at. That quantity is direct from the airstrip to a delivery truck which means there is a record." explaining this I turn to Hotch "If it's alright I got a friend who overlooks west coast import and export."

"Have Garcia give them a call. They could possibly find the record."

"We're gonna need the help." Morgan pushes, crossing his arms. "Considering the wide divergence of abduction and dumpsites, this guy could be anywhere. L.A. is over 500 square miles."

"498.3..."

Even while Spencer said it with me, everyone turns at the same statement that comes from my lips "Basic flight regulations." I shrug. "Gotta know where you can and ain't making an emergency landing. Be thankful I know this."

Morgan lets out a small giggle at this while Rossi speaks, "And the fact that no one has seen him either abduct or dispose, says he knows the city and its patterns well."

******************************************

The room was bursting with calls and cops running around, L.A.P.D. was swamped, but I mark the last dump sight on the map I can't help but smile.

It felt so good to not just sit in a hotel when you know a killer is running around out there and actually doing a damn thing about it!

"Now we've charted the abduction and disposal sites."

Spencer's voice rings as I turn over my shoulder to see him walking in the board room with Hotch, Rossi, and L.A.P.D. Cheif, back from examining the body, "Cassy?" Spencer motions.

"Right." I nod, beginning to point out what we found "Linda Dean, taken from Hollywood. Her body dumped in Echo Park. Shelly Onto, last seen in the Garment District. Her body, dumped in Sherman Oaks. And Vickie Hagerg, taken in Torrance South of the City, body left in Westlake."

"Huge geographical area," comments Hotch. I agree, clapping my hands "Yes, but the area our Unsub ain't hit, East of Downtown."

"Which means we can either eliminate it, or it's the one place left." finishes off Spencer. Rossi twerks his brows. "So we're back to nothing."

"That ain't so." I state, moving to the table to pick up the photos, "I mean these dumpsites...well, they're actually dumps, no stagin', no concealment, those girls we're like garbage once he was done."

"The randomness could be orchestrated, or it could be simple opportunity." Hotch theorizes, "Either way, he's very mobile."

"All of the dumpsites, including the most recent one, are between the 110 and 405 freeway and the 5 and 10 north and south." Spencer points out.

"Linda Dean's family said she always took the red line home from work at night." Emily brings up walking in from her assignment "But the subway in L.A. stops running at 1 A.M. she clocked out of work at 5 past."

Huh? "She ain't walkin' home, not at that hour."

"No. And Kingsley's a mile away."

"All the victims had breathed an aerosolized chloroform, and to do that, he needs an enclosed space." Hotch states aloud before Spencer takes up words, "You know, Chloroform's a lot more controlled than Methanol. I'll have Garcia track any large quantity purchases or thefts from chemical supply houses."

"So we're looking for a vehicle, one that could be in any area of Los Angeles at 1:00 in the morning and not attract attention."

"I hate to say it." begins the Cheif. "But that could be a police car."

"No one gets in a police car without drawing some attention," I state, meeting everyone's eyes. They all know what I thought. I just had to be the one to say it "Most likely a Taxi."