Heurism | Spencer Reid¹

CHAPTER FORTY: THE BOOGEYMAN

"We can easily forgive a child who's afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."

     — Plato.

—

I keep replaying it over in my mind. The news that William Lee was dead. And that it was Elle who shot him. She claimed self-defence, and yet I just know. I know that she meant it. And I think back to what I said. What I didn't say. What I could have said.

Almost a week has passed and we try to keep going like it didn't happen. We gather in the briefing room — minus Hotch and Elle —, immediately greeted by an image on the display screen of a boy. He lies on a bed of dry leaves, so much bloodshed caused by the gash in his head that it has dried in black streaks down his cheek. "Nicholas Faye of Ozona, Texas, was beaten to death roughly 13 hours ago. Blunt force trauma to the head. He's the second young boy in Ozona to die the same death in the last two months. Local hunter found his body in the woods. The first victim's name, Robbie Davis."

She places another couple of crime scene photos on the table and Morgan picks them up. "Were these boys connected somehow?"

"Ozona's populations roughly 2,500. Everyone has some kind of connection."

He sighs, "Well, if they weren't linked before, they most certainly are now."

I peer over Morgan's shoulder at the photos. "Both around the same age."

"Both murdered by the same offender."

Having been silent until now, and unusually so ever since the events of last week, Gideon speaks up. "Who's hunting children?"

——————

The jet feels incomplete without Elle and Hotch. Whatever the reason for their absence, Gideon knows. He is quieter than normal, which is an achievement even for him. Returning from the back with coffees, Reid takes his seat beside me at the main table. "You guys hear Elle was cleared?"

JJ nods, catching my eye. I quickly look away and focus on the mug that has been set down in front of me. "It was self-defence," Morgan says.

He doesn't seem too sure. Crossing one leg over the other, careful not to knock into me, he settles awkwardly into his seat. "So it was a good shoot."

"Well, she hit what she was aiming for," JJ mumbles.

"That's not what I meant."

She sighs and looks up from her file. "I know."

I note Morgan's tension, the way he frowns a little as he reads through his notes. "If they cleared her, how come she's not here with us? Or Hotch?"

"Focus on the case," comes a gruff warning from the back of Gideon's chair.

I have no complaints. It's hardly something I want to think about more than I already am. JJ raises her eyebrows as though to judge the instruction, then does as she's told anyway. "Ozona police and autopsy report for Nicholas Faye and Robbie Davis," she announces, handing the copies out to each of us.

Morgan takes a look at his copy. "Well, the bludgeoning could suggest frustration or rage."

"And with no apparent sexual motivation. That's rare with victims this young."

I shrug. "Maybe it's the aftermath. Both victims were around the same age. Could be a preferential paedophile trying to keep them from talking."

Still facing away from us, Gideon adds, "This UnSub seems to be taking pleasure from the kill itself."