Monday, 11:13 AM, VCTF Headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia
"George could you put up the CS pics again", Sam asked George. Sam stared at the Crime Scene photos displayed on the command center’s central computer screen. George flipped through the series of photographs using his mouse. It came to rest on a close-up of the victims face and neck.
"Grace, do we know what he was strangled with?" Sam asked trying to fit all the bits of information into one clear pattern.
"You’re gonna find this interesting. The weapon of choice seems to be pantyhose." Grace answered looking up from her report.
"Pantyhose? Do we have a brand name?" Bailey asked, looking for leads anywhere he could find them. You could hear desperation echoing in his voice.
"Leggs. Every drug and grocery store in the whole world carries them. No way to track it down to a specific store or even a specific shipment. Too generic. Sorry Bail." Grace told him.
"Let’s step back and look at the big picture. We have a killer who degrades his victims by dousing them with perfume, smearing their faces with lipstick and strangling them with pantyhose. Those are all feminine products. He’s trying to make his victims more feminine?" Sam made her final statement with a tinge of questioning in her voice. Bailey came to back her up.
"Maybe this guy Johnson was a closeted homosexual? Or transvestite? That would explain the use of feminine products in the killing rituals." Bailey added. "Possibly…" Sam said with a blank stare on her face.
"John, talk to the friends and neighbors of the vic. See what you can find about this guy’s social life." Bailey commanded John. The phone rang and George answered it in the background. Sam and Bailey were figuring out their next move when they heard George’s anxious voice.
"We’ve got another one. Same MO, this time in New Mexico."
********** Monday, 3:27 PM, Ten Oaks, New Mexico
"Same MO as before. Current vic, Michael Lansing, 42. DCDS. COD Strangulation. The perfume, the lipstick, all there." John said somewhat frustrated. This time the CS had changed. The Crime Scene was now the deceased’s own bedroom. While John was reading off the preliminary report, Sam and Bailey were following him down the corridor into the victim’s bedroom. There were already a dozen people from forensics combing the large bedroom for any PE. They had been there for awhile and were almost finished recovering what little physical evidence there was. Bailey waved his hand dismissing them, their evidence bags in hand. They left the body bag open just enough, revealing the man’s marred face.
Sam walked around the room, stopping in front of the expired body laying on the disheveled bed.. "Did forensics do this?" Sam asked, pointing to the bed.
"No, prelim says there were signs of a struggle. I guess that’s it." John said.
"And who found him?" Sam asked.
"The maid. She came in to work about 11:30 this morning. She found him like this." John replied, nodding towards the slain man.
Sam looked at the body. It was the same distinct scent from the perfume at the last crime scene and looked like the same shade of lipstick as well. Then she noticed his hand. "He was married too. Where’s the wife?" Sam said looking up at Bailey.
"Apparently she’s in Arizona on business. We had some of the local Arizona PD go down to her hotel room and notify her. She should be coming by soon-" Bailey told her. He noticed her eyes had glazed over. Then she spoke.
"There has to be a connection. I have to talk to her." When she said that last line she woke up from her thinking trance. "We need to establish a pattern. There had to be a pattern, there always is." Sam said with indignation in her voice.
Bailey noticed that Sam was pressing this case harder than usual. Maybe these women’s loss of their husbands reminded her of Tom. He would make a point to talk to her about it as soon as things settled down.
"Ok, John, why don’t you take the chopper back to Montana. Interview the first victim’s friends and whoever else you deem relevant," Bailey ordered the agent for the second time that day, "We need to find out why this killer’s killing these specific men.
"Fine. I’ll check in as soon as I find something out." John replied, giving Sam a longing glance before leaving them alone with the body.
"Sam, what are you thinking?" Bailey asked softening his voice, not wanting to stress her even more.
"You know what I can’t figure out? The damn connection, that’s what! I mean, they’re both married males, between 35 and 45, white, and that’s it! What makes these people different?!" Sam said, almost yelling actually, frustration present in every syllable.
"What makes these people different is that they’re dead and we need to figure out why. Sam, you’re the best profiler in the whole Bureau, but you’re not God. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself. You’re going to burnout. And we need you so much." I need you so much Sam, Bailey thought to himself.
"You know what never ceases to amaze me Bailey? The mind of a serial killer. They have such conviction and pain. It’s so amazing how such intelligent beings can kill their own kind. They’re no better than animals Bailey." Sam told him. By then Bailey had come closer to Sam, stroking her shoulder to instill comfort.
"That’s them Sam, you’re you. You catch those guys. Do you have any idea how many lives you’ve saved because of your profiling gift? Hundreds at least. I know it gets hard, I’ve been there. You just have to take it one day at a time." Bailey told her, still stroking her.
"Sometimes I think I should have taken my mother’s advice and become a lawyer." Sam said, her old tone of voice returning. "You know, sometimes its just so hard to be around all this darkness and death. I wonder how I can ever protect Chloe from the world we live in. She’s been through so much already. It’s just…hard." She told him, trying to explain her outburst.
"I know Sam. But I’ll always be here. You can always come to me to talk these things out. It helps." Bailey told her caringly, still using his soft voice. He wished he could tell her he would always protect her and Chloe. How much they really meant in his life.
"I know and I will. Thanks Bailey, I feel much better. You’re a great friend," she said. You’re my best friend Bailey. I love you so much. I’m just scared to tell you. Afraid you don’t feel the same way.
"After this case kid, I’m sending you to the Bahamas for a long deserved vacation. You need some time away from all this and to spend some time with Chloe and Angel." Bailey told her reassuringly.
"No way. You’re sending me to Hawaii." Sam told him with mocking forcefulness.
"Deal. Lets just solve this one and get on with our boring lives," Bailey joked.
"Am I interrupting something?" Grace said accusingly. She appeared in the door way and then moved her way towards the bed.
"We were waiting for you Gracie." Bailey lied, trying to cover for any speculation she might have about what had been going on.
"Did you find anything new?" Sam piped in.
"Nope. Same as before. Definitely the same killer." Grace told them.
"When do we expect the wife?" Sam asked Bailey.
"Soon. Soon," was his reply.
**********
