Criminal Minds s09e22 Episode Script
Fatal
This is such bull.
He's the one who ought to be arrested, not me.
I thought you girls were paid up front before the lap dance.
This guy looked good for it.
So he got his lap dance-- Yeah, two of them.
Good ones.
And then he paid you with postage stamps.
He said, "it's the same as money.
" Really? Try paying rent with that.
That still doesn't mean you can kick a man in his private parts, Candy.
That's assault.
Hey! Watch it! You want to go? I got an emergency.
I got an emergency.
Listen.
Listen.
Look, you gotta help me.
Somebody's trying to kill me.
Yeah? Who's trying to kill you? Ok.
Hey-- I got this.
There.
Look at that.
Right there.
Look at it.
See that? "You have less than a day to live.
There is no way to prevent the inevitable.
" I found that in my mailbox out of the blue.
I'm not crazy.
How much have you had to drink tonight, sir? I can smell alcohol.
What are you talking about? It's not important.
Look, umI'm sorry.
Just Can I stay here, uh, tonight, just until the morning? This isn't a motel.
Just go back home, calm down, try to get some sleep.
Mission accomplished, pal.
You're in for the night.
Heard some whacked-out helped empty the garbage last night.
You heard right.
Word is this guy wanted to be arrested? Yeah, now he's gotta go see the judge.
Would've been cheaper if he'd just gone to a motel.
Let's go.
Rise and shine.
Damn it! Get an ambulance! As my dear mother used to say, a penny for your thoughts.
Hey.
Jack asked me to speak to his class about being an FBI agent.
They're having career day.
Sounds like fun.
Come on.
Every day you strap on the six-shooter and go after the bad guys.
The kids'll love it.
Oh, I know.
And I'm glad he asked.
It just, I'm a little worried about it because I don't want it to end up being difficult for him.
Because of what happened to Hailey.
One of the bad guys killed his mom.
And he's doing fine.
And we talk about it some, but I just don't want this to end uphurting him.
You're a good dad, Aaron.
And I know you're doing everything you can to help him.
And I also know you'll make the right decision about this, whatever it is.
Thanks.
Oh, I'm interrupting.
But we're ready.
Thank you.
Wayne Campbell, found dying yesterday morning in his holding cell in Long Beach, California.
He claimed someone was trying to kill him, so he purposely got himself arrested to be protected.
A strategy that didn't work out so great.
What is the C.
O.
D.
? Arsenic poisoning.
Ah, an oldie but a goodie.
And you're tuned to the station where the hits keep coming.
When news spread of Campbell's death, an officer in a nearby precinct remembered Helen Mitchell.
with this letter she had found in her mailbox a few days before.
Was it investigated? They started a file, but Helen wasn't especially concerned.
And in light of Campbell's death, they exhumed Helen Mitchell's body, and lethal amounts of arsenic were found in her system as well.
Handwritten letters, poisoning by arsenic-- we could be looking at a female unsub.
Who wants her victims to have foreknowledge of their deaths.
That's a new one.
Actually, we've seen a version of this M.
O.
before.
Max Pool warned his victims by putting their faces on missing posters before killing them.
In any event, there may be notes out there that we don't know about.
We've got a long flight.
Let's get going.
You can exchange the muffler for equal or greater value.
Come on.
Can't I exchange it for something cheaper? My car's got like Yeah, go ahead.
What's so important, man? I'm on my way to pick up Izzy for school.
Wait.
You think I did this? It was under my door when I came in to work this morning.
A death threat? I look like a psycho to you? This conversation's done.
Hey, man, you ok? Yeah.
Yeah.
Look, maybe we had a fight the other day, but you and me, we go back a long time.
Close up and go home, huh? Take an aspirin.
Quit accusing people of stuff.
Ohh! Hello? Uh, anybody back here? I found the muffler I want.
A proverb states, "he that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned.
" Helen Mitchell was the socially prominent widow of an investment banker, philanthropist, patroness of the arts.
Wayne Campbell, on the other hand, was as blue collar as they come.
Worked for a tree-trimming and removal company.
Garcia, was the M.
E.
able to estimate when Campbell might have ingested the arsenic.
Somewhere between 6:00 and 10 p.
m.
last evening.
Do we know where Campbell was during those hours? Same place he is every Tuesday night while his wife plays bridge.
Erish grill.
It's a neighborhood sports bar.
This isn't widely known, but Helen Mitchell had a drinking problem, and Wayne Campbell abused painkillers.
That could be the common thread, and unsub's punishing them for their vices? Poisoning those who poison themselves? The syntax of the note is interesting.
Instead of a simple "stop it," you get "prevent the inevitable.
" And in block lettering to disguise the handwriting.
Oh, no.
Make room in your files, they're about to get thicker.
A third victim was just reported half an hour ago.
Carlos Ortega.
Exact same note left on his body.
Also poisoned? Yeah, it looks that way.
Well, this is weird.
There was a piece of twine on his chest.
No twine was reported on or near the first two victims.
Less than a day between kills this time.
He's accelerating.
Morgan, see who Helen Mitchell had contact with in the 24 hours before she died.
Dave, you and Blake check out the Carlos Ortega crime scene.
JJ and Reid to the sports bar, and I'll coordinate with local law enforcement.
Are you the responding officer? Yes, sir.
Delivery driver discovered the body.
Blood, vomit, evidence of hyper-salivation.
Smelled garlic on the victim.
Maybe somebody spiked his food? Garlic odor in the breath and body tissue is a common indicator of arsenic poisoning.
Yeah, I wonder how the unsub got him to ingest it.
Is that the twine found on his chest? That's correct.
Laid out real precise, in a straight line, pointing head to toe.
Rossi.
Detective Tavez.
SSA Hotchner.
Glad you're here.
We have our share of homicides, but this is something new.
Did you check with other precincts for similar cases? Yes.
Nothing so far.
Thank you very much.
Hey, Hotch.
Helen Mitchell's personal secretary.
She claims that Helen was home alone the day of her death.
The only thing out of the ordinary was a small box of chocolates delivered to the house.
Do we know who sent them? Supposedly a local charity to thank her for hosting a fund-raiser.
Except the charity claims they know nothing about it.
Any chocolates missing from the box? Campbell's personal belongings you asked for.
Thank you.
Do you remember what Mr.
Campbell ate the night before last? His usual.
Chili dog, onion rings.
Cast-iron stomach, that guy.
Did he talk to anyone? Just the guy sitting next to him.
Was this other guy also a regular? No.
I hadn't seen him before.
He kept buying Wayne drinks, though.
Can you describe him? White guy, heavy-set, maybe 40 years old.
Wore a hat, average-looking.
Do you think you'd recognize him if you saw him again? Yeah, I think so.
Ok, well, thank you for your help.
We may be contacting you again.
Anything I can do to help.
Look, Wayne seemed a little preoccupied that night, but he was a good guy.
The unsub may have spiked his drink.
It wouldn't have been hard to do.
A busy bar, lots of noise and distraction.
Get another double vodka.
He kept plying Campbell with booze to get him drunk.
I'm gonna go to the head.
I appreciate it.
And since what goes in has to eventually come out, it'd be his way to ensure that he'd get up at some point to use the bathroom.
The victim left momentarily The unsub slipped in the arsenic And left the bar.
And when Campbell returned from the bathroom He took a drink.
He never had a clue.
Oh! Holy cow! All right, Bill.
Last chance, buddy.
You sure you want to leave all this splendor for some lousy island in the Mediterranean? You know, Bill almost jumped the gun and went 20 years ago.
Had his ticket bought for Greece and everything.
Except, me and him went out and tied one on the night before, and Bill missed the shuttle van to the airport.
Aww And I could never look a Mai Tai in the face again.
Hurry it up, Wick.
I don't like room temperature champagne.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But here's to your new life, Bill.
Yeah! Congratulations, bill.
Just remember to keep an extra hammock strung up on the beach for your old buddy Wick, huh? Come on, speech.
Come on.
Speech, speech, speech, speech, speech, speech Um, I I was just thinking about how all of this was here before And then how it's all gonna be here after.
You know, 'cause When they're living like-- You know, I think-- I think Bill's given up on English already and is already talking Greek.
Come on up, guys, get some cake.
Same kind of twine found in Wayne Campbell's pocket.
A friend of the victim's, Benjie Ruiz, came by the shop around 9:40 and saw a single customer milling around in the muffler section.
There was no surveillance camera, but a cash register receipt confirms somebody exchanged a muffler at 9:36.
When Mr.
Ruiz left the customer was still there.
At 9:50, Carlos was found dead.
No customer in sight.
Do we have a description of him? White male in his 40s, large build, and he wore a hat.
That's the same description the bartender gave to me and JJ.
It's gotta be our guy.
A green car was parked outside when Benjie Ruiz arrived and was still there when he left.
No make or model, but pretty old.
According to Mr.
Ruiz, Carlos had no drug or alcohol issues.
He was a solid, hard-working family man.
Well, that puts a dent in our theory of an unsub punishing people for their indiscretions.
Unless Carlos had a vice we don't know about.
We just confirmed that the chocolates and the water cooler both tested positive for arsenic.
Any twine found at Helen Mitchell's house? A couple feet of it were tossed in the kitchen trash.
We're thinking the chocolates may have been wrapped in it.
Guys, I did a geographic profile of the victims, and it turns out they all lived or worked in the same 2.
65 square-mile radius in the north part of the city.
Well, that gives us his hunting ground, but not his victim selection criteria.
The bartender said the unsub may have struck up a conversation with Campbell there that night.
That's ballsy.
The same way he walked into Carlos' store to exchange the muffler.
And for some reason, he feels the need to interact with his victims in the hours before they die.
Aah! Aah! Uhh! It's not an emergency, really.
I just want to file a complaint against some kids in the neighborhood.
Hold on, ma'am.
I'm transferring you.
Ok.
Uh-huh.
These kids are how old? And can you tell me the nature of the note? Can you read it to me? Ma'am, do not hang up.
I'm getting someone from the FBI.
FBI? I don't need that.
It's only some kids.
Agent Rossi, we have another person with a note.
A Janice Cheswick.
Ma'am, this is agent David Rossi.
Are you alone in your house? Yes.
I mean, I-- I think so.
Double check that all your doors and windows are secured.
Stay calm, and do not hang up your phone.
My God.
Everything is locked.
Now what? All right.
Police have been dispatched to your home.
Do not leave your house.
I'm scared! Listen, Janice.
This is very important that you do not eat or drink anything.
I won't.
Ok.
Everything's gonna be ok.
Help is on the way.
Janice? Janice?! Help! Janice! We've got an APB out in the surrounding area for an older green car.
Do we know how he got in? Garage door shows signs of forced entry.
Probably spiked the wine.
And when she called the police instead This time he used the twine to strangle her.
Overkill.
The unsub was denied what he wanted most, the chance to engage with her before she died.
Sharp knife, this level of frenzy.
Hopefully this son of a bitch also did some damage to himself.
I'll notify local E.
R.
s to be on the lookout for hand lacerations.
You all right, Dave? I told her she'd be ok, Aaron, that she'd be fine.
Let's go find this guy.
Hey, kid.
Our geo profile just go turned upside down.
Our latest victims lives and works a good 10 miles from the unsub's hunting ground.
He's either branching out or we're missing something.
Hey, baby girl, I need you to work that magic of yours.
Rub my lamp, release the genie.
Our latest victim, Janice Cheswick-- track her activities as far back as it takes to find a link between her and our other victims.
As far back as in days or weeks? Months, if necessary.
Pushing it, Aladdin, but I'm a go.
That's why I love you.
These pieces of twine are all different lengths.
Are you just now figuring that out? I think it's by design.
Starting with the first victim, the lengths are 25, 15, 12, and 19 inches.
Yeah, so what? If you convert inches to centimeters, you'll have the exact ages of all 4 victims.
I think I know what this is about.
The man we're looking for is a highly organized offender, but we don't yet know why or how he's choosing his victims.
These appear to be killings of opportunity, yet he's researched his targets as though they'd been selected carefully and with premeditation.
They run the gamut.
Young and old, rich and poor, male and female.
But with all of them, he leaves behind a piece of twine.
Why does he do that? What does the twine represent? In Greek mythology, a person's destiny was in the hands of the 3 fates.
One to spin the thread of life, another to measure the thread, and finally atropos, the one who cut the thread with shears at the moment of death.
We think that's what the twine symbolizes.
He's decided the fate of his victims and then he observes them.
As if assuming the form of a mythological God himself.
We don't know what triggered the spree, but the unsub may have recently suffered a loss and is now lashing out.
If he can't control his own fate, he will control others.
This unsub is also quite meticulous.
He studies his victims in advance to the murders, follows them, learns their habits, even interacts with them.
His need to engage directly with his victims is a compulsion that overrides the risk of being caught.
This compulsion will likely be his downfall and lead to his eventual capture.
The time period between warning his victims and killing them is getting shorter with each murder.
He could be unraveling.
The public needs to be made aware that if they receive a note similar to the ones he's already sent, they need to contact 911 immediately.
Thank you.
So sorry, my beautiful creatures, my DMV search yielded nuttin', but I did make progress on another front.
That Janice Cheswick, she lives clear across on the other side of town, right? Well, last week, at 4:17 in the afternoon on the 23rd, to be precise, she charged a double soy latte at a coffee shop smack dab in the middle of the geo zone of the other 3 victims.
Sending this now.
It's next to the university.
The unsub may be a part of academia.
All right, Garcia, start with the schools of classics and humanities and work out from there.
Check any students or faculty for red flags.
A fighting bull like moi looks for nothing else.
I've got a sudden craving for a double soy latte.
Let's take a ride.
Do you recognize any of these people? I don't.
Sorry.
What's this about? We're investigating a series of murders, and we think the killer may have seen one or more of these victims at this coffee shop.
Victims? You mean All these people got killed? Excuse me.
Is that a pinhole camera? You secretly videotape your employees? Not the employees, just the cash register area.
Yeah, well, I guess that means the employees.
We've got a pilferage problem.
How long has this surveillance been going on? Uh5 weeks.
Go to 4:17 p.
m.
on the 23rd.
That's her.
That's all of them.
The unsub must be just out of camera range.
This is the moment he selected all his victims.
It ties in with his idea of fate, that these 4 were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Let's bring in Benjie Ruiz and the bartender and see if they recognize anyone who came in that day as the man they saw.
There's another identification we need to make, and fast.
The next in line.
Who is it? It's me, Wick.
Uh, ok, just a minute.
Hey.
You forgot to turn in your keys.
Oh.
Heh.
Thought I'd swing by and get 'em, before you were on the other side of the world.
I haven't been here in a while.
Yeah.
Sheesh.
I love what you've done with the place, though.
Thanks, man.
Oh, wow, what did you do to your hand? Oh, I cut it.
Clumsy.
So what's the deal with you and Greece, anyway? I don't know.
Just always made sense to me.
Really? This makes sense to you? Yeah.
Here.
Thanks.
Well, man Safe travels.
I should've gone.
I should have gone.
You were broke Hell, I did you a favor that night.
A favor? Igot you wasted on purpose.
Come on.
You had to have figured that out by now.
Like you were about to leave a primo job to go halfway across the world, with no money, no prospects.
Then your mom got sick right after that, right? Well, if you'd have gone, you wouldn't have been here to look after her the way you did.
And now you're set, man.
You got--you got your healthcare, you got your pension.
You worked hard for that.
You can go do Greece in style now.
You've earned it.
How long have they been at it? Garcia's still combing through university records.
No luck.
The fifth customer paid in cash, so we can't track her.
But an enhanced VidCap of her is being distributed to everyone that worked at the coffee shop the last 6 months.
Hopefully someone knows who she is.
At the coffee shop, a couple of guys came in wearing scrubs.
Is there a hospital near campus? Yeah, there's a medical center affiliated with the university.
What if that's why the killer was in the vicinity? For the hospital, not the university.
We profiled the unsub may have experienced a loss.
What if someone he was close to died or was diagnosed with a serious illness? Except this doesn't feel like a guy who has close friends or a tight-knit family.
What if it's him? The unsub himself got some bad news.
If they told him he had a terminal illness, it would explain the M.
O.
You get thrown a curveball You throw a curveball back.
Do unto others what was done unto you.
Let's get Garcia on it.
Let's go, guys.
They couldn't identify any of the other customers as the man they saw at the auto shop or sports bar.
The killer is picking his victims in the moment, right? You, you, you, and you.
That's how it looks.
No advance planning.
Yet he later stalks each one, learning their habits.
How does he manage to do that if they all scatter after they get their coffee? Parking lot.
He saw them through the window.
Waited till they came out one by one and drove away.
Took down their license plate numbers.
A little research at the DMV.
None of the coffee shop employees can identify the fifth woman in line.
Detective, can you make the surveillance video go any faster? It'll go any speed you want.
Go back to the beginning.
I need to watch all 5 weeks in the video.
But that's-- Yeah.
We don't have time for that.
Reid, tell him what you did this morning for breakfast.
I read "War and Peace.
" Reread it, actually.
This time in the original Russian.
Trust me, detective, there's enough time.
The university was a wash, but the med center may just pay off.
In the last 3 months, were diagnosed with terminal illness.
males in their 40s.
over 15 years old.
Like I said, I'm close.
If there was only a way to research who wears hats.
Did any of the 8 have reason to be at the hospital on April 23rd? Bingo! William Harding had an appointment with his oncologist, got the bad news.
An address, Garcia.
Sending it now.
Thank you.
FBI! Hotch.
How do you do that? By employing the same principles used in speed reading.
I minimize subvocalization of the images and reduce cognitive load by-- Wait, wait.
Back up the feed.
There.
That's her.
Can you push in on her name tag? Yeah.
Hey.
It's 12.
50.
Hold on.
Let me get my wallet.
There you go.
Thank you very much.
Bye.
Bonnie Taylor isn't answering.
ID this her home address? Yeah, but today's her day off, so she's not at work.
Detective, send squad cars to this address immediately.
Right away.
So much for my diet.
And you're sure you've never seen this man? UhI'm positive.
This was in the mailbox outside.
Oh, my God.
When was the last time you checked your mailbox? Uh, yesterday, I think.
Wait, no, um, the day before.
I--I I skip sometimes.
Excuse us.
Ok.
They haven't found any arsenic yet.
We must have gotten here first.
No, he had plenty of time.
I don't think Bonnie's his target anymore.
The shift in the M.
O.
is too dramatic.
The time between leaving the note and the murders was contracting, not expanding, and he made no effort to interact with her.
He could be devolving.
It's not a loss of focus, it's a shift in focus.
Between the time that Harding left the note and now, a more important target's presented itself.
You must be a glutton for punishment.
One day retired and you're back for more.
I thought we could have a drink.
A drink.
Ah, I'm liking this new Bill Harding already.
What's the occasion? I didn't realize until today how you'd gone out of your way for me 20 years ago.
Oh, Bill.
I thought I'd return the favor.
Skol.
Garcia, does Bill Harding have any family in the area? Parents deceased, no siblings.
What about his job? Uh, worked the cargo bays in a shipyard.
Yesterday was his last day, actually.
What type of cancer does he have? Mesothelioma.
Asbestos.
He got it working at the shipyard.
His anger might be directed toward someone there.
Send Morgan the work address.
Yes, sir.
Look at you, huh? Going off to live your dream.
And here I am.
I got the wife, kids, a two-damn-car garage.
Probably be working on these docks for the rest of my life.
Cheers.
Oh, God, you know, if we ever run out of paint thinner around here, I know what to buy.
Does he have any criminal history or mental health issues? Well, he's been on antidepressants most of his life.
But he's got a clean police record.
Oh, my.
What is it? He was part of a massive police search and rescue when he was 6 years old.
When I was 6, before my folks moved here from Idaho, my best friend Randy and I got lost up in the mountains.
We were on a camping trip with our parents.
It started snowing and got cold, so we decided to separate to try to find our way back and get help.
Randy never made it.
I did.
When they found Randy, he was frozen.
I was in the hospital for a week.
Damn, Bill.
Why didn't you tell me this before? People said it was my fault.
We shouldn't have split up.
They think that's why Randy died.
Come on.
When I was in the hospital, my first-grade teacher came to visit me.
And she gave me this book.
A kids book on Greek mythology.
I opened it And there it was.
There what was? A picture of the Labyrinth.
It looked just like that forest that Randy and I got lost in.
But I escaped.
Just like Theseus.
Like Theseus.
You know, you're starting to talk a little crazy.
You know that, don't you? Oh, it's not crazy.
It's fate.
I got out and he did not.
Read this.
What, is this a joke? Sorry.
Not funny, Bill.
No.
I did more digging, Hotch, and I can tell you where he's gonna be a week from now-- flight 906, seat 23A, LAX to Athens, Greece.
Get this.
Bill Harding also applied for an extended visa to Greece way back in 1994.
Did he go? Negative.
He reserved a spot with Higgins airport shuttle, didn't show up, plane left without him Oh, man, you are not gonna believe this.
I'm dying.
Cancer.
The doctor says I have but it doesn't matter, because most of me died when I missed that plane.
Oh, Bill When I left the doctor's office, I stopped at a coffee shop I couldn't get out.
Because there were just all of these people all around, so happy, making plans.
They were so damn sure that nothing bad was ever gonna happen to them.
It's fate.
Some are chosen and some are not.
What are you gonna do, Bill? Are you gonna kill me with that thing? No, not this.
Poison.
FBI, don't move.
William Harding, you're under arrest for the murders of Helen Mitchell, Wayne Campbell, Carlos Ortega, and Janice Cheswick.
Drop the weapon--now.
I think he poisoned me.
We'll get you to a hospital.
But right now you need to drop the weapon.
No.
He took 20 years of my life from me.
You got that backwards.
That shuttle bus, it crashed on the way to the airport.
All 5 people were killed.
You not getting in that van kept you alive.
Now put it down.
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
" Jean de La Fontaine.
Thanks.
Given any more thought to, um, career day? Jack's third-grade class is descending on the BAU on Monday.
Excellent.
And is Jack happy about it? Ecstatic.
He's very excited.
He's proud of you.
I know.
And I don't want to take that away from him.
The challenging part is coming up with a profiling presentation.
Well, after 20 years of facing down killers, rapists, and psychopaths, SSA Aaron Hotchner may have finally met his match.
I've observed each of you.
I've interrogated you.
And none of you claims to have the stapler.
At first I thought it was you.
But then I profiled That it's really you.
Whoo-hoo! What exactly did you profile? Well, a few things.
First, Jesse, you wouldn't look at me in the eye.
But you were very fidgety with your hands.
And then when Ms.
Garcia dropped her lucky quarter, all 3 of you noticed, but you didn't react at all.
You were too busy keeping a lie straight in your head.
Well, this has been a very interesting demonstration, Mr.
Hotchner.
Thank you, Ms.
Springer.
Class, let's all give him a big thank-you.
Thank you! You're welcome.
Sir, may I show them my office? Absolutely.
Everybody go with Ms.
Garcia.
Come on, you guys.
It's like the bat cave.
Can I be a profiler when I grow up? Sure, honey.
If you get good grades and you work hard and you think you might be good at it, why not? I'm good at it.
Are you? I did a profile on Ms.
Springer.
Me? Yeah.
You like Jack's dad.
I'm not sure-- when you talk about your cat, you talk real, real fast, because you really like your cat.
You talked real fast like that today, not like with the other dads.
Thanks again, Mr.
Hotchner.
Thank you for the great time.
You're welcome.
Probably had to go feed the cat.
So how did I do? It was cool.
It was cool.
So what do you say we celebrate? Yeah.
Hot dogs or hamburgers? Both.
I'm a profiler.
I should have seen that coming.
He's the one who ought to be arrested, not me.
I thought you girls were paid up front before the lap dance.
This guy looked good for it.
So he got his lap dance-- Yeah, two of them.
Good ones.
And then he paid you with postage stamps.
He said, "it's the same as money.
" Really? Try paying rent with that.
That still doesn't mean you can kick a man in his private parts, Candy.
That's assault.
Hey! Watch it! You want to go? I got an emergency.
I got an emergency.
Listen.
Listen.
Look, you gotta help me.
Somebody's trying to kill me.
Yeah? Who's trying to kill you? Ok.
Hey-- I got this.
There.
Look at that.
Right there.
Look at it.
See that? "You have less than a day to live.
There is no way to prevent the inevitable.
" I found that in my mailbox out of the blue.
I'm not crazy.
How much have you had to drink tonight, sir? I can smell alcohol.
What are you talking about? It's not important.
Look, umI'm sorry.
Just Can I stay here, uh, tonight, just until the morning? This isn't a motel.
Just go back home, calm down, try to get some sleep.
Mission accomplished, pal.
You're in for the night.
Heard some whacked-out helped empty the garbage last night.
You heard right.
Word is this guy wanted to be arrested? Yeah, now he's gotta go see the judge.
Would've been cheaper if he'd just gone to a motel.
Let's go.
Rise and shine.
Damn it! Get an ambulance! As my dear mother used to say, a penny for your thoughts.
Hey.
Jack asked me to speak to his class about being an FBI agent.
They're having career day.
Sounds like fun.
Come on.
Every day you strap on the six-shooter and go after the bad guys.
The kids'll love it.
Oh, I know.
And I'm glad he asked.
It just, I'm a little worried about it because I don't want it to end up being difficult for him.
Because of what happened to Hailey.
One of the bad guys killed his mom.
And he's doing fine.
And we talk about it some, but I just don't want this to end uphurting him.
You're a good dad, Aaron.
And I know you're doing everything you can to help him.
And I also know you'll make the right decision about this, whatever it is.
Thanks.
Oh, I'm interrupting.
But we're ready.
Thank you.
Wayne Campbell, found dying yesterday morning in his holding cell in Long Beach, California.
He claimed someone was trying to kill him, so he purposely got himself arrested to be protected.
A strategy that didn't work out so great.
What is the C.
O.
D.
? Arsenic poisoning.
Ah, an oldie but a goodie.
And you're tuned to the station where the hits keep coming.
When news spread of Campbell's death, an officer in a nearby precinct remembered Helen Mitchell.
with this letter she had found in her mailbox a few days before.
Was it investigated? They started a file, but Helen wasn't especially concerned.
And in light of Campbell's death, they exhumed Helen Mitchell's body, and lethal amounts of arsenic were found in her system as well.
Handwritten letters, poisoning by arsenic-- we could be looking at a female unsub.
Who wants her victims to have foreknowledge of their deaths.
That's a new one.
Actually, we've seen a version of this M.
O.
before.
Max Pool warned his victims by putting their faces on missing posters before killing them.
In any event, there may be notes out there that we don't know about.
We've got a long flight.
Let's get going.
You can exchange the muffler for equal or greater value.
Come on.
Can't I exchange it for something cheaper? My car's got like Yeah, go ahead.
What's so important, man? I'm on my way to pick up Izzy for school.
Wait.
You think I did this? It was under my door when I came in to work this morning.
A death threat? I look like a psycho to you? This conversation's done.
Hey, man, you ok? Yeah.
Yeah.
Look, maybe we had a fight the other day, but you and me, we go back a long time.
Close up and go home, huh? Take an aspirin.
Quit accusing people of stuff.
Ohh! Hello? Uh, anybody back here? I found the muffler I want.
A proverb states, "he that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned.
" Helen Mitchell was the socially prominent widow of an investment banker, philanthropist, patroness of the arts.
Wayne Campbell, on the other hand, was as blue collar as they come.
Worked for a tree-trimming and removal company.
Garcia, was the M.
E.
able to estimate when Campbell might have ingested the arsenic.
Somewhere between 6:00 and 10 p.
m.
last evening.
Do we know where Campbell was during those hours? Same place he is every Tuesday night while his wife plays bridge.
Erish grill.
It's a neighborhood sports bar.
This isn't widely known, but Helen Mitchell had a drinking problem, and Wayne Campbell abused painkillers.
That could be the common thread, and unsub's punishing them for their vices? Poisoning those who poison themselves? The syntax of the note is interesting.
Instead of a simple "stop it," you get "prevent the inevitable.
" And in block lettering to disguise the handwriting.
Oh, no.
Make room in your files, they're about to get thicker.
A third victim was just reported half an hour ago.
Carlos Ortega.
Exact same note left on his body.
Also poisoned? Yeah, it looks that way.
Well, this is weird.
There was a piece of twine on his chest.
No twine was reported on or near the first two victims.
Less than a day between kills this time.
He's accelerating.
Morgan, see who Helen Mitchell had contact with in the 24 hours before she died.
Dave, you and Blake check out the Carlos Ortega crime scene.
JJ and Reid to the sports bar, and I'll coordinate with local law enforcement.
Are you the responding officer? Yes, sir.
Delivery driver discovered the body.
Blood, vomit, evidence of hyper-salivation.
Smelled garlic on the victim.
Maybe somebody spiked his food? Garlic odor in the breath and body tissue is a common indicator of arsenic poisoning.
Yeah, I wonder how the unsub got him to ingest it.
Is that the twine found on his chest? That's correct.
Laid out real precise, in a straight line, pointing head to toe.
Rossi.
Detective Tavez.
SSA Hotchner.
Glad you're here.
We have our share of homicides, but this is something new.
Did you check with other precincts for similar cases? Yes.
Nothing so far.
Thank you very much.
Hey, Hotch.
Helen Mitchell's personal secretary.
She claims that Helen was home alone the day of her death.
The only thing out of the ordinary was a small box of chocolates delivered to the house.
Do we know who sent them? Supposedly a local charity to thank her for hosting a fund-raiser.
Except the charity claims they know nothing about it.
Any chocolates missing from the box? Campbell's personal belongings you asked for.
Thank you.
Do you remember what Mr.
Campbell ate the night before last? His usual.
Chili dog, onion rings.
Cast-iron stomach, that guy.
Did he talk to anyone? Just the guy sitting next to him.
Was this other guy also a regular? No.
I hadn't seen him before.
He kept buying Wayne drinks, though.
Can you describe him? White guy, heavy-set, maybe 40 years old.
Wore a hat, average-looking.
Do you think you'd recognize him if you saw him again? Yeah, I think so.
Ok, well, thank you for your help.
We may be contacting you again.
Anything I can do to help.
Look, Wayne seemed a little preoccupied that night, but he was a good guy.
The unsub may have spiked his drink.
It wouldn't have been hard to do.
A busy bar, lots of noise and distraction.
Get another double vodka.
He kept plying Campbell with booze to get him drunk.
I'm gonna go to the head.
I appreciate it.
And since what goes in has to eventually come out, it'd be his way to ensure that he'd get up at some point to use the bathroom.
The victim left momentarily The unsub slipped in the arsenic And left the bar.
And when Campbell returned from the bathroom He took a drink.
He never had a clue.
Oh! Holy cow! All right, Bill.
Last chance, buddy.
You sure you want to leave all this splendor for some lousy island in the Mediterranean? You know, Bill almost jumped the gun and went 20 years ago.
Had his ticket bought for Greece and everything.
Except, me and him went out and tied one on the night before, and Bill missed the shuttle van to the airport.
Aww And I could never look a Mai Tai in the face again.
Hurry it up, Wick.
I don't like room temperature champagne.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But here's to your new life, Bill.
Yeah! Congratulations, bill.
Just remember to keep an extra hammock strung up on the beach for your old buddy Wick, huh? Come on, speech.
Come on.
Speech, speech, speech, speech, speech, speech Um, I I was just thinking about how all of this was here before And then how it's all gonna be here after.
You know, 'cause When they're living like-- You know, I think-- I think Bill's given up on English already and is already talking Greek.
Come on up, guys, get some cake.
Same kind of twine found in Wayne Campbell's pocket.
A friend of the victim's, Benjie Ruiz, came by the shop around 9:40 and saw a single customer milling around in the muffler section.
There was no surveillance camera, but a cash register receipt confirms somebody exchanged a muffler at 9:36.
When Mr.
Ruiz left the customer was still there.
At 9:50, Carlos was found dead.
No customer in sight.
Do we have a description of him? White male in his 40s, large build, and he wore a hat.
That's the same description the bartender gave to me and JJ.
It's gotta be our guy.
A green car was parked outside when Benjie Ruiz arrived and was still there when he left.
No make or model, but pretty old.
According to Mr.
Ruiz, Carlos had no drug or alcohol issues.
He was a solid, hard-working family man.
Well, that puts a dent in our theory of an unsub punishing people for their indiscretions.
Unless Carlos had a vice we don't know about.
We just confirmed that the chocolates and the water cooler both tested positive for arsenic.
Any twine found at Helen Mitchell's house? A couple feet of it were tossed in the kitchen trash.
We're thinking the chocolates may have been wrapped in it.
Guys, I did a geographic profile of the victims, and it turns out they all lived or worked in the same 2.
65 square-mile radius in the north part of the city.
Well, that gives us his hunting ground, but not his victim selection criteria.
The bartender said the unsub may have struck up a conversation with Campbell there that night.
That's ballsy.
The same way he walked into Carlos' store to exchange the muffler.
And for some reason, he feels the need to interact with his victims in the hours before they die.
Aah! Aah! Uhh! It's not an emergency, really.
I just want to file a complaint against some kids in the neighborhood.
Hold on, ma'am.
I'm transferring you.
Ok.
Uh-huh.
These kids are how old? And can you tell me the nature of the note? Can you read it to me? Ma'am, do not hang up.
I'm getting someone from the FBI.
FBI? I don't need that.
It's only some kids.
Agent Rossi, we have another person with a note.
A Janice Cheswick.
Ma'am, this is agent David Rossi.
Are you alone in your house? Yes.
I mean, I-- I think so.
Double check that all your doors and windows are secured.
Stay calm, and do not hang up your phone.
My God.
Everything is locked.
Now what? All right.
Police have been dispatched to your home.
Do not leave your house.
I'm scared! Listen, Janice.
This is very important that you do not eat or drink anything.
I won't.
Ok.
Everything's gonna be ok.
Help is on the way.
Janice? Janice?! Help! Janice! We've got an APB out in the surrounding area for an older green car.
Do we know how he got in? Garage door shows signs of forced entry.
Probably spiked the wine.
And when she called the police instead This time he used the twine to strangle her.
Overkill.
The unsub was denied what he wanted most, the chance to engage with her before she died.
Sharp knife, this level of frenzy.
Hopefully this son of a bitch also did some damage to himself.
I'll notify local E.
R.
s to be on the lookout for hand lacerations.
You all right, Dave? I told her she'd be ok, Aaron, that she'd be fine.
Let's go find this guy.
Hey, kid.
Our geo profile just go turned upside down.
Our latest victims lives and works a good 10 miles from the unsub's hunting ground.
He's either branching out or we're missing something.
Hey, baby girl, I need you to work that magic of yours.
Rub my lamp, release the genie.
Our latest victim, Janice Cheswick-- track her activities as far back as it takes to find a link between her and our other victims.
As far back as in days or weeks? Months, if necessary.
Pushing it, Aladdin, but I'm a go.
That's why I love you.
These pieces of twine are all different lengths.
Are you just now figuring that out? I think it's by design.
Starting with the first victim, the lengths are 25, 15, 12, and 19 inches.
Yeah, so what? If you convert inches to centimeters, you'll have the exact ages of all 4 victims.
I think I know what this is about.
The man we're looking for is a highly organized offender, but we don't yet know why or how he's choosing his victims.
These appear to be killings of opportunity, yet he's researched his targets as though they'd been selected carefully and with premeditation.
They run the gamut.
Young and old, rich and poor, male and female.
But with all of them, he leaves behind a piece of twine.
Why does he do that? What does the twine represent? In Greek mythology, a person's destiny was in the hands of the 3 fates.
One to spin the thread of life, another to measure the thread, and finally atropos, the one who cut the thread with shears at the moment of death.
We think that's what the twine symbolizes.
He's decided the fate of his victims and then he observes them.
As if assuming the form of a mythological God himself.
We don't know what triggered the spree, but the unsub may have recently suffered a loss and is now lashing out.
If he can't control his own fate, he will control others.
This unsub is also quite meticulous.
He studies his victims in advance to the murders, follows them, learns their habits, even interacts with them.
His need to engage directly with his victims is a compulsion that overrides the risk of being caught.
This compulsion will likely be his downfall and lead to his eventual capture.
The time period between warning his victims and killing them is getting shorter with each murder.
He could be unraveling.
The public needs to be made aware that if they receive a note similar to the ones he's already sent, they need to contact 911 immediately.
Thank you.
So sorry, my beautiful creatures, my DMV search yielded nuttin', but I did make progress on another front.
That Janice Cheswick, she lives clear across on the other side of town, right? Well, last week, at 4:17 in the afternoon on the 23rd, to be precise, she charged a double soy latte at a coffee shop smack dab in the middle of the geo zone of the other 3 victims.
Sending this now.
It's next to the university.
The unsub may be a part of academia.
All right, Garcia, start with the schools of classics and humanities and work out from there.
Check any students or faculty for red flags.
A fighting bull like moi looks for nothing else.
I've got a sudden craving for a double soy latte.
Let's take a ride.
Do you recognize any of these people? I don't.
Sorry.
What's this about? We're investigating a series of murders, and we think the killer may have seen one or more of these victims at this coffee shop.
Victims? You mean All these people got killed? Excuse me.
Is that a pinhole camera? You secretly videotape your employees? Not the employees, just the cash register area.
Yeah, well, I guess that means the employees.
We've got a pilferage problem.
How long has this surveillance been going on? Uh5 weeks.
Go to 4:17 p.
m.
on the 23rd.
That's her.
That's all of them.
The unsub must be just out of camera range.
This is the moment he selected all his victims.
It ties in with his idea of fate, that these 4 were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Let's bring in Benjie Ruiz and the bartender and see if they recognize anyone who came in that day as the man they saw.
There's another identification we need to make, and fast.
The next in line.
Who is it? It's me, Wick.
Uh, ok, just a minute.
Hey.
You forgot to turn in your keys.
Oh.
Heh.
Thought I'd swing by and get 'em, before you were on the other side of the world.
I haven't been here in a while.
Yeah.
Sheesh.
I love what you've done with the place, though.
Thanks, man.
Oh, wow, what did you do to your hand? Oh, I cut it.
Clumsy.
So what's the deal with you and Greece, anyway? I don't know.
Just always made sense to me.
Really? This makes sense to you? Yeah.
Here.
Thanks.
Well, man Safe travels.
I should've gone.
I should have gone.
You were broke Hell, I did you a favor that night.
A favor? Igot you wasted on purpose.
Come on.
You had to have figured that out by now.
Like you were about to leave a primo job to go halfway across the world, with no money, no prospects.
Then your mom got sick right after that, right? Well, if you'd have gone, you wouldn't have been here to look after her the way you did.
And now you're set, man.
You got--you got your healthcare, you got your pension.
You worked hard for that.
You can go do Greece in style now.
You've earned it.
How long have they been at it? Garcia's still combing through university records.
No luck.
The fifth customer paid in cash, so we can't track her.
But an enhanced VidCap of her is being distributed to everyone that worked at the coffee shop the last 6 months.
Hopefully someone knows who she is.
At the coffee shop, a couple of guys came in wearing scrubs.
Is there a hospital near campus? Yeah, there's a medical center affiliated with the university.
What if that's why the killer was in the vicinity? For the hospital, not the university.
We profiled the unsub may have experienced a loss.
What if someone he was close to died or was diagnosed with a serious illness? Except this doesn't feel like a guy who has close friends or a tight-knit family.
What if it's him? The unsub himself got some bad news.
If they told him he had a terminal illness, it would explain the M.
O.
You get thrown a curveball You throw a curveball back.
Do unto others what was done unto you.
Let's get Garcia on it.
Let's go, guys.
They couldn't identify any of the other customers as the man they saw at the auto shop or sports bar.
The killer is picking his victims in the moment, right? You, you, you, and you.
That's how it looks.
No advance planning.
Yet he later stalks each one, learning their habits.
How does he manage to do that if they all scatter after they get their coffee? Parking lot.
He saw them through the window.
Waited till they came out one by one and drove away.
Took down their license plate numbers.
A little research at the DMV.
None of the coffee shop employees can identify the fifth woman in line.
Detective, can you make the surveillance video go any faster? It'll go any speed you want.
Go back to the beginning.
I need to watch all 5 weeks in the video.
But that's-- Yeah.
We don't have time for that.
Reid, tell him what you did this morning for breakfast.
I read "War and Peace.
" Reread it, actually.
This time in the original Russian.
Trust me, detective, there's enough time.
The university was a wash, but the med center may just pay off.
In the last 3 months, were diagnosed with terminal illness.
males in their 40s.
over 15 years old.
Like I said, I'm close.
If there was only a way to research who wears hats.
Did any of the 8 have reason to be at the hospital on April 23rd? Bingo! William Harding had an appointment with his oncologist, got the bad news.
An address, Garcia.
Sending it now.
Thank you.
FBI! Hotch.
How do you do that? By employing the same principles used in speed reading.
I minimize subvocalization of the images and reduce cognitive load by-- Wait, wait.
Back up the feed.
There.
That's her.
Can you push in on her name tag? Yeah.
Hey.
It's 12.
50.
Hold on.
Let me get my wallet.
There you go.
Thank you very much.
Bye.
Bonnie Taylor isn't answering.
ID this her home address? Yeah, but today's her day off, so she's not at work.
Detective, send squad cars to this address immediately.
Right away.
So much for my diet.
And you're sure you've never seen this man? UhI'm positive.
This was in the mailbox outside.
Oh, my God.
When was the last time you checked your mailbox? Uh, yesterday, I think.
Wait, no, um, the day before.
I--I I skip sometimes.
Excuse us.
Ok.
They haven't found any arsenic yet.
We must have gotten here first.
No, he had plenty of time.
I don't think Bonnie's his target anymore.
The shift in the M.
O.
is too dramatic.
The time between leaving the note and the murders was contracting, not expanding, and he made no effort to interact with her.
He could be devolving.
It's not a loss of focus, it's a shift in focus.
Between the time that Harding left the note and now, a more important target's presented itself.
You must be a glutton for punishment.
One day retired and you're back for more.
I thought we could have a drink.
A drink.
Ah, I'm liking this new Bill Harding already.
What's the occasion? I didn't realize until today how you'd gone out of your way for me 20 years ago.
Oh, Bill.
I thought I'd return the favor.
Skol.
Garcia, does Bill Harding have any family in the area? Parents deceased, no siblings.
What about his job? Uh, worked the cargo bays in a shipyard.
Yesterday was his last day, actually.
What type of cancer does he have? Mesothelioma.
Asbestos.
He got it working at the shipyard.
His anger might be directed toward someone there.
Send Morgan the work address.
Yes, sir.
Look at you, huh? Going off to live your dream.
And here I am.
I got the wife, kids, a two-damn-car garage.
Probably be working on these docks for the rest of my life.
Cheers.
Oh, God, you know, if we ever run out of paint thinner around here, I know what to buy.
Does he have any criminal history or mental health issues? Well, he's been on antidepressants most of his life.
But he's got a clean police record.
Oh, my.
What is it? He was part of a massive police search and rescue when he was 6 years old.
When I was 6, before my folks moved here from Idaho, my best friend Randy and I got lost up in the mountains.
We were on a camping trip with our parents.
It started snowing and got cold, so we decided to separate to try to find our way back and get help.
Randy never made it.
I did.
When they found Randy, he was frozen.
I was in the hospital for a week.
Damn, Bill.
Why didn't you tell me this before? People said it was my fault.
We shouldn't have split up.
They think that's why Randy died.
Come on.
When I was in the hospital, my first-grade teacher came to visit me.
And she gave me this book.
A kids book on Greek mythology.
I opened it And there it was.
There what was? A picture of the Labyrinth.
It looked just like that forest that Randy and I got lost in.
But I escaped.
Just like Theseus.
Like Theseus.
You know, you're starting to talk a little crazy.
You know that, don't you? Oh, it's not crazy.
It's fate.
I got out and he did not.
Read this.
What, is this a joke? Sorry.
Not funny, Bill.
No.
I did more digging, Hotch, and I can tell you where he's gonna be a week from now-- flight 906, seat 23A, LAX to Athens, Greece.
Get this.
Bill Harding also applied for an extended visa to Greece way back in 1994.
Did he go? Negative.
He reserved a spot with Higgins airport shuttle, didn't show up, plane left without him Oh, man, you are not gonna believe this.
I'm dying.
Cancer.
The doctor says I have but it doesn't matter, because most of me died when I missed that plane.
Oh, Bill When I left the doctor's office, I stopped at a coffee shop I couldn't get out.
Because there were just all of these people all around, so happy, making plans.
They were so damn sure that nothing bad was ever gonna happen to them.
It's fate.
Some are chosen and some are not.
What are you gonna do, Bill? Are you gonna kill me with that thing? No, not this.
Poison.
FBI, don't move.
William Harding, you're under arrest for the murders of Helen Mitchell, Wayne Campbell, Carlos Ortega, and Janice Cheswick.
Drop the weapon--now.
I think he poisoned me.
We'll get you to a hospital.
But right now you need to drop the weapon.
No.
He took 20 years of my life from me.
You got that backwards.
That shuttle bus, it crashed on the way to the airport.
All 5 people were killed.
You not getting in that van kept you alive.
Now put it down.
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
" Jean de La Fontaine.
Thanks.
Given any more thought to, um, career day? Jack's third-grade class is descending on the BAU on Monday.
Excellent.
And is Jack happy about it? Ecstatic.
He's very excited.
He's proud of you.
I know.
And I don't want to take that away from him.
The challenging part is coming up with a profiling presentation.
Well, after 20 years of facing down killers, rapists, and psychopaths, SSA Aaron Hotchner may have finally met his match.
I've observed each of you.
I've interrogated you.
And none of you claims to have the stapler.
At first I thought it was you.
But then I profiled That it's really you.
Whoo-hoo! What exactly did you profile? Well, a few things.
First, Jesse, you wouldn't look at me in the eye.
But you were very fidgety with your hands.
And then when Ms.
Garcia dropped her lucky quarter, all 3 of you noticed, but you didn't react at all.
You were too busy keeping a lie straight in your head.
Well, this has been a very interesting demonstration, Mr.
Hotchner.
Thank you, Ms.
Springer.
Class, let's all give him a big thank-you.
Thank you! You're welcome.
Sir, may I show them my office? Absolutely.
Everybody go with Ms.
Garcia.
Come on, you guys.
It's like the bat cave.
Can I be a profiler when I grow up? Sure, honey.
If you get good grades and you work hard and you think you might be good at it, why not? I'm good at it.
Are you? I did a profile on Ms.
Springer.
Me? Yeah.
You like Jack's dad.
I'm not sure-- when you talk about your cat, you talk real, real fast, because you really like your cat.
You talked real fast like that today, not like with the other dads.
Thanks again, Mr.
Hotchner.
Thank you for the great time.
You're welcome.
Probably had to go feed the cat.
So how did I do? It was cool.
It was cool.
So what do you say we celebrate? Yeah.
Hot dogs or hamburgers? Both.
I'm a profiler.
I should have seen that coming.