The Boss' Niece (Spencer Reid)

59. On their own

"Damn, she's dead. This isn't good." Derek exhaled.

Emily, Rossi and Derek all stayed with the police at the crime scene throughout the whole night, until midday.

"This doesn't look good for your friend." Inspector Casteneda walked up to Rossi.

"Come on. We both know these things could have been planted in here, just as the drugs could have been planted in the trunk." Rossi shook his head.

"Framed for drugs. Framed for murder. You're not even considering the obvious?" Inspector Casteneda asked, shocked.

"You wouldn't either if you knew Spencer Reid." Rossi exhaled.

"We've both got a job to do. I'll get all this processed." Inspector Casteneda spoke.

"And we'll continue to fight to prove he's innocent." Rossi spoke as Inspector Casteneda walked off, Derek walking over to Rossi.

"Reid's stuff was everywhere. If they run DNA, he'll be all over this room. Maybe even on the victim." Rossi spoke, glancing around the room.

"The coroner counted over 25 stab wounds." Derek explained, looking at Nadine's body.

"There's still no sign of the knife?" Emily asked, concerned.

"No." Derek shook his head.

"We've got a disorganized crime scene with the offender aware enough to take the murder weapon with them. It doesn't add up." Emily scoffed.

"Unless it was a drug-induced kill." Derek suggested, Emily about to shake her head, but he continued.

"The unsub could have freaked out and taken off with the knife." Derek added.

"Reid told Castenada he was chasing someone. It could have been the killer." Rossi remembered.

"Yeah. Well, if they took the knife with them, they could have dumped it in the desert. And Reid's got a nasty cut on his hand. It could be from the same blade." Derek spoke.

"He didn't do this." Rossi exhaled, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I know. But Scratch has done one hell of a job making it look like he did." Derek spoke, looking between Emily and Rossi.

———
(At The BAU Office, Penelope's Lair)

Penelope and JJ sat in Penelope's lair, looking at her multiple computer screens.

"So Monty tracked Reid's passport. Turns out he used his personal and not his work issued one, which makes sense, because he wasn't working, right? Say right." Penelope looked up at JJ, who exhaled.

"Mm, working or not, he should have been briefed before leaving the country and he wasn't." JJ shook her head.

"So on a scale of one to terrible?" Penelope asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to hear it being spoken.

"It's terrible." JJ nodded, knowing how bad this whole situation was.

"The Bureau's gonna hold it against him. He violated security protocol. I mean, as a Federal Agent, he's a high-value target. You know this. The Brass doesn't like it when you keep them in the dark." JJ raised her eyebrows, looking down at Penelope, who frowned, clearly upset at Spencer for keeping such a big secret.

"Why did he keep us out of this? I didn't know he crossed the border once, let alone 3 times." Penelope gasped.

"3 times in the last 3 months? What was he doing down there?" JJ looked at Penelope's computer, confused.