timeless, spencer reid [ 1 ]

020. normal

"People are pretty scared?" Spencer asks.

"I could ask for a submarine and get it." Thea says.

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"When the victimology's this specific, we know the victims represent a specific person to him." Spencer says.

"Who?" Thea asks.

"Given the fact that he's the same age and race as the victims, likely a current or former wife or girlfriend." Spencer says.

"So why not just kill the actual person?" Thea asks.

"She's just a scapegoat for his own personal failings. He knows if he kills her, he loses that scapegoat." Spencer says.

"So he just goes around blowing away any women?" Thea asks.

"No, just women that remind him of his wife." Bedelia corrects. "When this type of killer is triggered, they need to release the resentment quickly."

"Subsequently they tend to strike close to the focus of that resentment." Spencer says.

"So if the focus is the wife, then that focus is his home." Thea says.

"Yeah. He almost certainly lives in this area. This is his kill zone." Spencer says. "Uh, what are these various markers everywhere?"

"Uh, roadwork." Thea says.

Spencer grabs the map and rushes to where the rest of the team is, Bedelia following.

"Before that, he was almost apologetic." Hotch says.

"What's going on?" Rossi asks as Spencer puts the map down.

"Out of the 30 roadwork sites in the kill zone, only 2 were alternate merges, both less than 3 miles from the crime scenes." Spencer says.

"Alternate merges?" Emily asks.

"Multiple lanes funneled down to one. One car per lane, alternating at the drivers' discretion." Spencer says.

"These sites allow him to set up the confrontation." Derek says.

"A guy who follows the rules may last out once, but to do it again, he'd need similar provocation." Rossi says.

"So he seeks out alternate merge sites, then he goes through them over and over again until he finds a woman that fits his victim type and who cuts him off." Hotch says.

"So, we have to shut down every alternative merge in the county immediately." Emily says.

"And we need to talk to the crews that work these sites." Derek says.

"So what does all this tell you?" Thea asks.

"Impersonal killers are like drugs addicts. The first time gives them the ultimate high, and after that, no high is as good." Hotch says. "Unfortunately, the addict doesn't know that. He will chase that high to the gates of insanity and death. By now, killing is all our unsub thinks about. He's set up the exact same situation again and again, hoping to get the same result."

"He begins to think he's doing it wrong. He becomes obsessed with improving his skills, honing his M.O. and tailoring his weapon to his deadly purpose. He figures if he gets them all just right, if he can get his technique and his tools perfected, he'll feel that first high again. He's becoming a more lethal addict. And he'll never accept that the high is gone and it won't come back. He'll never stop. Never."

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"What do we got?" Derek asks.

"You have no idea how many middle aged white men are out there who have someone close to them that think they're a serial killer." Emily says.