A Course of Passion

3: Sickness

We all look at the photo, and then I look to Spencer and tell him, "she doesn't have the physicality to be the unsub."

"But the unsub could be someone close to Nicole." He offers, then goes back to speak into the phone, "Garcia, we need to look at people in Nicole's immediate circle of family and friends."

"On it." She responds and hangs up. We go fill in the team on what we just learned. Within the next 20 minutes, Garcia pings herself into the laptop "you guys, you guys, Nicole Seavers inherited the flower shop from her mother, who died a year ago." She sounds a bit panicked, "her older sister Dana Seavers also works there."

"So the mom left the shop only to one daughter? That must have hurt Dana." I comment back.

"Is the father in the picture?" Hotch asks.

"No. He left when they were little." Penelope says "this is the part of the story that is disturbing and sad at the same time. So, you know how Nicole and Ryan got engaged last night? Well, 3 months ago, Dana set up a wedding registry."

"She must have known in advance about her sister getting engaged." Spencer answers back, "maybe the boyfriend enlisted her help."

"No, the wedding registry isn't for Nicole and Ryan, it's for Dana and Ryan, and according to Dana's credit cards, she's been buying stuff off the wedding registry and sending them to herself." Penelope explains to us.

I look to Morgan as he says, "Ok, so she must be suffering from psychosis, confusing what is real with her own little fantasy world."

Spencer elaborates, "this isn't just psychosis. This is a psychotic delusion based on Ryan Becker."

I add on, seeing what he is getting at, "and then when another woman threatens that delusion, she suffers a psychotic break."

"Dana's her sister. Nicole got engaged to Ryan, which means Nicole is Dana's next victim." Rossi deduces.

Hotch nods, "Garcia, we need addresses for the floral shop and for both sisters." He looks at us, telling us it's time to move.

"Dana and Nicole both live above the flower shop." Penelope informs us and we get out of the office and head to the shop.

We arrive with our sirens blazing, ready to save Nicole from her sisters delusion. Hotch takes the lead, and when the door is locked he calls to Morgan to open it. Once it's open, we pile inside and go off in two groups to clear the premises.

Spencer and I end up upstairs in a bedroom, "look at this place." I utter out loud, looking around at the mess surrounding us.

Spencer says, "clutter or the constant presence of a messy room is often a sign of depression."

I pull a journal looking book off the bed and flip through a few pages, "Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Becker" I read off. "Mrs. Dana Becker, Dana and Ryan Becker. Farmhouse, a chocolate lab, and two kids named Megan and Jake." I look up to Spencer, "she created a checklist with her life together with Ryan."

"Look at this, bupropion." He holds a bottle in his hand "it's an antidepressant. Those are typically used to treat a hormone imbalance. This was dispensed the bottle's still full." He places it down and starts to look at the other medicines on her side dresser, "Trinessa. Metformin. Spironolactone?"

"That's an interesting combination of meds." Tara says as she walks into the room, "PCOS is fairly common in teen girls and young women."

"It sounds to me like Dana has polycystic ovaries syndrome." Spencer tells us, "it can cause obesity, excess hair growth, acne, and depression. It sadly affects one in 10 women of reproductive age. The good news is it's treatable."

"Ok, but it's PCOS" Tara walks in further towards us "it didn't turn Dana into a killer."

"I'm not saying that." He responds, "I'm just saying it might have contributed to her becoming depressed."

We continue looking through her things a bit longer before heading back downstairs to the shop, "anything upstairs to tell us where she might have taken Nicole?" Hotch asks us.

"Nothing." Derek answers.

"We don't have a lot of time." I add on, knowing Dana is very sick.

Just then, Spencer starts labeling off the flowers in the shop, "African violets, Chinese hibiscus, roses, lilies, and orchids."

"What are you thinking, kid?" Rossi asks.

He explains his thoughts, "they're all fresh flowers, but in order for all these varieties to thrive in this climate, they'd need a controlled environment."

"They've got a greenhouse." I call out what everyone already started thinking, what Spencer figured out first.

Hotch quickly gives directions, "Dave, you and Reid stay here in case they come back." The rest of us head out of the shop and into the truck.