𝓼𝓪𝓯𝓮 ➣ 𝓼. 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓭

𝓽𝔀𝓮𝓷𝓽𝔂-𝓼𝓲𝔁

Mara set the file shut in front of her, turning her attention to Jerry.

"Thank you for doing this," she said, displaying some pictures on her tablet. "I have some crime scene photos from the day, if you'd like to take a look."

"I don't need them." Jerry shook his head and closed his eyes.

Mara thought it was odd but she nodded. "It was twelve-fifty, lunch had just started. It was Thursday. When did you first notice Randy?"

"He came in talking on his cell."

"Did you hear the conversation?"

"He was talking to his mom, but that's not what I noticed first."

"What did you notice?"

"The gun in his hand," Jerry whimpered, not looking at Mara. "Natalie Gallo, she was the first. Someone asked him what he was doing. And he-so he shot him in the chest. And-uh, nobody said anything after that."

"That was when he ordered you to lock the doors, right?" Mara asked him.

"Yeah," he nodded. "And then he started playing the game. Yeah.."

Mara noticed the odd change in behavior. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and it was almost like he was trying to remember what happened next. Which was odd because this was the worst day of his life. 

"He was ranting."

"What did he say?" Mara asked him, watching him fidget.

"'I am God,'" he replied. "He wanted people to look him in the eye. And when the kids didn't, he shot them."

Mara nodded for him to continue, watching his eyes shoot bath and forth. "He walked over here next to me. We were never close but we were cool. I don't know what made me think I could do but I did. I look him in the eye."

Mara nodded and he sat up straight, clearing his throat. "He walked to his backpack, pulling out a bomb and like that, ten kids were gone."

Mara closed her tablet and the file, Jerry trying to conclude the meeting. "Those reporters always ask me about that. Why did he detonate so early? I still don't know."

"Now, let's go back for a second, Randy was pointing the gun at you," Mara said as he closed his eyes. "Did you see the cell phone in his hand?"

"Yeah." Jerry nodded.

"I-I uh-I don't know, it was the detonator," he said, fidgeting with his fingers, taking his mind off his subconscious that Mara was breaking in to. "All-all I saw was the black casing."

"The black cell phone?" Mara furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

He opened his eyes. "Yeah, why?"

"The gray cell phone was the detonator," she replied. "The black cell was the one he talked to his mother on."

"Uh..that's what I meant, the-the gray one," she said as Mara took in his behavior. "Just a mistake, sorry."

She returned back to the station, waiting for the rest of the team to come back while she greeted Reid, who was on the verge of a break.

They were interviewing a suspect, Lewis Ramsey, while Reid went through the list Randy's brother gave them. She smiled at him, made her way over to the board and asked for an update.

"Nothing," he replied. "Lewis isn't the UnSub but he was the partner."

Right then, Reid's eyebrows raised and he pointed at the random capitalization in the phrase written, "All the losers in this godforsaken school."

"I don't see anything."

"The L, S, and R are capitalized," Reid pointed out, his phone ringing on the table. He checked the ID before declining. "On purpose."

 "Lewis Stuart Ramsey. He named his own partner." Mara finished.

"Ironically, Lewis' marijuana addiction saved his life, he would have been inside the cafeteria that day."

"Well, we're back at square one." Mara sighed, setting her hands on her hips.

"Did you get anything from Jerry Holtz?" Reid asked, turning his full attention to her.

Mara shook her head. "Only that he mixed up the cell phones that Slade used. It felt like he was making the story up, but I only had a hunch."

"We need to find him now," Hotch said from behind them. "There's a connection to the victimology that we're missing. Whatever he's holding back might be the key."

Garcia tracked his phone and found it still at the school, where Reid and Mara moved quickly to the scene, his phone ringing once again.

The scene where he was just murdered.