The New Girl

Chapter 14- No Comparison

"You good?" I ask hearing Derek groan as he walks over to get some coffee. "Long night," he says, pouring the coffee into his mug. "Oh? Who's the lucky lady?" I say grinning at him and elbowing him playfully.

He chuckles, rolling his eyes. "Nobody," Derek says. "Oh come on," I urge him. "If I'm being completely honest, I don't remember her name," Derek admits.

I gasp. "Derek!" I exclaim. "What? I doubt she remembers me anywa-" his phone dings. I look over his shoulder to see what it says.

(202)-587-6299: 'Had a great time last night. Text me when you wanna go out again ;). xx'

I laugh and say, "Looks like she does remember you after all". "Hey, I can't help it. I'm memorable with the ladies," he says smoothly. "Oh God. Derek, are you still trying to flirt with her?" I hear somebody say from behind me.

I turn around and see Emily. She looks gorgeous, as always. "A guy's gotta try. Why? Ya jealous?" he eggs her on. Emily rolls her eyes and scoffs, taking a coffee mug from the cabinet.

"Keep on dreaming, handsome," she says and he chuckles. I look over to the bullpen and see Agent Todd walking toward us and I straighten up. I feel defensive around her and I'm not sure why.

"Hotch wants everybody in the conference room," she says as she walks past us toward Garcia's office. The way she said it was rude and I let out a sigh of annoyance before downing my coffee and walking toward the conference room.

I take a seat between Derek and Rossi. Jordan follows Hotch in and picks up the remote before beginning the slide show.

"Vanessa Holden, age 25. Last friday night she was clubbing with her sister," Jordan begins and pictures of a pretty blonde woman appear on the screen.

"A stranger- white male, roughly her age- picked her up. They left the club at 1:00am, went back to her place. He forced her on her hands and knees and then he cut her open just below the stomach".

Another picture of the woman face down on the blood stained carpet, now dead.

"Whoa," Derek says with eyebrows raised. "Yeah, pretty rough," Rossi says and I nod in agreement.

"Gutting causes the intestines to spill out. You can survive for a few hours- actually even days," Reid says and I feel nauseous at the thought.

"Post mortem indicates that he slit her throat at 5:00am," Jordan adds.

"So he disemboweled her but didn't kill her for 4 hours," Rossi says. "He gets off on watching his victims suffer for a long time," I add.

"He could be a sexual sadist," Emily suggests. "Yeah, I thought so too, but I found two priors from a year ago. Prostitutes, actually, in motel rooms," Jordan says as Rossi passes around a few case files.

"Okay, so keep running with it. Why do you think this is the same unsub?" Derek encourages. "In Vanessa Holden's apartment, the following were discovered," she clicks the remote a few times, more pictures of the body appearing on the TV.

"Bleach, ammonia, trash bags, all in a triangular pattern". I furrow my brows. "And it was the same at the other crime scenes?" I ask. "One year ago, motel rooms: bleach, ammonia, trash bags also in a triangular pattern," Jordan answers.

"He's cleaning up," Emily says. "Maybe trying to hide his tracks," Derek suggests. "Could be a sign of remorse," Reid brainstorms. "Apologizes for the murder by minimizing the mess," Rossi adds.

"But it's more than that. This guy's controlling. At each crime scene, he has the cleaning supplies in the same triangular shape. It could be a compulsion," I say.