After interviewing Carl Feinstein and siblings Damian and Clare Carney - another two victims who escaped the unsub's terror - the team had a profile.
"The unsub we're dealing with thinks he's a con man, but a con man wouldn't leave money in the bank like he did with Clarissa Carney." Emily began the explanation, exhaling.
"This man is a malignant narcissist and misogynist who fundamentally hates the women he takes advantage of." Spencer continued.
"He can't reveal who he truly is to them, so at the moment of their greatest happiness, he destroys it and takes their face." Cassidy exhaled, feeling a sense of unease.
"Now, a hatred this severe, where rage trumps money, indicates that our unsub has a damaged relationship with the primary female figure in his life, most likely his mother." Hotch continued on, earning a few confusing looks from the police officers who were listening.
"Wait. Why his mother? Couldn't he just be some guy with a broken heart?" A cop asked, confused.
"Something must have happened during his formative years to produce this level of violence." Morgan explained.
"He's been nursing this anger for a long time." JJ mentioned.
"The time he spends with his targets is our best lead right now, and although he goes to great lengths to hide his face, he probably uses all or part of the same cover story in his con." Rossi deepened the explanation.
"And the details he recycles might be helpful to our investigation." Hotch nodded.
"There might be some bread crumbs in there that help lead us to where he is now." Cassidy informed the cops.
"Or, more likely, they'll tell us who he was to begin with." Spencer exhaled, finishing the profile briefing.
Once the briefing was over, the team headed back into the conference room.
"He proposed with every crime. I mean, he'd leave a trail." Emily shook her head, trying to get rid of the nagging feeling that something had been left out.
"Except it wasn't his record. It was the unsub's mother. Roberta Lynch, 62." Emily realised, getting Penelope to do a full background sweep on the woman.
"Starting in the late seventies, she hopped from suitor to suitor, getting them to marry her and then taking them for all they're worth." Cassidy read the information.
"An arrest in 1991 revealed she had a son, Everett, who was playing second fiddle to the con she was busted for." Spencer revealed.
"Having a con woman for a mother would have instilled the narcissism and misogyny that we profiled." Morgan nodded, clearly knowing that the team was one step closer to finding the unsub.
"Okay, the path to finding him is through his mother. Where is she now?" Hotch asked.
"South Mississippi state prison. She's doing to life for killing a boyfriend in a domestic dispute." JJ explained.
"Sounds like that runs in the family, also." Rossi chuckled.
———
Hotch and Spencer had gone to visit Roberta. They both assumed that she'd be closed off, but she was the opposite. She was more than happy to answer the questions they had lined up for her. That was until they had mentioned something about her granddaughter, Grace.
"The detail about the drowning hit a nerve with Roberta. Which suggests there's another element of truth to Everett's back story." Hotch explained, confusing the team.
"Now, he puts himself in the submissive role that he and his mother would take advantage of in her cons." Spencer continued.
"So every time he gets down on one knee with his victims, he hears his mother's laughter ringing in his ears." Cassidy groaned.
"Roberta said that she taught Everett everything he knows. What if there's a pattern in that?" Spencer looked at Hotch, then at the rest of the team.
"What kind of pattern?" Emily questioned, confused.
"Following her trail, maybe, going to the cities where her con worked, thinking he can work the same magic." Rossi suggested.
"Hey, Rossi's right. All of Everett's kills happened in cities where his mom conned a man; Birmingham, Memphis, Nashville." Morgan explained.
"He's even mirroring the order in which his mother visited each city." JJ's eyes widened.
"Where did Roberta go after Nashville?" Cassidy asked.
"Little Rock." Emily answered her question.
"Well, that's got to be where he is now." Hotch insisted.
Cassidy grabbed her phone, dialling Penelope's number. She waited for her sweet voice to be heard on the other end, and within seconds, Cassidy could hear the technical analyst's voice. Clicking a button, the call was put on speaker.
"I was getting lonely. What do you need?" Penelope asked, seeming revved and ready to go.
"We think our unsub's next target lives in Little Rock. I need you to assemble a pool of potential victims based on our victimology...women roughly 35-40 years old, recent empty-nesters. No doubt about it." Cassidy spoke up, a smile creeping onto her face when he could hear the tapping of the keyboard.
"Limit your search to women on dating websites, specifically those interested in getting married." JJ added, hearing Penelope chuckle.
"Okay, women in Little Rock looking for...a little rock." Penelope responded.
"Send us their dating profiles and social media." Morgan asked.
"We'll work it on our end." Emily insisted.
"Yeah, yeah." Penelope chuckled before the call ended.
With details about Everett's life becoming more and more clear, the team had a reason to go and stake out his house.
Hotch and the team stood outside, each member wearing their bullet-proof vests. A gun was in each holster.
"Cassidy, you take JJ and Emily in through the front. Morgan and Reid, you two take the side. Rossi will take the shed out the back and I'll go in through the back." Hotch instructed before sending the team off.
Everyone went to their posts, getting the "all clear" signal to enter. The moment they entered the house, they all groaned in disgust, seeing the faces of all the women that Everett must have conned.
"Help! Help me!" The moment the women entered the house, they heard someone's voice screaming up from upstairs.
"Upstairs." Emily nodded in the direction of the staircase. They held their guns up and were careful not to let anyone get the jump on them.
Soon enough, the women were upstairs, finding a scared girl sitting in one of the rooms, her hands and ankles tied to a chair.
"Please, you got to help me!" She begged, clearly having been crying for hours.
"Hey, don't worry. We're gonna get you out of here." Emily reassured her as she grabbed a pocket knife and started cutting the tape that was used to hold her down.
"He took her! You have to save her!" She begged.
"No sign of him or Mary. Morgan is with Hotch and Reid." Cassidy spoke into the comms system that was attached to her vest.
"Where did he take your mom?" JJ asked, worried.
"There's a barn in the woods out back!" She cried out.
"Rossi, check the woods behind the house. Look for a barn." Cassidy spoke into the comms.
Rossi and Hotch entered the barn, their guns ready for anything. As they looked around, a woman's whimper drew them to the side of one of the big machines. They found her, brining a sense of relief to their faces.
"We got you." Rossi reassured the woman, starting to rip the duck tape from her hands and ankles.
"It doesn't make sense. The faces are his trophies. He wouldn't leave them behind if..." Emily looked at one of the faces that sat in the room.
"...he knew we were coming." Emily's face dropped at the sudden realisation.
"Please! You have to find her!" The girl kept begging.
"Don't worry. We're gonna find your mom. All right, now what's your name?" JJ bent down and looked at the girl, watching as she cried.
"Grace. I'm Grace. Please, he's gonna kill her!" She explained as JJ helped her off the seat, one of her hands gently gripping the girl's arm.
"Grace?" Cassidy asked, confused.
"Daddy!" Grace screamed with all her might as she grabbed the pocket knife used to free her and slashed Cassidy's arm. As much as she was in pain, Cassidy wrapped her arms around Grace, keeping her bound to the chair that prevented them from falling to the floor.