They're in Atlanta on a case and are currently at the police station.
"The unsub killed the prostitutes in separate pay by the hour motels in Fulton County, right there in one of the poorer neighborhoods in the area." Spencer says as he walks over to the others, three coffees in hand. He gives one to Derek and another to Bedelia.
"Now, Vanessa Holden's apartment was in the Peachtree district, where there's a lot of big money. Based on the geography, he isn't just changing his victimology, he's changing his whole tax bracket." Spencer says.
"The high profile of Vanessa Holden bears that out. By killing her, he was climbing the social ladder." Derek says.
"If that's the case, this unsub had a long way to climb. Both prostitutes advertised here. Look at their pictures." Rossi says. He shows the newspaper page to the others.
"Subservient positioning, asking to be dominated." Hotch says.
"Promising to come to you? That cuts out the social interaction of meeting on a street corner." Emily says.
"That's a long way from a self-assured unsub who hits the clubs." Derek says.
"Except he took a year off between the murders. Maybe he took that time to change himself." Hotch says.
"That's impossible." Derek says.
"Why?" Hotch asks.
"Well, I mean, you're talking about a total transformation here. I mean how you talk, I mean how you dress, how you think about yourself." Derek says.
"Difficult, maybe, not impossible." Hotch says.
"He already started killing." Rossi says. "There must have been a secondary trigger that motivated him to change who he was. So if you're gonna transform yourself, how would you do it?"
"A steady diet of self help books." Emily says. "Start hitting the gym?"
"You have to learn how to read people. I mean, what is a pickup? It's basically just a profile." Spencer says.
"Decoding clues of interest and recoding similar ones." Derek says.
"If you're too obvious, you turn off your target. If you're oblivious, your target moves on to a better profiler." Bedelia says.
"That doesn't sound like something he could do on his own." Hotch says.
"No. He'd have to go somewhere to learn it." Emily says.
"Yeah. A self help class maybe?" Spencer suggests.
"Uh, wait a minute. Come on. An unsub who kills prostitutes. Is he really thinking about signing up for a Tony Robbins seminar?" Derek questions.
"He would if he found a class in the same place he found the prostitutes." Rossi says, showing an ad in the newspaper for a class on how to pick up chicks.
+++
"So why did he pull out the cleaning supplies and then not use them?" Hotch questions.
"On all the other scenes, the bottles were arranged in a precise order. Here they're just part of the mess." Emily says.
"Maybe she fought back." Hotch says. "And when Becky went over the railing, his routine had been compromised because he knew the police would respond."
"Or she could have jumped." Emily says. "Her nervous system was pumping adrenaline. Her fight or flight response kicks in."
"He's struck two Fridays in a row." Hotch says. "And if his routine's been interrupted, it might compel him to strike again."
"It's Saturday. The clubs will be packed tonight." Emily says.
"Take a look at the classes the unsub might have taken. We need to generate a suspect pool as soon as possible." Hotch instructs.
"Okay." Emily says, the two leaving as Spencer walks in.
+++
"Garcia, you ready?" Spencer asks.
"Sending it now." She says. "Please be aware that 30 minutes with photoshop does not allow for much artistic flourish."
A sketch pops up on the laptop.
"Both times the unsub has gone to a club, he's had some costume. But now there's a theme -- a fedora and colored contacts, sunglasses, each time obscuring -- are you ready, Garcia?" She zooms in on part of the face.
"This area. Now, yes, maybe he's trying to draw attention to him, but maybe he's trying to draw attention away from here."
"Something he knows is identifiable -- a birthmark or a scar maybe." Rossi says.
"We need to get these out. Jordan, release these to the press." Hotch orders.
+++
"Men are put on this earth to hunt women." The guy teaching the class says as the four agents walk in.
"Ugh." Bedelia groans, rolling her eyes.
"And even though women deny it, they want to be hunted. They need it. It's part of our biological imperative as animals. And the competition the opposite sex puts you through -- pitting you against other guys, against your own friends even, it's all to reassure themselves that they have brought home the best possible mate."
"It's just like you. They want someone who's gonna make their eyeballs roll back in their head. My job is to help you slash past every defense, every excuse, every, "Why don't you meet my friend?" trick that they're gonna throw at you."
Bedelia and Emily share a look of disbelief.
"You may not have ripped abs or afford table service, but if you're smarter and..." He puts a large hat on, "more interesting, then you will be a better predator, because this is the jungle, my friends. And your prey wants to be caught."
"Will you listen to that language? He's training serial killers." Derek says.
"Great. We're dealing with a rampant narcissist and misogynist who's turned himself into a snake oil salesman." Emily says.
"That's one more thing he has in common with our unsub." Hotch says.
~ ~ ~
"So you think this, what did you call him, unsub took my class?" Viper asks.
"He copied your "the camera adds 10 pounds" routine verbatim." Hotch says.
"Yeah. That's a good gag." Viper chuckles. Bedelia bites the inside of her cheek out of annoyance.
"If you could just give us your attendance lists, it might help us find him." Emily says.
"No." Viper denies.
"No?" Bedelia asks.
"My clients expect a certain amount of confidentiality. I won't compromise that." Viper says.
"You rather let a killer run around instead of breaking a little bit of trust?" Bedelia questions. Viper smirks as he looks her up and down.
"We can come back with a warrant." Hotch says, diverting his attention from the brunette.
"Be my guest." Viper says. "But keep in mind, the money I have doesn't just pay for my fabulous lifestyle. It also keeps some very expensive lawyers on retainer."
"What club did you go to last night?" Emily asks. Viper smirks and looks her up and down.
"It's a legitimate question." Derek says. "You seem to know a lot about our investigation."
"Two things to learn about me -- first, I outwit alpha males like you for fun and sometimes profit. How often do you have to rely on your badge to score, Baldy? Second, last night, I was at Club Aqua, and I have a stick of tax-deductible drink receipts to back up my story."
"Now, you might not want to believe that my style works. And here in this harsh light, you have the advantage. But meet me on my turf..." He walks closer to Emily and Bedelia, looking between them. "Oh, the things I could make you do." He chuckles.
Emily scoffs and Bedelia rolls her lips into her mouth, fighting every muscle to slap the guy.
"Have any questions, give us a call." Hotch says, giving Viper his card.
Hotch and the two women walk off.
"Please tell me we are not giving up on that guy." Emily says.
"We're just getting started." Hotch says.
+++
"Our unsub is a confident alpha male. He is white. He's between the ages of 25 and 30. He's in excellent physical shape to overpower women and also to feed his self-image." Emily says.
"He has an obsession with cleaning, he probably works in some service industry, wiping up after others, convinced everyone looks down at him." Bedelia says.
"His change in himself and his victimology reflects that." Rossi says.
"This is the kind of guy who wants to stand out in a crowd. He's taken a class in how to pick up women. So he'll repeat a series of well rehearsed lines and mind games." Derek says
"He may be uneducated, but he's by no means stupid. Taking this class has given him the ability to read verbal cues and body language." Hotch says.
"One classic routine the Viper promotes is called the push-pull. He'll insert himself between two women and immediately after complimenting one, he'll deliver a subtle insult, then pay attention to the other." Spencer explains.
"Those are really nice earrings. I like those." Spencer tells Jordan.
"Thanks." She smiles, touching one of the earrings.
"My grandmother wears a lot of fake jewelry also. It looks nice." Spencer says getting some laughs from the room. Bedelia fails to keep in her quiet giggle. "How you doing?" He turns to Bedelia.
"Go-good." Bedelia says.
"Ignoring the one woman puts her in direct competition with her friend and causes the other to pursue you more aggressively." Spencer explains. "I was just demonstrating, so I'm sorry." He tells Jordan.
"Well, we've mapped the hot spots he hits, and he frequents the same class that the Viper does." The detective says. "So we need eyes and ears in every single one."
"Circulate the sketch as widely as possible. We'll need everyone aware that there's a killer out there. Thank you very much." Hotch says as everybody gets up and disperses.
"I think I might just stay home and man the tip line tonight. Clubs aren't really my thing." Spencer says.
"Not a chance, kid. I need a wingman. Come on, now." Derek says.
"Actually, there is another angle we need to pursue." Rossi says.
"We still don't know what made the unsub change his victimology, what made him stop killing prostitutes and move into the clubs." Hotch says.
"The answer might be something in Viper's class." Rossi says. "But to figure that out, we need to profile the teacher."
"You need to bait him, then. With someone he sees as a challenge." Derek says.
"We need to study his style up close and personal. It's gonna take a couple of people that he's already attracted to." Spencer says, smiling at Emily and glancing at Bedelia. Derek also looks between them.
"Ugh." Emily whispers.
"Absolutely not." Bedelia denies.
The two women turn to Hotch, expecting him to argue, but he doesn't.
"God damn it." Bedelia grumbles.
"Oh, this is really gonna suck." Emily heavily sighs.
Everybody separates, figuring out who is going where.
"I hate you." Bedelia tells the genius. "I'm never buying you food again."
"Sorry." Spencer sheepishly smiles.
Bedelia puts two fingers on his forehead and shoves his head back as she walks past him. Spencer fights to keep his amused smile away.
+++
Bedelia leaves the locker room after getting ready for the club and tries to find Emily. She turns a corner, bumping into a body, papers flying everywhere.
"Oh, sorry." She says.
"I'm so sorry." The person says.
Bedelia looks up at Spencer, his eyes falling onto her face.
"So-sorry." Spencer stammers. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm-- I'm fine. You?" She asks.
"Yeah. Ye-yeah. No, fine." Spencer says. His eyes trail down her, admiring the dress and her overall appearance. "You... you look, uh... really beautiful."
Bedelia's cheeks instantly heat up, thankful the red blush she applied will hide some of it.
"Thanks." She smiles. The two smile at each other for a bit until Bedelia breaks the gaze, looking at the flyers. "Oh. Here." She kneels down, starting to pick the papers up.
"Right. Right, yeah." Spencer quickly crouches, picking some of the flyers up.
They clean the mess up and Bedelia holds out her handful of flyers.
"Thanks." Spencer mumbles, taking them, his hand brushing against hers.
"No problem." She says.
"So, uh... be-- be careful tonight." Spencer says.
"Ah, don't worry. I've had worse hookups than this jerk." Bedelia chuckles. "I think I'll be fine. Besides, even if I'm not, Emily will be there, so..."
"Right." Spencer mumbles.
"Hey." The two shoot to their feet at the voice, turning to see Derek. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No." Bedelia shakes her head.
"N-no. No, nothing." Spencer says.
"O...kay." Derek glances between them, an amused smirk growing. "Ready to go, Reid?"
"Uh... yeah. Yeah, no, I'm-- yeah. Let's go." Spencer says. "Uh..." He turns back to Bedelia. "See you later, I guess."
"Yeah. Bye." Bedelia gently smiles, the genius walking away.
Derek lowly whistles.
"Fuck off, Morgan." Bedelia rolls her eyes, walking away, and Derek laughs.
+++
"Hey." Bedelia walks up to Viper and Emily.
"Oh, Viper. You remember my friend, SSA Bedelia Davis." Emily says. "Bedelia, you remember, uh... God's gift to women."
"Yeah, God's really funny." Bedelia mutters, taking a sip of her drink. Viper weakly laughs.
"You brought a friend." Viper says.
"You promised if we met you on your turf, you'd show us something special. So let's see it." Emily smiles.
"Yeah, Viper. Who gets pushed and who gets pulled tonight?" Bedelia questions, raising an eyebrow.
~ ~ ~
Bedelia is staring into Viper's eyes.
"Eye contact is a very powerful gauge. It's why you tend to look away from someone you're attracted to because you know instinctively what a dead giveaway it is." Viper says. "But your brain goes there anyway. Images, fantasies."
"Careful. Don't want your ego getting even larger. Might make your head explode." Bedelia remarks.
"The eyes don't lie. They dilate. It's a chemical response. We can't control it." Viper says.
"Okay, 15 seconds." Emily walks up.
"What do you see?" Bedelia looks at Emily.
"Nope. No change. No dilation." She says.
"I guess chemically we're not a match." Bedelia says.
"Only because you have someone else on your mind." Viper says. "Once that happens, the attraction center in the brain shuts down."
"Oh, and that's the only possible reason?" Bedelia questions. "I couldn't have nobody else on my mind and just... not find you attractive in any way?"
"That's the only reason." Viper insists. Bedelia rolls her eyes. "Your turn." He smiles at Emily.
"No." She says and they both chuckle.
"Are you scared I might be right?" Viper asks, the two continuing to laugh. "Yeah? Huh?"
"No, Paul, I'm baffled." Emily says. "I cannot figure out what the unsub could have learned from you."
"What do you mean?" He asks. "He took my looks, my words, everything that makes me successful to the opposite sex."
"Really? Because that guy can get beautiful women into his apartment. I wouldn't let you on my Facebook page." Bedelia scoffs.
"Oh, you're on Facebook? How did I not know this?" Emily questions.
"Yeah, I know. You should totally add me." Bedelia says.
"I will." Emily nods, the two continuing to talk.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Viper calls, cutting them off. "I gave him the routines that made him what he is."
"It must all be in the salesmanship then." Emily says.
"Cause we've been watching all the women in the club." Bedelia says.
"And not one of them has looked at you." Emily says. "So who do you really go home with, Paul? Or-- or do you go home alone?"
"Aw." Bedelia gives him a false sympathetic look.
Viper laughs.
"That was really good, ladies." He says. "That was really good. Don't you think I know why you're here? One of my students copies my moves, and you're here to get inside my mind. Don't you see? I confronted my queen bee a long time ago."
"What's a queen bee?" Bedelia asks.
"You are." Viper says. "And so is every other confident girl in here who's loud when she's drunk."
"The social butterfly, the alpha female." Emily says.
"Every student who's ever taken my class has had one in his life." Viper says. "And the first exercise my students have to complete is to confront their queen bee. It could be the girl who cheated on you or the prom date who stood you up. But you find them and squash them."
The two women share a look before grabbing their stuff and leaving. They put their drinks up at the bar and start to leave while Emily calls Hotch, putting the phone on speaker.
"Our unsub knew Vanessa Holden." Emily states.
"How do you know?" Hotch asks.
"It's Viper's first confidence building exercise. Find the source of your first rejection and make her pay for it." Bedelia explains.
"That's why he stopped seeing prostitutes. He took Viper's class and decided to confront Vanessa Holden." Emily says.
"It makes sense with what he said to Vanessa that night. ""Don't you know who I am? Look closer."" Rossi says.
"He meant it literally." Hotch says.
+++
Emily and Bedelia are in the locker room and changing into their work clothes.
"When you asked him if he practices his routine on a sex doll, I swear I almost lost it." Bedelia giggles and Emily laughs.
"You know, as much as I hate what that guy stands for, I still read "Five ways to get noticed" in Cosmo magazine." Emily says.
"Cause it makes sense." Bedelia shrugs.
"You know, he's a total dick, but the dilation thing is a fact. So..." Emily trails off.
"So, what?" Bedelia asks.
"Well, I-- I've happened to notice that your eyes dilate when you're looking at a... certain genius." Emily says.
"Yeah? Yeah, Bill Nye the Science Guy is my kind of man." Bedelia remarks.
Emily quietly laughs and rolls her eyes.
"You know which genius I'm talking about." Emily says.
"He's my friend." Bedelia says.
"Your eyes don't dilate when you look at the rest of us." Emily points out.
Bedelia goes to reply, but Hotch calls for them about another kidnapped victim.
"Garcia, you've got Viper's attendance records?" Rossi asks.
"Got it. I'm ready to play the player." Penelope says.
"Start with Robert. Narrow down the permutations. Bob, Bobby." Rossi says.
"That gives us 23 suspects." Penelope says.
"Do you have access to birth records?" Hotch asks.
"Yeah."
"Pull the mothers' names and cross reference with work and home addresses in Fulton County." Hotch instructs.
"Hold on." Penelope says. "Bingo. Robert C. Parker lives at 932 Pryor Street."
"Pryor's 5 miles from here." The detective says.
"Let's go. Jordan, meet us at the site." Hotch says.
+++
They get to the house and Derek, Bedelia, Spencer, Emily, and a cop sneak around the back.
"FBI!" Derek kicks the door open, storming in, just as Robert's about to kill Austin.
Robert goes to run and Derek chases him, tackling him to the floor. Spencer goes to Austin.
"Stay there. Stay there." Derek tells Robert, shoving the knife out of his reach.
Spencer gently rips the tape off of Austin's mouth.
"Get this off. Get it off. Get it off." She cries as Spencer unwraps the duct tape from around her wrists.
"Okay. It's okay." Spencer says.
"I called you." She says as he helps her up.
"I know. I know." He says, leading her outside.
"Let's go." Derek drags Robert outside.