The team are on the jet and on their way back. Penelope starts the video call.
"Okay, sir, I'm ready." Penelope says.
"All right. Can I have your attention, everyone." Hotch calls, standing up, Blake standing next to him. "Go ahead, Garcia."
"Alrighty then. Last night in Kansas City-- well, technically super early this morning, 50 year old David Morrison was beaten to death when he was out jogging. Information is on your tablets right now." Penelope says.
"It looks brutal." JJ says.
"Classic overkill." Rossi says.
"He was found stripped and wearing women's underwear that I'm assuming weren't his." Spencer says.
"Yeah. All of his clothes were found nearby, his skivvies included." Penelope says.
"Any evidence of sexual assault?" Rossi asks.
"We're still waiting on the M.E. report." Penelope says.
"Any other victims, Garcia?" Derek asks.
"That is a big maybe. Meet Tommy Barnes and Melissa Hawthorne, also on your tablets." Penelope says.
"A year ago they disappeared from a house party and were found beaten in much the same fashion." Blake says.
"There were two of them and they're considerably younger than his most recent victim." Bedelia says.
"Yeah, and what about the women's underwear?" JJ asks. "That's a pretty specific ritual aspect. These two were found fully clothed."
"Are we sure that it's the same unsub?" Derek asks.
"My dad thinks it is." Blake says.
"Your dad's a captain on the Kansas City police force, right?" Derek asks.
"Retired." Blake says.
"But your brother's a cop, too." JJ says.
"Scott. He's a homicide detective, but my dad is the one who made the call." Blake says.
"If he's retired, it's not exactly an official invitation." Rossi says.
"No, but he's got lots of influence." Hotch says.
"Well, maybe we should wait for the invite. We can't just force ourselves on local jurisdiction." JJ says.
"What if it's actually serial?" Derek asks.
"We'll go back if they ask us to." JJ says.
"Look, my dad's a great cop, and he's almost never wrong." Blake says. "I mean, it drives me crazy, but it's true."
"We don't know exactly what we've got here, but I think it's worth taking a look." Hotch says. "I'll have the pilot reroute us to Kansas City."
+++
"David Morrison was a novelist, Tommy Barnes and Melissa Hawthorne high school students." Spencer says. "No apparent connection between the victims, no matching DNA samples."
"And an entire year between kills." Hotch says.
"You know, the underwear ritual may be about symbolic humiliation." Spencer says.
"Or a shock factor for whoever found the bodies." Hotch says.
"Blake, did your dad say anything else about why he thinks these cases are connected?" Spencer asks. Bedelia glances at the woman after she doesn't answer. "Blake?" He calls.
"Yeah?" She snaps out of her thoughts.
"Everything all right?" Hotch asks.
"Uh, yeah, sorry. Just-- I'm distracted." Blake says.
"Perfectly understandable. The familiar sounds, visual cues, even olfactory inputs, can trigger memories and emotions we thought were long gone. Happens to me every time I go home, too." Spencer says.
"Remind me to never go back to my home city." Bedelia says.
"When was the last time you were back?" Hotch asks.
"It's been like 422 days." Spencer says.
"I was talking to Blake." Hotch says. Spencer nods. Bedelia's lips quirk up, holding her laugh in.
"Uh, it's been about 5 years." Blake says.
"That's a long time." Hotch notes.
"Yeah, once I got out of Kansas City, I pretty much wanted to stay out." Blake says.
+++
"Gil and Renee Patterson were good, hard working people." Spencer tells Blake, him and Bedelia walking out of the house. "He was a bank manager, she was a nurse."
"If all these victims were targets, then what's the connection?" Blake questions.
"Maybe they're not targets. Maybe they're surrogates." Spencer says.
"For who?" Blake asks.
"So, um, apparently, a neighbor found the bodies when she came by and saw the door was ajar." Scott says.
"Do the Pattersons have any next of kin?" Blake asks. "We're gonna need to talk to them."
"Yeah, they do. They have a daughter named Laurie. She's a senior at the University of Missouri." Scott informs.
~ ~ ~
"Hey, what you got, mama?" Derek asks as Bedelia and Spencer walk into the living room.
"So it turns out our dead jogger David Morrison bounced around as a substitute English teacher before he published his first book." Penelope says. "Four years ago, he worked for a week at Jefferson High School, and that is the same school that Tommy Barnes and Melissa Hawthorne went to."
"The Pattersons have a daughter." JJ says.
"Laurie." Spencer says.
"Garcia, where did Laurie Patterson go to high school?" Derek asks.
"That would be... Jefferson." Penelope says.
"And when did she graduate?" Derek asks.
"Um... 4 years ago." Penelope says.
"So she was there at the same time Morrison was." Bedelia says.
"All right, I'll call Hotch. We need to give the profile." Derek says.
+++
"Hey, baby girl, you got the whole crew. Go ahead." Penelope says.
"Okay, here's the skinny on Jefferson High. Really great football team, state champ two years in a row, go, bulldogs. The only notable thing that has happened at that high school in the last 10 years besides the murder of Tommy Barnes and Melissa Hawthorne is the death of another student. Riley Wilson, 4 years ago. Sending. Information streaming to your tablets now."
"He wrapped his car around a telephone pole." Blake says.
"Yeah. There was a lot of speculation it was a suicide." Penelope says. "Tox report was clean. He was totally sober."
"He was a senior and got straight As. Nothing in his disciplinary file." Rossi says.
"He was at Jefferson the same time as David Morrison and Laurie Patterson." Spencer says.
"Garcia, we need a list of every student and employee at Jefferson while Riley Wilson was a student." Hotch says.
"Parents and family members, too, Garcia." Derek says.
"Compiling that list now." Penelope says. "It is a lot of names. I will hit you back ASAP."
+++
"The unsub was probably already here when your brother arrived." Rossi tells Blake. "But he didn't kill him."
"Because Charles was the target." Hotch says.
"So this guy's mission oriented." Rossi says.
"I believe the unsub may have stolen Scott's firearm." Spencer says, holding the empty holster.
"Doesn't match his M.O., but that won't stop him from using it." Rossi says.
"There's something in here. He wrote, "Charles and Riley good friends," but he underlined the words "good" and "friends."" Blake says.
"That mean something to you?" Hotch asks.
"Yeah. He used to do that when we were kids." Blake says. "Usually when something really irritated him."
"He underlined words when he was irritated?" Rossi asks.
"Yeah. Our mother used to make us write letters to each other to help us resolve our conflicts." Blake explains. "She thought it was a good way to learn how to express our feelings."
"Smart lady." Rossi comments.
"We should keep that in mind." Bedelia tells Spencer.
"Let's worry about it whenever we find the energy to give Theo a sibling." Spencer says.
"What was it about the words "good friends" that got to him?" Blake asks. Her phone rings and she walks off while answering it.
+++
"Laurie Patterson was away at school, so he couldn't go after her." Derek says.
"So he goes after her parents instead. That was his way of maximizing her suffering." Rossi says.
"Laurie's ex, Sergeant Lance Tate, is doing his third tour in Afghanistan. His parents moved to Arizona." JJ says.
Derek answers his ringing phone.
"Hey, you're on speaker, Garcia." Derek tells her.
"Hot off my keyboard, I took the names Laurie gave us and I cross checked them with Riley Wilson's texts, emails, and social media. I got two hits." Penelope says. "One's a Kevin Russ. That was his chemistry lab partner. And the second and the way more interesting is a kid named Ronald Underwood."
"What's so interesting about him?" Rossi asks.
"Well, it looks like they were actually pretty good friends. Ronald dropped out of school right after Riley died." Penelope says.
"What else do we know about Underwood?" Hotch asks.
"Uh, dad is out of the picture. He lives with his mom, who has 4, 4 DUIs." Penelope says. "He spends a cra-cra-crazy amount of time on the internet, mostly looking at porn and MMA sites and-- oh. The internet is also where he buys his anabolic steroids."
"If this is all about bullying, the unsub may have been a victim himself." Spencer says.
"He may also feel responsible for what happened to Riley." Bedelia adds.
"And he's targeting the bullies and the adults who did nothing to stop it." Hotch says.
"Laurie said a substitute teacher and a Mr. Ramsey were there the day of the practical joke." Blake says.
"David Morrison had to be the sub." Derek says.
"Garcia, where's Mr. Ramsey now?" Hotch asks.
"Harold Ramsey, history teacher. He still works at Jefferson High." She says.
"All right, send contact numbers and addresses for both Harold Ramsey and Ronald Underwood." Hotch says.
"Sent and sent." Penelope says.
+++
The team are in the backyard, Bedelia glancing over as Blake, her brother, dad, and Penelope walk out.
"Oh, you're all here." Blake says. "My worlds are colliding."
"Well, your dad promised ribs." Hotch says.
"Your pops is no joke on this grill." Derek says, fist bumping Mr. Miller.
"Can't celebrate unless the whole family's here." He says.
"I can't argue with that." Blake says.
"Who needs a cold one?" Rossi asks.
Everybody but Bedelia and Spencer get beers, Bedelia having water and Spencer sticks to his handful of chips.
"To Blake." They all cheer.