###
"To educate a person in the mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society. "
Theodore Roosevelt
###
Laylah was reading at her desk when a cup of coffee was placed down before her, a grin on her lips as she looked up at Spencer. He sent her a nervous smile in reply, moving to sit at his desk. She took the cup and took a small sip from it, her eyes widening as she spun around to look at the man.
'How'd you know my coffee?' She asked.
'I may have asked Garcia,' He replied.
'Why?'
'Just wanted to do something nice.'
'Thanks... But, I am restricted to one a day, or I start bouncing off the walls.'
She smiled when he let out a chuckle, spinning back around to continue her reading. Though, she let out a soft sigh when her phone buzzed in the table beside her with a message from Penelope.
'It seems the adventures of the Little Prince will have to wait,' She shut her book.
'The Little Prince?' Spencer queried as he wandered over.
'Don't tell me you haven't read The Little Prince?'
'No, I haven't.'
'That is not ok, Spencer.'
She turned and pressed the book to his chest, motioning for him to take it.
'Aren't you reading it?' He asked with furrowed brows.
'I've read it at least twenty times,' She waved him off; 'You need it more.'
'Judging by the size of it, I'll be able in at least five minutes. Isn't this a children's book?'
She gaped at him, turning away as she started for the bullpen; 'I have it in it's original translation if you want more of a challenge.'
'Which is?'
'French.'
'Ten minutes, tops.'
'I can't believe you.'
She walked away from him, sliding into a seat at the table as Spencer walked in tucking the book away into his bag.
'Boston P.D.'s requested our help,' Hotch strode into the room; 'Garcia?'
'Ok, uh, this case is not for the faint of heart. So if I faint, that's why,' Penelope sat down; 'Uh, a week ago, the headless body of twenty year old Lily Chang was discovered in a playground in Roxbury, then two days ago forty five year old Denise Wagner was discovered in the North End. Her body, sans head, was left on an old couch by the curb.'
'The North End and Roxbury are two distinct neighbourhoods in Boston. They're only five point one miles apart geographically, but they're worlds apart in terms of racial and socio-economic makeup,' Spencer rattled off the information.
'Did the women live in the neighbourhoods where the bodies were found?' Derek asked.
'No. Lily lived across over in Cambridge, and Denise was from Beacon Hill,' Penelope answered.
'Well, the unsub must have used a can or other vehicle to transport the bodies,' Tara suggested.
'Not to be indelicate, but any sign of the heads?' Rossi asked.
'No, nothing yet,' Hotch shook his head.
'The media must be having a field day,' JJ sighed.
'Oh, you could say that.'
Multiple newspaper reports appeared on the screen one by one, Laylah quickly reading the headlines of each of them.
'Oh, well, not nearly as clever as that infamous New York Post headline: Headless body in topless bar,' Rossi shrugged.
'He dumped the bodies in public, so he obviously wants them found,' Spencer stated.
'But why? What's the endgame?' Laylah asked.
'Maybe he's getting off on shocking whoever finds the bodies. Spreading panic and fear,' Derek suggested.
'Well, he didn't take their handbags, jewellery, or wallets,' Hotch added.
'No, the only thing missing was their cell phones. Well, that and their heads,' Penelope informed them.
'All right, so robbery's not a motive, and there's no evidence of sexual assault, either,' Derek informed them as he flicked through the file.
'But why these women, and how did the unsub cross paths with them?' Rossi questioned.
'That's what he need to find out before he strikes again. Wheels up in thirty,' Hotch instructed.
Laylah tilted her head to the side slightly as she looked at a close up image of where the decapitation lines crossed the neck, biting the inside of her cheek as her fingers began to tap on the table.
'Laylah, hey,' Derek called; 'Lay.'
She blinked, looking up at him with curious eyes.
'Come on,' He motioned her to follow.
'Oh, shit. Yeh, sorry,' She stood, gathering her things into her arms.
Derek chuckled, pulling the door shut behind her.
'So, when's this dinner happening?' He asked as he nudged her with his elbow.
'When we get back, I guess,' She shrugged; 'Rossi, that sound good?'
'I'll give you the ingredients list,' He winked her way.
'What's happening?' Spencer asked.
'Dinner at Laylah's,' Derek grinned; 'Rossi's gonna help her cook.'
'It's kinda a housewarming, kinda a thanks-for-welcoming-me-back-into-the-team thing,' She shrugged.
'Can I come?' Spencer queried.
'Yeh, whole team's invited.'
'Did someone say party?' Penelope walked up beside them; 'Cause I'll bring the drinks.'
'Of course, Penn.'
'Lovely. I can't wait.'
###
'Both women were low-risk lifestyle victims, but if there's any connection between them, I'm not seeing it,' Derek sighed as they sat on the jet.
Laylah sat between Spencer and Tara as they sat upon the sideboard and arm of the loveseat, her fingers running gently across the straight cut on the neck.
'Well, the first victim, Lily Chang, was a chemistry major at M.I.T. She was last seen tutoring kids in an afterschool program,' JJ read from the file.
'Denise Wagner was a banker, divorced, lived with her teenage son. She disappeared after speaking at an investment seminar,' Tara shrugged.
'Cutting off someone's head isn't easy. Why pick that method to kill?' Rossi asked.
'Terrorist groups often use beheadings to send a message or a warning. Historically it's been used for that purpose, starting with the ancient Greeks and Romans. In eleventh century England beheading by sword was introduced by William the Conqueror,' Spencer spoke quickly.
'And of course thousands of people were beheaded during the French Revolution, including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette,' Laylah added.
'Could the be the work of a terrorist cell on U.S. soil?' Tara asked.
'None have claimed responsibility,' Hotch replied.
'So what's he doing with the heads?' Derek glanced between his friends.
'He could be keeping them as human trophies, or like Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen, he might have partialism and he's using them for his sexual gratification,' Spencer suggested.
'Or they could be giving him a sense of ownership over his victims,' JJ added slowly.
'Maybe he's got an exaggerated fear of female rejection and a severed head can't talk back or say no,' Tara nodded.
'Those are all valid theories, but we have to ask ourselves, why is he killing now?' Rossi queried.
The computer beeped as Penelope's face appeared, 'Sir, a body of a third headless woman was found in Boston. Her name is Amy Gibb. She was a bartender at the Seaport.'
'Where was the body found?' Hotch asked.
'On a bench in Boston Common.'
'The Commons is right in the heart of downtown. The unsub couldn't have picked a more public place,' JJ shook her head.
'Lily Chang was killed a week ago, Denise Wagner two days ago, and now Amy Gibb,' Spencer muttered.
'Garcia, tell Boston P.D. we're on our way and to preserve the crime scene,' Hotch instructed.
'And, baby girl, search for men in Boston and the tri-state area with criminal histories of sex crimes,' Derek added; 'Concentrate on those with fetishes involving heads.'
'I'm on it, but I feel icky already,' Penelope cringed.
The computer beeped again as Penelope disappeared, the image of Amy Gibb now burned into Laylah's mind.
'All right, when we land, Morgan, you and Reid go to the latest crime scene. Dave, you and JJ find out what you can from the M.E., and Lewis, Davis and I will get set up with local authorities,' Hotch nodded.
###
Laylah stuck photos up to the evidence board beside Spencer, her eyes raking over each of them. She eventually moved to sit at the end of the table closest to the evidence board as she flicked open her file, re-reading information Penelope had gathered. Her gaze moved between the photos on the board and the information she'd written down, piecing together different things in her head as her thumb touched the tip of each of her fingers individually.
'Go ahead, Garcia,' Hotch answered his phone.
'Sir, the list of men in Boston with a history of sex crimes is long, disturbingly so. But none of them with a noggin fetish,' Penelope informed them.
'What did GPS tell you about the victims' cell phones?'
'Uh, Amy's phone last pinged at her front door in Fenway. Lily and Denise's phones each stopped pinging on different streets in South Boston.'
'We locals call it Southie,' Detective Lawlor, the lead of the investigation, stated.
'Here's something that's the same across the board. All three women, minutes before their cell phones died, they were talking on the phone.'
'We need to know who those victims spoke to last,' Tara suggested.
'Copy that.'
'Amy worked at the Seaport. That's in Southie. So was the school where Lily tutored and the convention centre where Denise attended a seminar.'
'It could be the neighbourhood that's important to him,' Hotch suggested.
'You know, Southie's still predominantly working-class Irish-American. However, long-time residents there are struggling to hold on to their homes and traditions in the face of gentrification,' Spencer chimed from his spot in front of the map.
'Fancy word for organic grocery stores, condos, and juice bars,' Detective Lawlor added.
'Amy took the T about about midnight. The unsub could have followed her home. If Lily and Denise also took the train, maybe that's where he grabbed them,' Tara suggested.
'He used a taser. Too risky in the subway,' Laylah glanced up from the file.
'Amy couldn't have taken the T at that time. Service was shut down,' Detective Lawlor shook her head.
'But Arthur Gibb said he spoke to her there,' Tara replied with furrowed brows; 'Garcia?'
'And he did. GPS confirms that Amy was at the station. But Detective Lawlor is correct. Right after Amy arrived, service on that line was disrupted due to a track fire,' Penelope answered quickly.
'Where did Amy go after that?' Hotch asked.
'I have her moving away from the station, arriving at her house twenty minutes later. That's when the signal dies.'
'Maybe she took the bus home?' Tara questioned.
'It would have taken her longer than twenty minutes,' Detective Lawlor stated.
'Garcia, did she call a taxi or car service?' Laylah asked; 'I don't think he's taking them from public transport, it's too risky with the amount of people that could be present at one time. Especially with the use of a taser.'
'She did. She ordered a car from a ride-share company called Zimmer, but she cancelled it minutes later,' Penelope answered.
'So how did Amy get home?' Tara asked.
###
'Amy Gibb's father said she was depressed and a little lost after her mother died, but what he didn't mention is that a month ago she got caught for shoplifting,' JJ informed Hotch, Laylah and Spencer as she stuck the M.E. report to the evidence board.
'Research has shown a direct correlation between shoplifting and depression. It's often a reaction to some kind of loss or need to fill a void,' Spencer stated.
'All right, well, the second victim, Denise Wagner, just had her assets frozen by the S.E.C. due to allegations of insider trading,' Derek entered the room before he sat; 'Anything hinky on the first victim?'
'Lily Chang's transcripts show that she was on academic probation from M.I.T. And close to flunking out.'
'Well, I take back what I said about not seeing a connection between the victims. All three were involved in unethical situations they probably weren't proud of.'
Laylah quickly read the copy of the M.E. report she'd made for herself, her fingers tapping lightly against the table top as she listened into the conversation around her. The computer beeped on the table before Penelope's face popped up, Spencer rounding the table to see her.
'Hello, G-men and G-woman,' Penelope greeted.
'Hey, what up, baby girl?' Derek replied.
'Ok, I have been doing research on super-sharp possible head-chopping weaponry.'
'What'd you find?' JJ asked.
'There are so many ways to slice and dice. Axes, machetes, knives, swords. Do you know there's a sword from Asia called the Katana? It can slice a person in half. Who would need that?'
'Could be what the unsub's using.'
'Well, in the last six months, in Boston, there have been twenty swords sold, both real and replicas, mostly to buyers who just wanted to add them to their private collections.'
'Well, who else bought them?' Derek queried.
'Uh, people like moi who go to renaissance fairs and civil war re-enactments and pirate festivals. Don't judge me. '
'I'm not, but we're gonna need to talk to everyone, so send us the information.'
'Done and done and done and done.'
Penelope disappeared from the screen with a beep, Laylah pushing herself up to stand as a thought hit her; just at it seemed to hit Spencer when he began to go through her notes.
'You know, the unsub's method of killing has certainly evolved since the first kill, but I don't think he's using any of the weapons that Garcia found,' He stated.
'What about the Katana?' JJ suggested; 'That can sever a neck with precision.'
'It would give him the efficiency and accuracy we've seen, but...'
'What? What are you thinking?' Derek pressed.
'Displaying the bodies in public seems to be what's important to the unsub. He wants to make an example out of his victims, which is why I think he's using a guillotine.'
'You're serious?'
'Guillotines were once considered instruments of justice. Executions were public events. Crowds would come and literally bring picnic baskets. Parents would bring their kids.'
Laylah nodded as she turned; 'I was thinking the exact same thing. A katana could do the job, but you wouldn't get the same cut and it wouldn't be as flat as that of a guillotine. It would also possibly lead to similar marks of that on Lily Chang if the unsub wasn't skilled with it, and it requires a lot of strength. Whereas a guillotine, not only because of it's historical relevance, makes an easy and swift kill with the release of a rope.'
'Now, he can't kill in today's town square, so he's doing the next best thing. He's dumping the bodies for the public to find.'
'Ok, guillotines aren't exactly something you see being sold on Amazon every day,' JJ shook her head softly.
'No, but it would be so easy to make one. All you need is wood, rope, pulleys, and sheet metal from the local hardware store.'
'And by the time he sharpens the edge of the metal to the right degree, it can be used over and over again without a problem,' Laylah shrugged.
'Ok, now I see what Rossi meant,' Derek motioned between the two geniuses with a fond smile.
'Shut up, Morgan,' Laylah blushed softly as she whined.
###
The entire team was gathered around the table with Detective Lawlor, their files in front of them with various bits of information laid out as they tried to build the beginning of a profile.
'Like Amy Gibb, the first two victims had called for ride-share cars and then cancelled,' Hotch announced.
'To me, this whole ride-share thing's not much different than hitchhiking, except you gotta pay,' Detective Lawlor shrugged.
Tara let out a considerate sound, 'I get the appeal. It's quick and easy. You just have to enter your location via smartphone.'
'Right. And then some random car pulls up and you hop in. That sounds safe.'
'Well, riders are sent the driver's name, photo, license plate number. They know who's picking them up,' JJ stated.
'Maybe the victims didn't want to wait for their ride-share cars to arrive and hailed a taxi instead. And if the cabbie had a jammer, that would explain why the victims' phone signals died,' Derek suggested.
'He could blitz attack them in the cab and then disable their phones,' Spencer added.
'Except Amy was at her front door when her cell signal died,' Hotch dismissed.
'Taxi drivers don't usually escort passengers to their door,' Rossi chimed.
'Maybe this one did for Amy,' Derek muttered.
'Walking passengers to their door feels more like something a ride-share driver would do in hopes of getting a positive review,' JJ offered.
'Let's go find out,' Tara pushed herself up to stand.