Chapter Text
“Cases in small towns are never good, there’s always huge secrets and conflicts that they don’t want outsiders to know about,” JJ grumbled with a pinch of thoughtfulness on her face, “Can anyone think of a case we had in a small town where there wasn’t some huge secret or major nepotism?”
“Nope, small towns tend to be tight-knit, even when we’re trying to catch a murderer,” Morgan agreed, clearly going down memory lane as he looked up to ponder all their previous cases in similar locations.
“Many people consider small towns the perfect setting for horror films because of that, perhaps it’s due to the isolation that leads to a sense of separation,” Reid went off on a tangent, fiddling with a mechanical puzzle in his hands.
“I can think of so many of those, never seen a horror film set in New York City or something like that,” Morgan smirked, “And don’t tell me you didn’t already solve that puzzle.”
“I won’t,” Reid smiled mischievously, with the completed puzzle in his hands.
“We’re landing, get your bags ready,” Hotch announced with Rossi beside him, grabbing his own bag from under his seat as the others followed suit.
“We’re going to split up. Morgan, Reid, and JJ - look at the first crime scene, we’ll look at the second one,” Hotch ordered, tilting his head and raising his brows slightly as he explained.
“Got it, boss,” Morgan confirmed, crossing his arms out of habit and not of aggression, “Let’s get going, kid.”
Morgan looked at Reid right next to him, and gestured with his hand for JJ to follow as he walked out of the plane.
The drive to the crime scene was short, but they did end up with their lungs hurting from laughter - it really was a mistake to put all three of them together.
The mood immediately was sombered as they walked into the house of a newly deceased woman.
The woman was forced to kneel and then shot execution style. There were signs of a break in, but practically no signs of struggle which meant the killer was able to hold something against her. Likely, he used her baby down the hall and threatened to kill the kid if she tried to fight against him.
The killer was likely a sadist, but with no sexual motives for his crimes. Both women had been blonde and blue eyed, so they were likely a stand in for someone. As they were both mothers, it was probably for his own mother.
Forcing mothers to die for their children could be him projecting over how his mother betrayed him, making the mothers do what his own mother never did for him.
As they left the scene, they came upon a strange sight, a child carrying around a bottle of whiskey so casually as if his daily routine included downing a bottle.
“Is that for your father?” Morgan inquired with a concerned look, worried about what could cause a pre-teen or early teenager to need to buy (or steal) whiskey.
“I’m not a child,” The boy snarled, the bottle raising as he lifted his hands in agitation.
“It’s okay, we’re not going to get you in trouble,” JJ placated, “What is your name?”
“What is this, twenty questions. Here! I’ll give you a hint to my name: screw yourself,” The boy growled with wild eyes. He squinted his eyes slightly, before fixing his posture from leaning forwards, “You’re here for those murders, aren’t you?”
“Yes, and only those, we aren’t here to get anyone else in trouble - we aren’t cops,” JJ attempted to pacify the boy, making sure to give the boy space and not hovering over him.
The boy got a hardened look in his eyes, absent of the anger held before as he began talking, “Don’t assume I’m doing this for any reason besides for my own self-interest, but the police chief in this town gets paid off by whoever has the most money,” He started, with a flicker of rage, “I’ve only seen it happen two times, but you can’t trust the police records to try to figure out who has a violent enough disposition to commit those murders. I’d rather the murders get solved, so you are allowed to speak to me.”
He ended it off with an insincere smile that lit up feelings of the Uncanny Valley, and walked away with his whiskey bottle in hand.