Criminal Minds

The Atlanta, Georgia, nightlife is in full swing. Images flash from dozens of screens in the club, and two young blondes scan the crowd. Ashley Holden assures her older sister, Vanessa, that Mr. Right is due to walk through the door any moment. Her eyes widen in surprise as a man wearing a fedora approaches, leans closely to Vanessa, and whispers something in her ear. Smiling, Vanessa invites him to have a drink.

Jordan Todd displays a photo of Vanessa Holden on the screen in the BAU conference room. After a man picked Vanessa up at the club last Friday night, he took her back to her apartment and "gutted" her - "a person can survive hours or even days when attacked in this grisly fashion, Dr. Reid observes. The man waited a few hours and then slit Vanessa's throat, but never attacked her sexually. Todd hands around another set of case files detailing similar murders from over one year ago - prostitutes were attacked in the same manner. Flicking the remote control, she displays the reason she believes these murders are linked: at each site bleach, ammonia, and trash bags were found placed in a triangular pattern - and it is the same with Vanessa's murder. Whether the unsub is just cleaning up after himself or is feeling remorse and trying to somehow make up for the murders by minimizing the mess, Todd reveals one more piece of evidence: the women were all found with bleach and ammonia under their own fingernails. "He's making them clean up after their own murder," Morgan adds.

Author Harlan Ellison wrote, The minute people fall in love they become liars.

Aboard the BAU jet, Prentiss is wondering whether this unsub fits into the organized or disorganized pattern. Morgan feels that his choice of victims is confusing: prostitutes point one way and club girls another. Reid is fascinated the placement of the cleaning products, giving evidence of some OCD behavior, or a history of institutionalization. Rossi believes they are focusing on the wrong thing - what is most confounding is how an unsub who victimized prostitutes suddenly become able to charm low-risk women in nightclubs? How did the man become "Don Juan?" Smiling, Reid begins to launch into an analysis of the character of the fictional character, but almost immediately stops himself, muttering, "That's about it." Something has happened to the unsub to allow this 180 degree shift in behavior. Jordan Todd suggests that the killer might have known Vanessa, but Morgan explains that it is unlikely - Reid agrees, telling JJ's temporary replacement that these types of killers try to distance themselves from their victims in order to torture them. Although it is rare, Prentiss believes it will be necessary to build two profiles: one of the unsub's personality during his previous killings, and one that makes allowances for his new-found confidence. Hotchner agrees. He directs Reid to work on the geographic profile, Prentiss and Rossi to concentrate on the prostitutes, while he, Morgan and Jordan deal with the Holden family.

At the Atlanta Police Department, Todd introduces the team to Det. Rachel Harding. When he inquires about a DNA match between samples found at each crime scene, the detective is quick to advise Dr. Reid that these has been no DNA found at all - and also no prints or fibers. When Hotchner asks her if there are witnesses, Harding smile sarcastically and hands Morgan a "sketch" made from witness testimonies. It shows a twenty-something man with average features and no discernable uniqueness. "That's a little vague," Reid observes. Det. Harding plays a videotape of the club scene the night Vanessa Holden was killed. The unsub's hat effectively hid his face from observation. Reid explains the tactic as "peacocking - the adornment of some kind of flashy affect to sort of try to distract witnesses." None of the witness statements agree. When Todd explains that the team needs to interview Ashley Holden, Det. Harding has even more bad news. "The family as decided to stop cooperating." She has no idea why yesterday they would "move heaven and earth" to find Vanessa's killer and today they want nothing to do with the investigation.

Todd excuses herself and places a call to Penelope Garcia. She asks Garcia if she can find anything on the Holden family that she can use as leverage to impel their cooperation. Garcia is shocked - the family members are not suspects so there is no justification for her to investigate their personal lives. She can, however, scan public records at Agent Todd's request, and finds many blogs and articles about the family. Many of these notes suggest that Vanessa's sister, Ashley, is responsible for her sister's death, even going so far as to ask, "How much to gut the slutty one?" Todd asks the analyst to forward the material to her.

Morgan, Hotchner, and Todd stand just inside the front door of the Holden's beautiful home. Instead of ushering them inside, Mrs. Holden comes out to speak with them, apologizing at their wasted effort, and telling them that the family has nothing to say. As Hotchner watches carefully, Todd takes a step towards the grieving mother, softly telling her that they cannot imagine her loss. She then gently shares that her own older sister was killed in a car accident. She was the responsible one, the one who watched out for the other children. When she died, her mother would not help the police, hoping to minimize the pain of her sister's loss by denying the circumstances. Listening, Hotchner frowns, his face set, as Morgan hazards a glance of curiosity at his boss. "This man is a monster," Todd continues, "and we can catch him but we need your daughter's help." Her personal story has moved Mrs. Holden, who agrees to let the agents interview Ashley. Before they follow her to her surviving daughter, however, she points an accusatory finger at the profilers, telling them not to even attempt to blame this on Ashley. Morgan assures her that it is the last thing on their minds. As Todd follows Mrs. Holden, a smug smile on her face, Morgan whispers a question to Hotchner, asking if he knew about the tragedy in Todd's past. Hotchner's gaze is steely - the story of the car accident is a complete lie, Jordan is an only child.

Ashley is tearful, blaming herself. Vanessa had just broken up with her boyfriend and Ashley insisted that they go to the club that night. Morgan quietly assures her that she did nothing wrong. Ashley is not convinced, and has trouble uttering more than monosyllabic responses to their questions. Drawing her out, Morgan and Hotchner begin to discuss the man who picked Vanessa up. Ashley remembers his attitude most of all, that he was cocky - hitting on them but also making a joke out of it. He was dressed like a rocker, had two different colored eyes, and wanted to be noticed. He played games with them - betting them drinks they couldn't get his number, playing with a digital camera. "She didn't even want to go out that night," Ashley finally admits, almost sobbing. "The last thing she said to me before I left her alone with that guy was, 'I had the best time tonight.'"

As they leave the Holden's home, Hotchner confronts Todd, demanding to know where she got the information that Vanessa was the responsible sister. Todd is still proud of herself, admitting that she put it together from on-line research and her own "guess" about birth-order. Even when Hotchner tells her that she lied to get them inside, Todd doesn't see her mistake, justifying her actions by saying that they had to interview Ashley. "If you get caught in a lie, the trust we depend on to help solve these crimes disappears, do I make myself clear?" Hotchner snarls at her. Because of her bad judgment, from now on everything she does will have to go through him first. When Hotchner answers his phone, Todd slowly walks to the SUV where Morgan has been watching the confrontation. He explains that, on a regular scale of 1-10, Todd's mistake was about a 6, but on the Hotchner scale, it rated an 11.

Hurrying into the station with two cups of coffee - one for himself, and one for Morgan - Reid tells the team that the prostitutes were all killed in pay-by-the-hour motels in Fulton County. Vanessa Holden lived in Peachtree - a world away from Fulton in social and economic standing. Rossi has found ads taken out by the two prostitute victims - both photos show the women in submissive postures asking to be dominated and willing to go to the buyer - worlds away from the self-assured unsub picking up society women in popular clubs. During the year between the murders the man must have changed himself. Morgan says it is impossible, but Hotchner would describe it as difficult, not impossible. There was a secondary trigger to motivate his complete transformation, which could have been accomplished through self-help books, a gym, and learning how to read people. "I mean what is a pick-up - it's basically a profile," Reid suggests. He would have needed a course, or some help to learn these things. Turning to the same newspaper where the prostitute ads were found, Rossi points out an ad for a self-help course with the title "Learn How to Pick Up Chicks."

It's Friday night. A man wearing large, ornate sunglasses dances with a beautiful young woman.

Prentiss walks gingerly over the shattered glass of the sliding door, and leans over the eighth floor railing. Morgan, Reid, and Rossi stand on the sidewalk below around a deep red bloodstain, looking up at her. Becky Williams, the beautiful young woman from the club, was the newest victim, but some aspects of her death are disturbing. The cleaning supplies were set out, but no traces on her body, and she fell from an eighth story window. Since the gutting and cleaning behaviors are those that the unsub has to do to find release, he would not change that purposefully. When Morgan tells Reid that Becky's friends identified the unsub as a young man wearing large sunglasses, the wheels in Dr. Reid's head begin spinning.

In Becky's apartment, Hotchner stands, arms folded, wondering to Prentiss at the haphazard arrangement of cleaning supplies. Either Becky fought back and he pushed her out the window to protect himself or, Prentiss suggests sadly, the woman may have jumped if her fear had pushed her into irrationality. The unsub's routine has been interrupted - that might motivate him to strike again immediately. It's Saturday and the clubs will be packed. Hotchner assigns Prentiss to study the self-help coursees the unsub might have taken to try to generate a suspect list. Reid hurries into the apartment and asks Hotchner if the sketch, such as it is, has been sent to Garcia - he has an idea.

Back in the police department offices, Reid sits at a computer with some of the other agents and Det. Harding looking over his shoulder. He has asked Garcia to manipulate the sketch using Photoshop, and he scrolls through the manipulated pictures showing the unsub with a fedora, or sunglasses. He points to the area over the unsub's eyebrows - in each example, this area is being hidden. Rossi sees where the young agent is going - the man might be attempting to hide a recognizable feature such as a scar or a birthmark. Hotchner tells Todd to release this information to the press. A short while later, Todd addresses the media, showing them a sketch of the unsub with a scar over his left eye. On the patio of a Mexican Restaurant nearby, a waitress looks up at the sketch on the television and drops her tray.

Hotchner watches the press conference carefully on a flat screen monitor in the police department offices. Prentiss enters to inform him that she's only found one "teacher" of these "pick-up" coursees in Atlanta who advises his students to dress like "space cowboys." She holds up a colorful ad and asks Hotchner if he is ready to meet Viper.

His sideburns are long and pointed, nearly reaching the goatee on his chin. The chains around his neck almost obscure the crushed velvet vest he wears, and the silver earrings that he sports along the edges of both ears sparkle in the bright light of the courseroom. Twirling a black fur top hat, Viper addresses his new crop of "lady-killers" - a motley crew of overweight, geeky men who hang on his every word. Observing him from the doorway, Hotchner, Prentiss, and Morgan can hardly believe the kind of language Viper is using - talking about hunting women, prey, slashing past every defense, and comparing the dating field to a jungle. Morgan says it sounds as if he is training serial killers. After course, Viper seems almost proud that the unsub has copied some of his methods. When Prentiss requests copies of his client lists, he allows his gaze to wander up and down her body before replying, "No." He believes his clients pay for confidentiality, and advises the agents to come back with a warrant. When Morgan prods Viper to answer Prentiss' question about his whereabouts the previous night, Viper turns on him angrily, advising that he outwits "alpha-males" like Morgan constantly. Stepping closer to Prentiss he smiles and tells her that, on his turf, he could make her do amazing things. Prentiss snorts in disbelief and Hotchner hands Viper his card before they turn to leave.

Walking back into the Atlanta PD conference room, Hotchner is talking to Garcia who is amazed by Viper's audacity. She explains that the man's real name is Paul Thomas, and that she will need a few hours to work up his client list. Hotchner also asks her to send Reid examples of Viper's language so that he can build a linguistic profile. Hesitating before she hangs up, Garcia asks Hotchner if "real breathing girls" actually fall for Viper's type of bull. Hotchner smiles and tells her that she is an exception to every rule, and Garcia returns the compliment. Rossi escorts Melissa Foster, the waitress from the Mexican restaurant, into the conference room. She came forward because she recognized the sketch - she is the one who gave him his scar. She was a prostitute when it happened, about one year ago. She was addicted to heroin, and put an ad in the paper. When she walked into the unsub's hotel room she knew there was a problem. He paced and ranted - calling her "the help" and eventually attacking her. She managed to hit him before he stabbed her. He didn't run off because of the pain, she remembers, but because of the mess the blood made. It took her two weeks to recover, and she managed to kick her heroin habit when she realized that she wanted to live. If he hadn't attacked her she probably would be dead of an overdose by now.

Addressing the officers of Atlanta, the team gives them the profile of a confident, white man, between 25 and 30 years old. He has an obsession with cleaning, and probably works in a service industry, believing that people look down on him. He's taken coursees on picking up women and will repeat a series of well-rehearsed mind games with them. Reid, stepping up between Agent Todd and Det. Harding, explains one routine called the "push-pull" where a man will approach two women, compliment one and then subtly insult her before paying attention to the other one. He turns to Todd and admires her earrings, before suggesting that her grandmother also wore cheap jewelry, and then turns to Det. Harding, demonstrating the technique beautifully. Det. Harding and SSA Hotchner advise the officers to circulate the sketch in their assigned areas to help inform the women of the city. After the profile briefing, Reid tries to bow out of "club duty" but Morgan insists that he needs a wingman. Standing in a tight circle, the agents speak quietly, convinced that they must figure out what made the unsub change his life. Rossi suggests that they profile Viper, as the answer might be in his course. They will need to bait him, challenge him, with someone he's already attracted to. All of the agents slant looks at Prentiss during this exchange, until their point becomes more than obvious. "Ahh," she groans, "this is really gonna suck."

Prentiss is changing in the locker room when Hotchner knocks at the door - he wants to make sure that she is okay with this duty. She smiles wryly and admits that she's dated some people worse than Viper. "Wow," is Hotchner's only response. Catching him before he leaves, Prentiss asks about the tension she's noticed between the Unit Chief and Agent Todd. Hotchner explains and Prentiss understands, but wonders how long Todd will be "in the dog house." She is honest with her boss, suggesting that Todd will not be able to prove herself while she's under his scrutiny. Hotchner, respecting Prentiss' thoughts, asks her if she has something in mind, and the agent smiles.

The club scene might be rocking, but Dr. Reid is bringing down the small group of women who are listening to his tirade against risky behavior" and detailing crime statistics. The women walk off before he can hand out his flyers. Morgan shakes his head at his young friend, mentioning that he gave out all of his flyers, and was only offered four phone numbers in return - not that he took any, being on a case. He quickly gives Reid some pointers, telling him to talk about something that will give him confidence and allow him to take control of the conversation - something other than statistics. When Reid suggests magic, Morgan smiles, and turns him to the lovely bartender, Austin. Reid introduces himself and pulls out one of the sketches of the unsub. Austin lifts one eyebrow, telling him the sketch is rather vague, but Reid takes out a pen and punches it through the sketch above the unsub's eyebrow. While Austin watches in fascination, he pulls the pen through the paper, leaving no holes. She grabs the paper and flips it over, trying to figure out the trick. Reid smiles. She keeps eye contact with Reid and asks if she should call him even if she doesn't see the man, and he awkwardly agrees. He turns to leave and she asks him for his number. Reid smirks and tells her that it is in her hair, behind her barrette. She reaches up and pulls out his business card. Morgan is suitably impressed. "That's called game," he says.

Viper is the center of attention, answering questions in a group of his students at a club, when he notices Prentiss dressed to kill and watching him from across the room. He walks confidently towards her and she explains that the police are combing the bars he frequents. She flirts with him, asking about his course, wondering if he thinks sex and emotional commitment are just a game. He tells her that the "spark," the initial connection between two people, is his motivation. Leaning very close to her, he is disappointed when another beautiful woman approaches. It is Agent Todd. He glances uncomfortably between the two confident women as they smile derisively at his arrogance.

Something about this case is still bother Agent Hotchner. He stands staring at the map that pinpoints each murder as Rossi approaches. It is the secondary trigger that the agents are still looking for - it is nothing that he took from the course, it is much deeper psychological. Why does he go to the victims' apartments, not to his own place? There is some reminder at his own home of how miserable his life is.

Staring deeply into her brown eyes, Viper explains that eye contact is a powerful gauge of attraction - the eyes dilate during attraction. Checking her partner's pupils, Prentiss notices no dilation. Viper brushes it off, claiming that Todd is clearly attracted to someone else right now. He turns his attention back to Prentiss. She cuts him off quickly, all affectation gone, and admits that she is baffled about what the unsub could possibly have learned from such a loser. Not one woman in the club has looked at him. He laughs, and admits that he confronted his "Queen Bee" years ago. He encourages his students to confront their "alpha-female" as their first exercise. He tells them to find these confident women who disappointed or derided them in the past and "squash them." Prentiss and Todd leave immediately, checking in with Rossi and Hotchner to explain that the unsub must have known Vanessa Holden. He was confronting his Queen Bee.

Ashley and Mrs. Holden don't believe this theory - Vanessa told Ashley about all of her boyfriends. Rossi suggests that perhaps it was not a boyfriend, but someone who expressed himself inappropriately and sexually to Vanessa. The boy would also have had some type of obsession with cleaning. Mrs. Holden reacts - she had a cleaning woman who brought her son with her when the girls were children. She doesn't remember her name, but the boy was "odd." He hid and watched Vanessa. She caught them one day when they were both in their underwear. Mrs. Holden grabbed the boy and spanked him harshly in front of Vanessa - and Vanessa smiled. Ashley remembers that his name was Bobby, and Mrs. Holden fired the mother that day. She used a service in Fulton County for her domestics.

Austin shouts out "Last call!" at the bar - she can't help noticing a young man with a scar over his left eye romancing a blonde woman just a few feet away. He's selling her some line about her "love line" on her palm. Austin purposefully spills a drink across the bar on the woman's dress, and the man turns to glare at her. Trying to act natural, she invites the woman behind the bar to clean up her dress, but the man glares at her, his eyes narrowing. She ushers the woman into a back office and hurries outside to dial Reid on her cell phone. Before she is connected, the man hits her across the face and knocks her to the ground. Reid and Morgan arrive at the club looking for Austin, but only find her cell phone. "He has her," Reid mutters.

The other agents pile around the computer to talk with Garcia, trying to find a Robert or Bobby on Viper's course lists. Hotchner also tells her to cross-reference work and home addresses in Fulton County. They find only one match: Robert C. Parker who lives only five miles away. In Parker's apartment, Bobby has Austin kneeling on his living room floor, her arms bound by duct tape. He screams at her to clean up her mess and she grabs a scrub brush from the bucket next to her and begins to scrub the carpeting. Austin cries, telling him that she'll do whatever he wants, but he rips off a new piece of tape for her mouth, whispering that "the help" doesn't talk. The BAU and SWAT teams are organizing outside the house, the agents wearing flak jackets and holding their weapons. Bobby stands behind her, holding his knife, as Austin closes her eyes in terror. Morgan bursts through the door first, and tackles Bobby, flinging the knife away from him, as Reid goes to Austin and releases her, holding her and helping her outside. Hotchner and Rossi notice a frail voice coming from the back of the house. They enter the bedroom to find Bobby's mother, bedridden, attached to a dialysis machine. She is frightened, insisting that she needs her son - "I need Robert, I need to be changed," she whimpers. The dialysis pump was issued ten months ago. "We found our secondary trigger," Rossi says.

P.J. O'Rourke wrote, Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely.

Agent Jordan Todd places her report on SSA Hotchner's desk. Before she can leave, he tells her that Prentiss gave her a glowing report from their field assignment, and that she was very astute in her early observation that Vanessa Holden could have known her killer. "I just wanted you to know that you have the green light again, and I trust your judgment," he tells her. He is ready to trust her.

Reid is on the phone with Austin - she's feeling fine and has been told that she can go back to work. He nods thanks to an agent who hands him a package while Austin tells him that she is finished with bartending. She is going to pursue a different career - magic. "Have you opened the package yet?" she asks. Reid reaches inside and finds his business card with an imprint of a kiss on the back. "Is this your card," Austin asks. "Yeah, it is," Reid answers, laughing.

[recap written by Finnegan77, uploaded 12.04.08]