Criminal Minds

At Little Creek Reservoir, Virginia - a beautiful wilderness area - a flock of ducks flies over a still lake. From among the cattails, SSA David Rossi takes aim and fires, and then sends his hunting dog into the water after the downed bird. As he breaks his shotgun open to remove the spent cartridge, his cell phone rings, and he brusquely tells Section Chief Erin Strauss that she'll have to cancel her afternoon appointment as he's planning to be in her office at 2:30 pm.



Rossi dresses carefully, pocketing his old FBI credentials, and holstering his weapon before he takes a charm bracelet from a special display case in his bedroom. There are three charms on the bracelet – silhouettes of three children's heads, engraved with the names "Alicia," "George," and "Connie." Rossi places the bracelet in his pocket.



Section Chief Strauss watches Rossi across her desk and wonders aloud at his desire to come back to work for the BAU. He's been retired for 10 years, has written a number of books, and has enjoyed many tours and speaking engagements over the years for huge amounts of money, and now he wants to come back to the BAU in a subordinate position to Unit Chief Hotchner. Rossi maintains that all he wants to do is help as the team is a man down. Chief Strauss hands him his new credentials.



In Carrollton, Texas, Michelle Colucci juggles drawings and blueprints as she makes her way to her front door. She is startled to see a flyer posted on her door – it's a picture of her with the words "Have you seen me?" printed at the top. Michelle takes the flyer to a friend, Detective Frank Yarborough with the Carrollton police. Det. Yarborough believes this is just a Halloween prank, but Michelle can't believe any of her friends would think this is funny. Det. Yarborough's wife, Molly, was the one who advised Michelle to bring the flyer to the police station. Det. Yarborough tells Michelle that he will be happy to drive by her home and check on her when he gets off work, and Michelle leaves, relieved.



Later that night, Det. Yarborough pulls up to Michelle's darkened home. As he approaches the front door he sees that another "missing" flyer is posted there, and Michelle's door is ajar. He draws his gun and takes out a flashlight as he begins looking through the house, calling Michelle's name. He notices that there is a dirty plate on the counter, and the water in the kitchen sink is running. He turns off the water and continues to call her name as he swings into the dining room. Switching on the light, the detective is horrified to find that the walls and the table are covered with "missing" flyers. A plain white mask is propped up in the center of the dining room table. The word "one" is painted on the mask in red.



Reid is clowning around in the BAU bullpen in a Frankenstein's monster mask and gloves, giving out candy as he walks through the area. Prentiss laughs as Reid sneaks up behind Morgan and startles him before wishing everyone a good "All Hallows Eve." He tosses a "severed head" at Prentiss as Morgan explains that Halloween creeps him out because of the masks – he doesn't like people in disguises. Reid counters that the disguises are the best part of Halloween because you can be anyone you want to be. Looking up, Reid notices the arrival of Section Chief Erin Strauss with SSA David Rossi in tow, and hurriedly removes his costume.



Hotchner and Rossi greet each other as old friends when Section Chief Strauss tries to introduce them, and she quickly excuses herself from Hotchner's office. JJ interrupts to inform Hotchner that she is ready to brief the team on their new case, and Hotchner introduces them. JJ explains that she is the communications coordinator and liaison – the "go-between for the team and the rest of the world." Hotchner takes Rossi to meet the rest of the team who are very impressed with SSA Rossi. Reid stammers out a greeting, talking a mile a minute about psycho-linguistics and the Scarsdale Skinner case. Hotchner tells Reid to calm down, that Agent Rossi will be with them for a while and suggests they talk on the jet. Rossi is surprised to find the BAU has access to a jet.



The team gathers around the round table in the conference room and JJ begins to tell them about Michelle Colucci and the flyer that she found on her front door four days ago. She explains that Det. Yarborough sent her home, and later found that she was missing and that the unsub had left behind many flyers and the mask in her home. Yesterday, Michelle's body was discovered in a small creek just outside of Carrollton. "She had been sexually assaulted and her face had been removed." When Rossi questions whether or not the damage could have been done by wildlife, JJ tells him that the Dallas County M.E. found that the edges of the wound were smooth.



Garcia opens the door to the conference room and reacts violently to the photo of Michelle's disfigured body. JJ quickly changes the slide before Hotchner introduces her to Agent Rossi. Garcia drops off a file full of information and walks out, leaving Rossi to note: "She's different."



The team discusses the unsub's behavior. Prentiss notes that he tortures his victim psychologically with the "missing" flyer, and then tortures her physically. Reid tells the team that this type of mask is known as a "false face" and is commonly worn during Halloween or Mardi Gras. JJ admits that the Dallas media is all over the story, and Hotchner asks her to tell the local police that they will be there first thing in the morning. He offers to let Rossi settle in before he joins them on a case, but Rossi is eager to get started.



Detective Yarborough is watching Dallas reporter Abbey Roxford's coverage of the murder as he speaks with JJ on the phone. He is not happy with the name the media has given this case – the "Have You Seen Me Murder." Elsewhere in Dallas, Enid White is walking her dog along a suburban street, dodging kids who are throwing eggs at stop signs. When she approaches a whitewashed building she sees a flyer has been posted there with her picture on it. Picking up her dog in her arms, she races along the side of the building, running past flyer after flyer of her own picture posted there.



On the BAU jet, Agent Rossi sits alone with the case file, fingering the charm bracelet. Memories flash through his mind of frightened children, blood spatters and loud voices and screams. When Hotchner invites him to join the rest of the team to go over victimology, Rossi grabs a small black notebook and moves closer to the others. Michelle Colucci was a loner with no boyfriend – an architect and a workaholic. She would be a low-risk victim. Reid notes that, if she didn't know the killer personally, she could have been being stalked. Rossi makes one comment, "Interesting," but shares nothing else with the team as he continues to mark things down in his notebook. Garcia calls in to tell the team that the victim designed office space – she had no personal clients.



Det. Yarborough is receiving a fax of Enid White's flyer as the BAU enter the Carrollton Police Department. Enid's roommate reported that she never came home after walking her dog last night. The entire neighborhood around her apartment was wallpapered with the flyers, but no one saw whoever put them up. Hotchner sends Morgan and Prentiss to Michelle Colucci's house while he and JJ interview Enid's roommate. He asks Rossi if he would mind walking the body-disposal site with Reid.



At Michelle's house, Morgan and Prentiss see that the homes are very close together, and that it would be difficult to get a woman out of her house and into a vehicle without anyone seeing it. They realize that neighbors would have seen a strange vehicle or a strange man watching Michelle's home. They conclude that he didn't watch from the street.



In Enid White's neighborhood, JJ and Hotchner discuss the media coverage with Det. Bowie. The details about the mask weren't given to the media, in fact, Det. Bowie didn't even know about the mask until Hotchner mentioned it. Enid's roommate told police that she took the same route every night to walk her dog, so she definitely would have seen the "missing" flyers posted on the building. Det. Bowie offers to let them interview the roommate themselves, but Hotchner is preoccupied. He wonders - if Enid was abducted while she was walking her dog, where is the dog?



Det. Yarborough takes Rossi and Reid to the creek side where they discovered Michelle's body. As they walk through the area, Rossi asks Reid about old BAU case files, and where they are kept. Reid tells him that most of the files have been computerized and are readily accessible. Reid tells him how far the files have been expanded since Rossi's time in the department. While Rossi interviewed 45 serial killers, the BAU now has files on over 1000 offenders including child abductors and sex offenders. He offers to go over it with Rossi sometime.



When they arrive at the scene, Det. Yarborough stares at the water. He knows that Michelle had enough time to make herself dinner before the unsub attacked her – so there was time for someone to help her. Rossi walks along the creek, muttering that water destroys evidence, but she wasn't in the water very long. The unsub had tried to weigh the body down, but wasn't very good at it. Rossi mentions that the Green River Killer also dumped his victims' bodies in water, but he made no attempt to weigh them down because he didn't care if they were found – he had no connection with his victims. Rossi jots something down in his notebook.



Morgan has found a vantage point in a clump of trees near Michelle's house. He finds footprints to prove that the unsub stood there often, watching her.



Back at the police department, Rossi sits making notes when Hotchner and JJ return. Reid explains Rossi's comments, and that the victim may have had some connection to her killer. The timeframe tells them that the unsub held Michelle for three days before he killed her and dumped her body. Garcia calls with some strange news – Enid White used her credit card that morning at a Dallas sporting goods store to buy a shotgun.



In a small motel room, Enid White sits staring at the news coverage of her disappearance as she grasps the handle of a shotgun. With the other hand she dials her cell phone. Hotchner asks JJ to call the store to determine if it was Enid or the unsub who used the credit card. An officer approaches Det. Yarborough to tell him that a woman is on the line. It is Enid calling. She tells the officers that she has a gun, and that she can't stay awake very much longer. She was worried that the police hadn't believed that Michelle Colucci was in danger after she received the "missing" flyer, but Hotchner assures her that they believe her. She tells them she is in Room 6 of the El Royale Motel in Dallas. Agents and local law enforcement rush off to the motel, but Enid is gone and there are "missing" flyers and a white mask on the hotel room table. Written on the mask is the word, "two."



An officer carries Enid's dog out of the motel room just ahead of a frustrated Det. Yarborough. He cannot believe that the unsub got to Enid in the 20 minutes it took them to get to the motel. Hotchner reassures him that the killer held Michelle Colucci for 3 days before he killed her. The unsub also didn't take time to hang up the flyers, so it was almost as if he knew they were coming. Morgan finds Enid's cell phone under the bed – the unsub could have gotten a cell interceptor from many electronics stores. The unsub probably followed Enid to the motel from Dallas and sat right outside waiting for her to make the call – he wants the police to be the ones who find his "messages." Rossi watches the exchange between Morgan, Prentiss, Hotchner and Det. Yarborough silently, making notes in his notebook.



Back at the Carrollton Police Station, the team gives the profile of a white male, average height and weight. He is average in every way and will not stand out in anyone's memory. As the rest of the team talks to local officers, Rossi is in a small copy room nearby. He receives a fax-photo of the mask from Enid's crime scene, and then slowly takes out his cell phone and calls Garcia. He asks her to locate a twenty-year-old case file in the computer system. The victims were Diana and Richard Gayland, and their three children. Garcia offers to send it right off to him, but he tells her just to put the file together for him when he returns – and to keep this information strictly between them.



Continuing the profile, Prentiss tells the officers that, because of the degree of sophistication and maturity needed by the unsub; his age is between 35 and 40. Because the killer holds his victims for a period of time, he probably has access to a house. He is also fairly tech-savvy, notes Morgan, as he was able to print the flyers, and use the cell-interceptor. Reid and Hotchner explain that the very "average-ness" of the unsub is part of his psychosis – he doesn't stand out at work or in his personal life. As Hotchner explains, the police station fades out behind him and is replaced by an office party. A man watches from the sidelines as others interact and are friendly with one another. As this is acted out, Hotchner explains that when this man is snubbed or ignored he doesn't brush it off as most people do – especially when it is from the object of his affections. He obsesses over that woman until the rage builds and he attacks her. Morgan repeats the phrase found at the top of all the "missing" flyers: "Have you seen me?" This isn't about the women – it's about the unsub. Removing his victims' faces gives him a sense of power. Since the crime scenes show that he wants to deliver his message to the police, the team is fairly sure they can get him to contact law enforcement.



As Hotchner continues to explain he glances up and notices a news report on the television screen – they have a picture of the mask left at one of the crime scenes. JJ assures him that she told the media to withhold the mask information, but, at that moment Rossi enters the room and calmly tells Hotchner that he gave the information to the media. The team is stunned. Rossi goes on to say that he also told the media that the FBI believes that the masks show that the unsub is impotent. Hotchner quickly hustles Rossi out of the room for a private conversation.



Rossi justifies his actions to Hotchner, telling him that this will make the unsub call. Hotchner is angry – they are not ready to do a trap and trace, they haven't briefed the detective who will take the call. They cannot come into a local area and just take over, telling the media that they will solve the case. Rossi tries to tell Hotchner that he's been working these cases before most of the BAU team was in school, but Hotchner explains that times have changed. JJ interrupts to tell them Garcia has some information.



Garcia has found that Michelle Colucci had just finished remodeling plans for three floors of a company called Techco Communications in downtown Dallas. Enid White worked there up until two months ago.



Det. Yarborough breaks in with the information that the unsub is on the phone demanding to speak with the FBI. Rossi answers the call. The man is agitated and angry, telling Rossi that he is not impotent, but speaking in a hushed tone. Rossi is confrontative, demanding to know why the man is whispering. The unsub is sweating, stretching a rubber band around his hand, nervously fidgeting around his small office cubicle as he speaks. Rossi is cool, telling the unsub that there are security tapes of the police precinct, and the he knows the unsub was there when Michelle Colucci came in – that's the only way he could have known that Det. Yarborough was going to stop by her house later. The rest of the team watches Rossi anxiously – concerned with his attitude towards the unsub. Hotchner even puts up one warning hand, that Rossi is going too far, but Rossi ignores him and continues to bait the killer. When Rossi finally calls the unsub a loser, the man tells him that he just signed Enid White's death warrant and hangs up. Hotchner stares at a suddenly not quite so confident Rossi.



The FBI and police vehicles race through the streets of Dallas towards Techco. Hotchner has had the police seal off the building so that no one can get in or out. Morgan wants to know if Rossi really believes the unsub will still be in the building after that phone call, but Rossi believes he will. When Hotchner asks about the police security footage, Rossi admits that there is none- he lied about it. Rossi thinks he needed to force the unsub's hand, to rattle him.



The team enters the lobby of the office building. Many employees are gathered there, unable to leave the building. Garcia tells Hotchner that Michelle Colucci was planning the remodel for the 7th, 8th and 9th floors – he sends Morgan, Prentiss and Reid to search each of the floors to try to find the name of an employee who made a scene in the last twenty minutes. Rossi "feels" that the killer is in the lobby. Hotchner advises him to display his credentials and removes one of Enid White's flyers from his pocket. He and Rossi stare at it and then at the group of men in the lobby as if they are trying to compare a photo of the unsub with the men there.



On the 9th floor, a Techco employee points Reid to Max Pool's cubicle – the place is a mess, crumpled papers strewn everywhere.



Hotchner and Rossi notice a man who is trying very hard to keep his back to the agents. They move slowly to flank him.



Reid calls Hotchner to tell him the unsub's name.



Max Pool begins to walk away past the elevators. Rossi draws his gun and calls out, "Sir!" but Pool doesn't stop. Finally, Hotchner calls out his name, and Max Pool stops next to the closed elevator door. Rossi tells Pool that "if you do what you're thinking you won't get to tell them I lied." He advises Pool to surrender. Rossi begins to plead with a suddenly calm and smiling Pool. Pool takes a gun from his belt just as the elevator doors begin to open. Morgan steps out as Pool turns with his gun drawn, and Rossi and Hotchner take aim at Pool. Morgan is directly between them, in the line of fire. Hotchner yells "Down!" and Morgan throws himself to the floor, drawing his weapon as he rolls. Rossi is quicker, and shoots Pool twice before anyone else can react. Pool is dead. Their only hope is that Enid White is at Pool's home.



Enid is still alive when the EMTs wheel her to the waiting ambulance outside Pool's home. No matter what has happened, it's still Halloween night, and children in costumes run along the crime scene tape, anxious to let nothing come between them and trick-or-treating. Reid has come prepared, and walks down the line handing out goodies to the happy kids. Prentiss and Morgan are drawn to the children as well, taking a moment to grin and share in the simple pleasure of making kids smile.



Rossi looks a question at Hotchner, uncertain about his role in what's gone on in Dallas. Hotchner pats him on the shoulder and the team members get into their black SUVs and drive away.



The agents pack their gear back into the BAU bullpen, relaxed, chatting with each other, while Rossi hangs back and makes his way up the stairs to Hotchner's office. He questions Hotchner's claim that the team shares everything, since it is obvious to him that Hotchner is separated from his wife and son, and that is something he hasn't shared with the team. Hotchner draws a distinction between sharing his private life and sharing a case. "I'm just saying," Rossi responds, "sharing is a learned skill." When he worked in the BAU, there were only a few of them, and they didn't "groupthink." Hotchner again corrects Rossi, telling him that the team members think as individuals, but then share their thoughts instead of writing them down in a little notebook and hoarding them. As Rossi moves to leave, Hotchner earnestly tells him that the only reason this team has been able to help people, has put criminals away, is because of him and the few other men who started this unit, who believed in the profile as a tool. He has nothing to prove. Rossi admits that he has come back to the BAU because he has unfinished business.



Rossi stops in the darkened doorway of Gideon's empty office and puts down his ready bag. He leans against the door frame for a moment and looks around before pulling the charm bracelet from his pocket. Finally, he looks up and sees Jason Gideon's name plate. He slowly slips the name plate from the door.

[recap written by Finnegan77]