The Journey to Love: Seaching For A Soulmate

Chapter 7: Surveying the land

                The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to narrow down the victimology profile. Sheldon and the young CSIs tried to get a better handle on the DNA evidence they collected. The shirts were squeezed out before lunch; those DNA results would take a while to separate since there were so many. Now Sheldon was waiting for the fingerprint scanner to search out the missing reports and hopefully kick out a match, giving them a lead. Meanwhile he and the trainees began trying to match what DNA they did have, matching blood and semen. Sheldon also did the analysis on the cage and found Ted’s prints all over it. Hotch was immediately notified.

“Ted, did you know there was a 10 ft. cage that lowers itself and raises the chandelier when the chandelier flip is switched on the light panel? And that your prints were found all over it?” Derek asked. Hotch, Em and Chief Grant watched from behind the interrogation glass. Ted sighed deeply.

“Yes, I know about the cage.”

“Care to explain?” Rossi asked.

“It’s a dancing cage. It’s one of the reasons people like the ‘inner sanctum’ so much. We would have dancers in there depending on the party.”

“You didn’t think to mention this?”

“No. Why? Is there a problem?”

“You could say that. This is how we believed those young people were killed. In addition, we found two more kids in the cage. We also believe that the unsub had a tarp built to the specifications of this cage. Where did you have it built?”

“I didn’t. The cage was there when I took over the club.”

“And you’ve never had it serviced?”Derek asked.

“Not once. It’s never broken or stopped.” Outside the interrogation room, Chief Grant was filled with questions.

“We’ll have to go back out tomorrow and see if we can figure out who made that crazy contraption. Who could have gotten the cage specifics to make a tarp? It had to be someone who worked in the club. I can’t see a patron having enough time to measure something like this while people were walking about and watching dancers in the cage.”

“I wonder if anyone specifically asked about the cage for a party. Maybe it was measured then. I’ll go check the party book.” Em paused. “Here’s a crazy thought, what if the person who made the cage or had it made, had the tarp made? He wouldn’t have to ask anyone about the specifications; he would have already had them.”

“Makes sense. Necessity is the mother of invention. Wonder which he thought of first.” Grant said.

“We should ask Lisa about it too. Take Assist. Glass with you when you do.” Em nodded and walked towards the front of the station.

“I can’t tell if Ted is involved in any way with this.” Grant said.

“I don’t think he is directly, meaning that he wasn’t committing the crimes. I think he may have been suspicious of something and not known how to handle it.”

“How so?”

“Well, he definitely hasn’t made any connections about it. Spread out over time, not many would. We’re dealing with a highly intelligent unsub. It’s possible he scouted out this place for months after seeing the cage. Or if he did indeed build it, he needed to see the context it was being used. He probably sent in several people to ‘check’ out the place for a party or to actually attend a party. Random enough that they wouldn’t be noticed.” Hotch said.

“Doesn’t explain how the two bodies were found. Club patrons aren’t supposed to touch the lights; they aren’t even supposed to know where they are.”

“No, it doesn’t. We need a closer look at the employees.” Hotch knocked on the glass and Rossi came out to see what he needed. “We need to know more about those dancers. I didn’t see that position listed on the employee roster. And make him give you a full employee list, even past employees. I’ll have Prentiss ask Lisa for one as well. Then we’ll cross-reference with Garcia. Something is not right here. He’s not telling all he knows.”

“He genuinely seems like the murders were a surprise to him. If he is involved, it’s minimal. I think he just provided a place. You know, like a friend asks you to run him on an errand, you oblige not knowing he’s going to rob the bank you take him to.” Rossi answered before he went back in. Hotch left the Chief to give Em the new instructions.

“Do I need a lawyer?” Ted asked, looking at Rossi.

“I don’t know. Have you done something or have knowledge of something being done that would merit a visit from a lawyer?” Rossi asked. He shifted in his seat.

“No that I know of.”

“Good, then you won’t mind giving us a list of the dancers’ names or agency where you get them from and a list of former employees.” He slid a piece of paper and a pen across the table at him and they waited for him to write.

Meanwhile back at the lab…

“Well those are definitely Ted’s prints.” Mark stated. Sheldon had just walked back into the lab.

“Hey guys, that was Hotch. Ted knew about the cage, said there were supposed to be dancers in the cage. Apparently, it was used quite often. So finding his prints may not be as big of a deal as we thought.”

“I guess that could explain the rest of the mismatched prints. A few of them match the victims in the circle but not the ones you collected today,” commented the lab Director Stacy. “Well, we have successfully matched all of our known victims to their prints, now if we just knew their names. None of the males in the circle matches the semen on the wall but it looks like our ball payer was standing in sector three. Matched by hand prints, semen and blood. The other young man was in sector five matched by handprints, semen and blood.”

“Two down and how many to go? The scanner hasn’t picked up any missing persons yet. That really concerns me. Either these kids aren’t from this area or no one is looking for them.”

“Hard to believe no one is looking for them. And there are so many.”  Ellen said.

“What else can we do?”

“We keep analyzing the DNA, making sure we get the profiles as complete as we can, keep checking missing persons and praying at this point wouldn’t be a bad thing.” Stacy said. Sheldon glanced over at the clock.

“Maybe we should take off for the day. It’s already after four and I need to brief everyone. Not much else we can do until the tests finish running. You guys did a great job today,” he said turning to the trainees. “I think you’re going to make great CSIs and I think this case will always be an awesome reference point for you.”

“Thanks for the encouragement.” Mark said.

“Go home and eat and I’ll see you in the morning.” Sheldon left to walk back to the station. He wanted to check on the status of his computer researches. Once inside the conference he sat down at the computer and scanner to see if any new information had come up and none had. Derek had come back in from re-interviewing people in the surrounding businesses and saw that Sheldon was back in the station. He was thinking that he should take Garcia’s advice and ask him out. Small talk first.

“Anything new?” Derek asked, startling Sheldon a bit.

“Huh, oh nothing yet. I’m having a hard time believing that we haven’t had hit in missing persons yet.”

“I think all that will change when we release the victimology and person of interest sketch.”

“I’ve been thinking about the ritual aspect of this and something crossed my mind about their entwined arms. But I need to check with my colleague Stella back in New York.”

“What came to mind?”

“Something Greek. Stella is half-Greek, half-Italian. I was going to try and reach her on iChat before she leaves for the day.”

“Maybe Reid would like to sit in, maybe ask her some questions. I’ll go and get him; he and Garcia are researching some stuff.” Sheldon has sent her a text earlier and she agreed to meet via webcam. He set up the computer and Stella joined before the others came to the room.

“Hey Sheldon, how are things in Washington?”

“Not so bad. This case is crazy though. We have no real leads yet. I’m waiting for Dr. Reid to join us so we can pick your brain about something.”

“Cool.”

“How’s everyone there?”

“We’re hanging there. A great CSI on leave makes difference.”

“Sure does.”

“Hey Lindsay.”

“Mind if I join in too?”

“Hey Mac. No, it’s cool with me. You’ll get to meet the BAU team in a few minutes.”

“So, did you get to meet Garcia’s friend Morgan?” Sheldon smiled and blushed.

“Yea, I did.”

“Hawkes, you blushing? Why?” Mac asked.

“Yea, I am,” he looked to see if anyone was rounding the corner yet. “I met Morgan and he’s damn gorgeous.”

“Really?” Stella asked. “Good for you. You think something can mature between the two of you?”

“Maybe.” Just then, the BAU team and Chief Grant walked in. “Hey guys, I’ve got some of my colleagues on iChat so we can maybe ask some questions. This is my lab supervisor Lt. Mac Taylor, Det. Stella Bonasera second in command and Det. Lindsay Monroe-Messer.”

“I think you hyphenate my name more than my husband and I do.” Everyone laughed bit.

“Lt. Taylor, I’m SSA Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner. Let me introduce the BAU team, SSA David

Rossi, SSA Emily Prentiss, SSA and Communication Liaison Jennifer Jareau, SSA Derek Morgan, Dr. Spencer Reid and Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia.” Each one waved their hand as their name was called. “And this is Cosmopolis Police Chief Fredrick Grant and Assistant Chief Carla Glass. Thanks for agreeing to help us.”

“And thank you for lending us Sheldon. He’s been very helpful and we are absolutely swamped. We weren’t able to get any help from Seattle.” Grant said.

“You’re welcome. Glad we could lend out one of our best. How can we help you?”

“Mac, I’m sending the crime scene photos to the lab now. Right now, we have nine victims found in the circle, with five that were killed standing up. We found two of those that were standing as we discovered the cage.” Hotch filled them in on more of the case as they viewed the pictures.

“So how many are you still looking for?” Mac asked.

“According to the evidence so far, we think between three and seven.” Hotch answered.

“Wow this cage is scary.” Lindsay commented. “And the way they were found, so strange.”

“That’s a part of the big puzzle. We’ve figured out it’s a ritual of some kind, but don’t have enough of one thing to single out one particular ritual.” Reid said.

“That’s why I wanted to pick your brain Stella. As I was looking at the pictures, it reminded me of something Greek. Do you know of any rituals or rites of passage that involve the arms being intertwined like that?” Sheldon asked. She thought about it.

“No rituals or rites. Dances maybe.”

“Dances?” Reid asked.

“Yes, there are some folk dances. Some done at weddings, family reunions, mostly celebrations. I saw one done at a memorial service once when I was about eight. I was confused so I asked my Ya-Ya what it meant. She said it was a celebration of the person’s life. I just thought it was weird to dance at a funeral.”

“What are some of these dances?” Reid asked, ready to take notes.

“Let’s see, group dances uh…there’s the Karagouna. That’s spelled K-a-r-a-g-o-u-n-a.” Reid and Garcia both were taking notes. “This one is more for flirting. Men stand in a line behind the women and end up dancing with the one if front of him. It was a way to introduce dating age young people to each other. There’s the Karsiliua, a couple’s dance. Spelled K-a-r-s-i-l-i-u-a.”

“Anything in a circle?”

“Hmmm, hora dances. The Tsakonikos, T-s-a-k-o-n-i-k-o-s, is a sacred circle dance, sometimes called the crane dance. There’s a story behind it. Theseus learned it from Araidne on the Isle of Delos. She gave him a thread that he was supposed to use to help him get out of the Labyrinth. He was going to search for the Minotaur. They call it a circle dance; it’s more like a semi-circle dance. There are steps specific to each region. There are two semi-circles and cross in front and around. Kind of hard to describe without seeing it.”

“Do the two ends ever connect?”

“Not really. There are some versions that do touch like the wedding dance. Do you remember my cousin Cindy’s wedding Sheldon? Some versions are like that.”

“Vaguely. There were a lot of people doing that circle dance but I wasn’t really paying attention.” Stella chuckled, remembering that Sheldon was trying to flirt with her gay Greek cousin, oddly named Adonis and her Italian cousin Giovanni was trying to flirt with Sheldon. A secret only shared between the two of them.

“I don’t know if it helps any.”

“It does some. Gives me something to search and read about.” Reid said.

“Anything you can help us with on the photos?” Glass asked.

“Not at the moment. Sheldon, how’d you get the DNA from the circle?”

“We used t-shirts like we did in the Ginger case, you remember with the murders of humans and animals?”

“Oh, yeah. One of the cases you did in your first year with us.”

“The DNA is still being separated.”

“I bet. The area in the Ginger case was nowhere near the size of what you guys have.” Stella said.

“We’re releasing the sketch of a person of interest and a victimology profile to go along with missing person searches nationwide overnight. I’m not sure I want to release the facial photos of the victims just yet; I want to see what leads we get without it.”

“We’ll keep an eye out for it here. And I’ll take a fresh look at the photos in the morning and let you know if I can see anything different.”

“I can check around in Greek community tomorrow and see what I can dig up for you. So you think this is a Greek ritual?”

“Not exactly,” Reid said. “We think the unsub is taking bits and pieces from rituals he’s been in or watched. These murders are not exactly one thing. That’s where we’re so stuck.”

“Huh, like a casserole.” Lindsay said.

“What is it with everybody and the casserole today? I guess dinner is in order then. Thanks Lt. Taylor, we look forward to anything you could provide us with.” Hotch said.

“No problem. I’m always in favor of helping other arms of the law catch the bad guys. Thanks for including us.” The room emptied and Sheldon was still on screen with his friends.

“Yea, damn gorgeous doesn’t quite get it Sheldon.” Stella teased. “Does he have any single straight brothers or cousins?”

“Oh my gosh, Stella you have no idea. I don’t know yet. Hoping to find a little more about him soon.”

“Sheldon, take the chance if you feel the chance is there,” Mac said. “Don’t let it slip away.”

“Thanks, Mac. I don’t intend to. There is a little bit of chemistry. After we leave here I will have at least two more weeks to figure out my chances.”

“From here, they look pretty good.” Stella smiled.

“Sheldon, go eat and I’ll let you know if we find anything.”

“Thanks guys.” He closed down the iChat and turned off the computer. As he was placing his stuff in his bag, Derek came back into the conference room.

“Hey Sheldon, I was just wondering if you’d like to grab some dinner. I could use a drink and there is a bar that serves food on the opposite side of the hotel.” Sheldon tried not to should too happy.

“Sure. I would like to take a shower first and wash off today. That cool with you?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. How about I meet you in the lobby about 7:30?”

“Good. Gives me just enough time to get in the shower before the ladies come back.” He smiled as he left. The BAU team was going over the victimology profile that would be released to the public with the Chief and Asst. Chief. They would release it nationwide over night, making sure it would be picked up by the major news networks since the ages of the missing persons were of college students.

                Once in his room, Sheldon hurried to the shower, making sure their door was locked. He heard the ladies come in as he was drying off. He could hear Garcia say that he must be in the shower. Then he could hear Em asking if Derek had asked him out yet. Garcia didn’t know so she called his and Reid’s room to fund out.

“He’s in the shower Garcia.” She conveyed the news to her roommates.

“Well, do you know if he asked Sheldon to dinner?”

“I don’t know. It’s possible. He did have a happy smile on his face.”

“Hmmm. Well, are you heading to the diner for dinner?”

“Probably so. You?”

“Yeah. What time should we meet you in the lobby?”

“Twenty minutes? I need to call and say good night to my babies”

“How cute. Tell them Auntie Pen said night-night for me.”

Sheldon was on his way back to his room and he unlocked their door as he went into his room and locked his. What should I wear…, he wondered. It is a bar. Let’s go casual. Black jeans? No, khakis. Even better. Blue shirt, brown shoes. Stop rushing, undershirt first, Sheldon. He shook he head at himself.

“Why am I so nervous? It’s just dinner.” Are you sure it’s not a date?

“No, I’m not.” He looked at himself in the mirror. “I’m so nervous, I’m talking to myself. And answering. Wow. Must find out why he makes me feel this way.” Sheldon went light aftershave for the evening, Avon’s Black Suede. What were his chances that Derek would get close enough to detect it? When Derek got out of the shower, Reid was in the hallway talking with his husband and their children; it was nearly bedtime for the little ones. He decided to wear jeans since he wore trousers for work. Long-sleeve casual dark green shirt. His sister Desi insisted that it was his color. He liked the way it fit, just had to deal with the color. Light spray of Avon’s Black Suede and he was ready to meet the handsome doctor in the lobby.

                Sheldon headed downstairs to wait for Derek in the lobby. He was smiling to himself, wondering what the night would bring. He was suddenly smiling a big, happy smile when he heard Derek say:

“Sheldon, you ready to go?”

“Absolutely.”