Criminal Minds

There's a basement.

Damn.

Damn.

You sure it's him?

Who else could it be?

I just want to make sure.

Male. Approximately 6 years old. I'm sorry.

There's something in here.

What's that baby doing here?

JJ can't let her baby be at a crime scene.

Reid. JJ.

Reid.

Sorry, I was dreaming.

Ha, no kidding.

We found a 6-year-old boy who had been abused and stabbed.

Your baby was at the crime scene.

I was trying to get him out of there.

Sorry. It's ok.

You know, Reid, simple dream analysis--

If there's a baby in your dreams, that baby's actually you.

I don't believe in dream analysis.

I don't know. It makes sense.

The case we're working on and the case in your dream both involve children.

Maybe your subconscious is telling you you want to sit this one out.

I don't.

Well, maybe you're just stressed out about going home to Las Vegas.

Did you tell your mom you're coming?

Why aren't we reviewing the case file?

I don't know.

Maybe because someone fell asleep on the jet.

All right, let's start from the beginning one more time.

This is Ethan Hayes. He was 5.

2 weeks ago he was abducted out of his own front yard.

Where were the parents?

His mom just ran inside to grab her purse.

When she came back, he was gone.

She wasn't away for more than a minute or 2.

Police found his body exactly one week later in the desert.

He was in a new change of clothes.

His nails clipped.

His hair was combed.

That's a lot of remorse.

No sign of sexual assault.

The medical report suggests he was smothered.

Unsub could see this death as merciful.

Who's the new boy?

Michael bridges.

Yesterday, he set out to walk by himself to a friend's house a block away.

He never showed up.

Are we sure these cases are even connected?

The unsub called each of the families.

But no ransom demand.

It was more like taunts.

He's telling them it's their fault that their child was taken.

Ok. So, we have an unsub who shows remorse and then projects his guilt onto the victims' parents.

And if we're lucky, 6 more days to find a boy before he's killed.

Amos Bronson Alcott said...

"Who speaks to the instincts speaks to the deepest in mankind...

And finds the readiest response."

Det. Ashby? Jennifer Jareau. This is Aaron Hotchner.

Thanks for getting here so quick. Morning.

What can you tell us?

We've got an amber alert in effect.

Tip line's being run through the precinct. His photo's on the wire.

Has the phone company been served with a caller subscription subpoena?

Yeah. We'll get a name and location if he's calling from a land line.

We'll also run the calls through our analyst at Quantico. She can triangulate cell calls.

We need to clear the area of official vehicles.

If the unsub happens to drive by, I don't want him to panic if he sees a heavy police presence.

Ok. I'll clear 'em out after we make introductions.

How are they handling it?

Separate.

Craig, Amy Bridges, these are agents Jareau and Hotchner from the FBI.

We just want to say how sorry we are for what you're going through...

But we're here to do whatever we can to try and get Michael home.

I'm going to tell you what I told the police.

I don't want to know what happened to that other boy.

I just want to hear how you're going to find Michael.

We understand.

No, you don't.

You're right. I don't know exactly what you're going through.

But I do know these cases.

And we're gonna need your help.

Of course. We know that.

Was it normal for Michael to walk to a friend's house by himself?

What are you saying?

It's just a question.

No it's not.

Do you think we had something to do with this?

No. I don't.

If this was his routine, someone could have been watching him for some time now.

He'd only done it a couple times.

Amy and I had a fight about it.

I thought we were babying him.

I don't want him crawling into bed with us anymore.

And I thought he should be able to walk to a friend's house by himself, alone.

He was really proud of himself the first time he did it.

Excuse me.

I'm sorry. It's like she can't engage in what's going on.

It's all right. Everybody deals with it differently.

I need to know what happened to that other boy.

There was no bruising around his neck or face.

I'm guessing he used a pillow.

Was there any sign of a struggle?

No, but he would have been extremely weak.

Why's that?

This is where it gets weird. He was noticeably thin.

And both his stomach and intestines were completely empty.

He was being starved?

It seems that way.

Ok. So, what's the weird part?

I wanted to determine if malnutrition played a part in his death.

So, I looked for evidence of starvation ketosis by analyzing some vitreous humor--

The squishy part of the eyeball-- And I couldn't find any ketone bodies there.

Meaning? He was getting nutrients somehow.

Through an IV?

There were no marks to indicate that.

Any idea what else could it be?

Honestly, I have no idea.

Not exactly a well-preserved scene.

It's the crime scene investigators.

They all want to play cop instead of just being scientists--

And they end up trampling on everything.

So, he suffocates the boy at another location, prepares the body...

Takes him out to the middle of nowhere and dumps him.

Except there were no traces of the unsub's sweat on the boy's clothing.

What are you getting at?

Well, it's like 1,000 degrees out here.

If he carried the body, then he would have gotten traces of sweat on the clothes.

So, he wraps him in something.

No fibers.

So, he took the time to change the boy's clothing and groom him once he got here.

If he took that much time, he'd have to do it at night.

But you still run the risk of someone recalling your car once the body's found.

Not if you didn't have to park it by the road.

Well, you'd want to park a distance away from the dump site...

Just in case someone saw the car and came to see what you were up to.

Now, tell me this.

If you can drive out into the desert to dump a body, why not go in deeper...

Where you won't be seen from the road?

Because he wanted to be able to drive by and see the body.

That's why he groomed him.

It's like he was preparing him for a funeral.

Yeah. I got it. Thank you.

Detective, the funeral for the first victim is tomorrow.

Do you feel comfortable asking the family if they'd be willing to open the service up to the public?

Why's that?

We feel if they do, there's a good chance the unsub will come.

I'll go speak to them.

Craig, we'd like you and your wife to consider being there as well.

Good. Anything.

I think you should talk to amy about it.

If it might help, there's nothing to discuss.

I understand. But, please, just... Discuss it with her.

When the police asked for a picture of Michael, I couldn't decide what to give them.

I didn't know if it was right for him to be smiling.

Any choice you made would have been right.

My husband doesn't know what to do with himself.

He thinks we should be out there looking for him.

The best thing for you right now is to just let us guide you through this.

He thinks I blame him.

I'm sure that's not true.

He's right.

My son's been taken.

I'm completely frozen.

And now I'm blaming my husband.

I feel like a monster.

When they need you, you'll come through.

You don't even know me.

Call it intuition.

I found it when I came into his room, after he'd been taken.

We don't let him eat in bed.

I haven't moved it because...

I don't want him to think he's in trouble for breaking the rules.

You know what you're having?

It's-- It's a boy.

Congratulations.

Garcia, you ready? Ready.

Mr. Bridges, let's go back over what we discussed. He's got my son.

Exactly. Just stay positive.

I've written down some important phrases--

We need to answer the phone. Mr. Bridges, please.

I think amy should do this.

She doesn't want to do this.

No. I don't.

It's our experience that the parent that's least emotional is best.

Amy, you'll be great.

Just try to humanize Michael at every opportunity.

He needs to see him as a person.

Try to keep him on the line as long as you possibly can.

The more he talks, the more he'll reveal about himself.

Hello.

Are you alone?

Um, my husband is with me.

Why are you just sitting at home when you should be out looking for your boy?

You're right. We need to do that.

He's better off with me.

Thank you for calling us to let us know Michael's all right.

I didn't say he was all right.

I know. I'm--I'm just trusting that he's ok.