Criminal Minds

They said that storm was coming...

And they weren't kidding.

Oh...

How are we?

Well, you know, it's hard.

Just one foot in front of the other.

Thanks.

It would have been Amy's birthday tomorrow.

Paul?

Hmm.

He's been a rock.

But you know how he is.

His glass is always full.

I think he's home.

Well, the kids are with grandma tonight.

We have a night off.

Yeah.

God, we need it.

Thank you.

I appreciate the call, Kate.

You know, I... I should go.

Yeah, ok.

Bye.

Paul?

Paul, I think the lightning blew out the house.

Paul.

Honey? Paul?

Paul?

Paul.

Honey?

Paul, open the door.

Honey?

Unlock the door!

Paul!

Aah...

Paul!

Oh, my god!

Agent Jennifer Jareau?

A friend of mine gave me your number...

Said you might be able to help.

Ronnie Baleman, Pittsburgh PD.

There's something going on in my town.

Something's not right.

Got a case.

So, you've either decided we're taking the case...

Or this bag is headed for another destination?

I need a favor.

Of course.

I need some personal time, no more than a day.

Take all the time you need.

I need to talk to Jack.

I've lost her, but I'm not gonna lose him.

I need to try to...

Tell him what's going on.

I don't know how much he's going to understand, but...

All he needs to understand...

Is that you love him.

I'll join you when I can.

3 months ago a fire in the shadyside rec center...

Killed 14 children.

I remember that.

What does that have to do with us?

Well, over the past 3 months there's been 5 suicides.

All of them lost a child in the fire.

The last one was Paul Baleman.

He was found electrocuted in his bathtub yesterday.

I received a request for our help.

Why do they need our help? They're suicides.

All of the suicides were within 2 weeks of each other.

It could be some kind of pattern.

Detective Ronnie Baleman, Pittsburgh PD.

Thinks that something's going on.

Well, of course he does.

Why do you say that?

He's related to that man, right?

His brother.

A cop who doesn't believe his brother committed suicide.

Come on, next case.

Now, wait a second.

5 suicides in the same neighborhood...

Within months?

That's a serious spike.

Suicides don't spike after a tragedy.

Quite the opposite, actually.

Following World War I and II, right after Kennedy was shot...

And following 9/11...

Suicides plummeted.

Within a society, external threats...

Usually create group integrations.

People come together.

So if there's reason for doubt...

Which there obviously is...

Don't those families left behind...

Have a right to know?

Yes, they do.

Ok, sure, they deserve to know...

But let somebody else tell them, like social services.

Contact Detective Baleman.

Let him know we're coming.

There is no refuge from confession but suicide...

And suicide is confession.

Daniel Webster.

Hotch would never have taken this case.

And I say case in the loosest sense.

We'll follow the facts as they are without bias.

Isn't that what we do?

What facts, Rossi?

Look at us. We don't have a single file.

Ok, let me help you out.

Jump right in anytime.

Fact one... There are no files...

So it seems no case.

But what if there is?

One fire, 14 deaths, 5 suicides.

All the suicides...

Are connected to the original fire.

And all exactly 2 weeks apart.

Come on, Derek, you can't tell me...

That doesn't feel a lot like a pattern.

And a timeline.

Right?

A lot of people lost their kids in that fire.

That's a whole world of grief...

And for a few...

Suicide's their only way out.

Or someone decided it was.

And made it look this way?

What if they have?

Then we're looking for one very smart unsub.

Who targets people in grief.

And that would make them what?

Someone who thinks...

They're putting them out of their misery.

An angel of death.

Agent Jareau?

Hi. I'm detective Ronnie Baleman.

Hi. This is SSA Rossi...

SSAs Morgan, Prentiss, and Dr. Reid.

Thank you, all of you, for coming.

Well, your colleagues don't look all that happy to see us.

They didn't just lose a brother.

I'd like to get started on all the files.

We're gonna build what we call psychological autopsies...

To determine whether the victims killed themselves.

Everything's in those boxes.

We'd also like to take a look at your brother's house.

I'll take you there.

I think it's better if you stay here.

It's my case. I brought you here.

Technically, there is no case.

If there was, you wouldn't be on it.

We need to profile the scene without bias.

I could use your help with these files.

It looks like there's quite a few.

My brother kept a journal.

I found this on the desk in his bedroom.

Read the last page. They're not the words of a suicidal man.

You seem pretty sure that an unsub exists.

So are you.

You're here, aren't you?

He wasn't on antidepressants.

He wasn't depressed.

Do you mind if my colleagues take a look upstairs?

Ronnie kept it exactly as it was...

Until you got here.

Tell me about the fire.

It's the annual fall dance for the kids.

And it's really popular.

It's hard to get tickets.

But the kids love it.

Do you personally know...

Any of the other families?

Who lost children?

And who recently committed suicide as a result.

Just questions.

Ok?

He knows...

Paul wouldn't do this.

What?

Paul wouldn't do this.

Not after all we've been through.

He would not leave us.

Not like that.

Go ahead.

Put it up.

This is a physical representation...

Of the 5 equivocal deaths.

Together with the profile of each case...

We'll build psychological autopsies of each person.

And this will tell us if it was suicide or murder.

Uh, suicide, yes, murder, no.

And you think it's a pretty good indicator.

Since its inception in 1958...

It's proven to carry a 92% accuracy rate...

In cases that have gone to trial.

Ok, so the door was locked from the inside...

And the wife broke the door in.

But he could have gotten out that window.

Well, it's a good 20-Foot drop.

It'd hurt, but you could do it.