[CM] THE CASE

Compassion is an innate human nature. - Goethe

Tina woke up at 7am, a full half hour before her alarm clock.The ten-year-old brown-haired girl couldn't wait to throw off the quilt and jumped out of bed, stepping barefoot on the floor.Although it was a bit cold, and her mother didn't allow her to do this, it didn't matter, she didn't care at all.

It's her birthday today, and Dad has agreed to keep her out of those annoying piano lessons.You know, she hates the monotonous sound of the metronome.

Tina opened the closet and began to dress herself.She picked out two dresses, one white and the other light pink.Both were her favorite dresses, and Tina had to struggle with which one to choose.The girl in the mirror also had a distressed expression, but she quickly smiled.

Because today is her birthday, today is a special day!

Tina hummed lightly like a bird, and showed a big smile to the cute girl in the mirror.

I really want to know what kind of gift I will receive today!

Griffith sat in the passenger seat of the black SUV while Gideon drove.They were sent by the supervisor to check on the scene. Reid and Morgan were left in the bureau, JJ was communicating with the media, and Hotch and the sheriff went to visit the victim's family.

At [-]:[-] in the morning, it is not the rush hour, and there is not much traffic on the road.They stopped at the traffic lights, and Griffith kept looking out the window, not knowing what to think.

While watching the traffic lights, Gideon seemed to ask casually, "What are you thinking?"

Griffith was clearly taken aback.He turned his head so quickly, it was so hard that he couldn't help worrying about his neck, Gideon could even hear the slight sound of bones dislocating. Griffith also realized that his reaction was a bit too big, so he replied unnaturally: "I didn't think about it. This is my first time in Los Angeles, so I want to see it."

"If you still have time after the case is over, you can go to Hollywood to have a look. There are still many good places in Los Angeles."

"Oh, yes." Griffith nodded, not continuing the conversation.

Gideon continued, "Are you always nervous?"

"Ah, um... I'm more afraid of talking to others."

"You'd better get over that, show confidence that people can trust you, otherwise, you'll be looked down upon."

"I know, I will work hard."

The older agent looked at the newcomer deeply, his piercing eyes made Griffith feel like he was on pins and needles.

"If you have a problem, you can talk to me, or anyone in the group. We're family."

Griffith lowered his eyes, gave a faint "hmm", and agreed.

The old detective finally moved away from the knife-like sight.

Griffith didn't look out the window again, but looked down and played with a bracelet on his left wrist.This is a common cheap chain that can be bought at any boutique on the side of the road.Several movable silver beads are strung by a thin strip of leather, the paint worn away at the corners to reveal the black plastic inside.Beads are also not quite right, since these are not round and are shaped like letters.It's two capital letters -- "JG," which looks like initials. Griffith kept separating the two letters and putting them back together, his dark eyes never blinking, as if he never got tired of playing.

His mind was in chaos, as if someone had stuffed a ball of cotton that had absorbed water.After all, this was his first case, and the smiling face of that cute little girl appeared in front of his eyes again, and he could even hear the sound of the skirt flying when the girl twirled—Linda was in the school dance team, and when Griffith watched her perform Photo.

Sunshine, lively, but no bones left.

Griffith felt a suffocation.The heat wave from the bomb seemed to rush towards his face, and his field of vision was only darkness except for the sudden white light, but soon this darkness was also swallowed up by the flames.The sound died away; tongues of flame leaped and nearly burned his retinas, and the stagnant breath of death strangled him at the throat...

"Griffith...Griffith...Foster Griffith!"

"what!"

In front of him was an area isolated by yellow tape, the small villa was dilapidated, and the flames and high temperature disappeared. Griffith blinked, the dizziness still churning in his head.

"Are you okay?" Gideon, who had already unbuckled his seatbelt, turned to him and asked, "We're here."

"Fortunately, I'm a little... well, didn't sleep well last night so I'm a little... you know, a little out of sorts." Griffith hastily unbuckled his seatbelt, explaining as he got out of the car, ignoring Gideon's probing eyes.

"Go to bed earlier next time, let's go."

The scene was well secured, and Griffith looked around while Gideon negotiated with the officer.

This is a very ordinary garden. Part of the lawn has been burned away, exposing the soil below.The yellow sign with the number written on it was placed on the ground, and Griffith knew that was where the survivor Abel William was found.The poor father had to accept the death of his wife and children.

There were shrubs beside the fence, Griffith couldn't recognize what they were, but the faint blue under the shrubs caught his attention.He frowned and was about to walk over to have a look, then realized that he should call Gideon.

So just after talking with the police officer, Gideon, who was about to enter the house, heard a very hesitant "Gideon" behind him.The sound was so small that he almost missed it.

"What?" Gideon asked.

Griffith pointed to the bushes: "I think there's something over there."

Griffith led Gideon to the edge of the bushes.He crouched down and pulled a small box from under a bush.This is a box the size of a child's fist, wrapped in sky blue wrapping paper, and written with the person's name on it.

Linda William.

A young victim of the third bombing.

"Take it back and test it before opening it," Gideon said to Griffith. "Good job."

Someone sent an evidence bag, Griffith put the box in the bag, and asked him by the way: "Didn't you find it before?"

"No." The man replied while sealing the bag, "It's so strange, we've searched all over the place."

"These bushes turned over?"

"of course."

"So, this is probably put here by an unknown person, he came back." Griffith frowned, "Did there be these... small gifts at the previous scene?"

"I don't know, maybe there is? Those places have always been isolated, but no one is guarding them at night. If he hides very well, it is possible that we didn't find it."

"Okay, thanks. I think I might need to check out the previous scene."

Reid pins all the photos to the evidence board.He moved quickly and skillfully, and was not disturbed by the noisy and busy environment around him at all.

Someone knocked on the door, and seeing that the only person in the room ignored him, he coughed twice: "Well, the administrative map you want."

Reid turned around as if waking up from a dream, with thumbtacks still in his fingers: "Thank you, just put it on the table."

"How is it?" Morgan came in with two cups of coffee, "Your coffee."

"Thank you, I'm almost done." Reid was about to take the coffee, but Morgan put the coffee on the table first, and then unfolded the map to help Reid pin the map to the board.

When this was done, Reid said thank you again and went to get his own coffee.

Morgan leaned against the table: "Anything?"

"Huh? In fact, there are some things that I find strange."

"How to say?"

Reid put down the coffee: "If the unknown person wants to free the child, why kill the adult? And with a bomb, wouldn't it be too violent? I mean, you don't need a bomb to kill a child, he There are many more peaceful ways."

"So his target is not children, but families?" Morgan also frowned. "He thinks these families are failures, so he wants to get rid of them?"

"But if it's not aimed at children, why choose a birthday? Why put it in a gift box just for a birthday?"

"Well, now I'm unknown," Morgan said. "I put the bomb in a gift box and give it to the victim on their birthday. So this bomb is a gift."

"Correct."

"Why should I give this gift?"

"Because you believe this family is unhappy." Reid said and shook his head. "It doesn't make sense. Those families are happy. You can tell from the photos that they love each other deeply."

"But children don't like a life with such a lot of pressure."

"But they love their families." Reid's eyes lit up. "They are freed from the oppressive real life, and they will not be separated from their families. The unknown person helped them realize their wishes."

Morgan nodded slowly: "That makes sense."

"If you say that, then our survivors are in danger."

"I'll talk to Hotch about it." Morgan lowered his head to make the phone call. "Keep working, kid. I'll go check out the bomb."

Once again, Reid buried himself in a pile of documents, ignoring everything around him.