[CM] THE CASE

The young mind of a child is a very delicate organ.Grim beginnings twist their minds into grotesque shapes.A wounded child's heart shrinks to such a degree that it remains as hard and grooved as a peach pit for the rest of its life. — Carson McCarthy

"Garcia, I'm Griffith."

"Oh, of course, handsome boy~ I'm so excited that you will answer the phone."

Griffith opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.Luckily Reid was pretty used to it: "Garcia, did you find any clues?"

"Yes, little genius. I searched for unsolved murder cases in the past five years according to your request, and by the way I am relieved that there are not many such cases. Then, I found four. These families are children Very good, the parents belong to the high-income group. The first incident happened four years ago, the second incident happened two years ago, the third incident happened a year ago, and the fourth incident happened five months ago. But each case has a different method. Start strangled, then stabbed with a knife."

Reid quickly jotted it down on the whiteboard: "The time between crimes is getting shorter and shorter, and his tactics are evolving. The time between death is getting shorter and shorter, and he is becoming more efficient."

"Actually, I don't think the word efficiency is very accurate." Griffith disagrees. "I think it's more like... the victim suffers less time, so the corresponding guilt will be reduced. .”

Garcia resented, "Hey, can you guys wait until I'm dead before starting this? I really don't feel well."

"Sorry, Garcia. Thanks, you're doing a great job," Reid said quickly.

Griffith heard Miss Hacker on the phone chuckle slightly: "I'm glad to hear your compliment, little doctor. The specific message has been sent, hang up."

Garcia, who was far away in Quantico, hung up the phone with a pen, sighed at the bloody picture on the computer screen, then closed the page and went to work.

Reid's phone vibrated twice, he opened the email to browse through it, and continued to draw lines on the map.

Griffith turned his back to him, just as a police officer knocked on the door: "Your report."

"Thank you." Griffith stood up and took the report.

The female police officer smiled: "You're welcome, do you need coffee?"

"no thank you."

"Okay, call me if you need me, I'll be right there."

Griffith smiled at her, deliberately ignoring the ambiguous eyes of the policewoman.

The report said there were no fingerprints or other clues on the wrapping of the gift box, except for a necklace.The pendant is in the shape of a dolphin with a small "LW" engraved on the body of the dolphin.

Griffith narrowed his eyes: "Reid, did you know that some necklaces can be engraved?"

Reid, who was working, was interrupted: "What?"

"I remember that some shops offer engraving services, which require reservations." Griffith was almost talking to himself, "Usually they ask to leave personal information about the customer. This necklace for Linda has her initials engraved on it, so assuming This necklace was given by an unknown person..."

"So either this necklace was bought by an unknown person, so his personal information will be recorded, or else, this necklace was made by him?" Reid's expression gradually changed from doubt to joy.His brows are still furrowed, but his eyes are slightly wide open, and the corners of his mouth are slightly raised.

Griffith immediately called Garcia, who had said goodbye to them 10 minutes earlier, on his cell phone.The call was connected quickly.Before Griffith could speak, Garcia had said, "Honey, you better give me a little stimulation, I'm so lonely."

"..." Griffith rubbed his fingers against the phone, his expression very tangled.

"Turn on the speakerphone." Reid forced a smile and reminded.

Griffith turned on the speakerphone, only to hear Garcia say over there, "I can hear you, bad boy. Go ahead."

"Garcia, can you help me find gift shops in Los Angeles that offer engraving?" Griffith asked.

"Wow, that's hundreds of thousands. I need details, baby."

"Look up the Albert District." Reid stared at the blank area circled by pens of various colors on the map.

"Well... 24."

"Sold a dolphin necklace yesterday, what about the 'LW' engraved on it?"

"This already involves personal information." Garcia raised his right eyebrow, "I need some time, and I'll call you when I find it. Hang up."

While the two doctors here are holding on to the clues, Jareau and Hotch who went to the training institution are not easy.Specifically, Hotch goes to deal with the boss, and pretty Jareau stays with the kids.

Women are generally easier to gain the trust of children than men, especially gentle and beautiful women.This would explain Jareau's current situation surrounded by a group of children.They were all about nine or ten years old, and some were even older. The baby fat hadn't faded away, and the dimples when they laughed could almost drown someone.

I really don't know why people always pick such little angels...

Jareau sat in the little red chair and shook himself off the fleeting negative thoughts. "Hi, I'm Jennifer." Jareau smiled.Her voice is played very softly, better than my mother's voice at bedtime story time.

Several girls nodded timidly: "Hello, Jennifer."

"Hello," Jareau continued, "Is any of you friends with LindaWilliam?"

"Yes!" said a boy loudly.Then there was a lot of noise like a pot exploded, and finally the two little girls stood up.

"Shh... be quiet. I want to talk to you guys alone, okay?" Jareau asked. "The others can go and play."

The children scattered.After all, playing is much more fun for them than Pretty Sister.The two children who were left behind seemed a little disturbed, and one of the girls had even started to sob.

"Shh... don't cry, sweet girl," Jareau coaxed, "Tell me your name?"

The girl sniffed, her eyes were red: "Sarah."

"Okay, Sarah." Jareau took out a tissue and wiped her tears, "Are you Linda's good friend?"

"Yes, me and her," Sarah pointed to another girl, "we are Linda's good friends."

"Oh, so what's your name?" Jareau looked at the other girl.

The girl with short hair said generously, "Lucy, my name is Lucy."

"Fine, Lucy. Would you mind telling me about Linda?"

Lucy was silent for a moment. Jareau saw the girl's expression changed, as if she was enduring something. Sarah stopped crying and asked softly, "Jennifer, are you a policeman?"

"I'm the FBI."

"Then...will you catch the bad guy who killed Linda?"

"Yes," Jennifer said softly, "I swear to God."

Sarah looked at Lucy, as if waiting for her order. Lucy's eyes were also red, but she didn't cry.The little girl faced Jareau with a stubborn expression: "I know, Linda is a very good girl. She treats us very well and will share candy with us from home."

Sarah's shoulders trembled.

Lucy walked over to hug Sarah, patting her on the back reassuringly.She was used to doing this, and then said to Sarah, "Do you want to play first?"

"No." Sarah retorted with her soft voice, "I want to stay, I want to help Linda."

Jareau reassured the two girls, "You are all great, Linda is lucky to have friends like you."

Lucy smiled: "Linda said that before." She relaxed: "We don't like our life now, especially Linda. Her parents pushed her the hardest, but they don't know."

Sarah added: "Because Linda never said it."

"They didn't give her a chance to talk." Lucy continued, "Linda was very distressed, until one day, she happily told us that she found someone who was willing to listen to her."

Jareau felt that the point was coming: "Who?"

"An...uncle," Lucy recalled. "I remember, Linda saying he was about the size of her daddy, uh, strong... or something. I haven't met him, so I don't really know..."

"I know that person." Sarah abruptly interrupted Lucy's narration, "I know, I've seen him."

Tina is sitting in the living room watching cartoons, but her mind is not on them, even though it is her favorite "The Simpsons".

They're going to have a party tonight, and she's already invited her good friends, so she doesn't know if Tony will come.Although he is also my friend, he is an adult after all, and should be invited by an adult.Since Tony and Dad are usually on such a good terms, Dad should invite him, right?

"Honey." Mom's voice came from the kitchen, "how about a favor?"

"Of course!" Tina jumped off the sofa happily.She couldn't sit still at the thought of the party tonight.

"Be good." Mom put down the tray, took off her anti-scald gloves and touched her daughter's hair, "Your presents have been piled up at the door since this morning, go and bring them back, hurry up. Your gift from Auntie Amy is estimated to have arrived." .”

"Hmm!" Tina ran to the door, and sure enough, she saw several packages, one of which was packed in light pink, which was her favorite color, and it was also the color of the dress she was wearing. Tina decided to move back one by one.

"I really want to know what gifts are in here." The girl thought happily.