[CM] THE CASE

The most important value of a person is to restrain his instinctive impulse. — Cy Johnson

The sound of sirens broke the calm of the residential area.People curiously opened the windows and poked their heads out, hoping to find some unusual things from this unusual sound.The birds resting on the branches don't think so.They flew away quickly, avoiding the sharp, dangerous sirens.

Morgan slammed the car door shut as Hotch walked around the car to the door.One by one they moved faster than the other, and at this time they must have panicked. If they didn't hurry up, the poor child inside didn't know what would happen. Morgan quickly exchanged glances with his boss, and after getting permission, he kicked open the door: "FBI!"

Noisy heavy metal came from the second floor, and Griffith was the last to follow a small team of policemen to the first floor to find the person who imprisoned the child, while the others went up to the second floor to rescue them.

The living room and kitchen are connected.The TV has not been used for a long time, and there is thick dust on it; the sofa is a mess, two pillows have been thrown on the ground, and there are still unfinished lunch boxes on the coffee table.

Griffith felt deeply wrong.

The lunch box was obviously for one person, and all the carrots were pulled aside.He went to the kitchen to see that all the utensils were for one person.There is a place to put money on the TV cabinet, and there is a chair not far from the TV cabinet.

A police officer came and reported to Griffith: "No one in the backyard, no one found anywhere else."

Griffith asked, "Is there anything weird about the backyard?"

"No, it just seems that no one has taken care of it for a long time."

"…Thanks." Griffith holstered the gun.He sighed, recalling the messages on Thomas' phone.

When it comes to kids, Hugz hardly discusses other kids, but himself.He originally thought it was two men discussing similar hobbies, but it turned out not to be.

Hugz's tone and words are slightly naive, and there are even grammatical errors.

From the very beginning, it's a conversation between a man and a boy.

He should have discovered it earlier, if he hadn't been too angry at that time, these ailments would not have been ignored at all.

Morgan came down the stairs.He was emotionally unstable, and Gideon sent him to Griffith to prevent him from acting too violently.

In the bedroom on the second floor, the "imprisoned" boy expertly untied the rope that bound him, and yelled at the FBI agents who broke into his room, dissatisfied with them for destroying his "business."

Hugz, the guy who uploaded Peter's video, is a 14-year-old teenager.And this teenager earns money by uploading his own pornographic videos.

Morgan forced himself to take a few deep breaths.

Griffith found his colleague when Morgan exhaled.He stood in the doorway of the storage room under the stairs and looked up and called out to Morgan.

"What's wrong?" Morgan hurried down the stairs.

Griffith turned sideways, allowing Morgan to see the locker.

The storage room was very small, and the light switch was broken. The interior could only be seen clearly with the light from the outside and the flashlight in the policeman's hand.There was nothing in the room, including wallpaper.There were messy items on the ground.Items like razors, toothbrushes, mouthwash were thrown on the floor, and clothes were piled in the back of the room.The towel was stained with dust, like an abandoned rag.

Obviously, these things belong to an adult.

"I guess these belonged to Hugz's father," Griffith said.

"That's right," Morgan continued. "Kevin, that's Hugz, his father abused him and went to jail. And that's how he's been doing ever since."

"Not a bad thing for him, but definitely not a good thing," Griffith commented.

"Who knows?" Morgan shrugged.

Grriffith motioned for the police to close the door.The boy's nightmare was locked in this dark corner, and no one cared about it.

Dismissing the police, Griffith looked uncomfortably at his colleagues.Thinking it's not good to keep silent, so Griffith tried to find a topic: "How did you get down?"

"I'm emotionally unstable." Morgan replied in a flat tone, "Gideon's afraid I won't be able to control it, you know, I'm impulsive sometimes, and I don't deny it. And, you can't justify being impulsive about these things, right? "

Griffith didn't know how to answer him.Because he was the one who got angry in the office just now. Although the result was not bad, he did lose control.

Because of Griffith's silence, the two could only be relatively silent.Until the radio buzzed, Hotch's order followed: "Morgan, Griffith, get ready, leave a team here, we protect Kevin to meet Mehtevas."

Morgan said into the microphone pinned to his cuff, "Got it."

Griffith repeated the name suspiciously: "Mehtevas?"

"The asshole who sent the video to Kevin."

Griffith searched for clues in the principal's office alone. Mehtevas, an elementary school principal, is being questioned by FBI agents outside his office.

The playground can be seen through the shutters, and young and innocent children pass through there with their schoolbags on their backs, and the chattering noise hovers above the blue sky, carefree.Those cute little angels were playing around, and some jumped into the arms of their parents, showing off their day's achievements.

Griffith watched for a moment with mixed feelings, then realized that the gray-haired man outside the office was probably peering down from this spot, satisfying his morbid desires.A chill ran up his spine and Griffith left the position immediately.

The office is clean and the headmaster, Mr. Rawlings, has a bookcase of books on child psychology.In the first drawer on the right hand side of the desk is a doctorate certificate in child psychology, and the cabinet below is empty.

Griffith checked all the drawers of his desk, but found no computer.For someone who sits in an office, it seems a little strange to not have a computer.

"Hi, Griffith."

Griffith jerked his head up.

Reid still raised his hand, looking at him with some embarrassment. Greenaway followed him, his big eyes scanning the office as if they were equipped with scanners.

"Hi, Reid," Griffith replied almost immediately, "And, hello, Ella."

"It's Elle." Greenaway put on gloves to prevent fingerprints from spoiling the scene.She corrected Griffith's pronunciation a second time.

Reid burst out laughing.

Greenaway took a moment to glare at Reid as he checked the bookcase.

Griffith coughed twice with more embarrassment: "Oh, I'm sorry...Elle."

"It's okay, just remember it next time. What did you find?"

"Well... I didn't find the computer."

"Fine." Greenaway stuffed the book back in place, "Reid?"

"I think I've found it." Reid tried to open a drawer, but failed.It was locked, and with more strength, it might be possible to open it, but it would destroy the cabinet. Reid is considering whether to call Morgan in and solve it with the simplest and most violent method.

"Let me do it." Greenaway fumbled for tools from his pocket.She poked the long thin wire into the keyhole, and with a few fiddles the drawer opened.

Reid looked at everything in surprise: "...the FBI taught this?"

"No, but the facts tell me it works." Greenaway gave him a sweet smile.The female detective found the gray laptop from the drawer.

The computer is not turned off, but a password is required to enter.

Griffith glanced out. Mr. Rawlings kept changing his gestures, and from time to time wiped the cold sweat from his brow with a handkerchief.He could hear the man yelling the words "save them" and could see Morgan approaching the man only to be stopped by Gideon.Then the agent, who admitted to being impulsive, stormed in.

Morgan slammed his fist on the cabinet and urged Reid impatiently: "Can you find the thing that locked that guy in?"

Griffith looked at the vase shaking with the cabinet, and kept silent cautiously.

"We need a password," Reid replied muffled.

"Think about it, genius!" Morgan almost snarled, "Can't we do something to shut up that bastard who keeps saying he's saving them?!"

"Save them..." Reid mumbled the two words repeatedly.His brows were knit together again, and his head turned slightly—a typical performance of thinking about clues.

He took a blank piece of paper from the cabinet at the door, pulled off the cap of the marker pen, and quickly wrote two words.

SAVE THEM.

Then he turned the paper over.

This sequence of motions is all done on the windows, so it's a bit of magic for people in and out of the office.

Outside the office, Gideon stood up solemnly.

MEHTEVAS.

SAVE THEM.

save them.

Griffith's eyes fell on Rawlings.

The old man buried his wrinkled forehead in his own hands.

guilt action.

Griffith didn't know if he was more shocked or more angry.This person's hypocrisy seems to be deeply rooted in his bones, like a dirty villain full of benevolence and righteousness, which makes people hate him to the bone, but there is nothing he can do about it.

Powerlessness and anger overwhelmed him again.The difference this time is that Griffith said in a low voice, "I'll go out and have a look."

He didn't know who he said this sentence to, maybe he didn't say it to anyone, it was just a simple notification. Griffith left the office straight away, past Rawlings, and left without looking back.