Criminal Minds (2005–…): Season 12, Episode 2 - Sick Day - full transcript
JJ tells her husband about the abduction of two children.
Hey.
Hey.
You all right?
Yeah.
You sure?
Oh, this?
This hurts like hell, but, yeah, yeah,
I'm good.
You need anything?
No. I'm ok.
Water? Tea?
I saw some microwave popcorn back there.
Really, I'm... I'm fine.
You don't look fine.
You know, I've seen you look fine.
That's not it.
I know I'm the new guy and everything,
but, uh, I'm here if you need me.
Listen, I just... I just
need my own bed. That's all.
All right.
If you want to talk, I'm around.
Hey, Luke.
Um...
Thank you...
For what you did.
You don't need to thank me.
We're a team.
Will.
Shh.
Why is the shower running?
Shh, shh, shh...
It's ok.
It's all right, bud.
It's ok.
It's ok.
It's all right.
Babe, it's 3:00 in the morning.
What happened to your hand?
What's going on? Why are you up?
Michael's sick. He's got the croup.
Oh, no.
Yeah, it's pretty bad.
Why didn't you call me?
I've been pretty busy
with the both of them.
Does Henry have it, too?
No. No, not yet, anyway.
Come on.
Did you call the doctor?
Of course I did.
Well, what did he say?
Did he prescribe anything?
Just steam showers, cool night
air, and watch his breathing.
Some ibuprofen for
the fever and the pain.
When did this happen?
Well, he started going south last night,
but tonight the cough's really bad.
Babe, you should have told me.
Why? So you could worry
while you were on a case?
There's nothing you could have done.
It doesn't matter. You
should have called me.
You don't think I can handle it?
I didn't say that.
Then what are you saying?
Hey, where you going? Forget it.
To sit with him.
The doctor said to watch
his breathing, right?
The monitors are on.
What's wrong?
Nothing. I just... can I
please take care of my son?
He's sleeping. Trust me, you
don't want to wake him up.
JJ, come on, look at me.
What is it?
What's going on?
You want to talk about it?
Well, you know we have to, right?
Remember what the Bureau therapist said.
No holding it in, ever.
We bring it home, we gotta get it out.
It was kids, wasn't it?
Yeah. Come here.
Listen, I'm gonna go downstairs
and put some coffee on so we can talk.
Ok?
You all right?
Ok.
Not gonna get much sleep tonight anyway.
I'm glad you're back, babe.
Jennifer!
Help me!
Please, Jennifer, help me!
Jennifer! Help me, please!
Please help me!
"Loss and possession",
"death and life are one.
There falls no shadow
where there shines no sun."
Hilaire Belloc.
How's that hand?
Kills.
What'd you do to it?
Burned it.
You want me to sit there?
Well, we were on our
way back from Seattle.
Right. The spree killer
with the assault rifle.
Yeah.
That's when we got the call.
Hey, we turned. Why are we turning.
Because we're not going home yet.
This morning in Los Angeles
the bodies of two children were found
in an abandoned building
that burned down.
Are these the missing kids
that Hotch is consulting on?
No positive I.Ds, but
that's what he's thinking.
Garcia, are you ready?
Born that way, sir.
Ok, this is the horrible part of my job
where I stream this
sadness to your tablets.
14-year-old Hannah Robertson
disappeared 5 days ago
from Irvine, California.
That little guy is
11-year-old Max Wasserman.
He disappeared from Anaheim,
California, yesterday.
Hannah was last seen
on her way to school,
and Max was on his way
home from taekwondo class.
Both kids were abducted
in broad daylight
in low-risk neighborhoods,
this guy's got skills.
You know, I'd bet he's
using some kind of a ruse
so that way he can hide in plain sight.
A blitz attack would be
faster and intimidating.
He would need that to establish control.
Either way, he's patient and organized.
He probably stalked them
and learned their daily routines.
Wait, Garcia. Two years ago, San Diego.
Yeah, way ahead of you, brainiac.
Lisa Ruiz and James Jefferson.
Both runaways and foster kids
with police records,
uh, but their bodies
were discovered several months apart.
He crosses race lines
and those kids were older,
but the M.O. is the same.
A boy, a girl, and they were
all found burned to death
in abandoned buildings.
But these latest victims
were burned together,
so why the change?
He might need two kids at the same time
to do his thing.
I'm curious about the fire.
It could be a forensic countermeasure,
but the consistency
from victim to victim
point so some kind of
compulsion based ritual,
and since pyromaniacal urges
usually emerge in early adolescence,
it probably has something
to do with his childhood.
How can we even be sure
this is all the same guy?
So what did you think?
Definitely the same guy.
Why?
M.O's too similar.
Geography was too close.
And when we got to the
crime scene, we knew.
He used the same type of lock and chain
to restrain the victims in San Diego.
He also used cots like this.
The wood, too. It's like a funeral pyre.
The guy goes from runaways to
good kids from good neighborhoods.
That's a lot more work and
a lot more risk for him.
So what was so special about these two?
Why did he want them so bad?
He may be discovering what his
true victim selection criterion is.
Well, the runaways were
probably just a practice run...
Easy targets, no one
reports them missing.
But the boy/girl
pattern he's established
suggests that there might be some
kind of fantasy he's trying to perfect.
So what's the fantasy, then?
Is he righting some kind of wrong?
Getting revenge, maybe?
If he has kids of his own, it might
have something to do with them.
I can't imagine what would drive
a parent to do something like this.
If he's mentally or
chemically imbalanced,
a tragic life-altering event
could have been the trigger.
Pyros like to watch, right?
Yeah, they do. It's an inextricable
component of the compulsion.
Look. Look at the
position of these cots.
The kids could see each other
while this was happening.
Psychological torture. And the
unsub probably watched as well,
until at a certain point the
fire took over and he had to go.
But he needs both kids to make it work.
He took Hannah Robertson 4
days before Max Wasserman.
That means he held her
someplace and kept her alive.
Yeah. As soon as he got Max
he couldn't wait any longer.
He planned everything.
He probably stalked them until he
found the perfect place to set his fire.
That would explain the
two-year dormancy period.
Who he burns is just as
important as the fire itself.
I hate to think what he did
to her while he held her here.
You get anything from the coroner?
Um, Max Wasserman's body
was virtually incinerated,
but, um, I guess the
fire department arrived
before Hannah Robertson's
body was completely destroyed.
Hannah Robertson had several burn wounds
that were a few days old.
He couldn't resist burning
her while he held her.
Any sign of sexual assault?
Inconclusive, but she did have a, uh,
broken orbital bone
around her right eye,
like she got punched.
What about the other child?
Too much damage. But
they did find traces
of lighter fluid on both
of them. A lot of it.
M.E. seems to think the
boy was lit on fire first.
Yeah, that tracks with what
the fire department said,
that the boy was the flash point.
Well, it could be he was
trying to prolong his pleasure
by burning them one at a time.
It's more than about just watching.
He wants them to suffer
physically and mentally.
It's important to him.
Both of these kids were brunette.
If this is about perfecting a fantasy,
they're probably
surrogates for somebody.
Yeah. But who?
So did you get an exact cause of death?
Um, based on the amount
of smoke inhalation,
we knew that he burned those kids alive.
All 4 of them.
You know what?
Uh, can... can we please
do this in the morning?
I'm really tired.
JJ...
I'm exhausted.
You cannot go to sleep
with this in your head.
It's not healthy.
You've gotta get it out.
You have to.
And I just had two cups of coffee,
so neither one of us is gonna sleep.
Come on.
Come on.
Well, um...
We did what we always do.
We coordinated with local police
to canvass every part of the area.
We covered every angle
of our victimology
by interviewing family
members and friends.
We looked everywhere for a
connection between these victims,
but there... There was nothing.
So we issued a statement to
the press to alert the public.
We were hoping that someone
out there knew something.
We had no leads, so
anything would have helped.
The forensic teams were stumped
because of all the fire damage.
Our profile was developing,
but the guy was in the wind.
A couple days went by, and to
tell you the truth, I lost hope.
A guy like that might get quiet
because he knows we're getting close.
But he wouldn't be able
to contain his urges,
not for long.
But...
The case cooled off.
And we all thought
he went dormant again,
he needed time to plan his next kills.
But we were wrong.
Excuse me.
Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.
What?
I didn't mean to scare you.
I just thought maybe you could help me.
My daughter told me to get
this app called Snaptalk,
but I can't find it anywhere.
I'm terrible with this thing.
Snapchat.
What?
It's Snapchat, not Snaptalk.
You're kidding. That would explain it.
And why can't I find it?
See? I told you, I'm terrible.
My little girl always
gives me a hard time.
She's a lot younger than you are.
What are you, 17?
16.
Ooh.
Driving.
You know what?
Would you mind just...
My daughter, she always
just does it for me.
I'm sorry, I'm late for school.
Oh, it's ok.
No problem, sorry.
You have a good day.
Francesca Morales.
16 years old.
Broad daylight. No witnesses.
Nothing.
Now, I'll never understand
how that happens.
It's a huge city. I mean,
everyone's on there camera phones
and no one sees a
16-year-old girl go missing?
It happens, babe.
Jennifer!
I gotta go...
Just sit down. Just relax.
Will! Will, let me
go look after him, ok?
All right.
It's ok. It's ok. Mama's here.
I love you.
He still has a fever.
Well, we can give him some
more medicine in a couple hours.
That cough, though.
Yeah, tell me about it.
The first time he barked like that,
I thought we were headed to the E.R.
I'm sorry.
About what?
Snapping at you.
I know it's hard when I'm not here.
And it's probably harder when I am here.
Ohh...
I love you, too.
So what happened next?
Assuming you all issued an Amber alert.
Mm, yeah. Right away.
And what was your profile?
Uh, he was accelerating,
getting confident and bold.
And based on the victimology
and the physical effort
it would take to execute his M.O.,
we thought it was a white
man between 25 and 35.
We are referring to him
as a sadistic pyromaniac,
which is a rare and
dangerous combination
because there's a strong compulsive
element to his psychopathy.
It's not just about
watching the fires he sets.
It's also the mental pain
and anguish he inflicts.
We believe that he's driving
a truck, van, or an RV.
He needs space to abduct
and transport his victims.
We know that he's extremely mobile.
We've notified law enforcement
in surrounding counties.
We just want to make sure he
doesn't leave the city limits.
We've scoured CODIS, as well as the
list of arson arrests in the area
and there's nothing. So our guy
probably hasn't let his fire habit
get him in trouble.
He's smart enough not to get caught.
And with intelligence
come social skills.
So, odds are he comes
off like a nice guy.
And he's well adjusted enough
to hold down a steady job,
but it is highly likely
he's sublimating his desires
through his chosen line of work.
He could be a firefighter.
He might work in a crematorium.
Even being a cook in a kitchen
could satiate his urges.
He would want to be
anyplace near open flames.
It's a very specific M.O.
And that consistency and behavior
means that it's need-based.
So he will stick to his pattern.
The bad news is he's already
picked his next victim,
an adolescent boy.
But the good news is, Francesca Morales
is probably still alive.
So time is of the essence.
He's moving fast, we
need to move faster.
Thank you.
We had the LAPD double their patrols.
The fire department was on high alert,
but this guy moved around a lot,
all over Southern California,
and he could have been anywhere.
So, in the meantime,
we talked to the family.
You know, it's funny.
I used to do that all the time,
you know, talk to the families.
But ever since we had kids,
the worst part of the job, hands down.
Actually, I used to think
I was helping those people.
You are helping those people.
Her name is Renee.
Single mom,
registered nurse.
Her husband Tony was killed
in Afghanistan 6 years ago.
Did Francesca walk to school
the same way every day?
Yeah. With her brother.
But he was sick today.
I thought she'd be fine.
She had her cell phone.
She's 16, you know?
I should've went with her.
Hey. I know this is a lot,
but you cannot blame yourself.
Why did this happen?
Mrs. Morales, we believe this man
appears as very non-threatening.
So it's possible he could have just...
No. No, she just wouldn't
go off with somebody.
She knows better than that.
We talked about that.
So we knew if he tried
to use a ruse on her,
it wouldn't work on this girl.
So he probably resorted to
some kind of blitz attack.
The compulsion was too strong.
And once he saw her,
he would have needed to take her.
But...
Now, how do you explain
that to a parent?
Do you even have kids?
Yeah.
Yeah, I have two boys.
She's a working mom.
She's trying to do her best.
She was like anybody, you know?
Just like anybody or just like you?
I just kept wondering
how... how she's doing it all alone.
I don't know what I'd do without you.
And that wasn't even the hardest part.
Francesca had a little brother.
Roberto?
My name's Jennifer.
I'm with the FBI.
You know what that is, right?
You need anything? Your
mom said you haven't eaten.
We can get you whatever you want.
Roberto?
Nobody calls me that.
Oh, uh, well, what do they call you?
Just Berto.
All right.
You collect comic books?
Obviously.
May I take a look?
Yeah?
All right, let's see.
Hmm.
I'm not seeing any D.C. Comics in here.
Who's your guy? Spider-Man? X-Men?
Dr. Strange?
You've never heard of him.
Try me.
Silver Surfer.
You mean Norrin Radd.
The Herald of Galactus.
Yeah, my son really likes him, too.
You want to ask me about
my sister, don't you?
Is that ok?
Do you remember anything unusual
about this morning?
Even stuff you think isn't important
might be helpful.
Your mom said you were sick
today, so you didn't go to school,
but do you ever remember
seeing anything weird
on your way to school on any other day?
Did anyone ever try to talk to you?
Do you remember ever seeing the
same guy over and over again?
Ok.
I am so sorry
that this is happening, Berto.
And now you're scared
but we are your friends.
Ok? And we will not stop
until we get her back.
Can I tell you something?
Anything.
But you can't tell my mom.
Yeah. What is it?
I wasn't really sick today.
I was just faking it.
He won't leave the city.
You say something?
I don't think he'll leave the city.
Look, if you track his
activity from the start,
his first two victims were
found near the Mexican border.
But they were discovered 6 months
apart and in locations 52 miles apart.
Unfortunately, because
they were runaways,
it's impossible to track
when or where they were taken,
but his next two victims, Hannah
Robertson and Max Wasserman,
only lived 14 miles apart, and they
were taken within days of each other.
Ok.
But he took them both 39 miles
all the way here to Los
Angeles to finish the job.
We profiled that that
could be about availability.
A lot of abandoned space here.
And a high police presence
around the abduction sites.
Maybe it makes sense he'd keep
moving to avoid being caught.
But he didn't keep moving,
and he didn't go dormant.
He stayed right here and accelerated.
Los Angeles is where he wants to be.
I think he's been
converging on the city.
If that's true, his next victim
probably lives in Los Angeles, too.
Sir, yes, sir.
Garcia, how many boys live
within a 15-mile radius
of Francesca Morales?
Uh, thousands, Sir, like literally.
All right, narrow your
search by hair color.
We're only interested
in boys with brown hair.
Right. Uh, this is gonna take me a while
because kids that age don't
usually have photo I.Ds.
They have passports, maybe, but it's
all about the parents' social media.
I'm gonna handle this. I'll hit
you back when I have something.
All right, thanks.
Wait a second.
Francesca Morales has
a brother that age.
If the unsub is converging,
he could be a target.
Yeah, but Hannah Robertson
had an 11-year-old brother
and a 9-year-old brother, and Max
Wasserman has a 15-year-old sister.
That could be why he picked them.
They had siblings the right age.
So then why didn't he
take the other siblings?
Who knows? Confidence, opportunity.
Maybe he just wasn't ready.
Maybe the pattern isn't
about older girl, younger boy.
It's about older
sister, younger brother.
We should bring in this
Morales kid just to be safe.
JJ and Alvez are there now.
Yeah, Hotch.
We think the Morales
boy might be a target.
It would be a good idea to bring him
and his mother in as a precaution.
We just left about 10 minutes ago.
All right, we'll head back,
but LAPD was just
finishing up when we left.
Those are the same cops
that were at the house.
He lit a car on fire nearby.
He used it as a diversion to get
those cops away from the house.
Which means he was probably
watching while we were there,
and he just waited for us to leave.
Renee?
Berto?
It's Jennifer with the FBI.
Hello?
Luke!
She's still alive.
All right, I'll call it in.
House is clear, but Berto's not here.
Damn it.
Wow, I was hungrier than I thought.
When was the last time you ate?
I don't know.
Uh, this morning?
You mean yesterday morning?
Do you want some more?
Um, no, thank you.
I don't... I don't understand
why your eggs are so good.
I still can't make 'em like that.
I told you, it's the butter.
Mm.
Yeah.
It's the butter.
It is the butter.
Oh, man.
Remember when we used to have
breakfast like this all the time?
- Yeah.
- Just you and me.
A long time ago.
You know, he keeps asking for you.
He keeps asking for my phone
so he can look at pictures.
I miss so much.
It goes... it goes so fast.
I know.
Yeah. But you and me both know
you won't be happy
unless you're on the job.
Neither of us would.
You stay here and let me have this.
All right?
Yes, sir.
So I'm assuming that you all issued
another Amber alert.
Renee Morales got a severe concussion,
but she's gonna be fine.
I'm surprised he didn't kill her.
He didn't want her.
Was she able to give a description?
Not much of one. White
guy, about 6 feet tall.
That's about it.
Well, that narrows the search.
LAPD's increased patrols in
low income and industrial areas,
places where's he's likely
to find the space he needs.
Well, he's been planning
this for a while.
Right now he's got an
actual brother/sister pair.
He won't be able to wait long.
But if siblings are the key here,
then what did we miss?
Odds are this whole thing
is about his siblings.
If he wants to be in Los Angeles,
that means he must have an end game.
Yeah, and if he does, then
he may escalate somehow
and perfect that fantasy,
light a bigger fire.
We should take another look
at our arson lists in the area,
see if any have brothers and sisters.
Ready, willing, and excellent, Sir.
Garcia, our lists of arson arrests
and convictions in California.
Ok. Those are mostly men.
They are all men.
BTW, bad boys that play with fire.
How many of them have siblings?
A lot of names. I'm
gonna get jiggy with it
and give you lots of those. 166.
We profiled that he might
sublimate his desires with work.
Do any of them have jobs in
any fire-related businesses?
Ok. Hold on. Searching.
One name.
Two names.
Still searching.
Why does the last 10%
always take so flippin' long?
There we go... 3 names.
All right, go ahead.
First up is John Bryant.
He's a firefighter in San Diego.
Definitely not our unsub,
'cause according to Facebook
he's been in Hawaii for the last week
with his wife and adorable kids.
And who else?
Next up we have Steve Addison.
He's a sales exec at Wing-Ho
Fireworks in Riverside.
Definitely not it because he's
been in Shanghai for the last month.
And lastly we have Rudy
Sheffield, certainly not our unsub
because he is serving two years in
Chino state prison on drug charges.
All right, expand your
search to neighboring states.
Ok. Arizona, Nevada, Oregon.
36 names and I've cross-checked those
with guys who have siblings
and work in fire-related occupations.
And we've got...
Hello.
John David Bates, resident of Nevada,
currently renting an
apartment in Los Angeles.
What's he doing here?
Uh, he works for smoke-out
repair and construction.
They fix fire damage,
board up windows and stuff.
What was he arrested for?
Whoa. When he was 12, he
set fire to the family house
with his 14-year-old
sister locked inside of it.
Did it work?
No. But he's a tenacious little bugger
and two years later he
tried to do it again.
Also did not work, but at that time,
his parents relinquished custody
and he was rehomed, and
then went into juvey,
and eventually the foster care system.
That could be the fantasy
he's trying to live out,
burning his sister alive.
Then why does he need the boy, too?
Self-loathing. The boy's
a surrogate for him.
His parents gave him up. It
devastated him and he's lashing out.
And where's the sister now?
Ok. Trisha Bates currently resides in...
Los Angeles.
That's why he came to Los Angeles.
His end game is her.
Are they in touch?
Uh-uh. Looks like he was doing work
in San Diego two years ago,
somehow found her email
address and tried to reconnect.
Two years ago? That's when
the first murders took place.
Garcia, did she respond to the email?
Yeah. She basically told him
to go have sex with himself
and then she deleted that email account.
That rejection was probably his trigger.
We should go pick her up.
Garcia, we need addresses
for Bates and the sister.
Of course. Sent, sent, and sent.
What? Oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
What's up, Garcia?
I got a pong to my ping on
Roberto Morales' cell phone.
I called you guys 'cause you're closer.
All right, send us the
address and notify LAPD.
I already sent it. I'll let Hotch know.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Go. Wait, go, come on.
Wait till you see this.
No! Stop it! No!
Please stop!
Help me, please!
No, no! Please!
JJ, wait!
They were alive?
And you ran in there, didn't you?
You look mad.
I'm not mad.
I didn't think. I just reacted.
I know. It's ok.
I'd have done the same thing
if there were kids trapped
in a burning building.
Don't mean I have to like hearing
about you doing it, though.
So I guess that's how
you hurt yourself, huh?
Going in there?
Yeah. But that happened later.
Help us, please!
Please, please, someone come.
When we got there we could
hear the kids screaming.
Johnny!
But then we heard this other voice.
Another voice? Who else was in there?
Trisha Bates.
The unsub's sister.
Johnny, don't! Please don't do this!
Ohh!
Johnny!
Don't do it! FBI!
Don't move!
Don't move!
Luke, I got them, I
got them! Go get him!
I'll free them.
I'm not leaving you here!
Go! Do not let him get away!
Go, Luke! I got this!
Please help me! Help me!
Help me! Aah!
Jennifer, help me!
Jennifer, please! Jennifer!
Help me!
Aah! Uhh!
I'm gonna get you out of here.
Jennifer! Help me!
Please help me!
Stay calm! Help is on its way!
I'm gonna get you out of here.
Help!
Berto, turn your head that
way and close your eyes, ok?
You guys got bolt cutters?!
Run! Get out of here! Come on!
Go, go, go.
Go. Run. Run.
Berto!
No, go!
Help me! Please!
It's gonna be ok.
Come on!
He broke my ankles. I can't walk.
It's all right.
I can't walk.
I can't walk.
Get her out of here.
I'll free Francesca.
Jennifer! Please help me!
Jennifer!
Jennifer!
Please help me!
Ohh!
Jennifer!
Please help me!
Jennifer!
Please hurry!
Hurry! Aah!
Please! Hurry!
JJ!
Let's go! Go!
No! No!
No! No!
Let's go, let's go!
Aah!
I've got two ***, coming out right now.
You ok?
You're supposed to keep that on.
I couldn't let him be alone,
so I sat with him
until his mom got there.
And then...
I had to tell her what just happened.
No!
- Mom! Mom! Mom!
- My baby!
I want you to take some time off.
I don't need time off. I'm...
- At least a week.
- I'm fine.
It's not a request.
You spend a lot of time telling people
they can't blame themselves.
So maybe you ought to
take your own advice.
You saved that boy's
life and a woman, too.
Yeah, what about Francesca's?
That wasn't your fault.
Oh, whose fault was it?
The unsub. And now because of you,
he's never gonna be able
to do that to anyone again.
Now she's dead because I made a choice.
No, don't. That monster killed her.
No, I chose Roberto.
You want to know why?
Because he reminded me of Henry.
That's it.
I didn't even realize
it until later, you know?
Maybe if I went to her first, I...
I could have saved both of them.
I shouldn't have sent Luke out.
We could have saved all
of them. I know that.
Or maybe you'd all be dead.
JJ, you're gonna spin yourself
like a top with the what ifs.
Now, you made a choice,
the best choice you could,
and two people are alive because of it.
You're a hero, Jennifer Jareau.
You're my hero and your boys'
and your team, and all those
other people that you saved.
And don't you ever forget that.
Come here, I got you.
Hey.
Ohh...
Oh, buddy.
Yeah, you're fine?
How you doing, buddy?
His fever's broken.
Mommy, you're home!
Hi.
How are you?
Good.
I missed you.
Oh, buddy.
Mother Theresa said, "Love begins
"by taking care of the closest ones,
the ones at home."
Hey.
You all right?
Yeah.
You sure?
Oh, this?
This hurts like hell, but, yeah, yeah,
I'm good.
You need anything?
No. I'm ok.
Water? Tea?
I saw some microwave popcorn back there.
Really, I'm... I'm fine.
You don't look fine.
You know, I've seen you look fine.
That's not it.
I know I'm the new guy and everything,
but, uh, I'm here if you need me.
Listen, I just... I just
need my own bed. That's all.
All right.
If you want to talk, I'm around.
Hey, Luke.
Um...
Thank you...
For what you did.
You don't need to thank me.
We're a team.
Will.
Shh.
Why is the shower running?
Shh, shh, shh...
It's ok.
It's all right, bud.
It's ok.
It's ok.
It's all right.
Babe, it's 3:00 in the morning.
What happened to your hand?
What's going on? Why are you up?
Michael's sick. He's got the croup.
Oh, no.
Yeah, it's pretty bad.
Why didn't you call me?
I've been pretty busy
with the both of them.
Does Henry have it, too?
No. No, not yet, anyway.
Come on.
Did you call the doctor?
Of course I did.
Well, what did he say?
Did he prescribe anything?
Just steam showers, cool night
air, and watch his breathing.
Some ibuprofen for
the fever and the pain.
When did this happen?
Well, he started going south last night,
but tonight the cough's really bad.
Babe, you should have told me.
Why? So you could worry
while you were on a case?
There's nothing you could have done.
It doesn't matter. You
should have called me.
You don't think I can handle it?
I didn't say that.
Then what are you saying?
Hey, where you going? Forget it.
To sit with him.
The doctor said to watch
his breathing, right?
The monitors are on.
What's wrong?
Nothing. I just... can I
please take care of my son?
He's sleeping. Trust me, you
don't want to wake him up.
JJ, come on, look at me.
What is it?
What's going on?
You want to talk about it?
Well, you know we have to, right?
Remember what the Bureau therapist said.
No holding it in, ever.
We bring it home, we gotta get it out.
It was kids, wasn't it?
Yeah. Come here.
Listen, I'm gonna go downstairs
and put some coffee on so we can talk.
Ok?
You all right?
Ok.
Not gonna get much sleep tonight anyway.
I'm glad you're back, babe.
Jennifer!
Help me!
Please, Jennifer, help me!
Jennifer! Help me, please!
Please help me!
"Loss and possession",
"death and life are one.
There falls no shadow
where there shines no sun."
Hilaire Belloc.
How's that hand?
Kills.
What'd you do to it?
Burned it.
You want me to sit there?
Well, we were on our
way back from Seattle.
Right. The spree killer
with the assault rifle.
Yeah.
That's when we got the call.
Hey, we turned. Why are we turning.
Because we're not going home yet.
This morning in Los Angeles
the bodies of two children were found
in an abandoned building
that burned down.
Are these the missing kids
that Hotch is consulting on?
No positive I.Ds, but
that's what he's thinking.
Garcia, are you ready?
Born that way, sir.
Ok, this is the horrible part of my job
where I stream this
sadness to your tablets.
14-year-old Hannah Robertson
disappeared 5 days ago
from Irvine, California.
That little guy is
11-year-old Max Wasserman.
He disappeared from Anaheim,
California, yesterday.
Hannah was last seen
on her way to school,
and Max was on his way
home from taekwondo class.
Both kids were abducted
in broad daylight
in low-risk neighborhoods,
this guy's got skills.
You know, I'd bet he's
using some kind of a ruse
so that way he can hide in plain sight.
A blitz attack would be
faster and intimidating.
He would need that to establish control.
Either way, he's patient and organized.
He probably stalked them
and learned their daily routines.
Wait, Garcia. Two years ago, San Diego.
Yeah, way ahead of you, brainiac.
Lisa Ruiz and James Jefferson.
Both runaways and foster kids
with police records,
uh, but their bodies
were discovered several months apart.
He crosses race lines
and those kids were older,
but the M.O. is the same.
A boy, a girl, and they were
all found burned to death
in abandoned buildings.
But these latest victims
were burned together,
so why the change?
He might need two kids at the same time
to do his thing.
I'm curious about the fire.
It could be a forensic countermeasure,
but the consistency
from victim to victim
point so some kind of
compulsion based ritual,
and since pyromaniacal urges
usually emerge in early adolescence,
it probably has something
to do with his childhood.
How can we even be sure
this is all the same guy?
So what did you think?
Definitely the same guy.
Why?
M.O's too similar.
Geography was too close.
And when we got to the
crime scene, we knew.
He used the same type of lock and chain
to restrain the victims in San Diego.
He also used cots like this.
The wood, too. It's like a funeral pyre.
The guy goes from runaways to
good kids from good neighborhoods.
That's a lot more work and
a lot more risk for him.
So what was so special about these two?
Why did he want them so bad?
He may be discovering what his
true victim selection criterion is.
Well, the runaways were
probably just a practice run...
Easy targets, no one
reports them missing.
But the boy/girl
pattern he's established
suggests that there might be some
kind of fantasy he's trying to perfect.
So what's the fantasy, then?
Is he righting some kind of wrong?
Getting revenge, maybe?
If he has kids of his own, it might
have something to do with them.
I can't imagine what would drive
a parent to do something like this.
If he's mentally or
chemically imbalanced,
a tragic life-altering event
could have been the trigger.
Pyros like to watch, right?
Yeah, they do. It's an inextricable
component of the compulsion.
Look. Look at the
position of these cots.
The kids could see each other
while this was happening.
Psychological torture. And the
unsub probably watched as well,
until at a certain point the
fire took over and he had to go.
But he needs both kids to make it work.
He took Hannah Robertson 4
days before Max Wasserman.
That means he held her
someplace and kept her alive.
Yeah. As soon as he got Max
he couldn't wait any longer.
He planned everything.
He probably stalked them until he
found the perfect place to set his fire.
That would explain the
two-year dormancy period.
Who he burns is just as
important as the fire itself.
I hate to think what he did
to her while he held her here.
You get anything from the coroner?
Um, Max Wasserman's body
was virtually incinerated,
but, um, I guess the
fire department arrived
before Hannah Robertson's
body was completely destroyed.
Hannah Robertson had several burn wounds
that were a few days old.
He couldn't resist burning
her while he held her.
Any sign of sexual assault?
Inconclusive, but she did have a, uh,
broken orbital bone
around her right eye,
like she got punched.
What about the other child?
Too much damage. But
they did find traces
of lighter fluid on both
of them. A lot of it.
M.E. seems to think the
boy was lit on fire first.
Yeah, that tracks with what
the fire department said,
that the boy was the flash point.
Well, it could be he was
trying to prolong his pleasure
by burning them one at a time.
It's more than about just watching.
He wants them to suffer
physically and mentally.
It's important to him.
Both of these kids were brunette.
If this is about perfecting a fantasy,
they're probably
surrogates for somebody.
Yeah. But who?
So did you get an exact cause of death?
Um, based on the amount
of smoke inhalation,
we knew that he burned those kids alive.
All 4 of them.
You know what?
Uh, can... can we please
do this in the morning?
I'm really tired.
JJ...
I'm exhausted.
You cannot go to sleep
with this in your head.
It's not healthy.
You've gotta get it out.
You have to.
And I just had two cups of coffee,
so neither one of us is gonna sleep.
Come on.
Come on.
Well, um...
We did what we always do.
We coordinated with local police
to canvass every part of the area.
We covered every angle
of our victimology
by interviewing family
members and friends.
We looked everywhere for a
connection between these victims,
but there... There was nothing.
So we issued a statement to
the press to alert the public.
We were hoping that someone
out there knew something.
We had no leads, so
anything would have helped.
The forensic teams were stumped
because of all the fire damage.
Our profile was developing,
but the guy was in the wind.
A couple days went by, and to
tell you the truth, I lost hope.
A guy like that might get quiet
because he knows we're getting close.
But he wouldn't be able
to contain his urges,
not for long.
But...
The case cooled off.
And we all thought
he went dormant again,
he needed time to plan his next kills.
But we were wrong.
Excuse me.
Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.
What?
I didn't mean to scare you.
I just thought maybe you could help me.
My daughter told me to get
this app called Snaptalk,
but I can't find it anywhere.
I'm terrible with this thing.
Snapchat.
What?
It's Snapchat, not Snaptalk.
You're kidding. That would explain it.
And why can't I find it?
See? I told you, I'm terrible.
My little girl always
gives me a hard time.
She's a lot younger than you are.
What are you, 17?
16.
Ooh.
Driving.
You know what?
Would you mind just...
My daughter, she always
just does it for me.
I'm sorry, I'm late for school.
Oh, it's ok.
No problem, sorry.
You have a good day.
Francesca Morales.
16 years old.
Broad daylight. No witnesses.
Nothing.
Now, I'll never understand
how that happens.
It's a huge city. I mean,
everyone's on there camera phones
and no one sees a
16-year-old girl go missing?
It happens, babe.
Jennifer!
I gotta go...
Just sit down. Just relax.
Will! Will, let me
go look after him, ok?
All right.
It's ok. It's ok. Mama's here.
I love you.
He still has a fever.
Well, we can give him some
more medicine in a couple hours.
That cough, though.
Yeah, tell me about it.
The first time he barked like that,
I thought we were headed to the E.R.
I'm sorry.
About what?
Snapping at you.
I know it's hard when I'm not here.
And it's probably harder when I am here.
Ohh...
I love you, too.
So what happened next?
Assuming you all issued an Amber alert.
Mm, yeah. Right away.
And what was your profile?
Uh, he was accelerating,
getting confident and bold.
And based on the victimology
and the physical effort
it would take to execute his M.O.,
we thought it was a white
man between 25 and 35.
We are referring to him
as a sadistic pyromaniac,
which is a rare and
dangerous combination
because there's a strong compulsive
element to his psychopathy.
It's not just about
watching the fires he sets.
It's also the mental pain
and anguish he inflicts.
We believe that he's driving
a truck, van, or an RV.
He needs space to abduct
and transport his victims.
We know that he's extremely mobile.
We've notified law enforcement
in surrounding counties.
We just want to make sure he
doesn't leave the city limits.
We've scoured CODIS, as well as the
list of arson arrests in the area
and there's nothing. So our guy
probably hasn't let his fire habit
get him in trouble.
He's smart enough not to get caught.
And with intelligence
come social skills.
So, odds are he comes
off like a nice guy.
And he's well adjusted enough
to hold down a steady job,
but it is highly likely
he's sublimating his desires
through his chosen line of work.
He could be a firefighter.
He might work in a crematorium.
Even being a cook in a kitchen
could satiate his urges.
He would want to be
anyplace near open flames.
It's a very specific M.O.
And that consistency and behavior
means that it's need-based.
So he will stick to his pattern.
The bad news is he's already
picked his next victim,
an adolescent boy.
But the good news is, Francesca Morales
is probably still alive.
So time is of the essence.
He's moving fast, we
need to move faster.
Thank you.
We had the LAPD double their patrols.
The fire department was on high alert,
but this guy moved around a lot,
all over Southern California,
and he could have been anywhere.
So, in the meantime,
we talked to the family.
You know, it's funny.
I used to do that all the time,
you know, talk to the families.
But ever since we had kids,
the worst part of the job, hands down.
Actually, I used to think
I was helping those people.
You are helping those people.
Her name is Renee.
Single mom,
registered nurse.
Her husband Tony was killed
in Afghanistan 6 years ago.
Did Francesca walk to school
the same way every day?
Yeah. With her brother.
But he was sick today.
I thought she'd be fine.
She had her cell phone.
She's 16, you know?
I should've went with her.
Hey. I know this is a lot,
but you cannot blame yourself.
Why did this happen?
Mrs. Morales, we believe this man
appears as very non-threatening.
So it's possible he could have just...
No. No, she just wouldn't
go off with somebody.
She knows better than that.
We talked about that.
So we knew if he tried
to use a ruse on her,
it wouldn't work on this girl.
So he probably resorted to
some kind of blitz attack.
The compulsion was too strong.
And once he saw her,
he would have needed to take her.
But...
Now, how do you explain
that to a parent?
Do you even have kids?
Yeah.
Yeah, I have two boys.
She's a working mom.
She's trying to do her best.
She was like anybody, you know?
Just like anybody or just like you?
I just kept wondering
how... how she's doing it all alone.
I don't know what I'd do without you.
And that wasn't even the hardest part.
Francesca had a little brother.
Roberto?
My name's Jennifer.
I'm with the FBI.
You know what that is, right?
You need anything? Your
mom said you haven't eaten.
We can get you whatever you want.
Roberto?
Nobody calls me that.
Oh, uh, well, what do they call you?
Just Berto.
All right.
You collect comic books?
Obviously.
May I take a look?
Yeah?
All right, let's see.
Hmm.
I'm not seeing any D.C. Comics in here.
Who's your guy? Spider-Man? X-Men?
Dr. Strange?
You've never heard of him.
Try me.
Silver Surfer.
You mean Norrin Radd.
The Herald of Galactus.
Yeah, my son really likes him, too.
You want to ask me about
my sister, don't you?
Is that ok?
Do you remember anything unusual
about this morning?
Even stuff you think isn't important
might be helpful.
Your mom said you were sick
today, so you didn't go to school,
but do you ever remember
seeing anything weird
on your way to school on any other day?
Did anyone ever try to talk to you?
Do you remember ever seeing the
same guy over and over again?
Ok.
I am so sorry
that this is happening, Berto.
And now you're scared
but we are your friends.
Ok? And we will not stop
until we get her back.
Can I tell you something?
Anything.
But you can't tell my mom.
Yeah. What is it?
I wasn't really sick today.
I was just faking it.
He won't leave the city.
You say something?
I don't think he'll leave the city.
Look, if you track his
activity from the start,
his first two victims were
found near the Mexican border.
But they were discovered 6 months
apart and in locations 52 miles apart.
Unfortunately, because
they were runaways,
it's impossible to track
when or where they were taken,
but his next two victims, Hannah
Robertson and Max Wasserman,
only lived 14 miles apart, and they
were taken within days of each other.
Ok.
But he took them both 39 miles
all the way here to Los
Angeles to finish the job.
We profiled that that
could be about availability.
A lot of abandoned space here.
And a high police presence
around the abduction sites.
Maybe it makes sense he'd keep
moving to avoid being caught.
But he didn't keep moving,
and he didn't go dormant.
He stayed right here and accelerated.
Los Angeles is where he wants to be.
I think he's been
converging on the city.
If that's true, his next victim
probably lives in Los Angeles, too.
Sir, yes, sir.
Garcia, how many boys live
within a 15-mile radius
of Francesca Morales?
Uh, thousands, Sir, like literally.
All right, narrow your
search by hair color.
We're only interested
in boys with brown hair.
Right. Uh, this is gonna take me a while
because kids that age don't
usually have photo I.Ds.
They have passports, maybe, but it's
all about the parents' social media.
I'm gonna handle this. I'll hit
you back when I have something.
All right, thanks.
Wait a second.
Francesca Morales has
a brother that age.
If the unsub is converging,
he could be a target.
Yeah, but Hannah Robertson
had an 11-year-old brother
and a 9-year-old brother, and Max
Wasserman has a 15-year-old sister.
That could be why he picked them.
They had siblings the right age.
So then why didn't he
take the other siblings?
Who knows? Confidence, opportunity.
Maybe he just wasn't ready.
Maybe the pattern isn't
about older girl, younger boy.
It's about older
sister, younger brother.
We should bring in this
Morales kid just to be safe.
JJ and Alvez are there now.
Yeah, Hotch.
We think the Morales
boy might be a target.
It would be a good idea to bring him
and his mother in as a precaution.
We just left about 10 minutes ago.
All right, we'll head back,
but LAPD was just
finishing up when we left.
Those are the same cops
that were at the house.
He lit a car on fire nearby.
He used it as a diversion to get
those cops away from the house.
Which means he was probably
watching while we were there,
and he just waited for us to leave.
Renee?
Berto?
It's Jennifer with the FBI.
Hello?
Luke!
She's still alive.
All right, I'll call it in.
House is clear, but Berto's not here.
Damn it.
Wow, I was hungrier than I thought.
When was the last time you ate?
I don't know.
Uh, this morning?
You mean yesterday morning?
Do you want some more?
Um, no, thank you.
I don't... I don't understand
why your eggs are so good.
I still can't make 'em like that.
I told you, it's the butter.
Mm.
Yeah.
It's the butter.
It is the butter.
Oh, man.
Remember when we used to have
breakfast like this all the time?
- Yeah.
- Just you and me.
A long time ago.
You know, he keeps asking for you.
He keeps asking for my phone
so he can look at pictures.
I miss so much.
It goes... it goes so fast.
I know.
Yeah. But you and me both know
you won't be happy
unless you're on the job.
Neither of us would.
You stay here and let me have this.
All right?
Yes, sir.
So I'm assuming that you all issued
another Amber alert.
Renee Morales got a severe concussion,
but she's gonna be fine.
I'm surprised he didn't kill her.
He didn't want her.
Was she able to give a description?
Not much of one. White
guy, about 6 feet tall.
That's about it.
Well, that narrows the search.
LAPD's increased patrols in
low income and industrial areas,
places where's he's likely
to find the space he needs.
Well, he's been planning
this for a while.
Right now he's got an
actual brother/sister pair.
He won't be able to wait long.
But if siblings are the key here,
then what did we miss?
Odds are this whole thing
is about his siblings.
If he wants to be in Los Angeles,
that means he must have an end game.
Yeah, and if he does, then
he may escalate somehow
and perfect that fantasy,
light a bigger fire.
We should take another look
at our arson lists in the area,
see if any have brothers and sisters.
Ready, willing, and excellent, Sir.
Garcia, our lists of arson arrests
and convictions in California.
Ok. Those are mostly men.
They are all men.
BTW, bad boys that play with fire.
How many of them have siblings?
A lot of names. I'm
gonna get jiggy with it
and give you lots of those. 166.
We profiled that he might
sublimate his desires with work.
Do any of them have jobs in
any fire-related businesses?
Ok. Hold on. Searching.
One name.
Two names.
Still searching.
Why does the last 10%
always take so flippin' long?
There we go... 3 names.
All right, go ahead.
First up is John Bryant.
He's a firefighter in San Diego.
Definitely not our unsub,
'cause according to Facebook
he's been in Hawaii for the last week
with his wife and adorable kids.
And who else?
Next up we have Steve Addison.
He's a sales exec at Wing-Ho
Fireworks in Riverside.
Definitely not it because he's
been in Shanghai for the last month.
And lastly we have Rudy
Sheffield, certainly not our unsub
because he is serving two years in
Chino state prison on drug charges.
All right, expand your
search to neighboring states.
Ok. Arizona, Nevada, Oregon.
36 names and I've cross-checked those
with guys who have siblings
and work in fire-related occupations.
And we've got...
Hello.
John David Bates, resident of Nevada,
currently renting an
apartment in Los Angeles.
What's he doing here?
Uh, he works for smoke-out
repair and construction.
They fix fire damage,
board up windows and stuff.
What was he arrested for?
Whoa. When he was 12, he
set fire to the family house
with his 14-year-old
sister locked inside of it.
Did it work?
No. But he's a tenacious little bugger
and two years later he
tried to do it again.
Also did not work, but at that time,
his parents relinquished custody
and he was rehomed, and
then went into juvey,
and eventually the foster care system.
That could be the fantasy
he's trying to live out,
burning his sister alive.
Then why does he need the boy, too?
Self-loathing. The boy's
a surrogate for him.
His parents gave him up. It
devastated him and he's lashing out.
And where's the sister now?
Ok. Trisha Bates currently resides in...
Los Angeles.
That's why he came to Los Angeles.
His end game is her.
Are they in touch?
Uh-uh. Looks like he was doing work
in San Diego two years ago,
somehow found her email
address and tried to reconnect.
Two years ago? That's when
the first murders took place.
Garcia, did she respond to the email?
Yeah. She basically told him
to go have sex with himself
and then she deleted that email account.
That rejection was probably his trigger.
We should go pick her up.
Garcia, we need addresses
for Bates and the sister.
Of course. Sent, sent, and sent.
What? Oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
What's up, Garcia?
I got a pong to my ping on
Roberto Morales' cell phone.
I called you guys 'cause you're closer.
All right, send us the
address and notify LAPD.
I already sent it. I'll let Hotch know.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Go. Wait, go, come on.
Wait till you see this.
No! Stop it! No!
Please stop!
Help me, please!
No, no! Please!
JJ, wait!
They were alive?
And you ran in there, didn't you?
You look mad.
I'm not mad.
I didn't think. I just reacted.
I know. It's ok.
I'd have done the same thing
if there were kids trapped
in a burning building.
Don't mean I have to like hearing
about you doing it, though.
So I guess that's how
you hurt yourself, huh?
Going in there?
Yeah. But that happened later.
Help us, please!
Please, please, someone come.
When we got there we could
hear the kids screaming.
Johnny!
But then we heard this other voice.
Another voice? Who else was in there?
Trisha Bates.
The unsub's sister.
Johnny, don't! Please don't do this!
Ohh!
Johnny!
Don't do it! FBI!
Don't move!
Don't move!
Luke, I got them, I
got them! Go get him!
I'll free them.
I'm not leaving you here!
Go! Do not let him get away!
Go, Luke! I got this!
Please help me! Help me!
Help me! Aah!
Jennifer, help me!
Jennifer, please! Jennifer!
Help me!
Aah! Uhh!
I'm gonna get you out of here.
Jennifer! Help me!
Please help me!
Stay calm! Help is on its way!
I'm gonna get you out of here.
Help!
Berto, turn your head that
way and close your eyes, ok?
You guys got bolt cutters?!
Run! Get out of here! Come on!
Go, go, go.
Go. Run. Run.
Berto!
No, go!
Help me! Please!
It's gonna be ok.
Come on!
He broke my ankles. I can't walk.
It's all right.
I can't walk.
I can't walk.
Get her out of here.
I'll free Francesca.
Jennifer! Please help me!
Jennifer!
Jennifer!
Please help me!
Ohh!
Jennifer!
Please help me!
Jennifer!
Please hurry!
Hurry! Aah!
Please! Hurry!
JJ!
Let's go! Go!
No! No!
No! No!
Let's go, let's go!
Aah!
I've got two ***, coming out right now.
You ok?
You're supposed to keep that on.
I couldn't let him be alone,
so I sat with him
until his mom got there.
And then...
I had to tell her what just happened.
No!
- Mom! Mom! Mom!
- My baby!
I want you to take some time off.
I don't need time off. I'm...
- At least a week.
- I'm fine.
It's not a request.
You spend a lot of time telling people
they can't blame themselves.
So maybe you ought to
take your own advice.
You saved that boy's
life and a woman, too.
Yeah, what about Francesca's?
That wasn't your fault.
Oh, whose fault was it?
The unsub. And now because of you,
he's never gonna be able
to do that to anyone again.
Now she's dead because I made a choice.
No, don't. That monster killed her.
No, I chose Roberto.
You want to know why?
Because he reminded me of Henry.
That's it.
I didn't even realize
it until later, you know?
Maybe if I went to her first, I...
I could have saved both of them.
I shouldn't have sent Luke out.
We could have saved all
of them. I know that.
Or maybe you'd all be dead.
JJ, you're gonna spin yourself
like a top with the what ifs.
Now, you made a choice,
the best choice you could,
and two people are alive because of it.
You're a hero, Jennifer Jareau.
You're my hero and your boys'
and your team, and all those
other people that you saved.
And don't you ever forget that.
Come here, I got you.
Hey.
Ohh...
Oh, buddy.
Yeah, you're fine?
How you doing, buddy?
His fever's broken.
Mommy, you're home!
Hi.
How are you?
Good.
I missed you.
Oh, buddy.
Mother Theresa said, "Love begins
"by taking care of the closest ones,
the ones at home."