Criminal Minds (2005–…): Season 2, Episode 19 - Ashes and Dust - full transcript
An arsonist has been at work in San Francisco, setting so far two house fires in three weeks. The two sets of residents - both families - all perished, except for one person. Unlike the work of most serial arsonists, these fires were meant to kill their inhabitants. Before she dies, the sole survivor of the those two initial fires tells Hotch and Prentiss of irregularities from that evening before and during the fire: that someone had turned off the water, that the smoke alarms did not work during the fire, that someone had locked the front door in such a way that they could not escape, and that she noticed a fireman inside the house just before she passed out. That fireman they know to be the unsub. Beyond general characteristics, Garcia finds one connection between the two families: the father figures both worked for different companies accused of LUST (leaking underground storage tanks) by an environmental activist/eco-terrorist (depending on one's viewpoint) group called the Earth Defense Front (EDF). The head of the EDF is a man by the name of Evan Abby, a disillusioned former environmental consultant whose disillusionment led to the break-up of his own family. After their initial meeting with him, Hotch and Gideon don't think he's the arsonist murderer but that he knows more than he is letting on and acts like he is guilty of something. When they learn what Abby is hiding, the BAU feel they need to trust him in helping them find the unsub, who they're certain attended a recent EDF meeting at Abby's house. This case ends up being especially difficult for Hotch for personal reasons.
-Mom! Dad! Dad, we have to get up.
-DENNIS: What?
The house is on fire.
We have to get out of here.
Come on, we have to go.
No, no, the phone's dead. Go.
Come on. We got to go.
Come on. Stay down. Stay down.
Come on.
Come on. Hold on.
DENNIS: Shit.
PAUL: Mom.
(CHARLOTTE EXCLAIMS)
(PAUL COUGHING)
(GLASS SHATTERING)
(PAUL COUGHING)
(COUGHING)
DENNIS: (COUGHING) Get it.
(ALL COUGHING)
(GASPING)
(DENNIS GRUNTING)
It's stuck. I can't.
Somebody! Somebody!
Somebody, please, help us!
(ENGINE STARTING)
HOTCH: "The torture of a bad
conscience is the hell of a living soul."
John Calvin.
JJ: Two fires.
Two families in three weeks.
The first family, the Jarvises, all died.
Last night, the Cutlers.
Only one survivor. Charlotte Cutler.
She's in critical condition with burns
to over 60% of her body.
Well, it's no accident. It's the same MO.
No fuses. Kerosene.
Multiple points of origin. Families
targeted at home while they slept.
The Bay Area has a serial arsonist.
Statistically, 94% of
all serial arsonists are male,
75% are white,
and few, if any, are ever caught.
"Few"? You don't have a percentage?
16%.
And those 16% set 30-plus fires
before they're ever apprehended.
I'm trying to be more conversational.
Oh, it's not working.
Most serial arsonists
don't intend to inflict harm.
Injuries or deaths, those are accidental.
It's not about violence.
For this one it is.
It's also about power.
Seeing the destructive force
of their fires.
Watching the chaos.
For them, fire's just a substitute
for sexual release.
Oh, great. So, if these guys
don't get laid, they start fires?
Or in this case
burn entire families to death.
No statistic?
No. They don't have statistics
on this guy. One of a kind.
Thank God.
Three weeks ago, this serial arsonist
escalated into a serial killer
whose weapon is fire. Why?
A major event. Possibly the break up
of his primary sexual outlet.
A separation. A loss.
All right, what about the victims?
JJ: SFPD can't connect
the Jarvises and the Cutlers.
But witnesses put an unidentified,
late-model gold Sedan near both fires.
Run the car. Garcia, run the victims
through your system.
If there's any connection,
we need to find it.
-Yes, sir.
-Reid, victimology.
-I'll go see Charlotte Cutler.
-You took the burn ward last time.
It's all right. I got it.
Has she said anything about the fires?
I'm giving her as much painkiller
as I can.
She asked about her husband and son.
She passed out again
before I had to answer.
So she doesn't know?
DOCTOR: Whatever you tell her,
she won't live long enough
to know different.
I'll be right back.
Did she just tell us to lie
to a material witness?
No.
She told us that we could.
(CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO)
VEGA: Welcome. Ricardo Vega,
-SFFD Arson Unit.
-Hi. Jason Gideon.
This is Derek Morgan.
"The most likely arson suspect
is the first responder
"who set both fires
with premeditated intent
"to return to it
in a professional capacity."
-You've read my paper.
-VEGA: Profiles of A Serial Arsonist.
I make everyone on my team read it.
I've run the first responders
of both fires.
These are the pedigrees
of everyone that was here that night.
No fire, police or EMT
responded to both.
No one?
Except me, which is
why I've included copies
of my department performance reviews,
medical records, and psych evals.
-That's unnecessary.
-No, it's not.
Your best suspect is a fireman
who saw both fires burning.
That's me.
I'm saving you time.
Come on. I'll walk you through it.
Mrs. Cutler?
I'm Special Agent Aaron Hotchner.
-This is Special Agent Emily Prentiss.
-CHARLOTTE: Paul?
Where's Paul?
Your son...
Was with you the night of the fire.
That's why we're here.
I don't understand.
We're FBI agents.
We think that the fire
may have been set intentionally.
I'm very tired.
HOTCH:
I understand. This is very important.
Do you think you could just give us
a couple of minutes?
I want you to think back to that night.
Was there anything
out of the ordinary?
Think about the things
that you normally do.
Get undressed, wash your face.
I couldn't brush my teeth.
Dennis! The water's not working!
DENNIS: I'll check it.
Dennis got the water back on.
And then we...
Then you went to bed?
-Do you remember what woke you up?
-Paul.
Not the smoke alarms?
(SOBBING) It was Paul.
What else do you remember?
(ECG BEEPING FASTER)
Dennis unlocked it
and it wouldn't open.
-He unlocked what?
-The front door.
Somebody please help us. Please.
(GASPING)
-What's wrong?
-I can't.
(DENNIS COUGHING)
CHARLOTTE: Somebody!
Somebody, please...
Help us. Please.
(CHARLOTTE CRYING)
And then I saw the fireman.
And I knew it was going to be okay.
Dennis! Paul! Where's my baby?
-Paul. Where are they? Are they okay?
-They're fine.
They're just outside
in the waiting room.
Oh.
(GASPS)
I don't want them to see me like this.
No, I'm not ready. Could you, please,
tell them to wait a minute?
Please? I'm not ready.
Agent Prentiss will tell them.
You call Gideon and Morgan.
(DOOR OPENING)
I can stay with you until you're ready,
if you like.
(EXHALES WEARILY)
I'd like that.
She told her husband
there was no water.
-Where's the shut off?
-The main is at the sidewalk.
Okay, so I'm the UnSub.
I need to get in the house.
So I turn the water off right here,
and then I wait.
I wait for him to come outside.
I wait for them to go to sleep.
And then I carefully pour the fuel,
cutting access to the back door.
I leave them only one way to get out.
Front door.
She said Dennis unlocked it.
It still wouldn't open.
VEGA: When we got here
it was unlocked. Door opens in.
Nothing held it from the outside,
so whatever he used to keep it shut
was on the inside.
Here. See these light spots?
Something was jammed in there.
Shielded the surface
beneath it from the smoke.
Wedged in tight.
Some kind of expanding tool.
So where is it?
If he jammed it from the inside,
it'd still be there.
-We didn't find anything.
-He took it with him.
Well, that means he would have
still been inside as it was burning.
He would have had to
have been in full fire gear.
-She didn't see a fireman.
-She saw the UnSub.
Now, hold on, the house is on fire.
Why would he stay inside of it?
He wanted to watch them burn.
CHARLOTTE:
Somebody, please, help us!
S.F.F.D. Headquarters
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
This place is great. They have
their own espresso machine.
-Dr Reid, this is Detective Castro.
-Hi.
She is with the SFPD liaison.
I burned my hand
on the espresso machine.
(REID EXCLAIMS)
A genius, you said?
Yeah. His coordination drops off
when he's thinking.
Good, because we need to figure out
why this psycho chooses
these families.
He's most likely targeting the men.
They're the most similar members
of the two families.
Sue Jarvis, 29, worked full time.
Charlotte Cutler, 39,
was a stay-at-home mom.
The Jarvises had two girls
in public grade school.
The Cutlers had a son
in private high school.
The Jarvises went to church.
The Cutlers didn't.
Nothing holds. Except with the men.
Both in their late 30s, white,
approximately 6' tall, brown hair.
Nice homes. Nice families.
Good jobs. That's the connection.
What connection? Cutler was a lawyer.
Jarvis an executive.
There's no evidence they ever met.
But they're of the same type.
We know that most serial arsonists
are white males.
A complex MO develops over time.
This guy's in his mid-30s.
He sees the victims
as successful versions of himself
and he resents them for it.
I'll issue an APB
for a resentful 6' white guy.
Okay, great. I got it. Thanks.
Charlotte Cutler died.
Sorry. Next time, I'll go.
What have we got on the vehicle?
It was a 1999 gold Ford Taurus.
85% of that model/color combo
were sold domestically
as fleet vehicles.
-Company cars, rental fleets.
-You checked rental agencies?
Yeah, no one kept one
for the past three weeks
or rented during both fires.
So I was thinking, who keeps
a rental car for three weeks?
-And if it's not a rental?
-JJ: It would have to be a company car.
This guy, he had to have time
to stalk his victims
and if his job involved driving...
There was a serial arsonist
up in Seattle, early '90s.
-Paul Kenneth Keller.
-VEGA: Yeah.
He used to drive around all day
selling advertising for his dad's agency
and picking out places to burn.
Company car. Good work, JJ.
Let's do the profile.
The UnSub we're looking for
is a highly intelligent,
underachieving,
35-to-45-year-old white male
with a severe
narcissistic character disorder.
Nothing in his life works for long.
If he was married, he's now divorced.
And if employed, it won't last.
What he wants is admiration,
but he's got no respect for others.
Not their feelings,
and most certainly not their safety.
GIDEON: He feels entitled.
He's like a petulant adolescent.
He both resents and he absolutely
expects others to take care of him.
And given that a male relative
wouldn't tolerate this behavior,
he most likely lives
with a female relative.
His mother, grandmother,
aunt, whom he exploits.
His arson kit is expensive,
fire suit, oxygen mask.
This suggests that
he may be employed,
but his personality will not allow him
to work closely with others
in an office setting.
HOTCH:
This along with the information about
his vehicle leads us to believe that
he's a traveling salesman of some sort
who works for a company big enough
not to notice that he's a sociopath.
Okay. This scumbag has issues.
We all get it. But why fire?
REID: He's like a drug addict.
Only fire's his drug, and
each time an addict needs a fix,
they need more of the drug to get off,
so his crimes will most likely
get much worse.
It would be almost impossible
for him to quit without help.
Thank you very much.
She shoots, she scores!
The crowd goes wild.
I just put the entire
department on tach alert.
Garcia's on line one.
Brace yourselves. I'm gonna teach you
the meaning of "lust."
-Did she say "lust"?
-GARCIA: Mmm-hmm.
I cross-referenced
every known fact on the victims,
and I just found a website that links
both Dennis Cutler's
and Matthew Jarvis' companies on
a list of, "Businesses guilty of LUST."
I'm missing something.
"Leaking Underground Storage Tanks."
The web site belongs
to a recently formed
San Francisco chapter
of the Earth Defense Front.
The EDF? The eco-terrorist group?
They aren't eco-terrorists.
They're environmental activists.
Dennis Cutler and Matthew Jarvis
may disagree with you.
I'm pretty sure some EDF people
were sent up for torching an SUV
dealership a while back in San Diego.
-Nobody died in those fires.
-Maybe they got lucky.
No, it's not luck. This group's
dedicated to protecting life.
What do they, wait till no-one's home
and then light the place up?
That's exactly what they do.
So who...
Tell me who we're playing again today.
-Playing the Jets.
-The Jets, right. Okay. All right.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Well, go get them, buddy.
I'll be there in a second.
Katie, come on! We're not going to
be late twice in one week.
-Yeah.
-KATIE: I'm coming.
TOM: Come on, sweetie.
KATIE: Okay, I'm coming.
Right.
TOM: No, I got that. Yeah.
No, we're leaving...
We're leaving right now.
Yeah.
All right, guys, we ready?
KATIE: Mmm-hmm.
-Belt.
-Yes.
-BRAD: What's wrong?
-I don't know. It's not opening.
Are you telling me that the FBI doesn't
have files on organizations like this?
Lists of members?
Domestic groups like the EDF aren't
the Bureau's top priority right now.
Besides, they're more of a movement
than an organization.
There's a central ideology,
but the chapters are independent.
They don't pay dues
and they don't keep membership lists.
What if one of the chapters has
broken ranks and has a new belief?
BRAD: Dad.
TOM: What are you doing?
Hey! Get out, guys. Get out. Get out.
-Come on, kids, get out. Get out.
-KATIE: Daddy, it's not opening.
-Get out, now. Open the doors. Get out.
-Dad, it's not opening.
KATIE: It's not opening.
BRAD: It won't open, Dad.
Hurting people's never been part of it.
It doesn't track.
It doesn't fit the profile.
Garcia, can you identify
how many members
are in this particular EDF chapter?
It looks like 100 to 150.
TOM: What are you doing?
KATIE: It's not opening.
TOM: Come on, sweetheart.
KATIE: I'm scared, Daddy.
KATIE: I'm scared. We can't get out.
TOM: Get these doors open!
-Open!
-BRAD: I'm trying, Dad. Start the car.
TOM: I'm trying. It won't start.
KATIE: Hurry.
KATIE: Dad, I'm scared!
BRAD: I can't open it, Dad. It's stuck.
KATIE: I can't get out!
KATIE: Dad! I can't open it, Dad!
I can't get out!
(CAR TIRES SCREECHING)
HOTCH: Thomas R. Dunleivy.
Dunbrook Development Group.
Unless... Okay, I'm sending you
a file on the EDF leader.
Evan Abby, 41, 5'11", 185 pounds.
Thanks, Garcia.
Pardon me for asking, sir, but how
do we even know he's involved?
We don't. That's why we're
interviewing Abby at the crime scene.
If he is the leader of the EDF,
his reaction to all this should tell us
exactly what we need to know.
-Where do you guys want it?
-This is the spot.
When he arrives,
bring the fake bodies right past us.
Nice and slow.
I want him to get a good look.
Remind me to
never play poker with you guys.
(AMBULANCE SIREN WAILING)
-What do we have on this guy? Hotch?
-What?
What do we have on the EDF leader?
Evan Abby, 41, divorced.
Father of Liam, 14.
Environmental engineer.
Does consults on real estate projects.
Has TIRKS with every company
on the EDF list.
I can't wait to meet him.
(MEN CHATTERING)
GIDEON: Here he is.
Mr. Abby, these are Special Agents
Jason Gideon and Aaron Hotchner.
GIDEON:
Mr. Abby, thank you for coming.
Agent Prentiss said you needed
my help with a LUST-related fire?
Yeah. It's pretty bad.
Tom, Brad, Katie Dunleivy.
All burned to death.
(EXHALES)
So, where's the...
Where's the leaking storage tank?
Katie was only 12.
You've got a son about that age,
don't you?
Do you know Tom Dunleivy?
What is this?
He worked for
Dunbrook Development Group.
Why are you asking me
these questions?
You posted Dunbrook on your website.
My website?
Look, I came down here voluntarily
because I was told you needed help
with a LUST-related fire.
Three fires. Three families.
Three fathers
who worked for companies
posted on your EDF website.
All burned to death.
You worked for these companies.
-Every one on your list.
-Are you accusing me of a crime?
What do you think?
Mr. Abby, I support your cause.
I reject these methods.
Well, I don't know what cause
or methods you're referring to.
You created the site.
You posted the list.
You're the leader of the EDF.
Well, if you could prove that,
we wouldn't be
having this conversation, would we?
GIDEON: Mr. Abby, people are dying.
Children, Mr. Abby.
We know EDF strategy
has always abhorred violence.
I'm asking you,
has EDF strategy changed?
No. It hasn't.
He could barely look at this.
A serial arsonist wouldn't be able
to peel his eyes away.
He's hiding something.
More than just his support for the EDF.
PRENTISS: Hey, it occurred to me.
If all I knew about the EDF was that
they went around burning down
SUV dealerships
and housing developments...
-Well, that's a common misconception.
-That's my point.
What if our profile is right
and the UnSub held
the same misconception?
He wants to fit in,
he wants people around him
to appreciate what he does.
Isn't it possible that
the UnSub joined the EDF thinking...
-It was an arsonists' club?
-Sure, it's possible.
If we give Abby our UnSub's profile,
couldn't he help us identify him?
We can't give Abby the profile.
Not until we find out what he's hiding.
Still, it seems Abby's our best chance
of finding the UnSub.
-You want Abby or the ex-wife?
-Abby.
ALISON: At Berkeley 20 years ago,
Evan was a different person.
In every way. Warm. Funny.
Honest. Even naive.
-What happened?
-We had school loans.
His job...
Evan was an environmental consultant.
Builders hired him to
help them clean up their sites,
to make sure they were up
to EPA code.
Evan thought they hired him
to do the right thing.
-Did he?
-Well, developers don't care about
mercury in the ground water.
They just want to pass inspection
as fast and cheap as possible.
He had a budget. It was never enough,
but they didn't care how he spent it
as long as they passed inspection.
-Well, how did Evan deal with that?
-He drank.
-It got bad.
-How bad?
I thought he might hurt himself.
I didn't know if he could live with it.
How's his relationship
with your son, Liam?
He doesn't have one.
I had to threaten to take him to court
to get him to pay child support.
It must have either scared the hell
out of him or really pissed him off.
-Why's that?
-Because every Sunday night
for the past nine months, he tosses
$2,000 cash through the mail slot.
He left us long before I threw him out.
Honey, I don't know.
I will.
And I promise I'll make it up to you.
Okay. I love you, too.
-Everything okay?
-Yeah.
You know, for a guy claiming to be
innocent, he's acting pretty guilty.
Never underestimate the effect
of being confronted by the FBI
will have on a suspect.
I don't think he's affected.
I think he's freaked out.
In the time we've been watching him,
he's packed his belongings
into cardboard boxes,
hit his attorney's office and four banks.
It does look like
he's getting ready to run.
The question is, what do we do?
For now, nothing. We just watch.
PRENTISS:
All those people. No booze or music.
That's either a very lame going
away party or an EDF meeting.
We need to set surveillance up.
Grab your camera.
-Where should I set up?
-Right here.
He's hiding something.
We don't have a warrant,
we don't have surprise.
You want to intimidate him.
I want another chance to find out
what he's hiding.
Okay.
Smile, everybody.
(CAR ENGINE STARTING)
(CHATTERING)
Oh, wow,
it looks like intimidation worked.
So, what is it with you?
Shoving a bunch of dead kids
in my face wasn't enough?
Thought I needed
a little harassment, too?
It's over, all right?
I denounced the fires
and the people responsible for them,
and I just disbanded the EDF.
If the EDF had nothing to do with
the fires, why would you disband?
Do you have kids, Agent Hotchner?
I have a son like you.
Good. Then I'm going to tell you this,
one father to another.
I started the EDF for my son,
and yours.
Not to have some other guy's son
burn to death.
I hope your pictures come out.
Prentiss, does he look
like he weighs 185 to you?
165, maybe.
Why would he hold a meeting
when he knew we were watching?
He wanted us to see it.
He wanted to make sure that
we saw him trying to do the right thing.
You don't believe him?
I don't know.
He seemed pretty angry for a guy
who's trying to do the right thing.
That's why we need
to get those photos to Garcia.
What do you mean?
Either he's angry because
he's guilty and we're onto him,
or he's angry because his attempts
to do the right thing with the EDF
have gotten people killed.
But either way...
The arsonist was here tonight.
Yeah, I'll show you a sick, deranged
coward, you ignorant son of a bitch.
(CAR BEEPS)
God. Yeah, deranged coward.
(SHOUTING ANGRILY)
Yeah, I'll show you a deranged coward.
(ENGINE STARTING)
(GRUNTING)
Did she call you?
Where did she say she was going to?
Okay, good. Okay.
As soon as I get back...
(EXCLAIMING)
(MAN SCREAMING)
(TIRES SCREECHING)
(POLICE SIREN WAILS)
The victim was a CPA.
Greg Belew, 39, white, 6', handsome.
He was talking to his fiancée
on his cell when it happened.
It was kerosene. Same exact type
used in the other fires.
Well, Hotch had Abby under
surveillance at the time of the attack,
so we know Abby's not the UnSub.
Witnesses put a gold sedan here,
so we know this is our guy.
And given that the attack occurred less
than 30 minutes after the EDF meeting
and Abby's house is less than
a mile from here...
Chances are the UnSub
was at Abby's house.
He parked some distance away
and walked.
This victim wasn't even connected
to the EDF list.
No, he was just a guy who looked like
he had a nice life like the others.
The UnSub didn't go into a house.
He barely even got out of his car.
There was
no planning whatsoever. Why?
He's devolving. He's doing it fast.
It's more than that. This was random.
Impulsive. Adolescent. Like a tantrum.
He's got displaced aggression.
He listens to Abby denounce him
and his work, it enrages him.
So, that's the trigger.
The UnSub lashes out immediately.
MORGAN: Well, if he was at Abby's,
we have him on camera.
It's just a matter of time
before Garcia has a suspect list.
He's devolving too rapidly.
He's gonna attack again soon.
We're going to have to trust
this Abby guy with the profile. Let's go.
He's leaving,
but not in the way we thought.
-What do you mean?
-He's seeing his oncologist.
Oh, God.
(SCOFFS)
It makes sense.
The banks, the attorney.
He's putting his affairs in order.
Yeah.
Which one is your son?
Catcher.
HOTCH: Does he know you're here?
I think so, but we have an arrangement.
What's that?
We both pretend I'm not.
Okay. Go.
Sorry.
How long do you have?
(SIGHING)
Six months would be a miracle.
-And you haven't told anyone?
-No.
It's leukemia.
LUST can be lethal.
I started the EDF
right after I was diagnosed.
How did you know?
My father, when I was in high school,
everyone knew he had affairs.
Even my mother,
but nobody talked about it,
so I decided to confront him.
And I followed him.
The lawyers. The doctors.
The banks. The weight loss.
It all came back. He had lung cancer.
-You know what benzene is?
-I know it causes cancer.
Leukemia.
It's also highly flammable.
They kept it in underground tanks.
It's expensive to clean up,
cheaper to hide.
My specialty.
Most of the properties were zoned CR.
That's Commercial Restricted.
Warehouses where nobody worked,
so what's the harm, right?
Well, I just found out
that one of those jobs
was sold and rezoned ES.
Elementary School.
And you didn't report it?
I report it, they come after me
and I leave nothing for my son.
That's why I started the EDF,
the LUST list.
-I was trying to do the right thing.
-You still can.
I don't know who he is.
He was at your house last night
and he was angry.
ABBY: Yeah, everybody
was angry last night.
They were furious
that I shut it all down.
He was angry for a different reason.
What you said enraged him,
but he's a coward.
He wouldn't confront you.
He was probably the only one
who wasn't angry at the time.
He didn't express anything,
until after he left.
(SCOFFS)
Vincent Stiles.
HOTCH: Thank you.
Vincent Stiles.
HOTCH ON PHONE:
Abby's leaving. Keep a tail on him
until we have Stiles just to be sure.
Copy that. I have Abby.
(DIALING PHONE)
(SIREN WAILING)
Clear!
Clear. Gideon, he's not here.
He got the company names
from the EDF website
and he watched the offices until he
found employees that suited his taste.
He just left.
A neighbor saw him leave.
He's a pharmaceutical sales rep.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
He's been living here
since his divorce six weeks ago.
That's the stressor.
Yeah, talk to me.
Yeah, I'll let him know.
What?
Abby shook the tail we had on him.
Bet you were afraid
I wasn't coming, huh?
Look, those things
that I said about you.
STILES: Mmm-hmm.
I'm sorry. I had to say them.
I know you're an artist.
A genius. I appreciate your true value.
So, what, you just came here
to apologize?
No. I came here
because I respect your talent,
and I want to take full advantage of it.
(HOTCH SIGHING)
Garcia checked Abby's phone records
and he called Stiles
right after I left him.
Well, you saw something in Abby
that you identified with.
I catch killers. I save lives.
I'm a hero until
my key hits my front door,
and then I'm just the father
and the husband who's never there.
Yeah, I got that one.
Here's the thing.
When I'm home, I'm in this silent panic
because I know
that I have to be as good as I can,
as fast as I can, because
any minute the phone is going to ring
and my time is up, and that panic
is exactly what I saw in Abby.
Good. You're Abby.
You're a dead man walking.
You've got to make this right.
You have no time left.
How do you do it?
Come on, don't think about it.
You know the answer. What is it?
-I'd stop him.
-How?
I'd burn him.
The same way he killed them.
And I'd do it
where nobody could get hurt.
Which is why I would call it in first.
We got a 911 anonymous tip for
a fire in the Harbor District.
-Is it a warehouse?
-Yeah. 6000 San Alameda.
-Can you call Garcia?
-She's right here.
HOTCH: Hey, Garcia,
can you check the zoning code
on a warehouse at 6000 San Alameda?
Yeah, I certainly can.
The SFPD chopper
circled the harbor twice.
There's no sign of fire.
Okay, 6000 San Alameda
is a commercial storage facility.
But it looks like
the property was just sold,
and the lot was approved
for zone conversion.
-CR to ES?
-GARCIA: Yeah, that's right.
CR. Commercial Restricted.
What's "ES"?
Elementary school, and there's
a leaking benzene tank underneath it.
-It's not a false alarm.
-There's no fire there.
There's about to be.
I started without you.
This is how you do it, right?
Yeah, well, a fire's a fire.
But once it gets going, it don't matter.
That's not...
That's not really true though, is it?
I don't know what you're talking about.
There's something missing from
this scenario, don't you think?
I'm sorry. You lost me.
The innocent family.
You know, the victims.
That's what the suit's for, right?
So you can see the terror
on their faces as they burn.
But, of course,
then you're here to kill me, right?
Yeah.
You're dead right.
(SIRENS WAILING)
We can't put a benzene fire out
with water.
All water does is spread it around.
It burns too hot.
-Contaminates the ground table.
-So you let it burn.
We exhaust the fuel.
All we can do is cordon it off,
stop it from spreading,
and let the benzene burn out.
-Do you understand?
-Yeah, I got it.
Does Agent Hotchner?
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
-Yeah, what's up?
-Don't put me on speaker. Just listen.
ABBY: Well, yeah, you can go ahead
and shoot me.
And then you set this place
off like a bomb.
No?
(SCOFFS)
You know, this suit can handle
over 1,500 degrees.
Benzene burns so fast, I won't go
through half my air before it goes out.
Oh, you won't even go through
that much.
See, benzene burns at twice that.
(CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)
What are you doing?
-The right thing.
-Why?
You didn't know any of those people!
Neither did you!
This fire will spread.
Fire department's on its way.
-They can't fight a benzene fire.
-They'll contain it.
Seriously, what... How do you
plan on getting out of here?
I don't.
DISPATCHER: All engines,
confirmed report of major ignition,
6000 block of San Alameda.
Morgan, what are you doing?
(EXPLOSION)
Hotch, it's too late, man. I'm sorry.
-Hotch, stop. Stop! Stop!
-What, he's burning to death...
MORGAN: We told him, man.
-...and we're just going to stand here?
-Look at it, man. It's over.
He wanted his death
to mean something.
REPORTER: Authorities have
assured us that benzene
poses no immediate threat to the area.
And fire officials say so far
the only known fatalities appear to be
the two arsonists,
who have yet to be identified.
I found this in Abby's car.
HOTCH: Gandhi said,
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
"Learn as if you were to live forever."
HOTCH: Here he is. Thanks.
-Mom, what's going on?
-ALISON: It's okay, Liam.
Liam, my name's Aaron.
I was a friend of your dad's.
-I saw you with him at my practice.
-That's right.
You weren't at his funeral.
I couldn't be there.
I had to be with my family.
But I was thinking of him and you.
Your dad asked me to give you this.
Why you?
I don't know. Maybe because
I was young when my dad died.
Anyway, you may have
some questions someday
and please feel free to call me.
I'll do everything I can to answer them.
Thank you.
-DENNIS: What?
The house is on fire.
We have to get out of here.
Come on, we have to go.
No, no, the phone's dead. Go.
Come on. We got to go.
Come on. Stay down. Stay down.
Come on.
Come on. Hold on.
DENNIS: Shit.
PAUL: Mom.
(CHARLOTTE EXCLAIMS)
(PAUL COUGHING)
(GLASS SHATTERING)
(PAUL COUGHING)
(COUGHING)
DENNIS: (COUGHING) Get it.
(ALL COUGHING)
(GASPING)
(DENNIS GRUNTING)
It's stuck. I can't.
Somebody! Somebody!
Somebody, please, help us!
(ENGINE STARTING)
HOTCH: "The torture of a bad
conscience is the hell of a living soul."
John Calvin.
JJ: Two fires.
Two families in three weeks.
The first family, the Jarvises, all died.
Last night, the Cutlers.
Only one survivor. Charlotte Cutler.
She's in critical condition with burns
to over 60% of her body.
Well, it's no accident. It's the same MO.
No fuses. Kerosene.
Multiple points of origin. Families
targeted at home while they slept.
The Bay Area has a serial arsonist.
Statistically, 94% of
all serial arsonists are male,
75% are white,
and few, if any, are ever caught.
"Few"? You don't have a percentage?
16%.
And those 16% set 30-plus fires
before they're ever apprehended.
I'm trying to be more conversational.
Oh, it's not working.
Most serial arsonists
don't intend to inflict harm.
Injuries or deaths, those are accidental.
It's not about violence.
For this one it is.
It's also about power.
Seeing the destructive force
of their fires.
Watching the chaos.
For them, fire's just a substitute
for sexual release.
Oh, great. So, if these guys
don't get laid, they start fires?
Or in this case
burn entire families to death.
No statistic?
No. They don't have statistics
on this guy. One of a kind.
Thank God.
Three weeks ago, this serial arsonist
escalated into a serial killer
whose weapon is fire. Why?
A major event. Possibly the break up
of his primary sexual outlet.
A separation. A loss.
All right, what about the victims?
JJ: SFPD can't connect
the Jarvises and the Cutlers.
But witnesses put an unidentified,
late-model gold Sedan near both fires.
Run the car. Garcia, run the victims
through your system.
If there's any connection,
we need to find it.
-Yes, sir.
-Reid, victimology.
-I'll go see Charlotte Cutler.
-You took the burn ward last time.
It's all right. I got it.
Has she said anything about the fires?
I'm giving her as much painkiller
as I can.
She asked about her husband and son.
She passed out again
before I had to answer.
So she doesn't know?
DOCTOR: Whatever you tell her,
she won't live long enough
to know different.
I'll be right back.
Did she just tell us to lie
to a material witness?
No.
She told us that we could.
(CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO)
VEGA: Welcome. Ricardo Vega,
-SFFD Arson Unit.
-Hi. Jason Gideon.
This is Derek Morgan.
"The most likely arson suspect
is the first responder
"who set both fires
with premeditated intent
"to return to it
in a professional capacity."
-You've read my paper.
-VEGA: Profiles of A Serial Arsonist.
I make everyone on my team read it.
I've run the first responders
of both fires.
These are the pedigrees
of everyone that was here that night.
No fire, police or EMT
responded to both.
No one?
Except me, which is
why I've included copies
of my department performance reviews,
medical records, and psych evals.
-That's unnecessary.
-No, it's not.
Your best suspect is a fireman
who saw both fires burning.
That's me.
I'm saving you time.
Come on. I'll walk you through it.
Mrs. Cutler?
I'm Special Agent Aaron Hotchner.
-This is Special Agent Emily Prentiss.
-CHARLOTTE: Paul?
Where's Paul?
Your son...
Was with you the night of the fire.
That's why we're here.
I don't understand.
We're FBI agents.
We think that the fire
may have been set intentionally.
I'm very tired.
HOTCH:
I understand. This is very important.
Do you think you could just give us
a couple of minutes?
I want you to think back to that night.
Was there anything
out of the ordinary?
Think about the things
that you normally do.
Get undressed, wash your face.
I couldn't brush my teeth.
Dennis! The water's not working!
DENNIS: I'll check it.
Dennis got the water back on.
And then we...
Then you went to bed?
-Do you remember what woke you up?
-Paul.
Not the smoke alarms?
(SOBBING) It was Paul.
What else do you remember?
(ECG BEEPING FASTER)
Dennis unlocked it
and it wouldn't open.
-He unlocked what?
-The front door.
Somebody please help us. Please.
(GASPING)
-What's wrong?
-I can't.
(DENNIS COUGHING)
CHARLOTTE: Somebody!
Somebody, please...
Help us. Please.
(CHARLOTTE CRYING)
And then I saw the fireman.
And I knew it was going to be okay.
Dennis! Paul! Where's my baby?
-Paul. Where are they? Are they okay?
-They're fine.
They're just outside
in the waiting room.
Oh.
(GASPS)
I don't want them to see me like this.
No, I'm not ready. Could you, please,
tell them to wait a minute?
Please? I'm not ready.
Agent Prentiss will tell them.
You call Gideon and Morgan.
(DOOR OPENING)
I can stay with you until you're ready,
if you like.
(EXHALES WEARILY)
I'd like that.
She told her husband
there was no water.
-Where's the shut off?
-The main is at the sidewalk.
Okay, so I'm the UnSub.
I need to get in the house.
So I turn the water off right here,
and then I wait.
I wait for him to come outside.
I wait for them to go to sleep.
And then I carefully pour the fuel,
cutting access to the back door.
I leave them only one way to get out.
Front door.
She said Dennis unlocked it.
It still wouldn't open.
VEGA: When we got here
it was unlocked. Door opens in.
Nothing held it from the outside,
so whatever he used to keep it shut
was on the inside.
Here. See these light spots?
Something was jammed in there.
Shielded the surface
beneath it from the smoke.
Wedged in tight.
Some kind of expanding tool.
So where is it?
If he jammed it from the inside,
it'd still be there.
-We didn't find anything.
-He took it with him.
Well, that means he would have
still been inside as it was burning.
He would have had to
have been in full fire gear.
-She didn't see a fireman.
-She saw the UnSub.
Now, hold on, the house is on fire.
Why would he stay inside of it?
He wanted to watch them burn.
CHARLOTTE:
Somebody, please, help us!
S.F.F.D. Headquarters
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
This place is great. They have
their own espresso machine.
-Dr Reid, this is Detective Castro.
-Hi.
She is with the SFPD liaison.
I burned my hand
on the espresso machine.
(REID EXCLAIMS)
A genius, you said?
Yeah. His coordination drops off
when he's thinking.
Good, because we need to figure out
why this psycho chooses
these families.
He's most likely targeting the men.
They're the most similar members
of the two families.
Sue Jarvis, 29, worked full time.
Charlotte Cutler, 39,
was a stay-at-home mom.
The Jarvises had two girls
in public grade school.
The Cutlers had a son
in private high school.
The Jarvises went to church.
The Cutlers didn't.
Nothing holds. Except with the men.
Both in their late 30s, white,
approximately 6' tall, brown hair.
Nice homes. Nice families.
Good jobs. That's the connection.
What connection? Cutler was a lawyer.
Jarvis an executive.
There's no evidence they ever met.
But they're of the same type.
We know that most serial arsonists
are white males.
A complex MO develops over time.
This guy's in his mid-30s.
He sees the victims
as successful versions of himself
and he resents them for it.
I'll issue an APB
for a resentful 6' white guy.
Okay, great. I got it. Thanks.
Charlotte Cutler died.
Sorry. Next time, I'll go.
What have we got on the vehicle?
It was a 1999 gold Ford Taurus.
85% of that model/color combo
were sold domestically
as fleet vehicles.
-Company cars, rental fleets.
-You checked rental agencies?
Yeah, no one kept one
for the past three weeks
or rented during both fires.
So I was thinking, who keeps
a rental car for three weeks?
-And if it's not a rental?
-JJ: It would have to be a company car.
This guy, he had to have time
to stalk his victims
and if his job involved driving...
There was a serial arsonist
up in Seattle, early '90s.
-Paul Kenneth Keller.
-VEGA: Yeah.
He used to drive around all day
selling advertising for his dad's agency
and picking out places to burn.
Company car. Good work, JJ.
Let's do the profile.
The UnSub we're looking for
is a highly intelligent,
underachieving,
35-to-45-year-old white male
with a severe
narcissistic character disorder.
Nothing in his life works for long.
If he was married, he's now divorced.
And if employed, it won't last.
What he wants is admiration,
but he's got no respect for others.
Not their feelings,
and most certainly not their safety.
GIDEON: He feels entitled.
He's like a petulant adolescent.
He both resents and he absolutely
expects others to take care of him.
And given that a male relative
wouldn't tolerate this behavior,
he most likely lives
with a female relative.
His mother, grandmother,
aunt, whom he exploits.
His arson kit is expensive,
fire suit, oxygen mask.
This suggests that
he may be employed,
but his personality will not allow him
to work closely with others
in an office setting.
HOTCH:
This along with the information about
his vehicle leads us to believe that
he's a traveling salesman of some sort
who works for a company big enough
not to notice that he's a sociopath.
Okay. This scumbag has issues.
We all get it. But why fire?
REID: He's like a drug addict.
Only fire's his drug, and
each time an addict needs a fix,
they need more of the drug to get off,
so his crimes will most likely
get much worse.
It would be almost impossible
for him to quit without help.
Thank you very much.
She shoots, she scores!
The crowd goes wild.
I just put the entire
department on tach alert.
Garcia's on line one.
Brace yourselves. I'm gonna teach you
the meaning of "lust."
-Did she say "lust"?
-GARCIA: Mmm-hmm.
I cross-referenced
every known fact on the victims,
and I just found a website that links
both Dennis Cutler's
and Matthew Jarvis' companies on
a list of, "Businesses guilty of LUST."
I'm missing something.
"Leaking Underground Storage Tanks."
The web site belongs
to a recently formed
San Francisco chapter
of the Earth Defense Front.
The EDF? The eco-terrorist group?
They aren't eco-terrorists.
They're environmental activists.
Dennis Cutler and Matthew Jarvis
may disagree with you.
I'm pretty sure some EDF people
were sent up for torching an SUV
dealership a while back in San Diego.
-Nobody died in those fires.
-Maybe they got lucky.
No, it's not luck. This group's
dedicated to protecting life.
What do they, wait till no-one's home
and then light the place up?
That's exactly what they do.
So who...
Tell me who we're playing again today.
-Playing the Jets.
-The Jets, right. Okay. All right.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Well, go get them, buddy.
I'll be there in a second.
Katie, come on! We're not going to
be late twice in one week.
-Yeah.
-KATIE: I'm coming.
TOM: Come on, sweetie.
KATIE: Okay, I'm coming.
Right.
TOM: No, I got that. Yeah.
No, we're leaving...
We're leaving right now.
Yeah.
All right, guys, we ready?
KATIE: Mmm-hmm.
-Belt.
-Yes.
-BRAD: What's wrong?
-I don't know. It's not opening.
Are you telling me that the FBI doesn't
have files on organizations like this?
Lists of members?
Domestic groups like the EDF aren't
the Bureau's top priority right now.
Besides, they're more of a movement
than an organization.
There's a central ideology,
but the chapters are independent.
They don't pay dues
and they don't keep membership lists.
What if one of the chapters has
broken ranks and has a new belief?
BRAD: Dad.
TOM: What are you doing?
Hey! Get out, guys. Get out. Get out.
-Come on, kids, get out. Get out.
-KATIE: Daddy, it's not opening.
-Get out, now. Open the doors. Get out.
-Dad, it's not opening.
KATIE: It's not opening.
BRAD: It won't open, Dad.
Hurting people's never been part of it.
It doesn't track.
It doesn't fit the profile.
Garcia, can you identify
how many members
are in this particular EDF chapter?
It looks like 100 to 150.
TOM: What are you doing?
KATIE: It's not opening.
TOM: Come on, sweetheart.
KATIE: I'm scared, Daddy.
KATIE: I'm scared. We can't get out.
TOM: Get these doors open!
-Open!
-BRAD: I'm trying, Dad. Start the car.
TOM: I'm trying. It won't start.
KATIE: Hurry.
KATIE: Dad, I'm scared!
BRAD: I can't open it, Dad. It's stuck.
KATIE: I can't get out!
KATIE: Dad! I can't open it, Dad!
I can't get out!
(CAR TIRES SCREECHING)
HOTCH: Thomas R. Dunleivy.
Dunbrook Development Group.
Unless... Okay, I'm sending you
a file on the EDF leader.
Evan Abby, 41, 5'11", 185 pounds.
Thanks, Garcia.
Pardon me for asking, sir, but how
do we even know he's involved?
We don't. That's why we're
interviewing Abby at the crime scene.
If he is the leader of the EDF,
his reaction to all this should tell us
exactly what we need to know.
-Where do you guys want it?
-This is the spot.
When he arrives,
bring the fake bodies right past us.
Nice and slow.
I want him to get a good look.
Remind me to
never play poker with you guys.
(AMBULANCE SIREN WAILING)
-What do we have on this guy? Hotch?
-What?
What do we have on the EDF leader?
Evan Abby, 41, divorced.
Father of Liam, 14.
Environmental engineer.
Does consults on real estate projects.
Has TIRKS with every company
on the EDF list.
I can't wait to meet him.
(MEN CHATTERING)
GIDEON: Here he is.
Mr. Abby, these are Special Agents
Jason Gideon and Aaron Hotchner.
GIDEON:
Mr. Abby, thank you for coming.
Agent Prentiss said you needed
my help with a LUST-related fire?
Yeah. It's pretty bad.
Tom, Brad, Katie Dunleivy.
All burned to death.
(EXHALES)
So, where's the...
Where's the leaking storage tank?
Katie was only 12.
You've got a son about that age,
don't you?
Do you know Tom Dunleivy?
What is this?
He worked for
Dunbrook Development Group.
Why are you asking me
these questions?
You posted Dunbrook on your website.
My website?
Look, I came down here voluntarily
because I was told you needed help
with a LUST-related fire.
Three fires. Three families.
Three fathers
who worked for companies
posted on your EDF website.
All burned to death.
You worked for these companies.
-Every one on your list.
-Are you accusing me of a crime?
What do you think?
Mr. Abby, I support your cause.
I reject these methods.
Well, I don't know what cause
or methods you're referring to.
You created the site.
You posted the list.
You're the leader of the EDF.
Well, if you could prove that,
we wouldn't be
having this conversation, would we?
GIDEON: Mr. Abby, people are dying.
Children, Mr. Abby.
We know EDF strategy
has always abhorred violence.
I'm asking you,
has EDF strategy changed?
No. It hasn't.
He could barely look at this.
A serial arsonist wouldn't be able
to peel his eyes away.
He's hiding something.
More than just his support for the EDF.
PRENTISS: Hey, it occurred to me.
If all I knew about the EDF was that
they went around burning down
SUV dealerships
and housing developments...
-Well, that's a common misconception.
-That's my point.
What if our profile is right
and the UnSub held
the same misconception?
He wants to fit in,
he wants people around him
to appreciate what he does.
Isn't it possible that
the UnSub joined the EDF thinking...
-It was an arsonists' club?
-Sure, it's possible.
If we give Abby our UnSub's profile,
couldn't he help us identify him?
We can't give Abby the profile.
Not until we find out what he's hiding.
Still, it seems Abby's our best chance
of finding the UnSub.
-You want Abby or the ex-wife?
-Abby.
ALISON: At Berkeley 20 years ago,
Evan was a different person.
In every way. Warm. Funny.
Honest. Even naive.
-What happened?
-We had school loans.
His job...
Evan was an environmental consultant.
Builders hired him to
help them clean up their sites,
to make sure they were up
to EPA code.
Evan thought they hired him
to do the right thing.
-Did he?
-Well, developers don't care about
mercury in the ground water.
They just want to pass inspection
as fast and cheap as possible.
He had a budget. It was never enough,
but they didn't care how he spent it
as long as they passed inspection.
-Well, how did Evan deal with that?
-He drank.
-It got bad.
-How bad?
I thought he might hurt himself.
I didn't know if he could live with it.
How's his relationship
with your son, Liam?
He doesn't have one.
I had to threaten to take him to court
to get him to pay child support.
It must have either scared the hell
out of him or really pissed him off.
-Why's that?
-Because every Sunday night
for the past nine months, he tosses
$2,000 cash through the mail slot.
He left us long before I threw him out.
Honey, I don't know.
I will.
And I promise I'll make it up to you.
Okay. I love you, too.
-Everything okay?
-Yeah.
You know, for a guy claiming to be
innocent, he's acting pretty guilty.
Never underestimate the effect
of being confronted by the FBI
will have on a suspect.
I don't think he's affected.
I think he's freaked out.
In the time we've been watching him,
he's packed his belongings
into cardboard boxes,
hit his attorney's office and four banks.
It does look like
he's getting ready to run.
The question is, what do we do?
For now, nothing. We just watch.
PRENTISS:
All those people. No booze or music.
That's either a very lame going
away party or an EDF meeting.
We need to set surveillance up.
Grab your camera.
-Where should I set up?
-Right here.
He's hiding something.
We don't have a warrant,
we don't have surprise.
You want to intimidate him.
I want another chance to find out
what he's hiding.
Okay.
Smile, everybody.
(CAR ENGINE STARTING)
(CHATTERING)
Oh, wow,
it looks like intimidation worked.
So, what is it with you?
Shoving a bunch of dead kids
in my face wasn't enough?
Thought I needed
a little harassment, too?
It's over, all right?
I denounced the fires
and the people responsible for them,
and I just disbanded the EDF.
If the EDF had nothing to do with
the fires, why would you disband?
Do you have kids, Agent Hotchner?
I have a son like you.
Good. Then I'm going to tell you this,
one father to another.
I started the EDF for my son,
and yours.
Not to have some other guy's son
burn to death.
I hope your pictures come out.
Prentiss, does he look
like he weighs 185 to you?
165, maybe.
Why would he hold a meeting
when he knew we were watching?
He wanted us to see it.
He wanted to make sure that
we saw him trying to do the right thing.
You don't believe him?
I don't know.
He seemed pretty angry for a guy
who's trying to do the right thing.
That's why we need
to get those photos to Garcia.
What do you mean?
Either he's angry because
he's guilty and we're onto him,
or he's angry because his attempts
to do the right thing with the EDF
have gotten people killed.
But either way...
The arsonist was here tonight.
Yeah, I'll show you a sick, deranged
coward, you ignorant son of a bitch.
(CAR BEEPS)
God. Yeah, deranged coward.
(SHOUTING ANGRILY)
Yeah, I'll show you a deranged coward.
(ENGINE STARTING)
(GRUNTING)
Did she call you?
Where did she say she was going to?
Okay, good. Okay.
As soon as I get back...
(EXCLAIMING)
(MAN SCREAMING)
(TIRES SCREECHING)
(POLICE SIREN WAILS)
The victim was a CPA.
Greg Belew, 39, white, 6', handsome.
He was talking to his fiancée
on his cell when it happened.
It was kerosene. Same exact type
used in the other fires.
Well, Hotch had Abby under
surveillance at the time of the attack,
so we know Abby's not the UnSub.
Witnesses put a gold sedan here,
so we know this is our guy.
And given that the attack occurred less
than 30 minutes after the EDF meeting
and Abby's house is less than
a mile from here...
Chances are the UnSub
was at Abby's house.
He parked some distance away
and walked.
This victim wasn't even connected
to the EDF list.
No, he was just a guy who looked like
he had a nice life like the others.
The UnSub didn't go into a house.
He barely even got out of his car.
There was
no planning whatsoever. Why?
He's devolving. He's doing it fast.
It's more than that. This was random.
Impulsive. Adolescent. Like a tantrum.
He's got displaced aggression.
He listens to Abby denounce him
and his work, it enrages him.
So, that's the trigger.
The UnSub lashes out immediately.
MORGAN: Well, if he was at Abby's,
we have him on camera.
It's just a matter of time
before Garcia has a suspect list.
He's devolving too rapidly.
He's gonna attack again soon.
We're going to have to trust
this Abby guy with the profile. Let's go.
He's leaving,
but not in the way we thought.
-What do you mean?
-He's seeing his oncologist.
Oh, God.
(SCOFFS)
It makes sense.
The banks, the attorney.
He's putting his affairs in order.
Yeah.
Which one is your son?
Catcher.
HOTCH: Does he know you're here?
I think so, but we have an arrangement.
What's that?
We both pretend I'm not.
Okay. Go.
Sorry.
How long do you have?
(SIGHING)
Six months would be a miracle.
-And you haven't told anyone?
-No.
It's leukemia.
LUST can be lethal.
I started the EDF
right after I was diagnosed.
How did you know?
My father, when I was in high school,
everyone knew he had affairs.
Even my mother,
but nobody talked about it,
so I decided to confront him.
And I followed him.
The lawyers. The doctors.
The banks. The weight loss.
It all came back. He had lung cancer.
-You know what benzene is?
-I know it causes cancer.
Leukemia.
It's also highly flammable.
They kept it in underground tanks.
It's expensive to clean up,
cheaper to hide.
My specialty.
Most of the properties were zoned CR.
That's Commercial Restricted.
Warehouses where nobody worked,
so what's the harm, right?
Well, I just found out
that one of those jobs
was sold and rezoned ES.
Elementary School.
And you didn't report it?
I report it, they come after me
and I leave nothing for my son.
That's why I started the EDF,
the LUST list.
-I was trying to do the right thing.
-You still can.
I don't know who he is.
He was at your house last night
and he was angry.
ABBY: Yeah, everybody
was angry last night.
They were furious
that I shut it all down.
He was angry for a different reason.
What you said enraged him,
but he's a coward.
He wouldn't confront you.
He was probably the only one
who wasn't angry at the time.
He didn't express anything,
until after he left.
(SCOFFS)
Vincent Stiles.
HOTCH: Thank you.
Vincent Stiles.
HOTCH ON PHONE:
Abby's leaving. Keep a tail on him
until we have Stiles just to be sure.
Copy that. I have Abby.
(DIALING PHONE)
(SIREN WAILING)
Clear!
Clear. Gideon, he's not here.
He got the company names
from the EDF website
and he watched the offices until he
found employees that suited his taste.
He just left.
A neighbor saw him leave.
He's a pharmaceutical sales rep.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
He's been living here
since his divorce six weeks ago.
That's the stressor.
Yeah, talk to me.
Yeah, I'll let him know.
What?
Abby shook the tail we had on him.
Bet you were afraid
I wasn't coming, huh?
Look, those things
that I said about you.
STILES: Mmm-hmm.
I'm sorry. I had to say them.
I know you're an artist.
A genius. I appreciate your true value.
So, what, you just came here
to apologize?
No. I came here
because I respect your talent,
and I want to take full advantage of it.
(HOTCH SIGHING)
Garcia checked Abby's phone records
and he called Stiles
right after I left him.
Well, you saw something in Abby
that you identified with.
I catch killers. I save lives.
I'm a hero until
my key hits my front door,
and then I'm just the father
and the husband who's never there.
Yeah, I got that one.
Here's the thing.
When I'm home, I'm in this silent panic
because I know
that I have to be as good as I can,
as fast as I can, because
any minute the phone is going to ring
and my time is up, and that panic
is exactly what I saw in Abby.
Good. You're Abby.
You're a dead man walking.
You've got to make this right.
You have no time left.
How do you do it?
Come on, don't think about it.
You know the answer. What is it?
-I'd stop him.
-How?
I'd burn him.
The same way he killed them.
And I'd do it
where nobody could get hurt.
Which is why I would call it in first.
We got a 911 anonymous tip for
a fire in the Harbor District.
-Is it a warehouse?
-Yeah. 6000 San Alameda.
-Can you call Garcia?
-She's right here.
HOTCH: Hey, Garcia,
can you check the zoning code
on a warehouse at 6000 San Alameda?
Yeah, I certainly can.
The SFPD chopper
circled the harbor twice.
There's no sign of fire.
Okay, 6000 San Alameda
is a commercial storage facility.
But it looks like
the property was just sold,
and the lot was approved
for zone conversion.
-CR to ES?
-GARCIA: Yeah, that's right.
CR. Commercial Restricted.
What's "ES"?
Elementary school, and there's
a leaking benzene tank underneath it.
-It's not a false alarm.
-There's no fire there.
There's about to be.
I started without you.
This is how you do it, right?
Yeah, well, a fire's a fire.
But once it gets going, it don't matter.
That's not...
That's not really true though, is it?
I don't know what you're talking about.
There's something missing from
this scenario, don't you think?
I'm sorry. You lost me.
The innocent family.
You know, the victims.
That's what the suit's for, right?
So you can see the terror
on their faces as they burn.
But, of course,
then you're here to kill me, right?
Yeah.
You're dead right.
(SIRENS WAILING)
We can't put a benzene fire out
with water.
All water does is spread it around.
It burns too hot.
-Contaminates the ground table.
-So you let it burn.
We exhaust the fuel.
All we can do is cordon it off,
stop it from spreading,
and let the benzene burn out.
-Do you understand?
-Yeah, I got it.
Does Agent Hotchner?
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
-Yeah, what's up?
-Don't put me on speaker. Just listen.
ABBY: Well, yeah, you can go ahead
and shoot me.
And then you set this place
off like a bomb.
No?
(SCOFFS)
You know, this suit can handle
over 1,500 degrees.
Benzene burns so fast, I won't go
through half my air before it goes out.
Oh, you won't even go through
that much.
See, benzene burns at twice that.
(CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)
What are you doing?
-The right thing.
-Why?
You didn't know any of those people!
Neither did you!
This fire will spread.
Fire department's on its way.
-They can't fight a benzene fire.
-They'll contain it.
Seriously, what... How do you
plan on getting out of here?
I don't.
DISPATCHER: All engines,
confirmed report of major ignition,
6000 block of San Alameda.
Morgan, what are you doing?
(EXPLOSION)
Hotch, it's too late, man. I'm sorry.
-Hotch, stop. Stop! Stop!
-What, he's burning to death...
MORGAN: We told him, man.
-...and we're just going to stand here?
-Look at it, man. It's over.
He wanted his death
to mean something.
REPORTER: Authorities have
assured us that benzene
poses no immediate threat to the area.
And fire officials say so far
the only known fatalities appear to be
the two arsonists,
who have yet to be identified.
I found this in Abby's car.
HOTCH: Gandhi said,
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
"Learn as if you were to live forever."
HOTCH: Here he is. Thanks.
-Mom, what's going on?
-ALISON: It's okay, Liam.
Liam, my name's Aaron.
I was a friend of your dad's.
-I saw you with him at my practice.
-That's right.
You weren't at his funeral.
I couldn't be there.
I had to be with my family.
But I was thinking of him and you.
Your dad asked me to give you this.
Why you?
I don't know. Maybe because
I was young when my dad died.
Anyway, you may have
some questions someday
and please feel free to call me.
I'll do everything I can to answer them.
Thank you.