artist,’’ Hotchner said, ‘‘you have to look at the painting.’’
The comparison was one Hotchner had shared with Prentiss, and that he’d probably told them all at some point or other. What Prentiss didn’t know was that Hotchner had heard it from Rossi when Hotch first joined the BAU.
Hotchner nodded at JJ, who clicked a button on her laptop, bringing the Chicago Heights crime scene onto the large video screen.
‘‘Set aside any emotional response,’’ Hotchner said. ‘‘Now, look at the photo and tell me what you can deduce about the UnSub."
Two young people, shot to death in a parked car on a rain-soaked blacktop, a crumpled piece of paper on the road near the driver’s door.
Tovar studied the photo for several long moments. ‘‘We know he stalked the neighborhood, and probably the victims.’’
‘‘Which tells us?’’
‘‘He’s careful?’’ Tovar asked, a kid guessing at the right answer in algebra class.
‘‘Okay,’’ Morgan said. ‘‘What else?’’
Tovar thought a while. Then he said, ‘‘Dr. Reid says the perp went to the driver’s window, because the male was a greater threat. Another sign that he’s careful.’’
‘‘Good. Anything else?’’
‘‘He dropped the piece of paper right where Berkowitz did the same. Means he’d studied the original crime. He mimicked it.’’
‘‘That’s right,’’ Hotchner said. ‘‘Which shows?’’
‘‘He’s . . . detail oriented?’’
‘‘Right,’’ Rossi said. ‘‘Now, what do you know about most careful, detail-oriented people?’’
‘‘Mostly, they’re a-holes,’’ Lorenzon piped in.
Rossi chuckled. ‘‘And a lot of them are cops—but we’ll set aside the chicken and the egg discussion on that point.’’ To Tovar, he said, ‘‘What else about detail-oriented types?’’
‘‘Well, they’re conservative,’’ Tovar said. ‘‘Not necessarily in the political sense, but . . . in that they don’t usually take big risks.’’
‘‘I agree,’’ Rossi said. ‘‘So, our UnSub is taking a huge risk by shooting two people on a public street. Why would he do that?’’
Tovar asked, ‘‘Isn’t that the question we brought to you ? One of ’em, anyway?’’
Nodding, Rossi said, ‘‘The big answer will come when we have the profile fully developed. But for right now, in just this Chicago Heights case? He took the risk because he was relatively certain he could commit the deed and escape. He had it well planned out. He had studied not just Berkowitz, but every aspect of this attack as well. Escape routes—what to do if things went wrong. He might even have gone so far as to make bogus 911 calls, so he could gauge police response time. This UnSub doesn’t blow his nose without planning it out.’’
‘‘Oh-kay,’’ Tovar said, eyes narrow.
Rising, pacing now, occasionally glancing at the grim photo on the screen, Rossi said, ‘‘Even though this careful, detail-oriented UnSub studied and planned every detail of the crime, he made a mistake.’’
‘‘You keep saying that,’’ Tovar said. ‘‘What the hell was it?’’
Reid stopped and said, ‘‘Remember what I said when we first looked at this photo? He went to the wrong side of the car.’’
‘‘For safety sake, he did.’’
‘‘But for re-creating a famous crime he didn’t,’’ Reid said. ‘‘Berkowitz always went to the passenger side—the women were the objects of his anger. He shot them first. So our UnSub made a mistake.’’
‘‘How does that matter?’’
Rossi said, ‘‘It’s something we can use against him.’’
Shaking his head, Tovar said, ‘‘I still don’t follow that.’’
‘‘Go back to careful, detail-oriented people in general. How do they usually react when someone points out they’re wrong?’’
Lorenzon said, ‘‘They get well and truly pissed off.’’
‘‘Uh huh,’’ Rossi said with a devilish little grin. ‘‘And what if the person who
The comparison was one Hotchner had shared with Prentiss, and that he’d probably told them all at some point or other. What Prentiss didn’t know was that Hotchner had heard it from Rossi when Hotch first joined the BAU.
Hotchner nodded at JJ, who clicked a button on her laptop, bringing the Chicago Heights crime scene onto the large video screen.
‘‘Set aside any emotional response,’’ Hotchner said. ‘‘Now, look at the photo and tell me what you can deduce about the UnSub."
Two young people, shot to death in a parked car on a rain-soaked blacktop, a crumpled piece of paper on the road near the driver’s door.
Tovar studied the photo for several long moments. ‘‘We know he stalked the neighborhood, and probably the victims.’’
‘‘Which tells us?’’
‘‘He’s careful?’’ Tovar asked, a kid guessing at the right answer in algebra class.
‘‘Okay,’’ Morgan said. ‘‘What else?’’
Tovar thought a while. Then he said, ‘‘Dr. Reid says the perp went to the driver’s window, because the male was a greater threat. Another sign that he’s careful.’’
‘‘Good. Anything else?’’
‘‘He dropped the piece of paper right where Berkowitz did the same. Means he’d studied the original crime. He mimicked it.’’
‘‘That’s right,’’ Hotchner said. ‘‘Which shows?’’
‘‘He’s . . . detail oriented?’’
‘‘Right,’’ Rossi said. ‘‘Now, what do you know about most careful, detail-oriented people?’’
‘‘Mostly, they’re a-holes,’’ Lorenzon piped in.
Rossi chuckled. ‘‘And a lot of them are cops—but we’ll set aside the chicken and the egg discussion on that point.’’ To Tovar, he said, ‘‘What else about detail-oriented types?’’
‘‘Well, they’re conservative,’’ Tovar said. ‘‘Not necessarily in the political sense, but . . . in that they don’t usually take big risks.’’
‘‘I agree,’’ Rossi said. ‘‘So, our UnSub is taking a huge risk by shooting two people on a public street. Why would he do that?’’
Tovar asked, ‘‘Isn’t that the question we brought to you ? One of ’em, anyway?’’
Nodding, Rossi said, ‘‘The big answer will come when we have the profile fully developed. But for right now, in just this Chicago Heights case? He took the risk because he was relatively certain he could commit the deed and escape. He had it well planned out. He had studied not just Berkowitz, but every aspect of this attack as well. Escape routes—what to do if things went wrong. He might even have gone so far as to make bogus 911 calls, so he could gauge police response time. This UnSub doesn’t blow his nose without planning it out.’’
‘‘Oh-kay,’’ Tovar said, eyes narrow.
Rising, pacing now, occasionally glancing at the grim photo on the screen, Rossi said, ‘‘Even though this careful, detail-oriented UnSub studied and planned every detail of the crime, he made a mistake.’’
‘‘You keep saying that,’’ Tovar said. ‘‘What the hell was it?’’
Reid stopped and said, ‘‘Remember what I said when we first looked at this photo? He went to the wrong side of the car.’’
‘‘For safety sake, he did.’’
‘‘But for re-creating a famous crime he didn’t,’’ Reid said. ‘‘Berkowitz always went to the passenger side—the women were the objects of his anger. He shot them first. So our UnSub made a mistake.’’
‘‘How does that matter?’’
Rossi said, ‘‘It’s something we can use against him.’’
Shaking his head, Tovar said, ‘‘I still don’t follow that.’’
‘‘Go back to careful, detail-oriented people in general. How do they usually react when someone points out they’re wrong?’’
Lorenzon said, ‘‘They get well and truly pissed off.’’
‘‘Uh huh,’’ Rossi said with a devilish little grin. ‘‘And what if the person who
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