[Criminal Minds] years before love

So now, Hotch is standing in the NYPD, trying to track down the maniac the media has dubbed "The Flame Maker" before Christmas.

In front of him was a pile of photos of the scene after the fire. Almost all the houses and furnishings had been completely destroyed by the fire and the fire-fighting measures. The small statue was particularly conspicuous in the chaos.

"It didn't attract our attention at first." The New York police had been working on this for several weeks, and the police officer in charge, Lee, seemed a little tired. He pointed to the date indicated, "This is the earliest case that has been counted so far. It was an abandoned warehouse that had been abandoned for decades, and there were piles of furniture that no one wanted. There were no casualties. The fire brigade initially believed that the fire was caused by homeless people throwing cigarette butts. Although they found the statue, they did not pay much attention. "

Hotch nodded. "So what caught your attention? I guess for a city like New York, the number of fires spread out across the city would be unremarkable, and no one was killed until recently."

"Yes, it's inconspicuous, mostly abandoned empty houses, some in empty backyards, no casualties." Lee nodded, took one of the photos and handed it to Hotch, "Until the church fire last week, no one Aware of the emergence of a serial arsonist."

The structure of the church can still be vaguely seen in the photo, but most of the pews are left with ashes, the cross is smashed on the ground, and on a relatively clean ground, there are small statues erected abruptly.

"This is an old church on the outskirts of the city. It was late at night when the fire broke out. Fortunately, no one was there. The wooden tables and chairs fueled the fire... and the priest insisted that it wasn't theirs." Lee paused, in the thick A piece of information was pulled out from a stack of materials, "The firefighter remembered that friends in other areas mentioned this to him, empty houses on fire and weird statues. So we conducted a case review..."

He sighed, "And then we found this. After that, similar cases would be dealt with as soon as possible. We tried to determine the time and place of his next crime, but failed until we had our first victim three days ago." or ... and then we started to fear that he would do it on Christmas, which could have dire consequences."

"This firefighter?" Hotch glanced at the profile in his hand, at least it looked clean and clean.

"Well, we investigated him for the first time, and we have been doing it for almost 20 years. The whole family is firefighters, and almost all friends are in this circle. He is not suspected, although not every time, but most of the cases when he happens There is a credible alibi."

"Is there anything special about the deceased?" Hotch looked at the last case. Long chains fixed the deceased on the recliner. There were traces of combustion accelerant on the carpet and bed sheets. It's easy to tell if there were other injuries before the fire, but it's safe to say she was fully dressed.

"An old lady who lives alone and has no obvious enemies. She used to be a middle school teacher and has a daughter who doesn't work locally." Lee pouted, "At least we didn't find any problems."

"Are you sure... this case was committed by the same person as before?" Hotch frowned, "Accelerator, chains, this is definitely a murder."

"It's different from the previous one." Lee hesitated a bit, "But... they always improve their modus operandi, don't they? And this statue?"

"You tell the firefighters to look out for it, and they'll talk about it." Hotch pointed to the local newspaper on the table, where the headline read "The Flame Maker" in bold letters with horrifying pictures, "This Everyone in the city knows it."

"You think this death was a copycat case? But the statue..."

"No. I think it's murder. Why did he choose this old man? How did he lock her to the chair? What else did he do? We need a more detailed autopsy report." Hotch looked meaningfully He glanced and shook his head, "And it's not like the same person is committing crimes. Every arsonist has his own mark. This arsonist spent two months searching for empty houses in this city and lighting them up. Not wanting to draw casualties and your attention, he was successful and you didn't realize he was there until the church fire. As for the statue - too many firefighters have seen it."

Lee was a little confused, "Then what is his purpose? Just to burn it for fun?"

"Most pyromaniacs get their satisfaction from fire and destruction." Hotch gazed at the statue of the Madonna, "and you call him the Firemaker."

"This is New York. I can't stop the media." Lee glanced at the newspaper helplessly.

"Except for the last one, all the cases happened on Sunday." Hotch didn't comment on the designation, but circled the dates, obviously seven days apart for one or two cases.

"That means?"

"Sunday. Either..." Hotch covered the statue, "or he just wasn't at work that day. I'm going to take a look at this church, and you need to have your men investigate the dead man again."