[Criminal Minds] years before love

The helicopter hovered not far from the crime scene. Looking out from the window, it was a highland with no roads. I don't know whether it was because it had been cleaned up or because of the wind and snow. There were no traces of humans on the ground.The snow-covered cliff juts out. Judging from the photos at the scene, this is where the body should be dumped.

"The scenery looks good." Hotch looked over, looking down from the high ground, the view is quite good, the nearby ice and snow, the colorful tundra in the distance and even the water color in the distance are all faintly visible, even though it is already very late according to the local time , the sun still hangs slantingly despite not being able to dispel the cold.But due to the terrain, at least as far as the eye can see, there are no traces of human activities except for sporadic sleds.

Wallis Miller responded in confusion, "Well, the reporter wanted to take pictures of the scenery below from here."

Rossi took the dug out photos and compared them again. The scene had been thoroughly cleaned and no traces could be seen.Fortunately, the clarity and restoration ability of the professional photography lens is quite good. The relative relationship between the specific positions of the heads and the surrounding details are very complete.The solo shot of "Devil" also shows very well with an acceptable level of contrast.

He pointed to the word, "Is it blood?"

Miller nodded, "It's been tested, it's animal blood."

"Let's go." Rossi handed the photo to Hotch, beckoning to Miller, "Go where they were last seen."

"What do you see?" Miller couldn't help asking.

"The unknown suspect is male, local, no older than 35 years old, strong, very familiar with the area, owns transport - possibly a small helicopter, and is alone."

"Ok?"

Rossi took the map that Hotch had drawn for a long time before, and he pointed to the small dots representing the places where the dead animals were found and continued, "Then his range of activities can be quite large, but relatively speaking, these places are concentrated in this area .”

He made a rough circle casually, and continued, "This place has a special meaning to him."

"Special significance?"

"It makes him feel safe here or something special," Hotch said. "In other words, he probably lives near here."

"Well, there are indeed three small towns nearby, including the one we're going to. But are you really sure it's not a demon?" Officer Miller looked at them in disbelief.

Rossi smiled, "Aaron?"

"Officer, that wasn't on our radar in the first place." Hotch shook his head.

"I've seen many cases that are much weirder than this, and I've caught countless serial killers, but it's a pity that I haven't been lucky enough to see the devil so far." Rossi patted him, not sure if it was comforting.

"Dave, do you think he still has any victims on his hands?" Hotch asked worriedly, adding the date of discovery near each dot.

"It's hard to judge from the condition of the remains. It can only be said that if this is his first crime, then his skills are very mature." Rossi took out his notebook and roughly listed the timeline, "Unlike most of our serial killers, Usually the behavior towards the whole family has less to do with sex than with some kind of emotional deficit. But Aaron, don't you think that's weird?"

"What?" Hotch blinked.

"The amount of time he spent with animals." Rossi slapped a thick stack of photos, "It's pretty common for serial killers to practice skills on animals, but it's either a very long time, probably starting as a teenager , or a few simple attempts. It is not so easy for an adult to project human desires onto animals. Yet killing so many animals in such a short period of time?"

"This is not practice, this is crime." Hotch frowned. "His behavior has escalated."

"Hunting these beasts is not easier than killing people. He is a good hunter." Rossi nodded. "I don't think his target was human at first, but now he has a hard time stopping."

"The men here are all good hunters, but why?" Miller couldn't keep up, and glanced at the stack of photos. The top one showed three huge reindeer.

"Regardless of why he's killing, it's clear his needs aren't being met. He's just getting deeper and deeper." Hotch pursed his lower lip and said softly, "Choosing a victim like this, I guess something is wrong with his family .”

"Considering the frequency of his crimes and the sophistication of his means, I'm inclined that he does have other victims in his hands, and they are probably dead." Rossi looked at Miller, "Keep an eye out for any possible missing persons. In addition, we Need to speak to your pastor."

"Priest?" Miller was a little surprised, hesitantly asked, "But, but didn't you say you don't think about demons?"

"Pastors look for families that are having problems and young people whose behavior is changing," Hotch explained.

"But you can't force him to speak." The helicopter had already arrived over the small town and was about to land.

"Oh, we can convince him," Rossi replied unapologetically.

"Uh, there's another problem." Miller seemed a little embarrassed, "As you can see, this is really just a small town, and it's the tourist season again..."

Rossi frowned, "You're not going to let us sleep on the streets, are you?"

"No, it's just that there is only one hotel here, and they only have one unbooked room. Of course, you can go to my house if you need..."

Rossi breathed a sigh of relief, before Hotch could speak, "It's not a problem, at worst we can sleep over at the office."

Hotch took one look at him and got off the helicopter first.