copying both straight and gay killers.’’
Hotchner said, ‘‘The killer could be straight, gay, or judging by the complete lack of sexual evidence at the scenes, asexual. In fact, by avoiding the sexual aspects of the case, the UnSub might even be trying to remove his own sexuality from the equation.’’
‘‘I think that’s it,’’ Reid said, nodding. ‘‘He’s trying to compartmentalize his own sexuality from these crimes, which is not easy considering the extreme degree of sexual dysfunction in the crimes he’s copying.’’
Rossi lifted an eyebrow and added, ‘‘That may be because he views himself as a performance artist, for whom the ultimate expression is not the murder itself, but the photographic record of that murder.’’
Shaking his head, Tovar said, ‘‘So, where does that leave us—back at square one?’’
‘‘Not completely,’’ Reid said. ‘‘We know his signature.’’
‘‘Yeah,’’ Lorenzon said, ‘‘his signature is he kills people.’’
‘‘Signature?’’ Tovar asked. ‘‘He’s used a gun on two, cut up two, and God only knows what he did to the other.’’
Rossi said, ‘‘Don’t confuse signature with MO.’’
‘‘There’s a difference?’’ Tovar asked.
With a nod, Rossi said, ‘‘ ‘Modus Operandi’ is how he does the crime. ‘Signature’ is what he has to do for the crime to get him where he’s going. What gets him off.’’
‘‘And what’s that?’’
Rossi pointed at the picture on the flat screen. ‘‘The photos.’’
Morgan twitched a frown. ‘‘Someone is re-creating murders by some of the most infamous serial killers of all time—why?’’
‘‘Simple,’’ Prentiss said. ‘‘This guy wants to be infamous, too.’’
They all turned toward her, Hotchner noticing that Rossi gave her an encouraging nod.
‘‘Is there any other way this pathology makes any sense?" she asked. "An UnSub who wants to make a place for himself in the Hall of Infamy?’’
Nobody seemed to have an answer for that.
Raising his voice just a little, bringing the focus of the room to the oldest old pro among them, Rossi said, ‘‘He’s killed five people in three different jurisdictions—which means he’s working hard at not getting caught, even though his desire for recognition has him sending photos on ahead. He’s got to have some knowledge of police work, and even police politics—he knows these jurisdictions won’t cooperate with each other without someone like Detectives Lorenzon and Tovar pushing them.’’
Hotchner nodded, adding, "The UnSub probably also knows the more places he hits, the longer it will take for people to identify his MO and ID him as a serial. Despite the photos he’s sending, he likely expected to go longer without us being brought in.’’
Lorenzon looked toward Morgan. ‘‘Then you are going to help us?’’
‘‘Not my call,’’ Morgan said, and turned to Hotchner.
‘‘Yes, Tate,’’ Hotchner said, ‘‘we’re going to help.’’
Lorenzon nodded. ‘‘Thank you. We’re going to need it.’’
No one disagreed.
‘‘JJ,’’ Hotchner said, ‘‘let’s start by you telling Wauconda PD we’re coming in at the invitation of both Chicago and Chicago Heights. Tell them we’d like to oversee a joint task force among the jurisdictions involved in the case. My guess is, before this is over, it won’t be just three.’’
‘‘On it,’’ Jareau said.
Turning to Reid, Hotchner said, ‘‘Background history on the cases he’s copying.’’
‘‘Pleasure,’’ Reid said.
‘‘Prentiss, read the police reports and start working on victimology.’’
‘‘Right.’’
Hotchner sighed heavily. ‘‘All right, people, let’s get packed up. We’re wheels up at Andrews in an hour.’’
Tovar said, ‘‘Thank you for coming on this.’’ Hotchner said, ‘‘We’ll do everything we can, Hilly.’’
‘‘Does that mean . . . ?’’
‘‘It means we’ll
Jean-Claude Izzo, Howard Curtis