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Brooktookaseatin the chair that gave her a view of the main foyer. She preferred to know if someone needed her for something, as well being able to monitor the foot traffic from the elevator. She had already collected her tablet and her coffee, noting that Agent Tonkel had removed his dress coat and laid it over the arm of the couch.
"We can dispense with the formalities. Call me Derek."
"I appreciate you coming into the office, Derek," Brook said in agreement. "And please, call me Brook."
"As I explained on the phone, I already had another meeting at Quantico regarding an active investigation, so it wasn't an inconvenience." Derek took a sip of his coffee, nodding his gratitude for the hot beverage. She certainly appreciated his roundabout way of indicating his stance on closed cases. "Can I just say that I'm already looking forward to summer? This weather up here is way too cold for a southern boy like me."
"I'll get right to it, Derek. It's come to our attention that seven past NCIS cases from several different offices might be linked," Brook stated, diving right on into their discussion. She leaned forward and handed him her tablet, which currently displayed the links between all seven victims. "I can almost certainly assume you probably weren't even aware of at least four of these investigations. They occurred at different Areas of Responsibility (AOR), and always off base, making it even more difficult to link them due to jurisdictional issues. Other NCIS agents were assigned at the time, even the ones within your office's AOR."
"Do you know why I took this meeting?" Derek asked, setting the tablet down on the coffee table next to the tray without so much as glancing at the screen. "You had the best closure rate in the Bureau. There was no other profiler like you in the fact that you aided the agents on the various cases as if you were part of their team. I can admire that, and you've clearly earned the respect of your peers. Which has me curious as to why you would allow the grief of a father—no matter what rank he was or power he may still hold within the government—to persuade you to take on a successfully closed case."
"You aren't here out of respect, Derek." Brook motioned toward the tablet. "You're here because you're afraid you made a mistake that could negatively affect your career. I have no idea how the prosecution got away with pursuing this case or putting an innocent man behind bars, but Austin Ridley's career and life were ruined the day that Kelsey Marie Elliott was murdered. He was set up to take the fall by the actual assailant, and I plan to prove that in a court of law."
"The tire iron that dealt the final blow that killed Kelsey Elliott had Ridley's prints all over it," Derek countered, though his tone didn't seem to hold the conviction of someone who believed he was right. "Not to mention that there had been a criminal report filed by local law enforcement regarding a domestic abuse call."
"Austin Ridley had a flat tire only a week before the murder. Considering that it was his vehicle's only tire iron, I would have been surprised if his printshadn'tbeen found on a tool that was subsequently used as a murder weapon. As for the domestic call, that criminal report was initiated by a civilian waitress who assumed that Kelsey got her facial injuries from a fight between her and Austin. Kelsey received those injuries during a MCMAP training incident."
"Then she should have reported her injuries to her commanding officer." Derek waved one hand as if he'd proved his point. "The prosecution rested its case, and a jury of Austin Ridley's peers found him guilty."
"All seven women had fathers serving in the military at a high rank." Brook held up one finger. She then continued to do so until she had all five spread out for him to see. "All murders were within one mile of the victims' bases. All of these murders resulted in a conviction of some sort. All women were either in the Navy or the Marines. And finally, all women were in their twenties."
Derek glanced toward the tablet.
Brook had his interest piqued, but she needed to make sure that he was aware there were no hard feelings on Graham's part. At least, she'd hoped to portray such a sentiment.
"General Elliott believes that Austin Ridley is innocent. This is the same man who not only lost his daughter, but his wife," Brook pressed, hoping that Derek could see that Graham had nothing to lose by pressing the issue. "You and I both have been in this field long enough to know when there is someone to blame, people will latch onto them like a lifeline. Mr. Ridley was served up on a silver platter. Why would General Elliott refuse to join that particular dinner party?"
Derek sighed, but he'd done so in such a way that Brook had no doubt she'd convinced him to look at the hard evidence.
"The arrests were far too convenient," Brook stressed as Derek finally picked up the tablet. He perused the notes that she'd laid out, but she fully intended to take him into the conference room for him to get the full effect. "Every single male who was convicted of those women's deaths claims their innocence, and I'm not referring to baseless assertions."
Brook paused, giving him time to peruse the notes that she'd made. She hadn't finished her profile. There was a good chance she would be finished with it this afternoon. Depending on where Derek stood on these new findings would be the deciding factor in whether or not he would be given a copy.
"Let's say that I can see the circumstantial connection between the seven cases," Derek said cautiously, using his index finger to scroll through the information on the screen. "The way you mentioned that all the women were in their twenties has me wary that you believe there is a serial killer out there targeting military families of senior officers, specifically their serving daughters."
Brook allowed her silence to be her answer.
"You're kidding me, right? I originally thought that you might be pointing towards a vendetta against their fathers, but an actual serial killer? Do you know what the odds of that scenario would be, considering that—"
"I'm well aware of the odds," Brook interrupted him, not needing to know the statistics regarding serial killers. She'd based her career on hunting them. "I'm also of the belief that there are more people prone to serial killing tendencies than what the Bureau is willing to report. If we had the ability to prevent the tripping of whatever switch was in their head, we'd be better off. Unfortunately, we don't have that capability yet...and here we are. Yes, I believe we are dealing with a serial killer with a very specific pool of victims."
While Brook had been talking, she noticed the change in Derek's expression. Something had caught his eye in the text on the screen. She was never one to let opportunity slide by, either.
"Come with me."
Brook stood, careful not to spill any of her coffee. She took one more sip before leading the way out of her office and down the hall to where the conference room was located. She caught sight of Sylvie and Bit staring at one of the monitors, but she didn't want Derek to get sidetracked.
"I believe the unsub originally wanted revenge of some sort against one of those officers listed on that whiteboard," Brook stated as she gestured toward the photographs of the fathers underneath their daughters' pictures. "Heis the key to finding the unsub."
"Wouldn't you start with General Harlock?" Derek asked, still holding onto her tablet. He'd left his coffee back in her office. "Believe it or not, we do run investigations the same way you were taught, Brook."
"Theo Neville is currently on his way to reinterview each and every inmate, hoping that with this angle, they might recall something that could be of help to our investigation." Brook pulled out a chair and took a seat, waiting for Derek to join her. She studied him closely, trying to get a sense as to what had triggered a reaction from him. Whatever it was, it was important. "In the meantime, we do not believe that Melanie Harlock was the unsub's first victim of choice."
Derek was now staring at the whiteboard, only he seemed extremely interested in the photograph of one woman somewhere in the middle of the board. It was either Tanya Russell or April Chartier, but Brook couldn't be sure.
"Are you saying that there were more men convicted of crimes they didn't commit?"
Brook noticed that his sarcasm had lessened, and it was definitely due to one of the victims who had caught his attention. She leaned back in the conference room chair, wanting him to be as comfortable as possible. There was something that he was holding back that could potentially be important to figuring out the identity of the unsub.
