Verecund (Criminal Minds)

Chapter 6

Spencer sat down in the chair next to Ash's hospital bed as Derek left to call the rest of the BAU. The girl still stared down at her lap as silence filled the air. Spencer waited for a minute before reaching into his bag. He pulled out a book and slowly handed it to Ash.

The girl looked up, staring at the copy of Feynman's Lectures in Spencer's outstretched hand. She looked from the book to him, hesitating before cautiously holding the book in her hands.

"It's a good read if you like physics," he stated in a gentle form of his matter-of-fact tone, "Who knows, maybe you'll find another error in my math." He gave Ash a smile.

The girl gave him a small smile back, looking down at the book in her hands. It was the first time Spencer had seen her make an expression other than internally dead, and he was glad he was able to make her smile at least a little.

"Hey, Reid," Derek called out softly to the doctor. Spencer turned to Derek, who stood in the doorway with his phone in his hand. The agent gestured him over with his head.

Spencer stood from the chair, taking one last glance at Ash, whose eyes followed him as he stood outside the hospital room.

"So, I took a deeper look into Ashely Flamouria," Penelope's voice sounded over Derek's phone on speaker. "We already knew she had been put into the orphanage because of her parents, and then went missing. However," she emphasized her transition words, "I think I figured out why she doesn't talk. A few years ago, on one of these so-called mysterious hospital visits, Ash was found to have deep cuts near the base of her tongue. A couple months after that was when her therapy started."

"It could have been used as some sort of punishment," Reid stated matter-of-factly, "It's a strange punishment, no doubt, but it might have been a way of telling her to be silent and keep her secrets to herself. There's also the possibility one of her parents got off on it sexually. Glossophilia is most commonly known as the love of language, but the original definition is for a fetish of tongues. There's also odontophilia, which is the fetish for teeth." Spencer gave a small nod at the end of his small speech, looking at Derek.

The other agent looked at Spencer in disgust. "You're telling me that this girl's parents might have gotten off on trying to cut their own daughter's tongue off?"

"It's a possibility," Spencer nodded again, "Or as I said, a symbolic punishment. But if it was at the base of her tongue, it's more likely that it was a sexual or socially sadistic move."

"Uhm, okay," Penelope faltered on the other side of the phone. "Well, on a different note, I looked into the story of Europa. Apparently the name Europa can also mean 'wide face.' If you look at a rough sketch of all of our victims, they all have relatively well-built faces. Higher cheekbones and sharper jaws, which makes them seem to have wider faces than some younger kids."

"That's probably why Ash was the first female victim," Spencer declared, "Generally speaking, males have higher cheekbones and more defined features, even in their pre-adolescent stage, but with Ash's malnutrition, it's much easier to see her cheekbones and jawline, giving her the appearance that our unsub wants, making him believe that she's Europa."

"So that's how he's picking out his victim's physically," Derek summarized, confirming it to Spencer, "But why these ones in particular? I mean, sure, they might look a little older or have wider facial structures than other kids, but why did he specifically choose them? Where did our unsub meet them?"

"Ash said he had stolen mythology books," Spencer pointed out, "Perhaps he met them in a library or a bookstore, he might have worked in one."

"Babygirl," Derek said into the phone. "Look at all the credit card information of the other victims and their parents. See if they all went to a bookstore or had a library card to the same location before the victims went missing."

"Will do, Chocolate Thunder. Call you back when I have something." The blonde woman hung up with the click of a button.

"Could you stay with Ash?" Spencer turned to Derek. "I need to make a phone call."

Derek looked slightly surprised at first, but nodded. "Yeah, of course, kid."

Spencer walked down the hallway to make sure he was completely out of earshot as Derek stepped into the hospital room to sit with Ash. The doctor picked up his phone and dialed Penelope's number.

"Hey, did you find something else?" The woman asked.

"Uh, no, not yet," Spencer replied as he put one hand in the pocket of his slacks, the other keeping his phone to his ear. "I just wanted to ask you to look for something else while you look for those credit histories."

"Of course," Penelope said almost hesitantly, "What is it?"

"I want everything you can find on Ash," he began softly, turning around to see if his team members spontaneously appeared behind him, "I know they'll put her in the nearest available adoption home, but I want you to find all her foster families and their records, the details of what her hospital visits consisted of, her biological parents' records, anything."

"That will take a while, Boy Wonder," she reminded him, "But, I am the techno goddess here, so I can get it to you in a few hours... Should I assume this stays between us?"

"Yes. Please," Spencer gazed down the hallway at Ash's room again. "Thanks, Garcia."

"Nooo problem," she replied, drawing out the 'o.' "I'll call you when I've got everything."

The woman hung up with another click, and Spencer put his phone in his pocket as he traveled back down the hallway to Ash's hospital room. As he gazed in through the doorway, he saw Derek talking to Ash. She was looking down at her lap as he said soft comforting words to her.

"I promise you, kid, we're gonna find who did this to you. And we're gonna find you a real home. Somewhere safe you can stay."

Spencer didn't want to just find some old foster home for Ash, or even a random family willing to adopt her. She needed help, not just from a therapist, she needed a real family who could understand in the very least how to support her. He wanted to be able to make sure she would be okay, he felt a connection to the girl with his ability to communicate with her, she might have begun to trust him.

Spencer and Derek stayed with Ash for hours until they received another phone call. Hotchner's contact showed bright on Derek's phone screen.

"Hey, Hotch, you're on speaker," the man said into the microphone of his cell.

"Are you two still with Ash?" The unit chief's voice came in slightly fuzzy from the other side of the phone.

"Yeah, Reid and I are still in the room with her. She's already been looked at by the doctors."

"We have a lead. Garcia is about to send us in the credit records of all the victims' parents, and she's going to call you soon. I want a doctor in watching Ash and you two over here to help deliver the profile."