Psychological Control

The serial killer who escaped justice three years ago, David Vincent, was found by local police in Miami, Florida. The reason turned out to be because a colleague had been caught dealing drugs, and then the police followed the trail and found out that he was using an alias. Once they got a photo to compare, it was revealed.

David Vincent's escape has always been said to be a disgrace to the bau team's perfect crime solving rate. Although the killer was identified, the case has been left open because of the inefficient operation of the FBI and the police due to their difficult cooperation.

A small Gulfstream iv-sp airliner was flying at 10,000 metres to Miami.

"This time I'm going to bring that fucking bastard to justice!" Al Greenaway slammed the file in his hand onto the table in a fit of rage.

"Calm down Al," Jason Gideon had been the backbone of the bau team, "I remember that David Vincent, who goes by Mike in the profile, has a known buddy in the dance crew? Can he give us a lead?"

"Brian Moss, who was also on the set of America's Next Top Model at the time of the murder, has a good alibi. It shouldn't be possible for him to help David get away." Aaron Hotchner, head of the bau team, interjected, "And they knew each other, two years ago. Mike had been in the Chippendale dance group for over a year at that point."

"But we shouldn't give up on this lead so easily!" Al was very anxious about getting David caught, since three years ago was the case she was primarily responsible for. "Reed, what do you think?"

Spencer Ryder, the schoolboy, had been sitting quietly next to her, looking through the information casually. When he heard Al call his name, he looked up and said, "I looked at Brian Moss's file and what makes it strange is his resume. Because his experience up until two years ago was all blank."

"What?! Could it be another fugitive from justice?" Al took a surprised stride over and picked up the file Reed had placed on his desk.

Jason's first thought at his words was not to also pick up Brian's file again and check it out. He turned to Morgan who had been sitting silent at the other end and said, "Morgan, call Garcia on the satellite phone. Have her pull the video recording of Brian Moss' interrogation directly from the Miami police database."

Brian was in no way expecting the bau team to be on to something suspicious about him when they had only just taken over the case and hadn't even flown to Miami yet. Surely Brian would be grateful for being targeted for this now.

Garcia was quick, and within five minutes of Morgan's call, Jason received a video file on his computer. bau team members gathered around.

The monitor placed in the interrogation room recorded Brian's conversation with the two FBI agents.

"While it's true that I'm the closest person to Mike, I don't know much about his personal life." In an atmosphere of solemn urgency, Brian looked relaxed and natural.

"You should know that harbouring a suspect is suspicious of obstruction!" The fbi agents pressed on.

"Of course, if you don't have to talk to me in that tone, I can still think of leads for you more responsibly until my lawyer arrives." There was an offended look on Brian's face. "Mind you I'm not your suspect, I was under the camera every second of the time Mike was missing."

"You! ..." one of the FBI agents was about to open his mouth to say something, but there was an interruption by Brian Moss's next words.

"It was the only call that was done with cameras monitoring it all." Brian snorted, "I can't believe you guys didn't request to see it with the show. And did you guys see anything wrong with it? I have every right to appeal your misconduct for extracting such a harsh confession from a completely innocent citizen."

The other, more composed FBI agent had to round up, "Mr Moss, I think you misunderstood. My partner was just in a bit of a hurry and meant no offence to you. Perhaps if you echoed carefully, you would notice something strange about David Vincent's behaviour?"

Brian raised an eyebrow, looking amused. But Jason Gideon frowned as he noticed that this Brian Moss seemed familiar with this similar scenario. But he was not recorded in the police crime files, and the possibility of using a false name could be suspected.

Besides, Bryan Moss was too fond of taking the initiative in conversations, wasn't he?

"Well," Brian rested his hands on the table and leaned his body back towards the back of his chair, tapping his fingers on the desk. "Mike does have a hobby. He likes to go out fishing every now and then, and he's invited me to go. But I turned it down. He befriended everyone in the dance group, but rarely spoke deeply."

"On every Friday night, he would go out night fishing. In those days his phone was out of order. But I've never been to his house. So even if you had taken me there, I couldn't have told you any more clues. If you suspect me on that basis, you will probably be disappointed. I really don't know anything about what he's done." Brian concluded.

After that, Brian Moss stopped talking, no matter how much more the fbi's questioned him. It didn't take long for his lawyer to arrive and take him out.

"Wow, looks like this Brian Moss is a pro after all." Derrick Morgan commented with amusement, rubbing his chin.

"I thought his file said he was self-taught to get into Stanford and took psychology." Reed opened his mouth and recited all of Brian's file after the video ended. "But before that, he didn't provide any record of attending any elementary high school. The column for relatives is also filled in as none. It's like he came out of nowhere two years ago."

"Even the tax number was applied for then." Al took Brian's information and added to it.

"There's no way an eighteen-year-old orphan could have been without a tax ID after sixteen. What else did he do to support himself?" Morgan pointed out.

Seeing this, Aaron Hotchner picked up the satellite phone again and connected to the HQ computer technical support department. "Garcia."

"Hey! Penelope Garcia is here to talk to you! What can I do for you again, boss?" came Garcia's energetic voice on the other end of the line.

"Can you check this Bryan Moss's records from two years ago? It's possible he's using a false name." Hotchner said.

"Oh, sure! I actually got my hands on him when I sent you the video just before." Garcia said smugly, "He wasn't using a fake name. Brian Moss, just got released from a local mental hospital in Miami two years ago. Don't know what got him in there, the file seems to have been wiped clean."

"He was in the asylum for over ten years and was released once about five years ago, but quickly went back because he lost control. Got out again two years ago and was known only as a young man with serious sociopathic tendencies!" Garcia added, "But he looks so handsome! The profile says he went to America's Next Top Model, is that true?!!! That's going to be a great season ......"

Garcia's call instantly silenced everyone in the plane who had been excited, and both Morgan and Al couldn't help but look at Red with the rest of their eyes. For everyone was aware of his mother's situation.

It was Gideon who spoke first, "It seems we misunderstood him after all. There were no records before simply because he does live in isolation."

"And there's an explanation for his calmness in the face of interrogation." Reed forced a smile and pretended to be unconcerned, "In the mental hospital, he faced I don't know how many times a day a psychiatrist would question and study him like that. Shouldn't we start by investigating where exactly David went fishing when we get to Miami?"

"Maybe his residence will give us clues to enlighten us." Hotchner interjected.

After the BAU team arrived in Miami, their investigation came to a standstill. As he had three years ago, David Vincent had sniffed around without leaving a trace. They couldn't even figure out if David had killed anyone in those three years yet.

David Vincent's fishing gear was very new, with only a few bundles of used fishing line left behind. Before he left, his car had even been carefully cleaned, leaving not a hair or a speck of dust behind.

It was lunch break at the Miami Police headquarters.

Reed approached Al, who was sitting at his computer, with a sandwich in hand, "What are you reading Al?"

"Garcia recommended I go to the official America's Next Top Model contest website and look at the hard pictures of that Brian we misunderstood earlier. Well, it looks like he's got quite a bit of power." Al's mouse was landing on a hard photo of Brian and Chris working together. "That's a shame, if it wasn't for what happened with David, I think he would have had a good chance at the title."

Curious, Reed also probed into the computer screen, just as Al clicked on the next page. Then Brian appeared for the last round, which was a video of a perfume ad with a model's gender reversed.

"I really don't see what's so great about this kind of ad, claptrap theme." Reed pointed to Dan's bearded, girly image with another blonde hairdo.

Then the mouse pulled down. Both men suddenly paused.

"Is it just me, Red?" Al said suddenly. "This woman Brian's pretending to be is too much like...more than too much like a woman...more like..."

"More like David's usual target!" Reed said aloud, straightening up and looking around for Gideon and Hotchner.

Yeah! How had they never thought of that? Brian and David's befriending, apart from the speculation that they might be in cahoots, there was certainly the possibility that David had his eye on Brian!

And if David had happened to see this image of Brian while he was on the run...

"Red, Al! Pack up, we're leaving for San Francisco." Aaron Hotchner hurried in through the door. "Garcia just called to say that she found a video diary that Brian uploaded to the Tubes the other day! The diary had a distress message conveyed by Brian in the background. Morse code."

Jason Gideon also came over at this point, holding a printed copy of the information. "I questioned Brian Moss's landlord and she said that David had made a trip to Brian's house not long ago to help him collect his mail. Since Brian rented the house near Stanford University in advance, the new landlord would have mailed the keys and full address in advance."

"He knows where Brian is!"