Jack had always thought that Emily was the one in the group who could detach emotionally the most thoroughly. However, at this moment, she was staring blankly at the corpse in front of her, looking somewhat lost.
"Emily, are you okay?"
Emily snapped out of her daze and quickly waved her hand. "I'm just a bit shocked. I've seen crime scenes more gruesome and brutal than this, but this feels completely different."
"This is a blatant challenge to social order and human morality, a complete destruction of both. As a normal person, it's perfectly natural for you to feel fear."
Reid offered his own form of comfort.
"Alright, let's focus. We need to analyze the scene first."
Hotchner cleared his throat, signaling everyone to refocus.
The group then began discussing, quickly reconstructing the sequence of events.
"The first victim, the man of the house, was thrown here after entering. He was already severely injured at the time and likely never fully regained consciousness."
Rossi pointed to the large sofa by the door, where the body of an African-American male, around 40 years old, lay. The side of his head was severely caved in, and the front of his face, from the bridge of his nose to his forehead, was completely shattered.
In a sense, he might have been the "lucky" one among the four victims. His fatal injuries were mainly to the head, meaning he suffered less compared to the others.
"After the suspect entered, the others were in the dining room, unable to see what was happening in the living room. At this point, the second victim came out to check and was attacked in the hallway."
Reid pointed to a small gap in the hallway and mimicked a golf swing motion.
The second victim was the husband of another white couple, slightly younger than the first victim, in his late thirties or early forties.
The body lay near the hallway, with slight drag marks visible on the carpet. Jack lifted the victim's shirt, feeling the waist and chest area.
"He took at least five or six blows, breaking most of his ribs. His internal organs, from his liver to his stomach, were likely damaged. In such excruciating pain, the victim would have immediately lost the ability to resist or even call for help."
"The weapon was probably something like a crowbar. A baseball bat would have caused much larger bruises."
Emily walked past Jack and into the dining room, where she saw half-eaten food on the table. She called out loudly, "The two female victims were probably in the dining room at first, then were taken to the living room."
Hotchner's gaze fell on the two female bodies lying in the middle of the living room. He closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight, and spoke after a long pause.
"They knocked down the two husbands and forced the wives to strip before assaulting them. Then, there was continuous beating—no, this doesn't make sense."
Rossi took a deep breath. "They were beaten beforehand."
Jack raised a hand, signaling everyone to be quiet as he carefully examined the positions of the two female bodies, the hair scattered on the ground, and the blood splatters on the walls before speaking slowly.
"Rape was just one of their methods of violence, not the goal. Like the male victims, the female victims lost the ability to scream for help almost immediately."
"Both were struck heavily on the head, then repeatedly beaten and gang-raped. They didn't even care whether the victims were alive or dead at the time, treating them like ragdolls."
"Their legs and arms were severely broken. Even with good soundproofing in this house, it's impossible not to hear screams at night. The only explanation is that they were already unable to cry for help when they were being tortured."
As Jack spoke, he pointed to the faces of the two female victims, which were completely mutilated. Their jaws, teeth, and noses were shattered, and even their eyes were not spared.
"Sorry, excuse me for a moment." The burly Latino detective, Antonio Dawson, seemed unable to listen any longer. He muttered a string of Spanish curses under his breath and quickly walked out.
Jack covered the four bodies with white sheets again, feeling a heavy pressure in his chest. In fact, his ability to detach emotionally was probably only slightly better than Garcia's, who rarely went out into the field.
The reason he usually appeared more rational than the others was simply due to his ability to remain somewhat detached. But in this situation, even he couldn't stay detached.
"So, it's clear now. There were at least three to four suspects. One person dragged the body inside and threw it by the sofa, while another attacked the second victim. The third person controlled the two women."
"This aligns with the scenario Jack and Reid inferred from the bloodstains at the apartment door earlier," Rossi concluded.
Emily had mostly regained her composure and nodded in agreement. "Based on the previous information, if this was the result of group psychology stemming from deliberate vandalism, then three to four suspects seem reasonable."
"This doesn't seem like the work of teenagers. Although the brutality is comparable, as Jack suggested, their attacks were highly efficient, with an emphasis on control and precision."
"And teenagers usually act impulsively. Dr. Reid, what do you think?" Rossi asked for Reid's opinion.
"I can't see any signs of hesitation. They were very experienced, each knowing exactly what they were doing, with no confusion or mistakes. I don't understand."
Reid spoke much less than usual, his expression full of confusion.
"I can understand the escalation from deliberate vandalism to violent crime, but it should be a gradual process. The first attack usually targets one person. Four victims at once, along with prolonged sexual assault and brutal torture? That's too extreme."
"The Chicago police must have missed something. They can't have escalated this quickly."
Hotchner's face was as dark as ink. "Let's meet up with JJ. She said the conference room is ready."
There had always been rumors that Chicago's city government had been underfunded in recent years. If the dilapidated public facilities weren't enough to prove this, the Intelligence Unit's office at the 21st District of the Chicago Police Department certainly did.
Two broken-down tables had been barely patched together, holding up a 52-inch LCD screen with a damaged corner. The model was so old that it took Reid half an hour to connect it to JJ's laptop.
"On April 23, the windows of fifteen luxury cars were smashed. On April 30, the display windows of a newly opened high-end clothing store were completely destroyed."
"On May 4, two different upscale restaurants were vandalized, with their doors and windows smashed, and the interiors splattered with red paint."
"On May 10, the most recent incident, another newly renovated house in the same neighborhood as the current crime scene was completely destroyed before the owners could move in."
JJ narrated while showing the photos provided by the Chicago police.
In addition to the BAU team members, the briefing was attended by Hank Voight, the head of the Intelligence Unit, and his detectives.
"So, they escalated from attacking public property to private residences, but without any casualties."
"This is typical class hatred, targeting the wealthy, or at least the middle class. The question is, what caused their crimes to escalate to the current situation?"
Hotchner asked, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
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