Genius

Chapter 1

Spencer Reid quickly made his way though the elevators to his desk. Derek Morgan snickered as Reid put down his leather book bag. "What?" Reid asked pushing his hair back.

"You're late," Morgan stated.

Reid blinked. "I was only five minutes late…" Reid began.

Elle Greenway and Jennifer Jareau walked to their desks holding a cup of coffee. "Reid," Elle said smiling. "You finally decided to show up."

"I'm sorry. I don't know if any of you know this, but I do have a life as well. I can't help it if I get stuck in traffic." Reid snapped taking out a file of his bag.

Elle's smile faded. "Hey Reid, we were just kidding." Morgan said quietly.

Reid nodded. "Sorry, just a little snappy today." Reid said equally quiet.

Aaron Hotchner and Jason Gideon both emerged from the conference room. "We've got a pretty important case." Hotch said quickly motioning for them to enter the conference room.

As soon as they entered the room, they noticed the gruesome pictures on the white board. "My word…" Elle gasped as she saw the pictures.

Reid examined the pictures closely. "Dr. James Mall," Reid muttered looking at one of the photos. "He was a victim?"

Hotch looked over at Reid suspiciously. "How do you know him?" Hotch asked.

Reid gave him a grim smile. "Well, there are only so few people with two doctorates at the age of twenty four." Reid said. "We communicated about the psychoanalysis…"

"What do you mean by communicated?" Morgan interrupted.

"There's a list of people with either two doctorates or an IQ of over 150. I found his name and his research. We began e-mailing back and forth about behavioral problems. He's a physiatrist." Reid explained looking at another photo. "And this is Dr. Millie Adams. She's twenty five and has only one doctorate, but her IQ is 180. She's a physicist. That's Dr. Larry Ells. He's twenty and already has two doctorates and his IQ is…simply amazing. He works as a media specialist."

"So this guy is targeting young people with doctorates and exceptional intelligence?" Elle guessed.

Reid looked puzzled. "Where were they killed? I mean Dr. Mall lives in Colorado, Dr. Adams lives in New Mexico and Dr. Ells lives in New York. If this is the work of a serial killer, he has some frequent flier miles." Reid said.

Gideon shook his head. "No, they were all killed here in Quantico." Gideon said.

Reid sighed. "Of course," Reid said. "They have that stupid conference all over the country each year…"

"What conference?" Morgan asked.

"If you're under twenty nine, have a doctorate degree or have an IQ higher than 150, you get an invitation to participate with 'people of your own kind'." Reid said. "I get those things in the mail all the time. At this conference, they wanted me to speak."

Elle smiled. "Maybe this guy meets his victims at the conference," Elle suggested.

JJ looked at paper on the desk in an evidence bag. "What's this?" JJ asked showing it to Gideon.

Gideon shrugged. "None of our code breakers have been able to figure it out." Gideon replied.

Reid looked at the four numbers before setting it down. "I'll be right back." Reid said dashing out of the room.

Hotch and Gideon exchanged worried looks. Reid returned with a small card. "If we're right about the conference, I have an idea of what the code is referring to." Reid said showing them the card.

Hello Dr. Reid,

We are inviting you to the seventh annual Young Doctorates Conference. It is being held in Quantico, Virginia this year. We are very eager to have you come; however, we would like to have you speak at the conference on your work with behavioral analysis.

Please contact us as soon as possible. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Jane Jills

Reid now showed them the numbers.

7-9-17-51

"It refers to the letters." Reid said before shaking his head. "This can't be right…"

Elle looked up worried at Reid. "What is it?" Elle asked gently.

"7-9-17-51 spells my name. R-e-i-d." Reid said shakily.

JJ looked at Hotch. "Who did you find this note with?" JJ asked.

"Dr. Larry Ells," Hotch replied. "Is it possible this person is after you?"

Reid shrugged. "I don't see how he could be. I'm not very smart…" Reid began.

Morgan laughed. "Come on Reid. You have an IQ of a 185, you have three doctorates." Morgan said. "If anything, you are the smartest person in this universe."

Reid shook his head. "No," Reid said gently folding the paper up. "I'm not the smartest person in the universe."

"In any case, the unsub seems to be targeting you next." Hotch said. "I want you to have police protection 24/7."

"Is that really necessary?" Reid asked slightly embarrassed.

Gideon nodded. "Yes," Gideon said.

Reid looked up at them. "How were the others killed?" Reid asked.

Hotch sighed. "They were kidnapped and then tortured for three days before…" Hotch began.

"Before they were drowned in ice cold water." Reid finished sighing.

They all simply stared at Reid. What did he know? How did he know it? What exactly was going on?