12E17 - In the Dark

The BAU heads to Burlington, Vermont to deal with what looks on the surface to be two unsubs, that surface implication which they believe may be unlikely seeing as to the small 40,000 population of the city. The first unsub is meticulous, leaving none of his own DNA behind at the scene, and shoots hunters in the woods with a single long distance shot through the heart. As it is not hunting season, the team believes the three victims of this first unsub are poachers, something that the M.E., who knew all three, can confirm, he stating that none were considered pillars of the community. The second unsub is haphazard, who stabs his victims to death in nighttime home invasions. The only thing tying the two sets of murders together is that the fatal stab in all three cases thus far have been the one to the heart. The team's initial assumption of there only being one unsub is confirmed when they are able to retrieve some DNA from one of the hunting crime scenes. Lewis comes up with a theory as to the differing natures of the daytime versus nighttime murders, which is supported by evidence at a subsequent crime scene. They ultimately believe that the key to discovering the identity of and capturing the unsub is the targets that he chooses, not the people themselves but the houses in which they live, they believing those houses having some tie to his past. One late arrival to Burlington is Alvez, who, based on information from Garcia regarding her last tearful visit with Reid in prison, believes he has a way to provide unofficial greater protection to Reid. Alvez, however, is unaware of what Reid is willing to sacrifice for the safety of his friend, Luis Delgado.