Round Two
The agents were all crowded into the viewing room, standing in a huddle.
“I think it’s time to change tactics” began Hotch, “The man is obviously a criminal in one way or another, but he seems strangely confident for a person arrested for murder”
“Could it be a mental health disorder?” questioned JJ.
“Potentially, he does show a few indicators, but his cocky disposition also indicates he is just an overconfident narcissist” replied Reid.
Hotch thought for a minute, and then turned to Rossi,
“Dave, you and JJ go in next, give him the friendly treatment”
“On it”
“Good afternoon Mr Potter, I’m SSA David Rossi and this is SSA Jennifer Jereau, would it be okay if we spoke with you for a while?”
Harry tilted his head in acceptance, and the agents sat down across from him.
“Are you doing okay? Do you need some water or coffee or anything?” asked JJ
“Actually, if I could have some water it would be much appreciated, thank you”
JJ briefly stepped out of the room to fetch him some, and then came back in and put the cup in front of him. Harry put it to his lips and took a deep gulp, before placing it back down on the table.
“Thanks” he breathed, a genuine air of gratitude protruding from him, “They never treated captives like this in the war”
“What war would that be Mr Potter?” pressed Rossi, taking his chance to get anything out of the suspect that wasn’t laced with a heavy dose of snark.
“Call me Harry, please, I only ever got called ‘Mr Potter’ when I was at school, and it all too often preceded detention” he smirked at this, and his interrogators reciprocated,
“Anyway, to answer your question, there was a… terrorist at large a few years ago in the UK. Those he had taken prisoner were never treated quite so… humanely”
“Were you captured?” asked JJ, genuinely interested. A past history of severe violence could well explain current, ritualistic killing behaviours.
“I was lucky” was all he replied, much to the disappointment of both the agents in the room, and the four on the other side of the door. He was back to giving cryptic answers that didn’t really answer the question.
“Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?” said Harry, suddenly “You think I hurt those poor people, don’t you?”
“Well, Mr Pot-, Harry, you were found kneeling above a dead body” JJ replied gently.
To the intense surprise of all six profilers, seemingly genuine tears began to form in their suspect’s eyes,
“She was a child!” he forced out through a strangled sob, “I know you have no reason to believe me, but I did NOT kill that poor little girl, nor any of the other muggles! It’s been years since I’ve even… well since, ugh. I’ve seen on the television once that arrested people are allowed a phone call, is this correct?”
The last question threw Rossi, for a moment, as the man had seemingly been about to admit to past violence or even murder, but he quickly recovered himself enough to reply
“Well, yes it is”
“I’d like to phone someone”
“What’s the number?”
Harry told them, Rossi sighed that international calls were expensive and then JJ dialled, and passed Harry the phone:
“Hello… Hermione?... Yes, it is … I know, I didn’t mean to scare you … Well, not an emergency per se… I’ve been arrested by the muggle authorities… Please calm down … Yes, the American ones … The FBI? I assume you had heard of them, it was one good thing that came from being raised by the Dursleys, what with Dudley’s penchant for cop movies … I’m sorry…”
Rossi signalled that he needed to hurry up, as his phone call was not an indefinite length.
“Anyway Hermione, the Agent wants me to hurry up… Is she okay? … Tell Ginny not to worry that she hasn’t heard from me, and tell her that I love her and James …. Okay Hermione, give my best to Ron, and take good care of yourself, my niece or nephew won’t grow themself”
Rossi warned Harry that he had ten seconds left.
“Right, so I really have to go, bye Hermione”
The phone cut off. Harry sighed dejectedly, a noise conveying the disappointment that the BAU felt, at having only heard half a conversation
JJ began to speak. “So Harry, who is Hermione, your sister?”
“In-law”
“So married to your brother then, but our records state that you are an only child…”
“I am”
“Are we missing something?” Interjected Agent Rossi. Harry sighed once more before elaborating.
“Hermione is married to my wife’s brother, so she’s a sister-in-law by proxy, if you will”
“Ron?” Pressed JJ.
“Her husband, the three of us have been best friends since our first day of school”
“Yet you married his sister” Rossi stated, with an audible smirk. Harry grinned back.
“Yes, it took him a while to accept that one, until he conceded that at least he can trust me”
“And that would be Ginny I suppose” queried Rossi.
Harry nodded.
“And James?”
“My son”
The agents got up to leave, but Rossi hesitated, and then turned around.
“Just one last question for now, Harry: What exactly is a muggle?”
Harry flushed, “Just technical jargon, nothing you need worry about”
Outside in the viewing room, the agents began an animated discussion, and were quickly joined by Rossi and JJ.
Morgan started the conversation, “He has a kid? We should involve CPS, or whatever they have in Britain, and get the child removed, wife too if she is innocent”
“I don’t know” began JJ. “I agree that he is definitely a criminal, but the look on his face when talking about his family seemed too sincere to be anything other than genuine: I don’t think he’s a murderer”
“Plenty of serial killers have families,” said Rossi.
“My main question is about this muggle thing, his answer was far too suspicious” added Emily.
The agents continued discussing, until Hotch’s phone began to ring. He answered and spoke solemnly to a flustered Garcia on the other end. A minute or so later, he ended the call, and then turned to face his other colleagues;
“The lab tried to process that green powder found at the scene. It blew up the machine”