Fic: Who Did It? (Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan)
Title: Who Did It
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairings: Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: They are not mine, just using them for amusement...
Feedback: Makes the World Turn.
Criminal Minds Main List
“The butler did it.” Morgan declared and tossed a piece of popcorn in the air. It
landed on Reid’s head.
“We’ve seen twenty minutes of this, there’s still over an hour left. And stop doing
that, it was the third piece that ends up in my head.” Reid propped his legs on
the coffee table and leaned back on the couch. On the TV-screen Hercules Poirot
settled his pince-nez on the bridge of his nose.
“You wanna bet?” Morgan suggested.
“Bet on what?”
“The murderer. I’m still saying it’s the butler.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No.”
“He had just started in the house and didn’t know about the secret panel. He also
didn’t have the physical strength to wield a letter knife in the necessary angle to
cause a fatal injury shown in the flashback. The killer was also left handed and the
butler is too old to be the oldest child of the count, who was assumed dead fifteen
years earlier.”
“Okay…. Well, how bout the maid?”
“Morgan….” Reid grinned. “Do I detect an underlying hatred towards the working class?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m from Chicago. The maid?”
“She didn’t have anything to win by killing that man. Now his lover can be left
penniless and end up in prison, so she had all the reasons to hope he would keep
blackmailing the deceased to build up their elopement fund.”
“What if she was aiming for the dead guy after all and the other guy was just a
stepping stone?”
“Then why would she help blackmailing him?”
“You got a point….”
Morgan was quiet for a while.
“Okay, I know now. It was the mother-in-law, she wanted to make sure her girl would
inherit all instead of getting a part in a divorce.”
“They had a prenuptial agreement. They mentioned it when the cook and that younger
detective were flirting during the interview. If he dies, she doesn’t get anything.”
“Well, at least she could marry that art student. They said he would inherit a lot
of money when his old man kicks the bucket.”
“Morgan, we’re watching an Agatha Christie adaptation.”
“So?”
“Art student who likes antique equals gay.”
“Really?”
“Really. Did you know that a study was made in Britain about the subtext and repeated
red herrings in Christies books?”
“I didn’t know and I don’t want a summary when we’re watching a movie.”
“Okay.”
“Aren’t you gonna say anything?”
“You just told me not to talk about-”
“I mean aren’t you gonna make a guess about the killer?”
“Oh…. Okay….” Reid kept biting his bottom lip for a minute. “The first wife.”
“Come on, they had been apart for years!”
“Did you hear the family lawyer talking about the victim and how he hadn’t updated
his will for years? I think he left everything to his wife and when they divorced
he didn’t remember to change his will.”
“But she was miles away when the murder was done!”
“And her housekeeper had recently gained a lot of money. She paid her for an alibi.”
“Right….” Morgan chuckled. “We’ll see.”
------------------------------------------
Seventy minutes later Morgan couldn’t come up with anything witty to say.
“So…. I won the bet.” Reid grinned.
“How the hell did you know it?”
“Simple. All the leads pointed to her when you figure out which ones were irrelevant
and which ones were red herrings. Ready to go to bed?”
“Yeah.”
“And one more thing.” Reid said and got up from the couch.
“What?”
“Did I ever tell you about my Christie phase? When I read all her books several times?”
“You mean you…” Morgan stammered.
“And you never figured out that mystery on your own either.” Reid chuckled. “I’m
gonna go brush my teeth.”