Criminal Minds2005

Dr. Spencer Reid:
There's something else that's been bothering me. Why is he putting white face makeup on his victims after they're dead?

David Rossi:
Isn't that what they wore in the Elizabethan era?

Dr. Spencer Reid:
Yes, but only upper-class women wore white face makeup. It was a symbol of virginity and purity. But he's dressing them like characters out of *The Merry Wives of Windsor*, which is one of Shakespeare's rare plays about the middle class.

Jennifer Jareau:
So, it's inconsistent.

Aaron Hotchner:
The makeup could mean that he believes death is purifying them.

Dr. Spencer Reid:
What if this is like the Salem witch trials, where they test the girls by trying to drown them? If they died, it meant they were obviously innocent. If they somehow survived, they were considered witches and therefore hanged.

David Rossi:
Wonderful. A lose-lose situation.

Jennifer Jareau:
The UnSub didn't submerge the victims in water to torture them. It was some sort of a test?

Dr. Spencer Reid:
With death being the only possible outcome.