The most noticeable thing about this particular crime scene was blood. Lots of blood. More blood than there should be, it seemed. It reminded the detective of a certain case involving brains and cryogenic sleep, except that this time, there was actually a body.

Too body itself was burnt to crisp on the outside, making the victim virtually unidentifiable. A John Doe.

Now, Beckett had solved hundreds of murders, but never did she see a crime scene so…odd. The body was obviously thrown into a fire of some sort, yet there was fresh, wet blood all over the crime scene and the victim's body. The red liquid dripped off the blackened body, pooling around the him-or her. And through the crimson glaze she could make out burnt bits of paper-newspapers, probably- that was under the body. Probably used to burn the victim.

Lanie was crouching beside the mess of blood and charred flesh, poking around with a look of disgust on her face. Beckett didn't envy her job. As tiring as being a detective could be, both emotionally and physically, the thought of having to be in direct contact with the bodies did not appeal to her one bit.

At least in her division she had the thought of placing the killer behind bars to look forward to.

Castle entered the scene few minutes later, carrying the usual two cups of coffee and yay-a-dead-body smile. When he finally got to the scene, however, his smile turned into a grimace, and then a look of mild fascination. Typical Castle.

Beckett snatched her cup from him, taking comfort in the gentle heat seeping through her gloves from the piping hot coffee. She held it to her mouth. For once, she felt way too sick to drink but there was something about the aroma that comforted her to no end.

"Is that…blood?"

Beckett gave the writer a look. Said writer cringed slightly.

"Let's go to Lanie, she might be able to …tell us something."

"Where's Ryan and Esposito by the way?"

"Over there, talking to the mother of the young girl who found the body. She was biking around the area when she spotted all the blood-poor girl screamed non-stop till her mom came around to look for her."

"Who the heck brings their nine-year old to the park at this hour and lets them off by themselves anyway? That's just asking for something like this to happen."

Beckett ignored his last statement. "Lanie, what did you find?"

"Blood."

Beckett directed an unamused look at her. She seemed to be giving a lot of those lately.

"Was he burned to death?"

Lanie turned back to the body. "Yes and no," she gestured to the chest area. "I can vaguely make out out incisions on the chest, about five of them, kinda shaped like a star, or an asterisk. Those weren't deep enough to kill immediately though- I'm guessing that the killer made those cuts first, then set her on fire while she was still bleeding out. Also, from what I can make out it seems to be a she, rather than a he. "

"Wow. Why go through all that trouble…and what about the blood?" Castle fascination for this case was growing more and more by the minute.

"Can't say for sure, but I don't think it's from the vic. There's way too much blood. I'm placing my bets on the blood being stolen from a blood bank or something. Once I get back to the lab I should be able to confirm that and then you might be able to trace it."

Beckett nodded. "Were there any forms of identification on her?" They were so busy discussing the murder method that she had almost forgotten to ask what really mattered. She mentally smacked herself for that.

"Nope. No wallet, no phone, charred, bloodied, or otherwise."

"Time of death?"

"Well- I can't say for sure, seeing the condition the body is in. But all these papers underneath her, the bits I could salvage anyway, seem to be today's. Unless of course she was killed somewhere else and then dragged over here and placed on top of the papers, but that's highly unlikely."

"Okay, so the first batch of papers printed are printed and sent out at around four a.m. and the body was found at seven. That gives us three whole hours."

"Yo, Beckett."

"Hey."

"Ryan and Esposito," Castle states. "Find anything new?"

"Nope. Kid was all shaken up and kept crying. Had to listen to her mom bitch about leaving dead bodies lying around the park. She plans to make the government pay for the kid's therapy or something."

Beckett nods. Parents are parents; after all, even irresponsible ones who let their children go off to play alone right after dawn. "Let's go back to the precinct. No point standing around here, not anymore. Lanie will probably find something back there. Meanwhile get CSU to check for any DNA, prints or weapons in the area."

The group surrounded the murder board, staring blankly at the pictures and notes on it. Without any clue as to who the victim was, there wasn't really much they could do.

"Okay, so far we know that the killer had access to blood banks- if it was indeed other people's blood on the body-and a whole lot of newspapers from the very same day. That gives us a start."

"Nothing about this murder makes sense. I mean, why go through all that trouble of burning the body and risking getting caught? Why dump all that blood all over her? Why not just finish her off with the knife and leave it?"

"Murders rarely make sense Castle. You should know that by now."

"Yes but…it's like the killer wanted to leave a message or something. A warning maybe?"

"A warning for what?" It was Ryan asking the question this time, leaning over the table and analysing the board.

Castle shrugged. "More to come?"

"You think the killer might strike again?" Esposito knocked Ryan back as he said so.

"Well, the signs are all there aren't they? It definitely wasn't a crime of passion- considering the newspapers, the blood , it was planned. And seeing all the drama they stirred up with a single body-"

"Wait guys, Lanie's calling." Beckett picked up her phone. "You found something?"

A frown. A nod. Beckett than hangs up the phone.

"Guys, Lanie wants all of us to come down to the morgue. Says it's something important."

"I've confirmed that the vic's female. And you know what else I confirmed? She was only fourteen to sixteen years old, definitely still going through puberty. "

There was a tense silence. There was something about cases involving kids that left them washed-out even before the investigation started, yet at the same time, all the more determined.

It was Beckett who was first to break the silence. "What else did you find Lanie?"

At this, the ME took a deep breath. "You know, I thought I was done with the creepy incidents since the doppelganger things but take a look at this." She lifted up a piece of paper in zip lock. "Found this stuffed into the incisions on the vic's chest, wrapped in some kind of non-flammable plastic. "

The rest of the team inspected the piece of paper. The writing was smudged, but still legible. There were three clearly distinct words on it.

"For Lanie Parish"

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