Disclaimer: I do not own the tv show or the characters, which is a shame really.
Author's Note: I had the idea for this story floating around for a while in my head and wanted a chance to write it, so I signed up for NaNoWriMo. I actually succeeded on my first try and reached the 50,000 word target. Since then I've edited it and changed a few details. It is largely a case fic, but with a decent amount of Caskett in it too. Rated M for later chapters.
Chapter 2 - Wednesday Morning
"What have we got?" Kate asked as she approached Lanie.
"Male, Caucasian, mid 20's. I'd estimate time of death at between two and four this morning. No discernible cause of death. I'll know more when I get him back to the lab." Kate nodded, leaving Dr Parish to make preparations to transfer the body back to the morgue.
"Name is Christopher Danielson. Twenty six. Address in Tribeca. I also found this." Esposito handed her a small clear vial with a trace amount of a bright pink powder inside.
"Drugs?" Beckett asked, looking closely at the vial.
"Looks like, but it's nothing I've ever seen." Detective Ryan added, joining them. "According to Mr Vergas a black van pulled up into the alley last night at nine and didn't leave until six this morning. The only reason he remembers it is because of the flashing green and pink lights." Looking up from his notes he saw three confused faces. "Upon investigation he discovered these lights came from the underside of the van and were so bright they kept him up most of the night."
"So the van was here during TOD. I don't suppose he got a licence plate?"
"No, all he got was a black van with green and pink lights." Kate was disappointed at this news. No licence plate meant it would be next to impossible to find it. At least it had one identifying feature.
"Alright, it's a long shot, but put out a bolo on the van, who knows, we might get lucky. Talk to the neighbours, see if anyone else saw the van and find out if there are any surveillance cameras in the area. Castle and I will talk to his family." They boys set off to complete their tasks, hoping to find something or somewhere to start in the investigation.
Beckett and Castle headed to her car in silence. Getting in she turned to Castle and said, "Out with it. You haven't said a word since I picked you up. What's going on?"
"Nothing." He replied quickly, too quickly to be believable. Kate arched an eyebrow at him, silently
telling him to try again. He started squirming, not wanting to reveal the real reason for his silence this morning. Seeing her arched eyebrow, he knew that she wasn't going to let him off the hook, so he decided to tell her something.
"I'm worried about Alexis. Her break-up with Ashley has really affected her. She's withdrawn from everyone and she's become melancholy." Kate absorbed this, and decided to try and help.
"Rick, she's a teenage girl, who just broke up with her first love. They were together about a year right?" Castle nodded, "She invested a lot in the relationship, put her heart and soul into it, I'd guess. So when the relationship ends, no matter if it's good or bad, it always takes time to bounce back. Give her some time, let her come to terms with it, and be there for her when she needs you."
"Are you sure?" He looked up at her pleadingly.
"Yes, I am. Alexis is going through something every teenage girl does. Even I went through it. Just knowing that my parents were there for me made it easier to cope. That I could turn to them and they would make everything ok." She took his hand, offering reassurance the only way she could.
"Give her time. Let her some to you. You'll see."
Castle looked into Kate's eyes and saw only sincerity and affection. He believed her and took her advice to heart. "Thank you Kate. That's actually very helpful. Thank you."
"No problem, now shall we get back to the case." She started the car and headed back to the station.
"Mrs Hartkiss, is there any reason why you brother would be in Midtown last night?"
"No, none at all. He works a few blocks from his home. He has no reason to go uptown. In fact, I don't remember the last time he ventured more than 3 blocks from his apartment." Mrs Hartkiss told Detective Beckett. "We lost our parents a few years back, ever since then he's become withdrawn and solitary. I tried to reach out to him, but you can't help someone who doesn't want it."
"So, he wasn't seeing anyone then?" Beckett pressed.
"Not that I know of. We didn't really talk much, but he never seemed interested in dating. I always thought he'd be married by now. He was such a sweet boy, could have had any girl he wanted."
"He had a promising future ahead of him." Mr Hartkiss jumped in. "He was top of his class at Harvard, working at one of the most prestigious law firms in the city when their parents died."
"Does he still work there?" Castle piped up, for the first time participating in the interview.
"No, they had to let him go about a year ago." Mrs Hartkiss said. "Since then he's been working two jobs just to be able to stay in his apartment. It's the one thing he refuses to let go of. I don't know why."
"OK, I think we have all we need for now, thanks for coming in today." They rose, concluding the interview.
Mrs Hartkiss turned to Detective Beckett and said, "I hope you catch the guy that did this. Chris didn't deserve to die."
"We will do our best." Kate told them, not promising anything at this stage in the case.
Walking out they found Ryan and Esposito at their desks, hard at work.
"Anything?" Kate asked, walking over to the murder board.
"Nothing on the van yet, but that's no surprise." Ryan said, joining them at the board. "I did find a security camera just up the street, just waiting for the footage to come in so I can go through it."
Getting off the phone, Esposito came over, "Talked all the people in the building. Mrs Santiago remembers seeing the van in the alley, but couldn't see the licence plate. She did happen to see a woman near the van, but her description leaves a lot to be desired. 'A woman with long, dark hair.'"
"Great." Kate's phone rang. "Beckett. Ok, we'll be right down." She put the phone down and turned to the boys. "Lanie's got something. Ryan, get on the surveillance footage. Espo, check with CSU, see what they've come up with."
"As you wish." Esposito and Ryan went off on their assignments, leaving Beckett and Castle to make their way to the morgue.
"Hey Lanie, what have you got?" Beckett asked, as she walked into the morgue.
"Not much, I'm afraid. There are no abrasions or wounds to indicate a cause of death, so at the moment I can't say what killed him. I did find a pink substance in his system. Possibly a drug of some type, so I sent it to tox."
"Sounds like the powder we found on him. Do you know what it is yet?"
"No, I've never seen anything like it. Must be some new designer drug. When I get the results through I'll know more, but right now COD is unknown."
"Ok, thanks Lanie." They walked back out of the morgue. "Castle, are you still thinking about Alexis?"
"Huh?" was all she got out of him. She stopped him in the empty corridor and turned to face him.
"Castle, you want to tell me what's really going on." That got a response from him.
"It's nothing. I'm fine." He looked at Beckett, and rushed to explain. "Really, Beckett. Everything's fine, I'm just having one of those days. I feel out of sorts today. It'll blow over soon enough and I'll be back to my usual self."
She stood there and really looked at him, and noticed that something was radically different with him. Putting aside the lack of attention and outlandish theories today, he did seem to be contemplating something big. He usually only got this way when he failed to solve a problem and wanted to figure out why. This wasn't about Alexis, he was thinking about something else, and didn't want any help to find the answer. "Ok, if you're sure." When he nodded, she continued on her way back to the precinct.
When they got back, Ryan was immersed in the video surveillance, so they didn't want to disturb him. Walking up to the murder board Beckett added their latest finding to the board.
"I got something." Espo said, walking up to join them. "That pink substance we found on the vic? Turns out it's just some sugars and food colouring-."
"Sugar?"
"Yes, but there was a little something extra added. A small amount of an as yet unidentified substance. They've sent it for further analysis and a chemical breakdown. According to the clerk I spoke to, we should have the results in a few days." He finished, apologetically.
"Ok," Beckett added 'unknown substance' the board. "Anything else from CSU?"
"They found a set of tyre treads and identified them as Michelin M/S, a common tyre used on SUV's and light trucks." Kate wrote that under the vague description they had of the van so far. "That's about it right now." Kate returned to looking at the board, hoping something would pop out at her, some small piece that would make the rest fall into place. Not finding it she sighed and turned back to Esposito and Castle. She noticed that Castle was focused on the board with a frightening intensity.
"What is it, Castle?"
"I don't know yet. There's something familiar here, but I can't remember what it is." He looked away from the murder board to find two sets of eyes focused on him. "I must have read or seen something somewhere."
"Surveillance was a bust," Ryan told them, surfacing from his review of the tapes. "There's no sign of any black vans at all. It must have entered and exited from the opposite end."
"Any sign of our vic?" Kate asked, hopeful for some good news.
"No, he either walked in from the other end or-"
"He was in the van." Kate finished for him. Kevin nodded, indicating he agreed with her assessment.
"Alright, look into our vic's financials and phone records. He had to get hold of this 'drug' some way, maybe there's a trail. Castle and I will visit his work places." They nodded and headed off the secure the paperwork.
"Is this case really familiar to you?" Kate asked as they were driving through the city towards Tribeca.
"I can't explain it, but I have this niggling feeling in the back of my mind that I've seen this type of thing before." He shook himself out of his musings and returned to the present. "I must have come across it in my research of one of my books."
"Let it go." He looked sharply at her. Seeing his reaction, she elaborated. "The more you think about it, the harder it is to remember. Forget about it for now, and maybe it'll come to you."
He continued to look at her, a slightly contemplative look on his face. "That's the second piece of sage advice you've given me today. Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine?" She was flustered by the concern she saw in his eyes, it reminded her too much of her dream. A dream she wasn't ready to face quite yet.
He knew she was lying, not just to him, but also to herself. He couldn't explain it, but he just knew that today she wasn't quite as put together as she wanted everyone to believe. He didn't call her on it though, knowing it would have to opposite effect on her as it had on him. She would snap and retreat, maybe even resent his interference. They had made some real strides in their relationship lately, especially since the bank incident, and he didn't want to undo that. They spent the rest of the trip in silence, both too immersed in their own thoughts to bother with small talk.
"This is the place." They headed towards to tiny book store located between a dry cleaners and an Indian restaurant. "Quite a step down from a prestigious law firm."
Upon entering they were met by a middle aged man. "Good afternoon, my dears, what can I do for you today?" He offered them a kind smile to go with the well-versed words.
"I'm Detective Kate Beckett and this is Mr Castle, we're with the New York Police Department. We understand that a Christopher Danielson is employed here?" Beckett asked softly.
"Chris? Yes, he's been with me for about a year now. What's this about?" Mr Rogers inquired.
Kate jumped right in, not wanting to delay the inevitable. "We have some bad news, Mr Rogers, Chris was found dead this morning in Midtown."
"Dead? How?" He was shocked to hear that.
"We're not sure yet. We were hoping you could help us with something." Kate continued, gently.
"Of course, Detective. I'll help in any way I can." Mr Rogers replied, coming to terms with the fact that Chris was gone. "Please, come through to the back." They followed Mr Rogers into a small office, filled with paperbacks, both old and new. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
"No thanks, Mr Rogers, we're fine. We just have a couple of questions." They sat down gingerly, trying to avoid toppling any one of the precariously balanced stacks. "How well did you know Mr Danielson?"
"Call me Darren. He was a quiet, conscientious kid, always punctual, did his job well, never caused me any trouble."
Kate smiled at him, "What about his personal life - friends, girlfriends?"
"He never really talked about himself. I know about his parents and how he lost them. He didn't seem real interested in girls though. Never spoke about anyone special in his life."
"Did you noticed anything different about him in the last few weeks?" Castle spoke up, for the first time taking an interest in the case. Mr Rogers took a moment to think about it. Kate could see the moment a light bulb went off. She leant forward eagerly.
"What is it?"
"I didn't realise until you asked, but he seemed different over the last five weeks. It was nothing drastic, just a slight change in demeanour. So slight that I never would have noticed if you hadn't asked so specific a question. Looking back I'd say he had a purpose again, a reason to change, instead of just going through life one day at a time."
"Do you think this change could be a result of drugs?"
He looked up shocked and appalled. "Absolutely not. If I only knew one thing about him, it was that he never took drugs. It was the only thing he was vehement about. He knew what happened with drugs and wanted no part of it. There's no way he was mixed up with that."
"I had to ask, Darren. We found a vial on him, containing a pink powder, do you have any idea where that came from?" She pressed on.
"Pink powder? No, I have no idea."
"Ok, thank you Darren, you've been very helpful. If you remember anything else, please give me a call." She said, handing him a card.
"I will, Detective. I hope you find the truth." With those parting words, Castle and Beckett took their leave, another piece of the puzzle firmly in hand.
They decided to walk to the second location as it was only a few blocks, and take advantage of one of the last warm days of the year. They fell into a comfortable silence, both caught up in their own thoughts.
"You know, I've been thinking," Castle paused, 'probably for dramatic effect' Kate thought to herself. She waited patiently for him to continue, but he didn't. He stared off into space, completely loosing his train of thought, in favour of something else.
"Castle!" He jumped, brought back to reality by Kate's sharp shout. He looked at her. Seeing she had his attention again she continued. "What were you thinking about?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about Alexis." He stated.
"Castle, there is nothing you can do for her right now. I know you want to help, but it will only make things worse. She needs time to come to terms with it herself, understand what happened, and learn from it." She tried to be gentle with him, make it sink in that if he interfered now, it could backfire.
"I know that, Beckett. I was going to say that your advice gave me an idea. I don't want to give anything away right now, but I hope that it will help her." He explained.
"Sorry." She started walking again. Jumping down Castle's throat wasn't going to help.
They made their way to the bodega where the victim worked a late shift. Walking in they found a bored looking youth at the counter, doing a bad job of tending the store. Approaching the boy, Kate immediately took a dislike to him. She showed him her badge. "Detective Kate Beckett, is the manager here today?" She didn't want to waste time with this kid. He sullenly pointed them in the direction of the back, where an office was situated. They found a young man seated at the tiny desk, doing the books.
"This area's off limits." He said, without looking up.
"Even to the NYPD." Kate told him. He stopped what he was doing rather quickly and looked up.
"I'm Detective Beckett and this is Richard Castle."
"Sorry Detective, I get a lot of nosy kids looking around. Gotta do what I can to deter them. What can I do for you today?"
"I understand that Chris Danielson is employed here?" Beckett got straight to the point.
"Yes, Chris is my best guy. Always on time, never causes me any trouble. What's this about?"
"He was found dead this morning in Midtown, Mr Tavali."
"Dead?" He exclaimed. "In Midtown? That can't be right. He never went up to Midtown, this is as far as he ever got from his apartment. It can't be him."
"I can assure you it's him." Beckett replied. "You say he never went to Midtown, can you tell me why?"
"He hated it up there. Reminded him too much of his parents and his old life. Other than here and his other job at the book store, he never left his apartment. Anything he wanted or needed he went online for."
"So you can't think of any reason he would have been uptown last night?"
"No, none." He shook his head, obviously confused by the news.
"We found a small vial with a pink powder in it on his body, do you know what it was, or where he got it?" Castle asked.
"I have no idea. I know for a fact he didn't do drugs. He was vehement in his hatred of them. It's the only thing he was genuinely passionate about."
"Ok, one last question, Mr Tavali, have you noticed any changes in Chris lately?" Kate asked.
"He had been opening up a little. Becoming more social and interested in things. I'd say something happened to him to wake him up. I don't know what it was, but I do remember it was six weeks ago."
"Thank you Mr Tavali. If you can think of anything else," She handed him her card, "please give me a call." They left the office and found the youth waiting for them outside the door.
"Chris was a stand-up guy. Although he was quiet and withdrawn, he took no crap from anyone. He was very protective of this place. We didn't talk much, he came in as I was leaving, but he always looked out for me."
"In what way?" Kate asked, clearly confused by the sudden change of attitude.
"He offered to help me out with some stuff. Got me into night school. I was heading for jail before he stepped in and got me back on track. I can't believe he's dead." He was very distressed at the news. Kate gave him her card and told him to call her if he ever wanted to talk.
She and Castle left the bodega and headed back to the car. Getting in she noticed Castle was staring at her.
"You know that's creepy, right?"
He ignored that question and asked one of his own. "I saw how you reacted when we first arrived. You disliked him on sight. What changed?"
"First appearances aren't everything. Just because he acted like a brat when we arrived, doesn't mean that's how he actually is. As you heard he was genuinely upset to hear that his mentor, for lack of a better word, has died. It looks like he's trying to turn his life around, and, if I have to listen to him or offer moral support, then that's what I'll do. Any way I can keep another kid out of the system is one less crime to solve." She started the car, intent on ignoring him and his ability to see right through her, all the way back to the precinct.
Upon their return they found Ryan and Esposito up to their elbows in financial records and cell phone bills. Kate headed straight to the murder board and added the new information under the vic's name. She took a step back and looked at everything they had learned up until now, which was not much. Sighing, she turned away and went in search of the boys. "Hey guys, how about we call it a night. We can continue in the morning." In unison they both looked up at the clock to see it was 6pm. They packed up the papers quickly, careful to keep everything in order so they could pick it up again in the morning.
"See you at the Old Haunt then." Espo said.
"Yeah, we're definitely still going, right?" Ryan asked, confirming their plans for the evening.
"Of course," Kate smiled, "Wouldn't miss it for the world." Getting into the elevator, they agreed to meet there at 7, set to celebrate the upcoming wedding in style.
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