Kate was standing in the middle of Eric's office it was a nice view but there were several sniper points.
"Mr. Vaughn Please keep back from the window before I cover it. There much better." Kate said.
"You even said you were not cut out for this bodyguard business. It seems to me you protest too much. You are certainly extraordinary." Eric said.
"Well Sir I would like to make sure you are safe. That window afforded many views in for a sniper." Kate said.
"I see you don't believe you are so? Do you not have anyone else tell you this?" Eric said getting closer.
At that moment the burner phone rings,
"I have to get this" Kate said slipping away from him.
"Hey Girlfriend I figured out what killed your vic." Lanie said.
"Great Lanie what is it?" Kate asked.
"It is a very close to Saxitoxin found in shellfish but this version is weaponized to the max! They would have to have a pretty sophisticated lab to synthesize this version." Lanie said.
"Thanks Lanie send it to the boys!" Kate said.
"I could not help but overhear you saying something about Saxitoxin?" Eric asked.
Eric's assistant said "Petra is my name and the person you want is Cindy"
"Eric, who is Cindy?" Kate asked.
"She is the head of an alliance between Vaughn enterprises and a University lab tasked to find antidotes for these class of poisons. Her Name is Cindy Peralty. I met her in a conference in Singapore. We hit it off but you know how these things go." Eric said.
Yeah so you dumped her how did she react to that? Kate asked.
"Not well she turned stalker and did Fatal Attraction for a few weeks afterward. You do not think Cindy had anything to do with Arthur's death do you?" Eric said.
He was alarmed he did not think the police would figure out this case so quickly. He still had to get Kate in that compromised position.
\\\\\
The Boys with Rick stormed into Cory Harrison apt.
"NYPD" shouted Espo.
Ryan started sneezing. There was white fluff everywhere.
"Goose down I'm allergic." Ryan said.
"Ah the poor man silencer. I guess the decease is Cory Harrison?" Rick asked.
"Yeah his face matches the picture." Espo said. "Get CSU in here."
After the coroner and CSU arrive they found the bottle containing the poison.
Armed with the bottle they brought in Cindy Peralty.
She was smart and fashionable sitting in the interrogation. Rick watched as the Boys laid into her.
"So Ms. Peralty Have you ever seen this?" Ryan asked holding up the bottle of saxitoxin.
"I want immunity! Of I am not going to say another thing." She stated.
Espo and Ryan left to talk to the captain. This allowed Rick to slip in unnoticed.
"So who are you? Say don't I know you? You are Richard Castle!" She said in a fan girl voice.
"Yes I am and I just want to talk to you about Eric Vaughn. This is nothing about the case or I hope it is not." Rick said.
"What do you want to know?" She asked.
"Well what kind of guy is he really?" Rick asked.
"Two faced I mean he is all charming and that accent really turns a girl's head but he is definitely not a nice guy. You know why he bedded me other than I am attractive was to get me to working on this Saxitoxin for him. He said he had big plans for it! I guess he had a lucrative contract of something. But once I did it no note or nothing. He is a user of the highest degree. So why are you interested?" She asked.
"Oh I am a student of humanity and all facets. It is research for my next book." Rick said.
"Student of humanity huh? Well Eric Vaughn is closer to a cold blooded Reptile than Human. You should have heard him mocking with his so called friends the people who nominate him for awards. I mean he uses some pretty demeaning words. It was the first time I heard people described by him as Cattle! Then there was something about a great purging. By that time I had left being so disgusted." Cindy said.
"One last question who are his friends?" Rick asked.
"Oh the bankers, hedge fund managers and Senator Bracken he really gives me the creeps I tried to stay away from that guy!" Cindy said.
"Well thank you for your time." Rick said as he slipped out.
\\\\\
Eric and Kate were in a limo heading to the Fairwick hotel Kate was sitting very far away. She was looking out the window wishing she was at the loft drinking a nice merlot and snuggling together. Eric noticed a small smile on her face.
"You were thinking about him. Am I right? I'm usually am about these things." Eric said.
"Who…?" Kate turned to look at him.
"The person you were smiling about. It was your fiancée Oh no I am wrong no ring then just a boyfriend? One which does not compliment you the way you should be." Eric said edging closer.
"Look I am here under protest so please stay safe but over there!" Kate said.
"Oh I am so sorry I did not want to intrude." Eric said.
He was going to have to step it up a notch to bed this wild filly before her so tragic ending being killed to save me! Eric thought.
\\\\\
Ryan decided to go back to the car wash. He was in luck.
"Ralph wait up" Ryan said.
"Yeah Detective I am trying to catch a bus." Ralph replied.
"Well I am here to escort you." Ryan said.
"Why?" Ralph asked.
"Ralph your name was listed for Cory Harrison. How well did you know him?" Ryan asked.
"What you have to be joking. Cory was the one who is dead? Why did you not tell me before?" Ralph said leaning against the cruiser.
"I am so sorry but we did not know then we were investigating the person you served." Ryan said.
"There is two murders?" Ralph said. "Where are we going?"
"To the morgue his wife has already identified but we want to be sure. So please fasten your seat belt." Ryan said as he started up the cruiser.
So can you tell me anything about your cousin? Ryan asked while he was driving.
"Well the Head chef yelled at him." Ralph said.
Why? Ryan asked.
"Well he was late. About 10 mins I thought he was going to be fired but the Chef demoted him to busboy to teach him a lesson. Chef was like that very vindictive." Ralph said.
"But he did not stay there. You recognized him leaving the serving area didn't you?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah I knew he was angry he would sometimes spit in these stuff shirts's food. I figured that what he did this time too." Ralph said.
"No this time he got even by spraying poison on the plate and you served it." Ryan said.
"Oh well that I did not know." Ralph softly said.
"Yeah I believe you. So if he was late why? How did he get to work?" Ryan asked.
"I know he had lost his license and was taking the bus but which route I don't know. Ralph said.
\\\\
Ryan and Ralph were in the morgue to make sure of the identity of the body.
"Ok we are here so take your time is this your cousin?" Ryan asked as the intern lifted the sheet off.
Ralph blanched.
"Yeah that is him all right." Ralph almost ralphed.
"Ok the uni will take you home." Ryan said leaving to head back to the precinct.
\\\\\
Getting into the precinct he brought up city bus routes then created a map on where he might be seen by a traffic cam. He got the times and then he busied himself with the video footage. He was met in the AV room with a new tech.
"Hi I'm Tori and can I help you Detective?" She asked not used to seeing Detectives on her station.
"Oh Hi I'm Detective Ryan unofficial King of all Media nice to meet you Tori." Ryan said then shook her hand and turned back to what he was doing.
"Well if you can scoot over I can do this search faster." Tori said.
"Ok" Ryan said.
Getting to the controls Tori fingers were a blur.
Ok det. Who is the target? Tori asked.
"This guy Cory Harrison is the target." Ryan said.
"Ok face recognition has been scanned and let's see what we can find!" Tori said as the computer search along the bus route.
After a few minutes passed Tori spoke.
"We have a match." Tori said.
Ok go to real time and let's see what happens. Ryan said.
"Look at this" Tori said.
"Yeah he is late but he does not step on the bus but he stands at the doorway. Wait zoom in on that." Ryan ordered.
Tori pressed on the buttons and the picture emerges.
"Wait there is guy passing something wait it is the bottle of poison. See if you can get a picture of the guy on the bus." Ryan asked.
Tori did her best but the guy seemed to know where the cameras were located. However they did learn the guy was left handed and had a bandage on his neck.
"Look though the database on a contract killer left handed and with a tattoo on the neck." Ryan said.
"This search will take awhile." Tori said.
"Ok it is night time go home and we will look at the results in the morning." Ryan said.
