Chapter 6 – Getting down to business

The crime scene was a mess, even as crime scenes go. The furniture had been torn, pictures had been knocked from the walls, and the rug was soaked in blood. In the center of the chaos was the body, lying face up, sprawled on the rug. Three deep cuts ran down the victim's chest, and another two marred the face. Lanie was squatting beside the body, taking notes. She stood and gestured Beckett over.

"I should be able to tell you for sure when I get him back to the lab, but it looks like an animal attack. These cuts are consistent with claw marks, and there appears to be some sort of fur in the wounds. If it turns out not to be synthetic, I've got the wildlife consult on speed dial. "

"Okay. Thanks, Lanie. Call us when you have the lab results. "

Lanie raised a quizzical eyebrow at Kate, but chose to let the moment pass. She nodded to the medics who began to bag the body for transport.

Kate wandered away, looking at the photographs on the walls. Most were studio portraits of the victim and her family, ranging as far back as her own childhood by the looks of it. A few of the photos were more candid though. In one, three little girls in tutus posed on the building's front step. In another, four boys stood arm in arm outside a camp cabin. Several of the candid photos showed the victim and a young man, who Beckett took to be a grandson, at various points throughout the boys childhood. Beckett smiled sadly, glad that this was just a dream. At least these weren't real people about to face the very real trauma of losing a loved one to murder.

"Cute kids," said Castle, glancing over her shoulder at the photo of the boys at camp. Beckett murmered in assent, before setting the picture on the shelf and turning to him.

"So, Castle, who did it?"

Castle gave her an odd look. "Uh, the butler? It's a little early for speculation, even for me."

"I mean, according to your theory, this is your story, so you ought to know the ending, right? So how does it end? Who's our guy?"

Castle shuffled his feet and avoided her eyes. "I don't know."

Beckett laughed a little, "What do you mean you don't know? You said you had a plan."

"No, I said I'd think of something," he muttered, defensively with an awkward shrug. "Which I will. I just haven't yet."

An hour later, Kate stood in front of the murder board, muttering to herself as her eyes darted from photo to photo. Castle sat on the edge of her desk, watching her work.

"Nikki," Esposito called, walking towards her.

Kate continued to stare at the board, jotting something down in marker underneath one of the photos.

"Nikki," said Esposito again, a little louder this time.

Kate didn't flinch.

"Yo, Nikki," Esposito shouted, now only a few rows of desks away. Castle leaned forward and nudged Kate, who swore and dropped the marker. She looked at Castle, about to rebuke him. He gestured over his shoulder towards Esposito.

"This is getting very old," muttered Kate, realizing her error. "Uh, what have you got, Esposito? Ochoa? Whoever you happen to be today."

Esposito quirked an eyebrow at her, confused.

"So, Raley and I have been going through the vics' financials. All three vics used the same accountant in the city. Accountant is Matthew Kilm. He only works with a handful of families, all of whom are loaded. We looked at the records he sends the vics every month and compared those to the records on file at the bank. Looks like a percentage of the interest is being siphoned off each month. Guy's a total sleazebag in person. Raley and I are putting our money on him."

"Not smart to put your money on him if he's just gonna steal it," replied Castle.

Esposito chuckled, but Beckett just rolled her eyes.

"No, that's too easy," Kate said, more to herself than to the boys.

"Plus, I'd never write that terrible of an ending to this story, and we'd have solved the case way to fast. We can't be more than 100 pages in."

Esposito raised an eyebrow, waiting for Beckett's retort.

Kate gave the obligatory eye roll, but she was smiling as she did it. "Stop that," she said, pointing a finger at Castle. She addressed the two boys who were looking a little confused, "Good theory, but we need more evidence if the charges will stick. You and Ryan look into his alibi and see if who else had access to the money. Castle and I are going to talk to the families of the three vics again."

"Right… Ryan and I will get right on that. Let us know if you and Castle find anything interesting." Esposito nodded warily and headed off to find his partner.

Chapter 7 – Coming up short

"Hello Ms. Captan. Thank you for seeing us." Kate and Castle entered the elegantly decorated foyer of the daughter of the third victim. They'd already been to see family members of the previous two victims, but no one had been able to provide any information that seemed pertinent to the case.

"Please, call me Marlene." She ushered them into the living room, where tea was set out waiting for them. They settled onto the sofa, Kate flipping open her notebook, and Castle helping himself to a biscuit.

"We won't stay long. We only have a few questions," Kate said, addressing Marlene, but shooting Castle a dirty look as he reached for another biscuit.

"No problem at all."

"Do you recognize the names Mary Donahue or Michael Carter? Perhaps you knew one of their family members?" Marlene shook her head. Kate laid two photographs on the table.

"Do either of these individuals look familiar?" Again, Marlene shook her head.

"Ms. Captan, did anything seem amiss in the last few days? Was anything bothering your mother? Did she have confrontations with anyone? Any unsettling encounters?"

"No, nothing like that. My mother was seventy-two, and old for her age. The only thing she took pleasure in was that damn dog, and the only person she had any encounters with at all was my brother Jimmy. She was always dear to him. He's taken the news hard, of course."

"Thank you, Marlene. That will be all for now. Please give me a call if you think of anything else. Anything at all."

"We're so sorry for your loss," added Castle.

They stood and shook Ms. Captan's hand before taking their leave.

As they reached the car, Kate's phone rang.

"Beckett."

"Girl what's the matter with you today? Miguel told me you and Rook are doing some sort of pet name thing today. I'm all for kinky, but keep it out of my morgue, okay?"

"Lanie?"

"Mnm, don't start that with me again. That's Lauren to you, missy. Now listen up, because I'm in a hurry. I've got two bodies open on the table and another three chilling in the fridge waiting for me."

"Listening."

"So I talked with the wildlife expert – super nerdy, but kind of cute – and he confirmed that you've got a bona fide black bear on your hands. This particular species can be found upstate. He gave me the number of a wildlife center up there with the highest number of black bear sightings in the state. I guess there's a camp and a small preserve that are kept pretty much bear free, but once you head into the woods, they're relatively populous."

Kate scribbled down the name and number of the contact at the wildlife center and of the species of bear as Lanie continued.

"I went over all three bodies, and the damage on all three is consistent with an attack by the same species of animal. The claw marks match samples in the database. All three victims had been gouged numerous times, but what did them in were the cuts to the arteries. Each victim had at least one tear to a major artery. Judging by the pattern of blood loss, I'd say most of the defensive injuries were sustained before the damage to the arteries. Once the arteries were cut, they would have lost consciousness quickly, and bled out within minutes."

"Thanks, Lanie ." Lanie made a noise of disapproval on the other side and Kate stopped short. She rolled her eyes and amended, "I mean, Thank you, Lauren. Call if you find anything else?"

Castle grinned triumphantly as Kate hung up. "My theory is looking better and better, isn't it, Beckett?"

"Shut up, Castle."

Twenty minutes later, Castle and Beckett reconvened with Ryan and Esposito at the precinct. Kate added Lanie's findings on the manner of death to the murder board. In small print on the other end of the board, she wrote out the information on the black bear and the wildlife center upstate. She'd give them a call tomorrow to inquire about recent sightings and any attacks that had occurred in recent years.

"Please tell me you have something, guys." Kate slid into her desk chair, gratefully taking the coffee Castle passed to her.

"Matthew Kilm was an absolute bust. Financials look fishy, but everything checked out. He may not be the most honest of business men, but he's smart when it comes to his books. Plus, dude's got a rock solid alibi for all three murders," Esposito said, updating the murder board as he spoke.

"He bowls. Like, with a league. They were in a 24 hour tournament during the murders. Who does that?" Ryan looked annoyed.

"Ha, that sounds like something you'd come up with, Castle," Kate laughed, without thinking. Castle's face lit up.

"You're right, Detective. That does sound like something I'd write. As a matter of fact, this whole case does. I wonder why that could be…"

Kate rolled her eyes. "If this is your book, then would you care to enlighten us as to who killed our three victims? No? I thought not."

Castle plopped down in his chair, pouting. "I've only written through Chapter 10."

"Alright, guys, let's call it a night," Kate said, standing up from her desk and straightening her slacks. "We'll get Matthew Kilm back here in the morning to run over the financials again. Maybe there's something we missed."

Ryan and Esposito nodded gratefully, and, after placing a quick call to Mr. Kilm, headed towards the elevator.


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