A/N1: Hello doodazoids and WELCOME to the seventh and latest Chapter of Absolution titled 'I Think We Have a Serial Killer On Our Hands' I've included the title chapter here because 'I Think We Have a Serial Killer On Our Hands' is too long for the bit where you type in the chapter title! 'Thanks to everyone to reviewed last chapter each and every onw made me smile and squee! Especially the one from the person who was too lazy to sign in LMBFAO!
Here is the next instalment which is heavy on the case content but light on the Caskett content
Kate's team didn't have to deal with a body drop for the rest of the shift so they just sat at their desks completing paperwork. Right on five o'clock Rick shut down his computer and stored away the paperwork he was working on.
"Right, I have to head to my lawyers. I'll see you Kevin and Javi at the Old Haunt at half past six?" he told Kate.
The female detective smiled. "Sure," she replied, getting out of her chair and heading toward the break room. "You got a sec?"
"Yeah."
Kate made her way into the break room and Rick followed, shutting the door behind him.
"What's up?" he asked.
Kate stepped up to him, wrapping her slender arms around his muscular body.
"Nothing I just wanted a hug," she replied, giving him a squeeze. "And I didn't want to do it in the middle of the bullpen. Gates is still here and I didn't want an audience."
Rick wrapped his arms around Kate, returning the hug and resting his chin on her head, closing his eyes.
"You're awesome, you know that?" he said after a minute of silence.
"I am?" Kate enquired, giggling slightly at the random statement.
"Yup, and for too many reasons to reel off but your holster belt is one reason. I kinda have a fantasy of you coming to bed wearing nothing but that."
Kate laughed heartily.
"That's an idea I might do that next time I stay at the loft or you come and stay at my apartment," she replied, standing on her toes and pecking him on the lips. "Just the holster belt or something lacy too?"
"Both?" Rick suggested hopefully, his blue eyes alive with mischief. "You could wear your corset under your usual clothes to the precinct then we can go back to your pace after shift one day...and let things go from there."
Kate's eyes sparkled. "That's not entirely an unpleasant idea," she confessed. "But we can discuss that later, don't you have to be at your lawyers?"
"Yeah I better go," Rick answered, reluctantly pulling away from the female detective. "See you at the Old Haunt, okay?"
Kate kissed him.
"See you soon."
After making a lightning quick trip to his lawyers to drop off the paperwork to secure his consultant role with the NYPD, Rick got in his Ferrari and made his way to the other side of town for drinks with Esposito, Ryan and Kate at the Old Haunt. After extensive renovations the old bar had undergone a renaissance and every night did a roaring trade with the arty and creative types and the young 9-5 working class. He parked his car to the back of the bar before walking around the front and greeting Spiro the regular security guard.
"Aye Writer Dude, how's it hanging?" he asked, greeting the writer cheerfully with a fist bump.
"Brilliantly, how about you?" Rick asked politely.
"Same same, your girl just got here."
"Awesome stuff, I'm heading in. Catch you round, alright?"
"Got it."
Rick made his way down the steps and into the spacious bar where loud music and several games of eight ball were being played. He spied Kate in the far corner with Ryan, Esposito and Lanie and decided to sneak up on her. The two detectives and ME saw his approach but he silenced them with a finger to his lips. The Writer then negotiated the crowded bar and made his way up behind the female detective, sweeping aside her glossy brunette tresses, brushing his lips against the nape of her neck and whispering in her ear 'Boo!"
Kate's police training kicked in and she whirled around to hit whoever it was behind her. But Rick had expected this and after having developed many of the same skills as his girl, ducked and missed, her fist just brushing his hair.
"How do, sweetheart." He said with a cheesy grin.
Kevin, Javier and Lanie laughed heartily.
"Oooh, he's getting too quick for you girl." Lanie teased.
"Shut up," Kate grumbled. "Hey, how did it go at the lawyers?"
"Great, I have to go back tomorrow morning and pick them up but Greg said after a cursory look, he doesn't think the contract will interfere with the one I have with Black Pawn. Once I've signed my bit and he's signed his bit, I'll drop the papers off at headquarters and I'll be officially official."
"So you'll be able to officially annoy my girl then," Lanie teased.
"Oh don't put that idea in his head, he'll pick it up and run with it and I'll never catch him." Kate said dryly, allowing the Writer to slip an arm around her waist and pull her close.
"So you started drinking yet?" Rick asked Kate as he group made their way to the corner of the bar where their permanently reserved booth in which Rick has put a brass 'Permanently reserved for the 12th Precinct Homicide Department' sign on the wall.
"No...we decided to wait for you," Kate replied, sliding into the booth. "Kevin, it was your idea to come here in the first place, therefore your shout. I'll have a Chocolate Mudslide."
"Sex on the Beach," Lanie said.
"Blue Label on the rocks," Esposito added.
"Water for you, Writer Boy?" Ryan asked weakly, rolling his eyes.
"Nope, just some Courvoisier neat," Rick replied with a grin.
"Jesus with that order and the three hundred and I just gave Javi, I'm going to have about five bucks left to myself after payday." Ryan grumped the hint of a smile upon his lips. "Jenny and I are going to have to eat cheese toasties all week."
"Suck it up bro, you made a losing bet." Esposito told his friend with a grin.
"No sympathy from me Kevin," Kate added as he friend gave her a mock pleading look. "You should know better than to bet against Rick...with Javi of all people."
The Irish detective just rolled his eyes and headed to the bar.
"So are we on call this weekend or what?" Rick asked Esposito as Kate snuggled up to him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah this weekend we are," the Latino detective replied, making a face. "Fingers crossed for a quiet one but it never is. We haven't had a zero body drop on an on call weekend for months."
"So tell me all about this meeting you and Kate had with the Top Brass today," Lanie told Rick as over at the bar Ryan recited the group's order to the barman. "Javi said something big went down but wouldn't say what. He said it's your story to tell."
"Oh wait til Kevin gets back, he needs to hear the whole story too." Kate pleaded to Rick as the Writer opened his mouth to begin the tale.
"It's a story for the ages," Rick told Lanie. "You'll be telling this one to your kids."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Rick, it's not that spectacular," she told him with a groan. "You exaggerate."
"Yeah but you love me."
"Oh barf, you two get a room!" Lanie teased as Kate and Rick shared a heated kiss. "Javi and I aren't that bad."
"I beg to differ," Kate muttered, pulling back from Rick her face a magnificent shade of scarlet as Kevin returned to the booth. "Remember that picture text?"
"Whatever!"
"I swear I was that far away from smashing the guy's face in," Rick told the group, holding his index finger and thumb an inch apart as he finished telling the story of his run in with the First Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD. "And I'm not a violent person."
"None of us are but I think if someone, anyone denigrated our family. We'd behave like you did," Kevin told the Writer as he swirled the watery remains of his scotch on the rocks. "You've just confirmed what every serving officer in the NYPD suspected though. Sound like he's more than just an ass kissing rank climber."
"Well whatever he is, I'm just glad I don't have to deal with him again," Rick replied, subconsciously twirling a bang of Kate's hair around his finger. "Once the paperwork has been lodged with the commissioner, I'm sticking to the bullpen. You guys are far less pretentious and are like family. The environment at headquarters was much less family orientated. Everyone there kisses their superiors asses."
"I wouldn't let Gates hear you saying that, her husband heads up IA for the entire NYPD there." Kate said with a chuckle.
"Has anyone ever actually met Mr Iron Gates?" Rick wondered.
"Nah, he sticks to headquarters and Gates sticks to the twelfth," Esposito replied, casually. "Not surprised though, Gates hardly seems the type to mix work and family. I have heard he's a great cop though like a dog at a bone."
"S'pose you have to be to run Internal Affairs," Rick mused. "Oh guess which famous writer has a prime spot on The View on Monday morning?"
"Steven King?" Esposito suggested.
"James Patterson," Lanie added.
"Stephenie Myer," Kevin volunteered.
"I KNOW!" Kate exclaimed "J.K Rowling!"
"Oh ha ha hardi har," Rick said dryly, rolling his eyes as his friends roared with laughter. "You're all comedians aren't ya? Fine I'm not going to tell you anything about it then."
"Aawwwww don't get gwumpy," Kate teased, affectionately twisting his ear. "C'mon tell us all about your spot."
"Well its Writers week next week and Paula, my PR agent and manager rang me this morning and asked me if I wanted to go on, apparently Jodi Piccoult had to drop out. I said yes, therefore I'm going to be a bit late to the precinct on Monday."
"We can tune in there's a box in the bullpen," Kevin told the writer. "Good timing huh with Frozen Heat coming out later in the year."
"Yup, this is going to be the start of many months of promoting the last Nikki Heat and I have to say I'm going to miss the old girl." Rick teased, elbowing Kate in the side knowing his choice of words would raise the ire of the female detective.
"I'm not going to dignify your choice of words with a response," she retorted dryly.
"So what are you going to write next?" Lanie asked in interest as she sipped her Sex on the Beach.
"I haven't given it a whole lot of thought but I'm considering branching out into True Crime or writing a book on the NYPD," Rick replied, casually. "A different one compared to the others out on the market. Whatever I write it's going to be long after Frozen Heat comes out. Once my contract with Black Pawn ends at the end of the year I'm taking twelve months off from writing. I want to be able to write because I want to and not because I have a deadline hanging over my head. I've gone 'all my career' like that and I'd like to be able to write for recreation."
"So would we see you at the precinct on a full time basis when you take that year off?" Kevin asked.
"Oh yeah, you see I can see the difference on a day to day basis I make at the twelfth with writing, it's a delayed thing," Rick answered, swirling the dregs of his Courvoisier. "I know people appreciate what I do but I only ever see their reactions at book signings and the associated tours. At the precinct I get the rewards for helping you guys out every day."
"You so should take up the Commissioners offer to join the service man," Esposito told the Writer. "You're exactly the sort of people that need to be in the job."
"Well as I said when Kate and I got back from Headquarters, I haven't totally ruled it out," Rick informed the Latino detective. "If I decided to join, I couldn't do it til after my contract with Black Pawn ends and that's in September. After that...I'll give it serious thought."
Kevin laughed. "I reckon you'd look like one of those charity bobble head dolls the Guild sells to raise funds," he said. "Especially in dress threads, ha ha!"
"Kevin, be nice," Kate said, scolding her friend. "He would not look like a Guild bobble head doll...more like the teddy bears."
"Oh that's ripe!" Rick exclaimed as Lanie, Esposito and Kevin roared with laughter. "Thanks very much Tulip, that means a lot coming from you."
"Anytime Writer Monkey."
Kate had a girls weekend planned with Lanie so Rick planned a 'Dad 'n' Daughter' weekend with Alexis. They went to the movies and took in some shows on Broadway and spent all day Sunday at the Go-Kart track in Long Island. It was now eight o'clock Sunday night and the pair was sitting in their favourite booth at Remy's, munching down on their usual order.
"I'm going to miss this when I go to College, Dad." Alexis said with a sigh as she dipped a steak fry in a pool of gravy. "Sometimes it sucks growing up."
Rick raised an eyebrow at his daughter's uncharacteristic melancholy mood.
"What's up Pumpkin?" he asked in concern. "You seem a bit down."
"Nah...I'm not, not really," the redhead replied with a sigh. "It's just that I love these Dad 'n' Daughter outings. It reminds me of all the good times I've had growing up and how I'm not going to be your little girl anymore once I head off to College."
"Oh Pumpkin trust me, you'll always be my little girl. No matter how old you are," Rick assured his daughter as he wrapped an arm around the teenager and kissed the top of her head. "Even when you're a middle aged woman married with six kids, you'll still be my Little Lexie."
Alexis rolled her eyes. "Dad, don't call me Little Lexie in public!" she groaned good naturedly. "It's embarrassing."
Rick chuckled. "Aw I know you love it," he teased. "But seriously, just because you're going off to College doesn't mean these 'Dad 'n' Daughter' outings have to end. Wherever you go to school you can always come home for the weekend, especially if you go to Brown, NYU or Columbia. I promise we'll schedule a Dad 'n' Daughter day at least once a month, Laser Tag, Go Karting, horse riding or a show on Broadway. You name it we'll do it...I promise."
Alexis smiled. "Thanks," she said reassured. "So when are you going to ask Kate to move in?"
Rick choked on his coke. "Who said I was going to ask Kate to move in?" he exclaimed, coughing slightly.
Alexis rolled her eyes in a perfect imitation of the female detective.
"Because I know you Dad," she said dryly. "Every time she comes to the loft, you light up like a Christmas tree. Every time she speaks, you listen enraptured like she's the most important person in the world and you seem the most content when she's in your arms. I know you want her to come and live with us."
"You know me too well, mischief." He replied. "I've let Kate know I'd like her to live with us but she's not quite ready yet. She's said she doesn't want to intrude on the time you and I have left before you head off to college and she wants to wait til the loft feels more of her home than her apartment does. So I'm just waiting til she's ready. I'll wait forever for that woman, pumpkin. You know that."
Alexis smiled. "She's good for you Dad," the teenager replied, simply. "You two are the perfect match."
"Y'think?"
"I know," Alexis answered. "Paige and Kelsey have seen you together and reckon you'll get married one day."
Rick really did choke on his drink that time, inhaling the carbonated beverage up his nose.
"R-really?" he coughed, wiping his nose. "Uugh."
"Yeah, Paige said to me the other day. She started thinking you and Kate would get married back in October at the Halloween party, well before you two hooked up," Alexis revealed. "She's pretty cluey with things like that. She picked out Mr Payton and Ms Burns getting married long before it was common knowledge they were even dating."
"Sweetheart, Kate and I have only been dating three months. Marriage is a looong way off," Rick informed his daughter. "And after your Mom and Gina, I want to make sure getting married again is the right thing to do. If Kate and I get married it won't be for a long, long time yet. I just want to enjoy finally being with my soul mate. With your Mom and Gina I was with them less then six months before I popped the question. If I ask Kate to marry me, it's going to be after longer than six months. I want to make sure it's the right path to venture down."
"Hmm...sounds like you're considering proposing," Alexis teased, her ice blue eyes alive with mischief. "I know you Dad."
"You know a lot of things kiddo and I'm not falling for your cheeky reverse psychology tactics," the Writer replied dryly. "The only thing I will say on the matter is if and when I decide to propose to Kate. You and your Gram will be the first to know, okay? End of conversation."
"Bu-"
"End of conversation."
"Bu-"
"End-of-conversation Alexis Castle."
Alexis rolled her eyes. "Alright, end of conversation Dad." The teen replied. 'Oh I am so onto you' she added inwardly.
Half an hour later as Rick paid the bill for his and Alexis's dinner, his iPhone rang with Body Drop Body Drop Body Drop!" in Kate's voice, a ringtone he has created the previous week. Groaning slightly he pulled the device out of his pocket and answered it shrilly.
"Castle."
"Hey it's me, we've got a fresh one." Kate told him in a pained voice without her usual affectionate greeting. "Ninth and Lex, can you get there? I need you on this one."
"Sure, I'm just leaving Remy's with Alexis now. See you in ten," Rick told the female detective. "See you soon."
"Thanks, love you."
And the line went dead.
"A fresh one?" Alexis asked.
"Yeah, on fifty-ninth and Lex, can you drive? You can take the car home. I'll take a taxi home later." Rick informed his daughter, holding the keys to the Prancing Horse out to the teen.
"Sure let's go."
Ten minutes later Alexis dropped her father off at the fifty-ninth and Lex murder scene, bestowing upon him a bear hug as he unfastened his seatbelt.
"Be safe," she said solemnly. "I'll come and pick you up later if you don't want to take a taxi."
"Thanks kiddo, I'll let you know," Rick replied, returning the hug. "See you soon."
The Writer got out of the Prancing Horse and began making his way towards the tape where Ryan and Esposito were trying to wrangle the crowd away from the crime scene tape.
"Hey dude, she's by the bod," Kevin greeted the Writer, holding up the tape. "You'll want to see this one."
"Thanks."
Rick ducked under the tape and made his way down the dirty trash laden alley to where Kate and Lanie were crouched down by a male body that was covered in stab wounds and resting in a massive pool of blood, his genitalia missing.
"Holy fuck!" he cussed, the uncharacteristic use of vulgar language slipping past is lips. "Another one?"
"Yeah another one exactly, the same injuries and C.O.D as the last one," Kate informed him, holding out a pair of purple surgical gloves.
"Time of death?" The Writer asked Lanie as he put the gloves on and began inspecting the body.
"Going by temperature and lividity, no more than two hours ago," the M.E replied, making notes on the clipboard in her hands. "He's still warm."
"The killer's getting braver, we probably only just missed him." Rick mused. "Knife wound to the heart again?"
"Yep, he was stabbed several dozen times but the final one was to the heart, piercing the aorta." Lanie went on pointing to the wounds on the body's chest. "And like our first two vics, the removal of his junk was done post mortem. The only difference between this guy and our first two, is the shape of the stab wounds. This one was stabled by a non serrated knife with a shorter and wider blade, maybe a fishing dagger of some sort."
"How many times was he stabbed?"
"I lost count at forty two."
Kate swore vehemently.
"Who found the body?" Rick asked the detective as they stood and let Lanie resume her assessment of the body.
"Don't know, a mystery 911 call from a payphone came in an hour ago," Kate answered, making a face. "Ryan and Esposito have set up a canvass and uniform are questioning local business and residential tenants. I've put a request into have all the 911 calls made from the public phones in the immediate area but that won't come in for twenty four hours yet. Once I get that information I can get the CCTV vision from the cameras and try and find the person who made the call...DAMMIT!"
"What did the call say?" Rick asked. "Did dispatch tell you that?"
"Yeah, it was a male sounded about in his late thirties to mid forties and he said "I've found a body in an alley off fifty-ninth and Lex and there's blood everywhere," Kate revealed, rubbing her temples. "It isn't the only alley off Fifty-ninth and Lex, so uniform didn't immediately find the body. What d'you think looking at the body?"
Rick signed. "Same as the second one," he answered truthfully. "A male mid thirties to late forties that knew the victim, the amount of stab wounds and removal of the junk indicates a level of familiarity and a deep ingrained level of animosity and anger. I think whoever did this knew the victim and the three vic's so far are linked in some way. I don't want to think it but you know we could have a se-"
"Oh no, no way, don't you dare say serial killer," Kate groaned. "Please don't say that."
"It's a possibility Kate, look at the facts. Three males in their mid forties to mid fifties, multiple stab wounds and their junk removed post mortem," Rick recited. "Vics two and three suffered exactly the same injuries and cause of death and the only thing out of place in this case, is that vic one died from a severed carotid artery not a pierced aorta."
Kate groaned loudly. "You're right," she conceded. "Technically a serial killer is someone who kills at least three people and in exactly the same way. God, when word gets out. Shit is going to his the fan. Gates is going to love this one."
"So who's going to be the one to ring her?" Rick asked as Lanie waved over her two morgue attendants who were waiting nearby with a body bag and gurney.
Kate grinned. "You're the newest official addition to the precinct Writer Boy, you can do it," she said with a grin. "You have her cell number."
"Why do I have the feeling ringing the big cheese is something no cop in the bullpen wants to do and whoever does get's a bollocking?" Rick asked witheringly as he took his iPhone from his jacket pocket.
"She likes you Castle, you'll be fine," Kate told him with a grin as the CSU truck rolled up. "Give Gates the heads up. I think you may be onto something. These aren't just random killings."
"Got it."
Kate went off to meet the CSU officers and Rick dialled Victoria Gates cell phone number, trepidation pooling in his belly. It rang several times then the line picked up.
"MOMMY, DANI PINCHED MY BARBIE!" Came the shrill voice of a young girl down the line.
"Victoria Gates cell," answered the deep voice of a man.
"Er...Hi my name's Richard Castle. Can I speak with Victoria Gates?" Rick asked. "It's rather urgent."
"Oh hey Rick, I've heard tons about you. I'm Jim, Torie's husband," the man answered friendly. "I'll just go get her. "Torie!"
Rick laughed as a clunk filtered down the line.
"What's so funny?" Kate asked.
"Gate's nickname is Torie," Rick replied with a chuckle. "That's what her other half calls her...ya know like Tori Spelling? Ha ha, cute."
"Mr Castle, I heard that. You mention that to anyone again and I will bust your ass," Gates said sternly, down the line. "What do you want? It's eight thirty on a Sunday night and I have a house full of hyperactive children I'm trying to get to bed."
"Sorry to interrupt Sir but Kate suggested I ring you, we're at a drop at fifty-ninth and Lex," Rick began explaining. "I think we have a serial killer on our hands."
An hour later Rick arrived back at the twelfth precinct with Kate, Esposito and Ryan armed with crime scene photos, bags of forensic evidence and a strong theory.
"Alright, let's get this moving. Gates will be here in less than half an hour and she'll want some solid groundwork done," Kate began, dropping her bag on her desk and seizing the whiteboard eraser. "Why can't the serial killers work nine to five? Sons of bitches."
"Gates is going to want to put out a press release, see if she'll include a plea to the killer to keep his working hours to a more reasonable time," Ryan said with a grin as he began sorting out the early copies of the crime scene photos on Rick's desk which was the closest to the murder board Kate was drawing up. "I'm sure whoever this dude is will acquiesce."
Kate rolled her eyes as Rick and Esposito laughed.
"Smartass," the female detective replied.
"Castle, can you and Espo go and get the files from the first and second victims?" Kate asked as she drew three columns on the whiteboard. "We're going to need the crime scene photos from those cases."
"Sure."
"So you really think we have a serial killer on our hands, bro?" Esposito asked as the two men left the bullpen and made their way to the evidence room on the other side of the department floor.
"Looks like it," Rick answered. "I wouldn't say so if I didn't think so but there are too many similarities in these three cases. But all my training suggests someone who's not going to stop unless we get them first."
Esposito swore in Spanish, something her did only when extremely agitated.
"You know what this means don't you?" he said. "Until we get this prick we've got no lives. Gates is going to cancel all leave and time off and bring every officer in the department in. She knows about 3XK, this is not going to be one that got away."
"We'll get that one again one day, don't worry." Rick assured the Latino detective. "By nature serial killers get lazy eventually. Eventually they slip up and get caught. With 3XK we've just got to wait."
"And that doesn't suck at all," Esposito growled as they entered the evidence room. "You're gonna have to race me to that son of a bitch Writer Boy. I want to do to him what he did to Ryan, no one belts up my partner and gets away with it."
"Patience is the case with that one, Espo. Trust me," Rick replied as he led the way to the middle of the room where the archive boxes containing all the evidence for the first two victims had been stored.
"Hmm."
Rick and Esposito collected the two boxes and made their way out into the bullpen just the elevator doors opened as Jane Karpowski and her team of Peter Jacques, Ray Stegner and Trevor Eggerstrom and his team of John Oliver and Brian Jameson emerged.
"Yo...what are you doing here?" Esposito asked in surprise.
"Gates told us to turn up," Karpowski grumbled. "No argument detective, this is a big one" she said. Just when I was about to get stuck into some Grey Goose too, I had literally just opened the bottle. What the hell's going on? Gates has never pulled us in off leave or out time off and Montgomery only did it for 3XK."
"Well this one could be another 3XK," Rick informed the female detective.
Karpowski's eyes widened. "We have a serial killer on our hands?" she yelped.
"Possibly, wait til Gates gets here and we'll take you through it," Rick told the older woman. "It has the potential to be big."
Eggerstrom swore.
"Serial Killer, Castle you sure?" he asked. "That's a pretty big call."
"And I wouldn't have made it unless I was a hundred percent sure Trevor, believe me," the Writer told the veteran cop. "Wait til you see what we've got on our hands."
Half an hour later Gates arrived striding into the bullpen dressed in yoga sweats and her hair pulled back in a messy pony tail.
"This better be good Castle, usually at this time on a Sunday night I'm sitting back with a glass of Merlot."
"Kate needs to start this one off," Rick told the captain as the older woman stood before him her hands on her hips.
"Alright Detective, start the story."
"On Tuesday morning, Castle, Esposito, Ryan and I were called to a scene in a pedestrian alley off East Eighty Sixth where we found Jeremy Anderson, thirty nine from the Bronx. Bigger rap sheet than Snoop Dogg. In the past he's been charged with battery, assault with a deadly weapon, possessing cocaine with intent to deal, GBH, Kidnapping but nothing since he was released from Sing Sing six months ago," Kate began sticking the crime scene phone up on the murder board in the 'Victim 1' column. "He had had his throat cut from ear to ear, severing his carotid artery forty six stab wounds to the chest, a dislocated shoulder and a skull fracture AND his genitals were sliced off post mortem."
The moment Kate stuck the picture of Jeremy Anderson's groin on the murder board Karpowski, Stegner, Jacques, Eggerstrom, Oliver and Jameson recoiled in horror with a collective yelp of surprise.
"Holy shit!" Karpowski exclaimed as the men around her swore. "Jesus Beckett, why do you always get the weird ones?"
"Must be my animal magnetism," Kate replied dryly. "Anyway Thursday at lunchtime we were again called to a hundred an thirtieth street where we were presented with John Doe, the first with the exact same injuries except this one died from a pierced aorta. He had forty six stab wounds too and once again his genitals were sliced off post mortem."
"You know, I've seen some pretty foul stuff in my time. But this seriously takes the cake," Trevor Eggerstrom declared with a nauseated expression. "I've seen suicides with double barrelled shotguns less messy than this."
"It gets better," Esposito piped up.
"And tonight dispatch called us out to an alley off fifty ninth and Lex where we found John Doe the second with the exact same injuries as John Doe the first," Kate continued, sticking the preliminary crime scene photos printed off in the CSU mobile lab van up on the murder board. "It's early yet so Lanie hasn't come up with a definite C.O.D but at this stage it looks like the same at vics one or two. She did say T.O.D was sometime between six and eight PM. The vic was still warm when she got there."
"You must've only just missed the killer," Jacques spoke up, studying the photos closely. "Any witnesses?"
"Not yet but uniform is still canvassing the area." Kate replied. "And I've sent in request for traces on all the public phones within a six block radius to see from which one the 911 call to alert us to the body was made."
"So what's your theory on this Mr Castle?" Gates asked the Writer. "You're the one that said serial killer."
"Well with victim one I thought it was a friend, spouse of close acquaintance, female because the victim worked and lived in an apartment he owned in the Bronx. But with victims two and three I'm leaning toward someone unknown to all three victims who possibly plied them with alcohol and drugs," the Writer began. "We know from the preliminary tox screens on the first two victims they were heavily intoxicated to the point of alcohol poisoning and victim one had traces of marijuana in his system. Vics one and two were clearly homeless but found near nightclub and bar districts. The level of ferocity on all three victims indicates a deep level of familiarity and an even deeper level of hatred to inflict these sorts of injuries."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "In all three victims the early injuries were the cause of death. The severed carotid artery in vic one and the pierced aorta in two and three. The other injuries were done post mortem and were quite unnecessary. This to me shows an individual who was so overcome by hatred he couldn't stop til he was physically exhausted. This sort of violence indicates the killer know our victims somehow. But the victims themselves have nothing to link them aside from two and three being homeless. And the Bronx where vic one lives is nowhere near where victims two and three were found. That's the only thing that puzzles me. If this was textbook, all three vic would be homeless or working class with a rap sheet."
"So what sort of perp are we looking for in your educated opinion?" Gates asked, rubbing her temples as she digested the information she'd just been presented with.
"Male, late thirties. Someone who has a scratchy work history. Single parent family. Possibly some brief military service with a dishonourable discharge. Repressed homosexual and relationship issues with women stemming from a difficult childhood," Rick began writing each description down under 'Suspect/Killer'. "Definite problems with alcohol and most definitely mental health issues, something like this could be carried out by someone with Dissociative Personality Disorder. At some point in his life he may have been held in a mental health facility. And I wouldn't rule out a history of sexual misconduct or cruelty to animals."
"Fuck," Steger cussed. "Ted Bundy was less complicated."
"Well let's not let this son of a bitch get to Ted Bundy level," Gates said authoratively. "Eggerstrom...you, Oliver and Jameson start looking through males in their mid thirties to forties matching the suspect's description that have been treated by and or discharged from any mental health facility or jail in the last twelve months. Karpowski, you, Jacques and Stegner contact sex crimes and see if they've had any cases in the past twelve months that has been perpetrated by a suspect matching our suspect's description. There has to be some record somewhere, especially in the gay beats around where our vics were found. Beckett light a fire under the people tracing the public phone records in the area. I want to know who made that damn 911 call. And get CCTV footage from every camera in that six block radius of yours. I want this son of a bitch off the streets now!"
"Yes SIR!" the group chorused
"Should I have some camp beds and blankets delivered?" Rick suggested to Kate as Gates stalked off to her office and the rest of the group dispersed. "I have a feeling we're not going to be spending much time at home in the near future."
"Nah Gates will let us go home eventually," Kate said with a sigh. "Espo get onto the phone records. Ryan can you chase up the CCTV footage?"
"On it!" the two male detectives chorused.
"We've got to get this one Rick," Kate said with a sigh as she tidied up the hastily created murder board. "3XK got away, this one can't."
"We only just missed him tonight Kate, we'll get this one," Rick assured the worried detective. "Look, he's already getting lazy, killing in a busy night spot. And the injuries on the victim mean the killer must have gotten some blood on his clothes. That's not going to be missed in New York."
"I dunno about that people in this city are more concerned about their own issues to bother paying attention to anyone with a bit of blood on them," Kate said. "Three in a week? God, not even Ted Bundy killed that many that quickly and he killed over seventy women!"
"The cops got Bundy eventually, we'll do the same." Rick declared. "I can't guarantee there won't be more victims but as with the three so far with each one. He'll get lazier and lazier and more complacent. That's what undoes all serial killers in the end you, know that."
"Hmm...What a case for your first official job with the NYPD huh?" Kate said in dry amusement.
"You know me sweetheart. I don't do things by halves," the Writer joked. "I go hard or go home."
Kate gave a weak smile. "D'you want to come back to my apartment once Gates sends us home for the night?" she asked after a moment of contemplative silence. "After a case like this one, I'm going to want company."
"Sure...but remember I have that thing on the View tomorrow morning," Rick reminded the pre-occupied detective. "I can come into the precinct early with you but I have to be at the studios by ten."
"Sure, we're going to need you on this one." Kate confessed. "God, I wish I'd had a FBI trained profiler on every case I've ever worked, it would've made my life so much easier."
"Can't guarantee I'll have made anything easier," Rick told her. "The feds gave a profile on the Ted Bundy case and it took seven years to catch him and five to convict him."
Kate groaned. "Oh don't say that. I want some hope of catching this bastard," she told him. "Alright, how about we start going through the case files for vics one and two? There might be something in there we've missed."
"Let's do it."
Finally at midnight Gates emerged from her office and into the bullpen.
"Alright, everyone that's all you can do for the night," she told her officers. "Go home and be back here no later than seven thirty. Get some rest you're going to need it. This is going out to the news services in the morning and you're going to need to be on your game. All leave and time off is cancelled until we get this son of a bitch"
A collective sigh of relief washed over the detectives.
"I'm outta here," Esposito declared as he shut down his computer. "See you all in the morning."
"Thanks for your hard work Espo," Kate said gratefully as the Latino detective pulled on his jacket. "You too Kevin, tell Jenny I'm sorry but we're going to need al hands on deck til this is done."
"No problem, she understands." Ryan told his friend and colleague as he pushed his chair under his desk. "See you in a few hours, yeah?"
"You got it, see you boys."
"C'mon, you're not going to be the last one here," Rick said to Kate getting up and holding his hand out to her. "Its midnight, you can't do anything more now. You know you can't."
"I know and it sucks," the female detective replied, shutting off her computer. "If I didn't think it would financially ruin the city. I'd suck up to Weldon to finance a twenty-four seven team to get this prick off the streets."
"He'd do it for you, you now," Rick joked. "He's a big fan of Detective Kate Beckett."
"He wouldn't spend hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of dollars on something like this just because he likes me, Rick." Kate said dryly. "Are you palley with Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg? Now they could finance and twenty-four seven investigation team."
"Can't say I've ever met them," Rick joked as Kate got to her feet and pulled on her. "But you know the commissioner is going to hear about this, Gates will ring him herself and he'll ask Weldon to provide more money for a bigger investigation team if he things it's warranted. Let's deal with any possibility of that in the morning, C'mon let's head back to your place. I need some sleep. Alexis and I spent all day Go Karting on Long Island, you know."
"Oh and how did that go?"
"Oh it was the best fun..."
A/N2: There you go peoples remember REVIEWS ARE LOVE!
