Chapter 53

Kate stood in the observation room and stared at the window looking into the interrogation room where the suspect was. He was of average height and build with short dark brown hair. His hands were handcuffed behind his back. A large white bandage was across his nose. The man's eyes still sported the heavy purple black bruising that had resulted from the broken nose. Who ever had hit him, had hit him hard and fast, and many times.

As she watched the prisoner, she could not help but be reminded of how Lockwood had looked after Castle had dealt with him. It was almost an identical injury, as if Castle had delivered the blows himself. Yet it could not have been Castle. Her husband had been standing beside her on the podium.

Nearly a week already and the prisoner had not spoken. She had taken a number of runs at him and had gotten nothing out of him. It felt to her like she had been interrogating Lockwood all over again.

Esposito had told her that she would not get anything out of him. He was ex-special forces and they didn't talk. They were especially trained not to talk, to withstand interrogation and torture. The prisoner had not spoken when Esposito had taken a turn at him, nor to the specialist interrogator that she had brought in.

She had dealt with any number of tough nuts in her time but she had not encountered anyone like the man siting in the interrogation room. She hated to admit it but this guy was very good.

Nearly a week already and they still had nothing on him, except for his prints on the rifle and the bullets. She had been grateful to whoever had taken him down that he had not had the chance to fire at the mourners. One sniper firing was bad enough, but two? It did not bear thinking about.

Kate continued to stare at the window into the interrogation room. Time was running out. She would have to charge him and have him processed by the end of the day. She hated the thought of the prisoner going into the system. Though there was enough evidence to charge him it was not enough for Kate. She wanted to know who was behind him, behind Lockwood, behind it all. Who was pulling the strings? That was who Kate wanted

"Beckett?"

Kate turned around and found Ryan standing in the doorway holding up a file.

"You better take a look at this." Ryan said waving the file.

Kate nodded and left the observation room. Ryan passed her the file.

"CSU just sent this over." He explained. "He wasn't after you or Castle."

Kate looked up from the file to Ryan.

"The CSU people recreated the line of the possible shot..."

"And?" Kate prompted.

"Take a look." Ryan motioned.

Kate looked at the sketch map of the grave site and immediate surrounds that the CSU people had drawn up. She saw the red line that had been drawn from the sniper's position out to the line of seats where the mourners were sitting. One particular seat was circled in red. Her eyes widened in alarm when she read the name of the mourner sitting in that seat. Johanna Beckett.

Kate's eyebrows rose in surprise as she across to Ryan.

"My mother?"

"Looks like it." Ryan replied.

Kate frowned wondering why her mother would be the target for a sniper. Almost immediately she remembered the confrontation she had with her mother after her meeting with Joe Pulgatti.

"I'll talk to her later." Kate said. She was not looking forward to that particular meeting but she was going to get her mother to talk.

Ryan nodded his head.

Kate passed the file back to Ryan and then checked her watch.

"Is everyone assembled?" She asked.

"Ready and waiting, boss." Ryan replied with a grin.

Since the shooting at the cemetery Kate had been the acting head of Homicide at the 12th as well as heading the investigation of the shooting. As much as she wanted to be by Castle's side while he recuperated she had a job to do.

"Okay, let's go." Kate ordered.

Ryan nodded his head and then stepped aside to allow Kate to walk out first. He quickly fell into step beside her as they made there way into the bullpen to where everyone was waiting for the daily briefing.

XXX

Captain Victoria Gates stood in the middle of the elevator facing the doors as it slowly made its way up to the fourth floor. She cast a critical eye over her navy blue pants suit and brushed off an imaginary piece of lint from from her left shoulder. She had spent an inordinate long time getting ready this morning. She had chosen then discarded several pants suits before she had chosen the one she was wearing. She had even taken a little extra time applying her make up. She wanted to make a good impression.

As much as she tried to hide it, Captain Gates could not quite quell the nerves she was feeling. She had not felt this nervous since the day she had joined Internal Affairs as the new Lieutenant.

The elevator arrived at its destination. Captain Gates paused a moment to take a deep breath. She exhaled slowly and then stepped out onto the fourth floor of the 12th Precinct. She stood there in the hallway taking in the scene while trying to wrap it around her head that she was the new Captain of the 12th.

Just a few days ago she had been sitting in her office at Internal Affairs at 1 Police Plaza when the Chief of Detectives had strolled into her office unannounced and had offered her the posting at the 12th. In all honesty she had not thought about the posting. She had known Roy Montgomery but would not have called him a friend. He had been an acquaintance at best. The work she did for Internal Affairs did not allow for the making of too many friends in the workplace. Plenty of enemies, yes but friends, not that many. They had a good working relationship.

She had been shocked and saddened at his death but she had not thought about putting up her hand for the vacancy, not like several other Captains that she knew who had cared less that the body had barley gotten cold before they made it known they wanted the job. She had been surprised the Chief of Detectives had offered her the job. She was even more surprised when she had accepted the job.

Captain Gates had wanted to arrive first thing in the morning ready to roll up her sleeves and get down to business but she had spent most of the morning down at 1PP cleaning and packing up her office and then having to sign off on some cases that she had on her plate and then go to Personnel to fill out and sign some forms. Then there had been a couple of meetings with her superiors, briefings actually, to bring her up to speed.

And now here she was, standing in the 12th Precinct about to replace the slain Captain Montgomery. Her promotion had not been announced and she had declined the offer from the Chief of Ds to accompany her to the precinct and make the announcement. She was going to do it her way, like she always had.

Captain Gates had little doubt that her arrival would shock more than a few people and there would be resentment from many of the uniforms and detectives at the 12th. She knew full well what her reputation was within the NYPD. In her time at IA she had more than a few officers dismissed from the force and some had even gone to jail. Yet she was not there to win a popularity contest. She had a job to do and she would do it to the best of her abilities.

Clutching her leather brief case a little tighter, Captain Gates made her way along the corridor towards the bullpen. Entering the bullpen she paused and looked over to where a small group of people where standing in front of a murder board.

Standing between the gathered officers and the murder board was a tall brunette woman. Captain Gates recognised Detective Kate Beckett, remembering her. Their paths had crossed a couple of years ago after the shooting of the suspect Dick Coonan.

Gates had read Beckett's file the day before, familiarising herself with this high flying homicide detective. Gates had gone over the personnel files of many of the other people at the precinct. She had been impressed with what she had read in Beckett's file and more so considering Beckett's age.

Captain Gates found a spot and watched the younger woman as she spoke to the people in front of her. Gates was a little surprised to discover that Detective Beckett was pregnant. No one had mentioned that to her.

"Okay, Ryan, Esposito, go over the witness statements again." Kate ordered. "Maybe we missed something the first couple of times."

Ryan and Esposito exchanged a look before turning to face Kate. Whatever protest was on their lips died instantly unvoiced when they saw Kate's raised eyebrow.

"You got it, boss." Ryan sighed.

"Karpowski, go over the forensics again."

"On it, Beckett." Detective Karpowski responded.

Kate nodded and then cast a quick glance at the board to the photographs of the two SR-25 sniper rifles that had been recovered at the cemetery before she turned to look at the detectives.

"Where are we at on fingerprints?" She asked.

"We've run his prints through all the data bases. Nothing." Ryan reported.

"But you're sure he's ex-special forces?" Kate questioned, eyeing Esposito.

"Positive." Esposito confirmed. "Black Ops."

"The Lab's running a trace on DNA found on the rifles." Karpowski announced.

"Keep on them Karpowski I want the results, ASAP."

"Yes, boss."

"Any luck on tracing the rifles?" Kate asked.

Esposito opened his notepad and flipped through the pages until he found the one he was looking for and consulted the page.

"According to the DOD the serial number of the rifle of the second sniper matches a weapon that was issued to one Martin Holst, a Navy SEAL who was killed in action seven years ago. His body was recovered on a subsequent mission but the weapon wasn't."

Kate frowned on hearing that piece of news but did not say anything waiting for Esposito to continue.

"The other rifle was issued to a Harland Paisley, also a SEAL, who reported it missing six years ago."

"What did he have to say?" Kate asked.

"Apart from the initial report, nothing, he was killed the following day, so no detailed report."

Another dead end, Kate thought to herself unhappily. She shook off her feelings and turned to look at Detective Clayton Morris. Morris was aged in his late fifties of average height with greying hair that was closely cropped. He had spent twenty-five years in the military as an interrogator. He had done numerous tours of duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq before he had joined the NYPD. He was one of the best interrogators in the force. He was known within the NYPD as 'The Priest' because suspects readily confessed to him.

"Morris, take another crack at our friend in the box." Kate ordered.

Detective Morris nodded his head.

"The clock's ticking on this one, people." Kate reminded everyone. "Let's get something by the end of the day otherwise we have to charge him with what we have."

The Detectives came to life at the command. They all knew that at the moment the only they could charge the suspect with was firearms charges which with a half decent lawyer would not get him much jail time if any.

Esposito straightened up a little as he approached Kate.

"Beckett, I have a contact from my army days who can help with the fingerprints and DNA." Esposito announced.

"Are you sure he will help you?"

"He will." Esposito said firmly. "He owes me."

Kate regarded the Hispanic detective carefully, seeing the look on his face. She knew Esposito had served in Special Forces and had done tours in the Middle East but that was a part of his life that he did not talk about much. She could only speculate as to what Esposito had done for this contact of his to owe him a favour with no questions asked.

"Okay, follow it up." Kate replied. She looked over to Ryan. "Ryan, get LT to help you with the witness statements."

Captain Gates watched as Kate dismissed the detectives to their tasks. Kate was about to turn to face the murder board when she caught sight of Captain Gates. As she cautiously approached the Captain she could not hide the look of curiosity on her face. It took her a moment to remember her name.

"Captain Gates." Kate said.

"Detective Beckett." Captain Gates replied, offering a brief smile before she cast a quick look around the bullpen before she looked back at Kate.

Kate was a little nervous at finding the captain from Internal Affairs standing in the bullpen.

"Are you here to see how the investigation is progressing, Captain?" Kate inquired.

Kate and the team had gotten used to people from 1 Police Plaza taking a close interest in the case. Two snipers at the funeral of a slain police captain where the Mayor and The Police Commissioner were in attendance would definitely attract a whole lot of interest from many quarters.

Kate was already briefing the Chief of Detectives on a twice daily basis and the Mayor's office on a daily basis on the progress of the case. She hated having to do the briefings because it took time away from the case but she realised that it was a necessary evil, and she was thankful that she did not have to front the briefings in person. The Mayor's office and the Chief of Detectives were content with briefings over the phone. What surprised Kate the most was that 1PP had not sent anyone more senior to take over the case.

After taking in the whole of the bullpen Captain Gate's gaze returned to Kate.

"Why don't we go into the office, Detective Beckett?" Captain Gates suggested, pointing towards Captain Montgomery's office.

Kate felt her stomach drop. She pursed her lips and slowly nodded her head. She did not like the idea that this captain from IA could simply waltz in an assume she can commandeer Captain Montgomery's office. All the same she motioned towards the vacant office, letting Captain Gates go first. As they made their way through the bullpen Esposito cast a questioning look at Kate. Kate could only respond with a small shrug of her shoulders as she walked past Esposito's desk.

"What's Iron Gates doing here?" Ryan demanded in a low voice as he rolled his chair over to his partner.

"Search me, Bro." Esposito whispered back as he watched the captain and Kate enter the office.

On entering the office Captain Gates immediately made her way to stand behind the desk. She set her brief case on the desk before she cast a quick look around taking in the surrounds. She noticed that the office had not been cleaned out. Captain Montgomery's personal belongings remained exactly where they had been left as if it was expected that he would be returning soon.

Captain Gates could well understand why no one had collected Montgomery's things but someone should have had the foresight to clear the office. The man was not returning.

Kate frowned when she saw the IA captain walk over and stand behind Captain Montgomery's desk looking for all the world like she owned the place. She found it a little presumptuous even though she was a captain. Kate wanted to say something about it but wisely chose to hold her tongue.

"In answer to your question, Detective Beckett," Captain Gates said slowly. "Yes, I'm here to oversee the investigation and, everything else here. I'm the new Captain of the 12th Precinct. Effective immediately."

Kate's mouth fell open in surprise. She was stunned by the announcement. Everyone at the precinct knew that a replacement captain would be appointed, there had been enough gossip and speculation flying about as to who might get the job. Gossip and speculation was par for the course. Kate had not taken too much interest in the speculation preferring to concentrate on the case instead. What bothered her, she realised, was that no one from 1PP had bothered to give her a heads up that a new captain had been appointed.

"Welcome aboard, ma'am." Kate ground out.

"If my mother drops by you can call her ma'am." Captain Gates stated firmly. "You may address me either as Captain or Sir."

Kate wanted to roll her eyes at the Captain's statement but managed not to.

"Yes...Captain."

Captain Gates nodded her head, almost smiling.

"You've been in charge of Homicide is that correct?"

"In an acting capacity, Captain." Kate clarified.

"You're a bit young for such responsibility, aren't you?"

"Captain Montgomery didn't think so, Captain." Kate shot back.

Captain Gates nodded her head again. When reading Beckett's personnel file she had noted that Captain Montgomery had given her the responsibility of overseeing the homicide teams at the 12th. Gates had read the memo written by Montgomery justifying the position and then she had taken a look at the results following the appointment. The results had been impressive. Once more Gates looked about the office before she settled her gaze on Kate.

"Detective Beckett, you reputation precedes you." Captain Gates said.

"I didn't know I had a reputation, Captain."

Captain Gates was a little amused by Kate's response. "Youngest woman in the NYPD to make detective. You beat me by six weeks. Youngest to make Detective First Grade."

Kate's eyebrows rose a little in surprise.

"I didn't realise that people kept score." Kate shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, everybody keeps score, Detective. Especially those downtown." Captain Gates pointed out.

Kate nodded her head not knowing how to respond to that remark from the captain. She had never cared much about her career prospects within the NYPD. All she cared about was arresting murderers, putting them behind bars and trying to give some closure to the families of the victims.

"Yes, youngest woman to make detective, one of the highest case closure rates in all of the NYPD, I'd say you have quite the reputation, Detective Beckett."

Kate was not sure if the captain was merely stating facts or showing signs of jealousy. The captain's face certainly gave nothing away.

"I'm going to pay courtesy calls to the other floors, I'll be gone an hour." Captain Gates announced suddenly. She waved her hand indicating the office. "Have a couple of uniforms pack up this office before I return."

"I'll take care of it personally, ma'...sir."

Captain Gates came around from behind the desk as she passed Kate she raised an admonishing eyebrow.

"No heavy lifting from you, Detective."

"No, sir."

"When I get back, I want a full briefing on the current state of all cases you have open."

"Yes, sir." Kate said through gritted teeth as she watched Captain Gates walked out of the office.

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Con