Twists and turns in this story, hope you're getting ready.
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Chapter 18:
12th Precinct, Lower Manhattan
Manhattan, NY
1430 Hours
The interrogation of Joe Capelli was going slowly, Joe just stayed silent and acted like he was a prisoner of war on enemy soil.
Joe looked at the evidence that had been collected against him, barely anyone was going to fault the NYPD for being so thorough. They had collected financials, background, even dragged all his licenses.
Everybody in the observation room, looked on in interest as Castle asked, "He hasn't said a word since he was dragged in, all he's done is look over the evidence and not said anything either…"
"He's treating this as an interrogation, to him, this is ammunition used against him, he's holdin' on. He's actin' like a prisoner of war, to which he was one, won't be long before Gates goes through his military background and tries to disparage everything about his service." Esposito said.
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Gates soon walked back in, she held in her hands, Joe's military history as he stared back at it. Gates then said, "I'll admit, you're a hero, you served valiantly as a member of the Armed Forces, the Marine Corps call you one of the best men to have gone through hell and back."
Gates picked up a piece of paper as she said, "Your Congressional Medal of Honor citation… For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Sergeant Joseph Capelli III of the 2nd Battalion 1st Marines distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the city of Fallujah on 30th April 2004.
Sergeant Capelli's squad was ambushed on a patrol into the city, 2 men were injured. at the very risk of his own life, Joe Capelli went out into the middle of the street, he dragged both men back with no covering fire sustaining several wounds in the process and continued fighting on in the process.
His undaunted courage, devotion to his duty and his men, his fighting spirit, are a symbol and great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service."
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Gates laid the citation down as Joe still stayed silent. Gates then said, "You know when hearing about the PC's grandson being awarded a medal for his gallantry. I admit, I was surprised to hear how far you went to go in order to protect your men, even if it meant giving your life for your country."
"Sofia Lorenza, did you kill her?" Gates asked.
Joe looked up as he said, "Name: Capelli, Joseph III. Rank: Master Gunnery Sergeant. Serial Number: 8224641. That's all the information I'll give you."
Gates huffed as she stormed out of the room.
Beckett was in observation, Castle then said, "There's no way he didn't do this. You and I both know that he wouldn't do it."
"I know Castle, but all the evidence adds to him, we need to find more information." Beckett replied.
Esposito then said, "Joe was still shooting weapons with the rest of the military vets when his truck was stolen. This means somebody else stole the truck and framed Joe for killing Sofia."
"We need hard proof, proof that he didn't do this at all." Kate said.
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Kate walked into the interrogation and was soon accompanied by Jim Beckett who had been the Capelli family lawyer since Kate had been babysitting for the family.
Joe looked up as he said, "Surprised to see you here."
"Sorry for my late arrival. So far, the NYPD think you killed Sofia Lorenza, only a few believe you didn't do it…"
"My family, my brothers in arms and Javier Esposito." Joe guessed. Kate then added, "Not to mention Kimberly Dempsey and Adam Zelinski."
"Glad I haven't lost their trust." Joe said interlocking his fingers together, he then asked, "What other intel do they have?"
Kate then replied, "We're still looking for more info, but you gotta keep a level head."
"I'll try to do just that." Joe said.
Kate's phone began ringing as she headed outside. She picked up and spoke to Lanie, she then headed down to the ME's office as she said, "Whaddya have for me?"
"Somethin' interestin'. I went back over the autopsy, in case I missed somethin'. I checked the fingernails, I found DNA inside of them…"
"Defensive wounds, did you get a match?" Kate asked. Lanie shook her head in response, "No, couldn't get one. She musta clawed her attacker. I did find a link to a previous case."
Kate rose an eyebrow as she said, "Which one?"
"A girl was killed, 21st of January 2003, one week before her wedding." Lanie said.
Kate rose an eyebrow as she said, "This girl, refresh my memory, did she have light brown hair, brown eyes and simple cut diamond on her left ring finger?"
Lanie looked up and nodded, "Had a French sounding name as well."
Kate pulled out her phone and handed the phone to Lanie who then said, "That's the girl, I'm talking about, why who is she?"
"Claudette LeBeau. She was Joe Capelli's fiancée. They were due to be married on 28th of January 2003." Kate said. Lanie then asked, "You don't think Joe…?"
"No, he wouldn't. He wouldn't kill Claudette; Joe was heartbroken when she died. There is no way Joe would lay a hand on her in that type of manner." Kate said.
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Kate headed back to the precinct. She saw Ryan and said, "I need you to find me the information on the homicide involving Claudette LeBeau."
"Any relevance towards the case?" Ryan asked. Kate then said, "I'll let you know soon."
Kate headed to talk to Gates letting her know about the new information on the case, Gates then asked, "Do we know if any of her family live in the city?"
"No sir, a month after Claudette's death. The family moved to Buenos Aires due to her father's new posting as an Interpol officer. Claudette's parents still live there, she was an only child." Kate said.
Gates nodded, "What about after the funeral, were we able to recover Claudette's belongings?"
"Nothing was recovered. The detectives believed the family put everything in charity or burned it." Kate replied.
Gated nodded, "You have a theory of your own?" "No sir, a day after the funeral, Joe just headed back to the Marines. He had to organise everything; he shouldered all the responsibility. But he couldn't bring himself to face Claudette's friends and family because of his guilt." Kate said.
A patrol officer soon approached as she said, "Excuse me, Captain… a Jessica Dolores is here, she requests to speak with you."
"Did she say regarding?" Gates asked. The patrolman shook her head, "I'm afraid not. She was insistent on talking to you, sir." "Tell her to come to my office." Gates said.
The patrolman nodded. Kate watched as Jessica walked into the office. A look of distrust took over Kate's face as she crossed her arms over her chest.
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Ryan came over as he said, "That file on Claudette LeBeau homicide. Still open, similar neck bruising to Sofia Lorenza, same handprints, defensive wounds found under her fingernails. DNA couldn't get a match on."
"What street was she found on?" Kate asked. Ryan then said, "W 42nd Street. Same street Sofia Lorenza was found at. There was another homicide as well some years back before Claudette was killed. Lead detective was Alberto Bacciarelli, couldn't find the file though."
Kate nodded as Gates joined her, the pair went into the interrogation room as Gates started, "We've did some digging, it appears someone you knew was killed 9-years ago at W 42nd Street. Someone you deeply cared for."
Joe wasn't stupid, he put it together as he said, "Claudette LeBeau."
"Exactly. A week before your wedding, care to explain how that happened?" Gates asked. Joe conferred with Jim Beckett as they nodded Joe then said, "Me and Claudette thought it best to take time apart from each other before the wedding, we were starting on the 21st. I was going to the family cabin in the Hamptons for some downtime. Only people to know were me, Claudette, my parents and my grandparents including Uncle Tommaso and Aunt Jasmine."
Gates nodded as he said, "When were you supposed to leave?"
"I was in my bedroom packing for the trip, my Dad was driving me out there. We got the notification in the evening. I instead spent what money we had for a honeymoon on the funeral arrangements and everythin' else." Joe said.
Kate then asked, "Why not ask for help?" "I needed to do it myself. It mattered to me because my girl died, I had to shoulder all of that. Would you have done the same if you put yourself in my shoes?"
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Kate then shook her head, Gates shrugged her shoulders before saying, "I don't know if I would have or not."
"We have several witnesses who place you at the scene of the crime, they all came in voluntarily." Gates then said.
Joe looked up as he said, "What?"
"They confirmed you were there, they confirmed you were at the scene of Sofia Lorenza's murder and you killed her by strangling her to death, your DNA is all over her." Gates then said in her best IA voice.
Joe shook his repeatedly, the shock of hearing this had him saying, "No, no, nonono. I didn't kill Sofia. I was protecting Sofia…"
"What do you mean, you were protecting her?" Kate asked. Joe then said, "After our only date in December, I didn't want anybody I cared about getting killed. It felt like I was bad luck. Anybody that got close to me either ended up dead or left with bad nightmares."
"What about Natalia Bacciarelli?" Gates asked. Joe looked at the photos, he looked to the lawyer who nodded, "I thought I could protect her, I had to let go, get myself back out there. I care a lot 'bout her." Joe whispered that last bit.
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In the break room, Marco and Antonio along with the other war vets stood waiting. Esposito walked in as he said, "Several witnesses might have seen Joe murder Sofia, it wasn't him at the scene, it was somebody else."
"Why isn't your Captain focusing on that?" Thomas asked.
John stood up, "It's not that she doesn't believe Joe didn't do this, it's because she believes burying one of us, is one step further to booting all of us Capelli's into the ground."
"It's an obsession of hers. She wants to feel afraid, Capelli's don't get scared. Even if Joe's innocent, she'll just find other ways to toss him into the ground." Antonio said.
Esposito nodded as he said, "I'm tryin' everythin' to do what I can about helping Joe. I'm not givin' up on him ever." "'Preciate the help, Javi." Salvatore said.
Out in the bullpen, Kimberly was going over Sofia's computer drive and uncovered a list of emails from Joe to Sofia.
She pulled Beckett aside, it looked as if Joe and Sofia were having an affair behind Natalia's back!
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Later on, Joe had been picked out of the line-up as the one that killed Sofia. Everybody was horrified, Kate, Kimberly, Adam Zelinski, Javi Esposito, even Richard Castle and the group of war veterans included as well.
Natalia had found out and she demanded to see Joe to get the truth from him. Gates had purposely refused this request, nearly all of the Capelli family's close associates were in dismay about hearing the news of Joe's incarceration, they all began looking for something that could exonerate Joe of the crime he didn't commit.
He was scheduled to be arraigned and transferred to Central Booking by the next morning.
Joe was just doing push-ups in his cell. He was pushing himself harder, no news had come about whether the Marines would look into it, but Joe knew that there was nothing he could no at this time and place.
He had stopped for a break as he saw somebody from the corner of his eye as he said, "Who's there?"
"Hello Killer." The voice was a woman, he turned to see Jessica Dolores who had said, "What a surprise!"
"You murdered Sofia, why?" Joe asked.
Jessica smirked, "If I couldn't have you, nobody else could. Not even that pretty little Natalia could."
Joe knew it would be pointless to call for help, he then said, "People will believe me. There are people that know I wouldn't do this, yet you want to make sure that people know I'm a killer."
"Makes it more fun to off you in prison, everyone focuses on you, that when the real killer is revealed they know they put away a guilty man… Kate Beckett, Javier Esposito, Kimberly Dempsey they'll blame themselves. Your family would distance themselves from you because of your crime. They wouldn't believe you for a minute." Jessica said.
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Joe then said, "You would get what you want. Turn this city into your own version of a grey area. Commit so many crimes everybody would be swamped, you bitch."
"Bring this city to its knees, to gain revenge for what it did to my father. Forced him to fall away from his position of power." Jessica growled.
Jessica then sweetly smiled, "When I see Natalia, I'll give her your love, when I kill her."
"You'll never get away with this, when I get out here, if I do… I'll find you and I will show you things worse than death itself." Joe said in a low snarling voice.
Jessica smirked as she said, "Good luck, Joseph." Jessica then retreated from the holding cell.
Joe then grabbed hold of the bars. He leant his forehead onto the bars.
Tonight, would be a long night.
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Sunday 12th February 2012
0930 Hours
By the morning, Joe was being prepped for Central Booking, Javi was securing the cuffs on Joe as he said, "Sorry bro, we tried everythin'."
"Javi, if I don't see you again, promise you'll marry that Lanie dame." Joe said. Javi nodded, "Sure thin', bro. Sure thin'."
Javi walked Joe to where the officers were waiting, Joe noticed something about their badge numbers as he thought to himself, "Those don't look like correct badge numbers."
Everyone of his friends and family stood to be there for him. Everybody all held sympathy in their heart for Joe and what he was going through.
Natalia then said, "Wait a minute."
Esposito stopped and faced Joe to see Natalia who said, "Joe, you didn't do this. I know you didn't."
"I know. I'm sorry Nat, I'm so sorry." Joe had said.
"I love you, always and forever." Natalia said.
Joe cracked a small smile hearing the famed Capelli family motto as he replied, "I love you too, Natalia Bacciarelli. I'll see you soon."
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He was handed over to the prison officers as they signed the paperwork. They took Joe into the elevator as Natalia watched in tears, she leant into Jameson's embrace and cried into his shoulder.
Kate was fuming with rage and rightly was Esposito who said, "We need evidence someone is gonna pay for this and I don't care if we burn the city down. Joe Capelli is innocent of what we're accusing him off."
Soon a voice said, "Detective Beckett?"
"What do you want?" Beckett asked. The prison officer then said, "We're here to transport a prisoner of yours into custody. A Joseph Capelli III."
Antonio's eyes widened in shock as he pulled out his gun and shouted, "Put 'em on the ground!"
Everybody looked in shock and confusion as Antonio muttered, "I will shoot you, put 'em on the ground!"
Beckett then said, "3 of your guys just came here and picked up the prisoner."
"We only got the call to go get the prisoner, nobody else but us." The prison officer said.
Everybody looked on in shock as Antonio said, "This keeps getting better and better."
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I did promise you there'd be twists, hope you're enjoying this. Please like and review down below. Stay safe and God bless you.