-14-

Beckett spent the last half hour watching Kevin's futile attempts to talk to Keen. The psychologist did not ask for a lawyer, but also since being closed in the interrogation room, he has not spoken a word. She didn't like it. She decided to take matters into her own hands. She entered the room and, with a head movement, showed Ryan that she would now be auditioning. With the first question she waited until they were left alone.

"You won't pull anything out of me" the suspect immediately said.

"I know, I've been watching you for a while." Kate didn't sit in front of the man, she just leaned against the mirror "I don't even wanna do it…"

Keen looked suspiciously at her. He felt as if the situation he had just controlled was just out of his hands.

"I just wanted to ask you for fingerprints so that we could compare them with what we found on the weapon. But I just remembered that I don't have to ask for it. It seems to me that until now on my desk lies a mug from which you drank coffee. So you don't have to bother anymore."

The woman knew that right now Kevin, who took place behind the mirror, went for a mug to give it for analysis. Beckett watched a psychologist. She studied exactly his face, his every move. She noticed that he gently bit his lip as if admonishing himself that there was nothing to say. She had to take advantage of that. She had to turn his internal dialogue into a conversation with her. That will win the desire to say "it's wrong".

"Maybe we misunderstood it in this alley." She started." It turned out that we consider you a ruthless assassin who has been planning this for a long time. But that's not the case at all, is it? You didn't plan it. It just happened."

She waited for his reaction. She waited for him to say anything. The man, however, remained silent, staring into her eyes. So she continued her statement.

"You went to Ian to ask for another chance. To choose you instead of this woman. Yes, we know you don't work in the police anymore. And we know that Ian's niece was to be accepted in your place. So I think you went to ask for one more chance. You took your gun with you. Just in case. You wanted to scare him. You must have been terribly determined. You needed money. Probably some debts... Yes, I think debts... Probably the term chased you... He agreed to accept you or not?" She looked at his face for a moment. "He agreed… but you did not withstand the pressure. You accidentally pressed the trigger. The weapon fired. Ian faltered and collapsed. There was blood on his shirt. You panicked. That's not how it was supposed to be. Ian stopped moving. You had to get out of there as soon as possible. Your hands were shaking all the time. There was blood on your t-shirt. That's why you pulled it off and wrapped a gun in it. You went outside. You didn't know what to do. Then you were reminded of what you saw during a visit in my team. You had to hide your weapon. You went to the alley, where hardly anyone walks. You tipped your gun and went back to the police station. You didn't know we were going to get it. That the suspects will be the people on my team. You needed us to have access to weapons. Now you had to stay to keep your finger on the pulse. So that we do not catch you. You sent the body back to the family, you talked to the press. Everything was going well. You convinced Detective Ryan that the people who were in custody could have done it. That they had motive, opportunity, skill. That's when it all started to flow. We have proven that they are innocent. You had to participate in the investigation again, to dismiss the suspicion. But it's too late. We were already on your trail. We were just waiting for your move. When you heard that we found a gun you panicked. You had to check it out and you unwittingly took us to this alley."

"There was going to be a witness" Keen said, so quietly that he could barely be heard.

"You probably played the whole event in your head to find who it could be. Well, I will tell you that there was no such person. I invented it. Just like the person who found the gun. You were caught up in the usual trick."

"It was an accident…" there were tears in his eyes.

Kate sat in front of him for the first time. She felt that she had already demolished the wall of his silence. That now will go easier.

"They were still calling for me" He continued. "They wanted money immediately. I had nothing. All I had to do was go back to work. Ian could have given it to me. I went to him with a gun. I thought he was scared. He said he would give me this job. I've never had a gun in my hand before. Suddenly it fired. There was blood on his shirt. She also flew out of his mouth. I can still see his eyes. A surprise that mixed with fear. He faded on his face and fell over."

"You left him there."

"He was already dead. I couldn't help him. I could help myself. If they had seen me with a gun in his office I would have ended up in prison right away. I was going to go to a job interview. I was about to stand on my feet."

"Now you will be charged not only for murder, but also for obstructing the investigation."

Kate opened the door and called one of the uniformed men.

"I'm done with it. He can be taken into custody. We've got him."

"I'd like to raise a toast" Rick stood up from a table with a glass of wine in his raised hand.

In this opinion, it attracted the attention of everyone present. On the occasion of the conclusion of the case, he decided to arrange a party. He invited all his friends to his apartment, who, like him, wanted this case to end as soon as possible.

"After spending the night in custody, I began to appreciate freedom. So for freedom" he raised a glass up.

"For the truth that will always win."

"For a friendship that will endure everything."

"For us who uphold the truth." The next guests added their toasts.

"And for my wonderful wife, whose innate aversion to psychologists has made us sit in such a group today." Castle added.