Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 47

The Blame Game

Part 4

"Whatever you have, we need to see it," Alexis insists as she and Hayley storm into the bullpen.

"Your captain is missing," Hayley points out. "You need all the help you can get."

Ryan looks at Esposito and shrugs. "It can't hurt. So far, we haven't been able to make much out of it, but the video should still be set up in Tech. So far, the only thing related to the case is a strange symbol."

Alexis regards the grainy black and white images of two children doing puzzles. Both have medallions bearing the symbol on Emma Matthew's mirror around their necks. The boy rubs his eyes. "I don't want to do this anymore. It's not fun. And I want my sister. I need my sister."

Tears roll down the girl's face. "I don't want puzzles. I want my brother."

Alexis' eyes widen. "I've heard about this research before. My psych professor mentioned it in our discussion of fear. It was all about separation anxiety, especially with twins."

"This boy and girl could be twins, Hayley adds. "They look about the same age."

"They do," Ryan agrees. "Alexis, what else can you tell us about that research?"

"It was conducted by scientists named Northcliff. I think they were married. Wait a minute. I can link my phone to my notes in the cloud." Alexis rapidly types into her cell. "Yes. They were Jeffrey and Samantha Northcliff. The psychiatric community considered censuring them for conducting experiments on their own children, twins."

"Hold on," Ryan interjects and runs back to his desk for a folder. "This is Emma's personnel file from the TV station. She put every job she ever had on her resume. And here – I knew I saw the Northcliff name! When Emma was a teenager, she was their dog walker. Maybe that's how she got the tapes."

"Yeah, back then, video was recorded on VHS," Esposito notes.

"Beta Max would have been better," Ryan opines, "but it never really penetrated the market."

"What Emma saw on those tapes must have been knocking around in her head all this time," Alexis speculates. "As a teenager, she couldn't do anything about it."

"But as a news producer, she could," Esposito realizes. "We need to see the Northcliffs."

"Their address isn't on Google," Alexis reports. "But their secretary, Rose Dunlap, who was cited on their papers, has an apartment ten blocks from here."

Esposito punches Ryan's arm. "Let's go get her, Bro."

"There's another room just like this one!" Simon exclaims. "And that's my wife, Meadow. What's she doing in there?"

"And my girlfriend Patty is there too," Judah adds.

Rick takes a shaky breath. "And my wife, Kate. She's a police captain. She's supposed to be at a forensics seminar."

Simon turns to Castle. "What the hell is going on here?"

"If I knew, don't you think I would tell you?" Castle replies. "Now, it's not just us. It's the people dearest to us. I want to get us all out of here."

Simon leans into Castle's face. "And how are you going to do that?"

"I wish I knew, but not by killing anyone."

The women gaze at a suddenly lit screen.

Meadow points at the image. "The room's the same. It's exactly the same."

"It is," Patty agrees.

"Castle, Rick, can you hear me?" Kate calls. "Damn! Everything only goes one way."

The TV goes dark again.

Meadow continues staring at the blank screen. "That was my husband, Simon."

Patty sinks into a chair. "And my boyfriend Judah."

"And my husband, Rick. That explains the texts that lured you two here. Whoever set this up took the guy's phones. But there were four of them there and only three of us. Why?" Kate wonders. Patty's collar gapes as her shoulders slump. "And how did that get on your neck? I saw that symbol at a murder scene, and it was on my car just before I lost consciousness."

"A murder scene! So all of this has to do with you?" Meadow accuses.

"If it does, what are you all doing here?" Kate argues. "And why are the men in that other room? We're all caught up in a lot more than a murder investigation. But I have no idea what. Does anything in this room mean something to either of you?"

Meadow and Patty both shake their heads. "And I don't care what it means, Meadow adds. "I just want out." She points to the glass case holding the emergency fire ax. "I say we break that and get the hell out of here."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Kate cautions.

"Tough!" Meadow retorts. "If this isn't an emergency, I don't know what is."

Kate rakes back her hair. "Look, whoever is behind this isn't stupid enough to leave something we can use to go free. That means it's a trap. So let's just finish the puzzle we found and see what happens."

Meadow snorts. "Fine. Knock yourself out." She spies a pack of cigarettes and a lighter on a shelf. "God, I could use a smoke right now."

"Who would put cigarettes in a kindergarten class?" Patty queries.

"I don't give a damn," Meadow declares, starting to withdraw a cigarette from the pack.

Kate snatches the pack away. "These could kill you."

"They might," Meadow agrees. "But I don't have lung cancer yet."

Kate sniffs the cigarettes. "They smell like peanuts."

Meadow gasps."They would kill me! I'm allergic!"

Rose presses a hand to her breast. "So much tragedy. I hadn't seen Emma since she was a teenager. And then I ran into her again yesterday at Faye's funeral."

"Faye?" Ryan inquires.

"Faye Northcliff, Jeffrey and Samantha's daughter."

"What happened to her?" Ryan asks.

Rose makes a little choking sound. "She hung herself."

Esposito scribbles on a legal pad. "That may be useful information. Did she have any siblings?"

"Yes, a twin brother, Brandon."

Ryan shows Rose screen captures from the video. "And are these the twins?"

Rose nods. "That's what they looked like when they were little."

"Twenty-five years ago, the Northcliffs did some research on anxiety separation in children. But there were rumors of unethical behavior, pretty fringe stuff. Did they use their own kids?" Esposito demands.

"I wouldn't know anything about that," Rose claims.

Ryan leans across the table. "Look, Rose, Emma's dead, and she had tapes of the Northcliff's research on Faye and Brandon. So if she was planning to use those tapes to expose them, it's possible that the Northcliffs were involved in her death."

"And if you're holding out on us, you'll be charged as an accessory," Esposito threatens. "So you'd better come clean with us now."

Tears glisten in Rose's eyes. "You have to believe me. I didn't know those experiments could harm those children. But later, I saw what happened. Brandon became a recluse. And poor Faye…."

"Do you have any idea where the Northcliff's might be right now?" Ryan asks.

"No. I haven't seen them since yesterday. I swear."

"Guy's, I caught the van's plate on traffic cam video from a couple of blocks from the murder scene," Vikram calls from the doorway. "It's registered to a corporation owned by Jeffrey Northcliff."

"So, did you get an address off the registration?" Esposito presses.

"It's a property outside Hartsdale."

"It's all woods up there," Ryan recalls. "That's where they could be holding Beckett and Castle."

Esposito lunges for the door. "Let's go."