Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 66

Fidelis Ad Mortem

Part 4

As the recruits file away to prepare for training, Ortiz leans in to whisper to Kate. "I checked the front gate log. Ten of the recruits were off-campus at the time of Bardot's murder." He hands her a stack of folders. "These are their files."

Kate spreads the records out on a table at the front of the room. She puts three of them to the side. "These recruits all had the same handstamp. My detectives checked. The club across the street was offering karaoke that night. My digital investigator can go through the security video. But my guess is that these recruits," she taps on the small pile of folders, "will alibi out."

"Leaving seven," Ortiz concludes.

Kate presses her index finger against her lower lip. "Uh-hmm."

Ortiz sighs, "You know that if word gets out that these recruits are suspects, it will haunt their entire careers, even if they're proved innocent."

"You're right," Kate agrees. "We'll need to keep our suspicions within a tight circle."

The sergeant clasps his hands behind his back. "So, what's our next move?"

"Well, I think it's a safe bet that if one of these seven took out Bardot, it was their first murder. So, unless the killer's a complete psychopath, which the psych eval should have caught, they had a bad night. The recoil of the gun and the resistance of the body to the knife could have come at them like demons out of the dark."

"It sounds like you've fought demons of your own," Ortiz speculates softly.

"Ever since my mother was killed. There are fewer of them now that her killer is behind bars, but they're never completely gone."

Ortiz nods. "I understand. So you're guessing that the guilty recruit will screw up in the exercise like Bardot did before he was killed."

"Yes. Whoever it is would be on the razor's edge. I want to put them through enough stress for the truth to break through."

"OK, Lopez, Takada, you're up," Ortiz instructs at the entrance to a simulated hostage situation. The door opens, and Takada and Lopez rush in. Kate and Ortiz watch on a monitor as Lopez systematically hits all her targets while avoiding innocents. Takada also takes out his targets but hesitates slightly before firing at one of them."

Kate points at the screen. "There! Did you see that pause? What was that?"

"I hate to break it to you," Ortiz responds, shaking his head. "But that's normal for Takada. That recruit's got a hitch in his giddyup I cannot cure. I doubt he's our guy. Shall I tee up the next team?"

"Yeah," Kate agrees, "go ahead."

"Decker, Chambers, you're up," Ortiz calls to the recruits on deck.

Decker and Chambers move swiftly and efficiently. They're both faster than Lopez and Takada, but Decker outpaces Chambers."

"You were right about Decker," Kate notes. "She's got skills. But the other recruits don't seem to like her."

"All of them have a problem with her," Ortiz confirms. "She's ultra-focused and competitive as hell. But she's also walled herself off from everyone, kind of like you did."

Remembrance flashes through Kates mind, followed by a sudden realization. "I used to keep my tactical gear in my quarters. But we didn't find Daniel's in his dorm room."

"That's because, after your time here, we put in lockers for the recruits to keep it in. Ortiz points the way down a hall and raps on a metal locker door. "Bardot was assigned to this one." As Kate carefully searches through Bardot's equipment, Ortiz inquires, "Am I witnessing one of the hunches your husband memorializes in his novels?"

Kate flushes. "You've read the Nikki Heat books?"

"I've picked one up from time to time. Castle made your alter-ego a damn good cop."

"If he hadn't, he never would have survived creating her. But yes, I've got a – here it is!" Kate pulls out a blue index card and reads it aloud. "Keep your mouth shut, Bardot. Dead men tell no tales."

Years before, Alexis used genealogy software to generate a family tree on Martha Rodger's side of the family. But Rick never anticipated being able to add the other branch. He still might not succeed, but the information on Jason Bateman is a public enough place to start. Rick feels a surge of excitement when he discovers that the Bateman family is based in Utah – a veritable treasure trove of genealogical information. And through the GDS, Rick can access the whole of it.

All the Batemens are pretty well accounted for back to 1858, the end of an ill-advised government attack on Mormons. During an armed confrontation, fierce fighter Gideon Bateman disappeared. There were rumors that he'd settled somewhere in the mountains, but they were never confirmed. As far as Rick can discover, Gideon was never photographed, a laborious process in those days. But an unknown painter captured an image of one of Gideon's battles with US soldiers. The tall, broad-shouldered warrior bears a distinct resemblance to the man Rick knows as Jackson Hunt. It takes Rick little effort to imagine the warrior strain preserved in the CIA's modern-day asset. The question is, did it show up in LA at an opportune time?"

Ryan answers Kate's call on his landline. "No luck. The lab couldn't pull any prints off the card you found. We've got our handwriting expert comparing it to samples from the other suspects. But he's not optimistic given the block letters."

"Is that the captain?" Esposito asks. "Let me holler at her." Esposito grabs the receiver. "Captain, hey. I found a phone call that Bardot made to the Bosley Law Firm the day he died. So I went over there. Only no one admits to remembering the call. Still, Bardot was worrying about something. I'll keep you posted if anything else comes up."

"But I just spoke to Liz from Vice," Ryan inserts, hitting the speaker button. "She told me about a boxing gym that's a hotspot for illegal steroids. Rumor has it that a trainer was dealing to a cop at the academy."

"If Bardot stumbled onto a dirty cop, that would account for the 'Dead men tell no tales' note," Kate considers. "And if Daniel threatened to turn that cop in and wouldn't back down, it would be a strong motive for murder. But rumors can be just that. Do you know the name of the trainer?"

"Arthur Stenson."

"Pick him up and sweat him," Kate orders. "See what you get."

"Look, I don't know what you guys heard, but I don't sell drugs," Stenson protests from his chair in Interrogation.

"Then how do you explain the stash found hidden in the false bottom of your locker?" Esposito presses.

"I can't," Arthur claims. "But it isn't mine."

Ryan leans into Stenson's face. "Now, here's the deal. We say nice things about you to the DA, and maybe you get a suspended sentence. But you have to give up the cop you've been dealing to at the academy."

Stenson cradles his face in his hands. "I can't."

Ryan shrugs. "Well, I guess we're done. Say hi to the jury for us."

As Ryan and Esposito head for the door, Stenson calls after them. "Wait. I can't because we've never met, all right? Look. The cop puts cash in the locker. I pick it up and leave the drugs. That's it."

"Then how do you know it's a cop?" Esposito demands.

"The buyer only arranges pickups on police appreciation nights. The NYPD doesn't pay a cover, so the place is crawling with cops."

"How does the buyer contact you?" Esposito queries.

"By shoving an index card in my locker. The notes give a delivery time."

Ryan holds up his phone with a picture of the card from Bardot's locker. "A card like this?"

"Yeah, exactly like that."

A/N The Bateman family is based in Utah, and the US made war against the Mormons. But I made up everything else about an ancestor.