- Where the hell did the experts go?! - Beckett grumbled, glancing at her watch with a slight sigh of irritation. - And no coroner, either. The client has been waiting for us!
- Are you sure it's our case? The victim looked so mundane! An open head injury, a lonely body under a dense thicket in Central Park - and there's not an ounce of intrigue in the crime, not a trace of alien influence. At least for me," Castle grumbled grudgingly as he scrambled to escape the midday sun, crawling under the nearest tree and now staring with the biblical martyr's yearning at the corpse of a tall man with a pierced head, prostrate on the grass a few paces away from them.
- What's that supposed to mean? - Kate raised an eyebrow evenly.
- Seems the county police could have solved this case without our involvement," and Rick made a distinctive wave of his hand.
- It's not our fault we were in the neighborhood first," Beckett explained nonchalantly. We'll do the initial procedures, then take it to the 34th Precinct.
- Yeah, that's the spirit! - Rick was upbeat right off the bat. - So we can wash our hands of it now, can't we?
He immediately met Detective Beckett's unwavering gaze. She wagged a finger at him, only it was unclear whether she meant it half-jokingly or seriously, corrected the sticky strand sticking into her eyes.
- I wonder, Castle: how can you say that? Any of the dead are worthy of respect, and their family is worthy of compassion. Be tactful, at last, and don't interfere with my thinking, if you find this case unworthy of your abilities," Beckett added caustically, staring at the corpse.
For some reason Kate thought that Castle would say something else in his usual vein, but suddenly the writer sulked like a turkey and sat down right on the ground, with his back to the trunk of a young elm tree, in the shadow of which he was hiding. Rick's gaze was somewhat dazed, distracted, probably affected by the abnormal heat spreading its hot embrace over the Big Apple. In this weather it is much more pleasant to sit in some cafe, with air conditioning and refreshments on, than to hang around a corpse without the slightest interest. And Castle ran his palm across his wet neck, wiped his hand carelessly on his pant leg, and made such a tragic face that Kate's hitherto unyielding heart was moved to pity. After all, she shouldn't have made such a big deal out of her partner's sorely burned face, should she? Perhaps she herself was a little overheated, too. Perhaps, even at first glance, the future didn't look so hard. Perhaps Castle should be pitied for his loyalty.
After pondering the tip of her nose, Beckett quietly called out to her partner:
- Hey, Castle!
Much to her surprise, Rick didn't react at all. Turning his head to the side, he stared at something lurking in the depths of the bush, which had grown wide and high at the roots of the tree.
- Castle! - repeated Beckett a little louder, slightly intrigued by her mate's incomprehensible behavior. - What's the matter?
- I think I see an emissary of the other universe," said Rick quite seriously, without turning his head, "and so I'm looking for a way to establish contact with him. What if our scientists are telling the truth, and we're not alone in the universe?
- Hmm!" Beckett, more and more surprised, approached Castle and knelt beside him.
- Where is the messenger? - With a laugh she said in a cryptic tone, trying to discern what she couldn't see in the dense foliage. - You recognize the symbols on the alien's body yet? They must look like tattoos or something to indicate social status. Perhaps you'll be taken to meet a royalty, or simply invited to visit for Christmas. There.
With her arms outstretched and her face toward the sky, Kate rolled her eyes merrily, her eyelids even twitching in laughter. But somehow Castle did not share her amusement. He shook his head negatively and jerked his finger at the tangle of twigs.
- There's my alien.
- Where? - Trying to look as serious as possible, Beckett ducked a little, and lifted a large, sprawling branch for a better view. And immediately, unable to restrain herself, she jumped in her fist: on a narrow fork of young shoots, among small green leaves, sat a large motley caterpillar. Its body was adorned with hundreds of protruding white hairs, resembling a fur coat. The chitinous sheath of the caterpillar had a distinctive pattern of mottled spots between the hairs. The insect was rapidly moving its jaws and chewing on the edge of a leaf, unaware of any of its surroundings.
- This? - Kate laughed out loud. - Is that your alien? The local park is full of aliens, until the municipality gets its hands on them. It amazes me, Castle. How can something so mundane be supernatural?
- Nanotechnology is in fashion these days," Rick philosophized nonchalantly, not even making an attempt to become less serious. - What if a prototype escaped from some laboratory and is now trying to disguise itself as an Earth creature?
- If it's a robot, as you say, then it must have micro-antennas instead of hair, and a miniature cutter instead of jaws! - as Beckett cut it off, rising to her feet and shaking off the clinging grasses from her trousers.
- Come on, Castle, Laney's here," she waved toward Dr. Parish's van, which was parked at the edge of the lawn not far from them. - Stop admiring the nonsense!
And with a familiar gesture, Kate ran her slender fingers through her weighed down bangs, but Castle remained adamant.
- Perhaps the insect deserves respect, too," Rick persisted, drawing his face closer to the caterpillar branch. - And its body shape is perfect in its own way. I'll have you know, caterpillars move their segments in perfect synchrony, which helps them confidently climb various surfaces with a complex profile.
- Oh, my God, Castle! - Beckett sighed wearily: it seemed that this big-aged child had settled on his horse and was not going to get off it, and she was slowly losing patience. - Are you coming, or what?
Kate might as well not have asked that question, because Rick shrugged vaguely.
- Our guy's not going anywhere until Lainey checks him out, but an alien could disappear into a microcosm. Shout if you find anything special or interesting.
Kate sighed regretfully, but no sooner had she taken a dozen steps toward the expert's car than she was stopped by a strangled male yell.
Abruptly, swiftly, impulsively, Beckett turned on her heels and saw Castle, jumping to his feet. He was waving his right arm in a sorrowful grimace, his right hand waving and a loud, intermittent groaning and groaning. But his attempts at pain relief (if that was what they were!) were to no avail, so Rick put his palm to his mouth. He was chiming through his teeth, blowing sharply and forcefully on his thumb and forefinger, and wrinkling his nose.
- Castle, what's wrong? - Kate was really worried. - Did you prick yourself with a knot?
- No," Rick said, his face turning white. - I just... just wanted to see if the caterpillar had any unusual markings on its abdomen, and...
- So? - In three wide, accelerating steps Beckett covered the distance between them and gingerly took Castle by the wrist of his injured hand:" Let me see!
Whimpering pitifully, like a dog with a broken paw, Rick obeyed without complaint. One look at his arm was enough to realize that the ubiquitous, stubborn boy was badly hurt. Like nettles, his fingertips were chaotically covered in whitish tubercles in the blink of an eye and intensely reddened, swelling right before his eyes. Apparently, the poison was strong.
- What happened next? - Kate stood side by side with her partner and held his elbow against hers, peering intently into the sun at the sore spot.
- I tried to put the caterpillar on its back and was insidiously attacked by an unknown enemy," Rick mumbled pitifully. He wasn't groaning anymore, but he continued to wrinkle painfully. - Damn it, both my fingers are numb.
- Perhaps we need nanosurgery, - Kate summed up quite seriously, quite puzzled how Castle, with his irrepressible imagination and extensive knowledge, did not think that the nap of such caterpillars looks like fur only visually. Rather, it resembles a stiff brush, with the thinnest poisonous needles instead of bristles. Letting go of her partner's hand, Kate put her finger to her lips anxiously.
- All right, let's hurry to Lainie's, we've got a wound to treat.
It was about three dozen steps to the van. Preparing to receive the corpse, Dr. Parish opened the back doors, but she was startled when she saw the strange procession moving in her direction and crouched on the stretcher.
Kate was the first to move, trying her best to be serious, but she had amused sparks in her eyes and the tips of her lips sought to part in a sparkling smile. Following behind Beckett, with an exhausted and battered look, holding an unfolded forefinger in front of his nose, was Castle. His face was full of the deepest drama.
With a sniffle, Lainie propped her arms at her sides and, looking at her friend's amused expression, stretched her lips in a restrained smile.
- What's the matter, Castle? Did you grab some hot coffee? - The doctor got up from the stretcher, making room, and Rick sank heavily on it, still holding his hand in front of him.
- Castle made open contact with the alien, but it was treacherously poisonous caterpillar," Kate stood next to her partner, blinked merrily, swallowing a chuckle, then, gathering her lungs, said in a concerned, without the slightest sarcasm:
- "Lanie, he's got needle fragments under his skin, and look at this," she pulled back the collar of Castle's shirt, revealing a swollen lymph node on his neck. - I think it's poisoning, too.
- No doubt about it! - Trying not to make a sound...
- No doubt about it! - Trying not to notice how nervously Castle fidgeted, Perish examined his neck, then switched to the arm. Holding his breath, the writer warily watched the doctor's manipulations.
- Will I live? - With an audible swallow, Rick whimpered anxiously. - What will happen to my mother and Alexis if I am gone? Who would take care of them?
- Don't worry, Castle. - Beckett deliberately ignored her friend's laughing reaction. She put her palm on her partner's shoulder and squeezed encouragingly.
- I'll take care of them, I promise! - And, anticipating his enthusiastic gratitude, she added nonchalantly: "And even if the paralysis breaks your body, I swear to find a minute to help you type. After all, partners are there to help, aren't they?