Author's note: I'd like to thank southerngirl1 for her review. This chapter picks up where the last one left off. Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Lanie was the last to arrive. "I'd just gotten back to the morgue, you know."

"I know. Sorry." Beckett lead her to the body. "Francis Rowe. He was dating Evelynn."

"Interesting." Lanie set down her kit. "Throat is slashed, no murder weapon present; he wasn't Evelynn's killer. You're looking for at least one more person."

"Yeah, but we don't have any suspects. Tech says an override was not installed on the archives doors. All we know is they opened the doors at 11:38."

"That'll help me narrow down a timeline."

Ryan came up to Beckett. "Esposito's still with Gates. She doesn't recognize Rowe either."

"Okay, thanks."

Vikram came up to them. "The cameras on this floor were turned off manually at the box. That's why nothing is on now. This box is also where the virus that encrypted everything else was released."

"Do we have footage from before the cyber-attack?"

Vikram nodded. "Yeah, we should."

Beckett turned to Ryan. "Go upstairs with Vikram and go through that footage. The killer may have been on camera when he made contact with the vics."

Both men nodded. "Got it."

Castle came up to Beckett. "I found 'SKavon13104.'"

"Where?"

He led Beckett to the main computer. "According to this, the box should be on aisle twenty, third shelf down, and about halfway down the aisle. But," he took her to the shelf, "it's not here."

"The killer took it."

"Yes and no." Castle took her to the back corner of the room. "I remembered what you said about this system and noticed that there are no external ports on the computer besides the keycard reader. They wouldn't be able to fake the right clearance to remove the box without setting off the alarm, so they emptied the box."

"Castle, just because they left the box here…"

"I'm just thinking they may have left some evidence behind."

"Okay, that's better than what I thought you were doing."

Castle looked confused. "What?"

"I thought you were saying, 'yes, they took the evidence, but no, they didn't take the box.'"

"Actually, yeah, that's what I meant by 'yes and no,' but I was also saying that CSU should take a look at this."

Beckett sighed. "Castle, I haven't eaten since this morning. I love you, but please don't test my patience."

"That's right, food! None of us have eaten since we got here." Castle headed back to the body. "Attention, everybody. I was going to do a food run. If anyone has special dietary needs, come see me so I can get you something special. Otherwise, I'm grabbing a couple sub sandwich platters."

Beckett smiled. "Thanks, Rick."

"No problem. Uh… should I grab two or three platters?"

"Two should be fine. This shouldn't be a full meal, just something to keep us going."

"Got it. See you when I get back."

Lanie looked up. "Hey, Beckett. You might want to see this." She held something up.

"What is that?"

"Not sure; some kind of fibers? It was in the wound tract." Lanie put the bloody fibers in an evidence jar. "Might have come from the knife or killer. I'll have the lab test them to find out what it is."

"Okay." Beckett pointed to a few red marks. "Defensive wounds?"

"That would be my guess." The M.E. finished writing her notes. "Okay, can I take the body back to the morgue now? Or would you like to search the building to make sure there are no more bodies first?"

Beckett smirked. "I think you're good. But I'll be sure to call if another does turn up."

Lanie's smile was tinged with mischief. "I'll be sure to send Perlmutter."

Castle returned and set up the sandwich station in the Cyber Crimes room Vikram had commandeered. Everyone took a much needed break to eat and refuel for the rest of the time they would need to process everything and interview everyone. By the end of the day, another two hours later, Beckett felt as though she'd spent far too much time in this building. She needed to get outside and see something else.

Castle carried a plate of food over to her while she was wrapping up yet another interview. "You should eat."

"Thanks." Beckett took a bite. "Where'd this come from?"

"I had Alexis deliver." Castle got to work on his own plate. "I didn't realize we would be here all day."

"The crime scenes were all here. Everything happened in this building."

"We're not normally at the scene this long."

Beckett nodded. "True. But this case is bigger than normal. The press is going to go crazy with this one." She sighed. "We can't afford to make mistakes."

Castle gave her an understanding smile. "Is the pressure getting to you?"

Beckett smiled too. "A little."

"If you repeat what I say here, I will confirm it with every fiber of my being, but you are the greatest detective I've ever known."

"I'm not Batman."

"Yeah, you're right. You're better than Batman. You do what he does without all the high-tech toys." Castle smiled.

Beckett laughed. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Captain?"

"Hey, Ryan, what'd you and Vikram find?"

Ryan sat down too. "So… we've been through all the footage for today and we can't find anyone acting suspicious near the victims. But there was an hour when the call center and elevator cameras went out."

"Randomly?"

"No, scheduled maintenance. It would have been the perfect time to approach them both." Ryan looked at his notebook. "Tech support workers say they don't remember seeing Frank after that, and the same can be said about Evelynn in the call center. Also the encryption was on the cameras when they came back up, so we're unable to use the footage for anything before Hardlowe left to go to the event this morning."

Castle leaned back in his chair. "Okay, either the killer got really lucky, or they knew about all of this. For the record, I'm betting on the killer knowing."

"Me too." Beckett looked at her watch. "Okay, it's getting late. Let's get back to this in the morning."

"Sounds good." Ryan stood. "Esposito went back to the precinct after Gates was settled. The murder board has been started. I'll let him know we're done for the day."

"Thanks, Ryan."

"Morning, Guys."

"Morning, Captain." Ryan handed Beckett a folder. "Danville finished processing the evidence collected from Gates."

"Great." Beckett opened the folder. "Cliffnotes?"

"Didn't read it all yet."

"Okay, where did you get?"

Ryan gave Beckett the downlow. "Blood on Gates' hands was just Evelynn's. No trace of Frank's blood on her."

"Thought you didn't read the folder." Beckett smirked.

"This bit was from Lanie. Anyway, autopsies aren't done yet, so we don't know more about the victims yet. Esposito went through their lives and financials yesterday, though. Both are clean. Frank has a couple parking tickets, but the rest is spotless."

"What else?"

"Social media doesn't talk about anything changing in their lives. It's the same for texts and emails. Javi is going through their phone records now."

Beckett nodded. "Okay, keep me posted."

"Yeah."

Beckett started reading the file. Danville, as always, was thorough. She'd tested all of Gates' clothing, as well as her hands, arms, and any skin that had been exposed. According to Ryan, Evelynn's blood had been on Gate's hands and arms; Danville's report said that the only blood on Gates' clothing had been on the sleeves of her blazer and the knees of her slacks. There was no spatter on anything else Gates had been wearing, nor were there traces of blood on her face or neck. And none of the blood was Frank's.

Castle came in with two coffees. "Good morning, Captain. You got up early."

Beckett accepted her coffee. "This case is big. Can't waste any time on it." She handed him the lab report. "Lab results put Gates in the clear."

"Evelynn's blood is only where you'd expect to find it if she was trying to save the victim's life. So, does this mean she can leave the safe house?"

"Doubt it. This only clears her from wielding the blade. Commissioner Hardlowe is going to need us to prove she wasn't involved at any stage of this case."

"True." Castle sat on the couch. "The murder board looks nice and full."

"Yeah. I'm waiting for Lanie right now. With Gates cleared from the murders, we need more data to help narrow down the suspect."

"Ryan and Esposito looking into the victims' lives?"

"Yep."

"Where would you like me to start?"

Beckett's phone buzzed. "With me in the morgue. Lanie's ready for us."

"C.O.D. is not surprising. Sharp force trauma for both; his was across his neck, hers were several penetrating wounds." Lanie lowered the sheets on the victims. "What was interesting were those fibers I found."

"How so?"

"Let's see." She grabbed the folder. "Cotton-poly blend, consistent with a cheap handkerchief…"

"That's not exactly interesting."

"I wasn't done." Lanie was smirking. "What was interesting is what was on the fabric."

Beckett waited, but Lanie wasn't telling. "And? What was it?"

"Powdered seeds from the borrachero plant, more commonly known as burandanga or Devil's Breath. Not at all common to this area."

"I've heard of this." Castle turned to Beckett. "Devil's Breath, burandanga, is native to Colombia. Rumor has it that if someone gets hit with this, they lose all free will. Someone can tell them to empty their bank account or kill someone and the victim will do it, usually with no memory of what happened when the effects wear off."

"That's not entirely true. Most of the effects are just rumors, or isolated cases. What is true is a lowering of inhibitions and memory loss." Lanie turned to Evelynn's body. "There were traces of burandanga in her system."

"That would explain what Gates described." Beckett turned to Castle. "Evelynn was only able to say 'SKavon13104' because…"

"… she couldn't remember anything else."

"What about Frank?" Beckett turned back to her friend.

"Concentrations of burandanga were higher in his system. My guess is that he was still under the influence when he was killed. She might have been coming out of the trance when she was attacked." Lanie handed Beckett two files. "This is everything I have."

"Thanks, Lanie."

When Beckett got back to her office, Jo Danville was waiting for her. "We have a better idea of what happened at 1PP."

"Good." The Captain took her seat. "What do you got?"

Danville pulled out the sketch of the second crime scene. "When we were processing the archives, it appeared as though there was only one blood pool."

"Right."

"It was two. They were overlapping." She paused. "Maybe it would be easier to show you."

A/N: Stay tuned!