"I've got the ID on your killer…"
The sheer sound of Lanie's voice on the other end of the line was enough to send her senses into overdrive, making her take a few steps toward Castle, who was standing by Ryan's and Esposito's desk, having an engaged conversation…or monologue, judging by the fact that both detectives were busy working on their computers.
"And who's the lucky guy?", she asked, drawing the attention of her team toward her in an instant.
"The blood along with some skin tissue we found on Javi's clothes belongs to one Ruben Oseguiro, Hispanic male, 6ft-"
"Wait…what?", raising her eyebrows in obvious confusion, she shook her head, not ready to accept the latest curveball, "Ruben Oseguiro is in custody. We booked him yesterday. And we just checked this morning, he had airtight alibis for all the other murders. It can't be him, Lanie."
"Well, it definitely is, Kate, there is no doubt.", the ME defended.
Overhearing the conversation, she watched Kevin start typing on his computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard before they suddenly stopped, followed by an unnerving "oh oh".
"What is it, Ryan?", she asked as the detective tilted his monitor around for her to see.
"Our friend got bailed out last night…"
"Bailed out? By whom? There wasn't supposed to be any bail set."
Hanging up the phone with Lanie, she leaned closer, following the signature line to the name of the bail bondsman.
"According to this, there was a bail amount set. And it was only 25k. They had to have messed up the paperwork somehow. Oseguiro was bailed out by a…John Smith…you have got to be kidding me."
"Aw man, who falls for that old trick these days?", Castle chimed in and ran a hand across his face, shaking his head.
"Apparently somebody did, because as of 6:56pm last night, Oseguiro was back out on the streets.", Kevin said when his eyes narrowed, "That makes sense."
"What makes sense?", Beckett inquired, trying to see what he was staring at when the young detective ran a nervous hand through his wavy hair.
"Yesterday when I got home, I…call me paranoid all you want but I felt like I was being watched, like somebody had followed me to the apartment. It would have given Oseguiro plenty of time to get out of jail and go after me…before going after Javi."
"That doesn't make sense.", Esposito said with a firm headshake, "First of all, the guy had rock solid alibis for the other murders. And why would he go after you or me? How would he even know where you live? It would have been impossible for him to know that I'd be in the park. I still say there's something else going on. Maybe he went to the park to see what all that talk was about."
"And he decided to attack you as he comes across you, Espo? And just by chance has a metal pipe in his hand which was quite possibly used in other crimes?"
Sensing Beckett's skepticism, Esposito fell quiet, making room for Castle to voice his thoughts.
"We found out this morning that there were two footprints along with those of Officer Reece's, meaning whoever killed him wasn't alone. What if Oseguiro is working with somebody else, somebody who is orchestrating all these murders and makes sure that our friend always has an alibi?"
She watched Espo frown, then shake his head again.
"We've got him on camera inside a strip club the night of the murder. There's no way. And even if that theory were true, why return to the scene of the crime after the fact? I really think he went copycat on us."
"But what if whoever works with him looks remarkably like Oseguiro and he dresses up and goes to all these parties while Oseguiro is out there killing? A big guy with a broad chest, strong jaws and size 6 shoes?"
When his reply only caused more frowns, Castle fell silent, letting Beckett take over again.
"Maybe he didn't like you two dragging him out of his apartment yesterday and decided to go after you. Ryan might have been in a more public setting which scared him off, so he decided to go after you instead."
Even Beckett was struggling to make sense out of what had transpired, running into one roadblock after another as her mind tried to rationalize Oseguiro's moves.
As the possibility of more than one killer became apparent, so did the return of her bad gut feeling when it came to Loksat's involvement in all this. Trying to eliminate part of her team would be a characteristic move on his part, one that wouldn't just cause great emotional distress, but also weaken her defenses.
Castle must have sensed her thoughts trailing off into that dark territory and cleared his throat, his warm eyes watching her worriedly. At the fear of him mentioning anything that wasn't ready to be shared amongst the four of them, she shook her head slightly, then faced the group again.
"Maybe Oseguiro was the original mastermind, the one who might have recruited our actual killer. He has plenty of reason to hate cops and maybe the first two, the ehm…the fire fighter and the building inspector were just some sick sort of foreplay. Perhaps last night his killer was busy so he decided to get the job done himself…except he didn't…thankfully."
"Which would make our actual killer the shoe size 6 we found at the crime scene, because Oseguiro has got to be the size ten."
Upon Castle's comment, Ryan's head snapped up, his eyes wide in surprise.
"Size six? Our killer might be a woman?"
"It's looking more and more like it, yes. I did some preliminary research on any women with violent tendencies recently released from prison but couldn't come up with a good match.", Beckett concluded, "Let's put out a BOLO for Oseguiro first, armed and highly dangerous. Do not approach, just locate. I want to be there when he gets arrested. And boys, look into any relationships he's had past and present, any women in his life who might be capable of committing all these crimes. And check her shoe size."
Esposito cocked his head, almost hiding that new set of stitches when he grinned smugly.
"You really think a woman took down all these men?"
"Why, Espo? Your chauvinistic self can't fathom that women can be skilled warriors, even killers?", she joked in return, seeing him blush just a bit.
"No, not that, but if it is a woman, I want to meet her. I bet she'd be fun playing bedroom UFC."
"You'd want to lose to a woman every night?", Ryan chimed in and turned around in his chair to face his partner.
"One that might cave your skull in with a metal pipe if you forget to put the toilet seat down?", Castle added, causing Esposito to hesitate, then rethink his earlier remark, before awkwardly falling silent.
"Very well then, you've got your orders, boys. Let me know what you find out on Oseguiro's contacts.", Beckett finally said with a smile that wasn't forced for the first time in a long time.
As she walked back to her office, she could hear Castle's footsteps following along, before he appeared next to her.
"The crime fighting team is back together and ready to thwart the nefarious plans of our ruthless killers!", he announced, his outward lightheartedness overshadowed by the depth of his words and the underlying theme thereof.
"We have been working together plenty of times before. There have just been a few…problems here and there that have kept me away from this job.", she answered nonchalantly, not wanting to sound defensive but failing.
"You have to admit though, we do our best work when we all are on the same page. And then comes the part where you and I argue back and forth about the killer until we realize it's Sheringer all along."
Unable to hold back a laugh as they arrived in her office, Beckett shook her head and leaned against her desk, enjoying Castle's presence beside her.
"There's still a difference between investigation and pinning the tail on the first donkey we come across…", she said smilingly, surprised to see that his features had turned serious.
"I am not joking. What if it is Sheringer? What if she convinced the Chief to be a part of this to intentionally mislead us and relish in the limelight of her crimes? Does she wear a size 6? We should find out."
"You know, I have heard crazier theories out of you before. I am going to look into that just to be safe.", she offered, ever so tempted to reach over and kiss him but hesitating, knowing that despite everything that had happened, all eyes were still on her at all times- or so it felt anyway.
"Don't forget to thank me when you slap on those cuffs.", he teased facetiously and watched her circle her desk and sit down while he remained standing, hands by his sides, looking like a lost puppy.
"And…what are you going to do while I do my research?"
"I'll be here to help you, of course. With your research. With evening out those jagged edges of change that have befallen this department, ensuring that things once again run smoothly. I'll provide insightful outsider information to give you the cutting edge on your investigation. Be the listening ear, the bounce-off for crazy ideas and the maker of inappropriate comments in socially awkward situations. I might even think about writing another book, who knows…"
Resting her chin on the palm of her hand, Beckett smiled warmly, allowing his words to pull her into a calmer state of mind, a state where the constant anxiety and drive to go after Loksat couldn't reach her, where it was only Castle and her, and the deep emotions that had tied them together over the past eight years.
"With a grand plan like that, you better get busy."
"I will.", Castle reassured and walked toward her desk, bending down to kiss her.
Subconsciously, she retreated just enough that his lips missed her.
When he noticed her discomfort, he moved up to gently kiss her forehead, then spun around and headed toward the bullpen.
