They'd been making decent headway in pulling in any phone and bank records for Oseguiro and his on-again/ off-again girlfriend. The tricky part had been trying to find the irregularities, signs of a change in patterns ahead of the first killing, unusual payments or deposits received. Neither one of them had owned a credit card, making their work significantly harder tracking down the cash flow here and there.
Javier was certain that had been done on purpose.
They'd been midway through another round of reviewing months of electronic bank documents when he saw a shadow appear next to him, the sweet perfume announcing Sheringer's arrival long before she said a word.
"Detective Esposito. I requested from Captain Beckett that you sit with me for a moment. I am working on finalizing my report for you guys so if you could join me, I'd appreciate it."
Not bothering to hide his misgivings about the situation, he looked up from his keyboard, then over at Kevin, receiving a sympathetic shrug in return.
He didn't want to deal with her again, having crossed paths with the condescending woman even back at the 54th. Kevin hadn't been around to hear the horror stories from other detectives she'd worked with over the years; her obvious disrespect for their line of work that followed her into every report she wrote and every profile she'd created.
Javier knew it was only a matter of time before she'd write up her latest piece on their department, undoubtedly laying blame for the serial killings at the feet of the detectives of the 12th Precinct who were too untrained, too crude to foretell the future.
She'd done the same for some of his friends at the 54th and he swore to himself that Sheringer wouldn't get the chance to do it over here.
"I can get Captain Beckett involved and have her order you, if that's easier.", she added when he hesitated.
With a sigh, he stood up from his desk, never acknowledging her threat.
Instead, he wordlessly headed over to the interview room she was working out of, hearing her heels click against the floor as she followed along.
"How's your head doing? That looks like a nasty blow.", Sheringer mentioned cordially and sat back down by her workstation, her eyes drifting over to her laptop screen for a second before she focused her intense gaze on him again.
"Should have seen the other guy…", he shrugged in obvious disregard, only to see her nod dismissively.
"That's right. The bravado. That's what I remembered about you, detective."
Esposito refused to answer and sat down slowly, resting his arms on the table and clasping his hands.
"It's good to see you over here. You guys are a hell of a team from what I hear. One of the highest crime solving rates in this town. All that despite such an unorthodox…roster. Then again, perhaps that's what it takes, hm?"
"Captain Beckett said you had questions about my attacker. I don't think that included you analyzing our team. Or our procedures."
Meeting her distant blue eyes, he scowled again, failing to appear as still and unaffected as he'd hoped to be.
"I can see how a situation like this can tend to make people defensive, detective. You've been working this case for weeks and you are still spinning your wheels when it comes to your killer. That can be frustrating for everyone involved, and also cause errors in due process. But I have to admit, I commend your actions last night. That was very bold. I wish it would have yielded a more…desirable result instead of more bodies."
"We're going to find the connection. We've got more to go on than we had before.", he argued stubbornly and straightened out his tense back.
"There's no doubt about that.", she countered and reached for a pen and notepaper, "Here's my concern. You've come face to face with a man who showed up at your crime scene and subsequently ends up murdered. It's conceivable that the real killer might go after your team next. We've seen the killings change from presumed random acts of deadly violence to a more precise pattern; that being aimed at police officers. And now a key suspect came up dead. Everything tells me this net is closing."
"I'd love for him to try that. By the time I am done with him, he's gonna wish he never started this."
She nodded but remained quiet for a while, her pen dancing across the notepad in a wild frenzy as she listed her observations, none of them readable from his position at the table.
After a while, she looked back at him, resting her chin on the palm of her hand.
"Would you be just as confident if he were to go after your partner and his family? Or Captain Beckett? Or Mister Castle?"
The notion made him freeze in his spot, jaws clenched, hating her for putting him into a corner like that.
"Obviously not.", he stammered, feeling the heat rise on either side of his neck.
"You see, here's where I start to worry, detective. Let's put ourselves in the shoes of this man. We already determined that he must have an accomplice, if not more than one. He likes to sit in the back, pulling the strings. But suddenly his pattern has changed, he's been forced to move from his path in order to rid himself of a potential witness, a …a threat. All this time he's been confident, gleeful even, as he gets away with one murder after another. Now things have changed, and that shift would make somebody like that very uncomfortable. So, what does he do? He wants to return to his position far away from the center stage as soon as possible, resume his authority over who lives and who dies."
"So, you're saying he's gonna send somebody out to murder again and he'll try to kill one of us, hoping we'll back off or lose his trail?"
"I'm afraid so. It would make too much sense. And he's not going to go after you. He's going to seek out somebody else, somebody he feels is more accessible…and vulnerable. I know that Ruben Oseguiro attacked you and that he's dead, but I feel that there's a chance our killer sent him there last night, quite possibly with the intention to go after you. Maybe he even hoped that you would kill Oseguiro in the struggle. When that didn't happen, he finished the man off himself. So, if we could go over the events step by step together one more time, I might be able to make a better determination about our killer's way of thinking. I am looking for small details, something that might seem benign to you but may have great meaning in the grand scheme of things. All I am asking is for a few minutes of your time to help protect the people in your team. No games, no agenda, just facts. Think you can do that, Detective Esposito?"
With a hesitant nod, he leaned back against the chair, trying to ignore the pounding headache as he watched her draw a line across the paper, then set up to begin writing notes below.
Before she could get her first question in, he cleared his throat, causing her to look up from her work area.
"Why do you think he won't go after me again? He already tried once. Is it because I fought off Oseguiro?"
Much to his surprise, she shook her head, her expression turning solemn.
"No, that wouldn't matter to him. He's after the big picture, the justice he sees in having those killings carried out. But you see, in criminal psychology we say that when it comes to the choice of victims, the least desirable people to kill or torture are those who stare death in the face and never even flinch."
