"Ehm…are you…are you sure this is safe?"
Ryan didn't bother disguising his nervousness as he stripped out of his dress coat, ready to remove his Glock when Esposito shrugged it off.
"You can keep it strapped. It wouldn't matter if you were armed considering the way I am going to kill you.", he replied casually, causing the younger man to cringe.
"Choice of words, Javi, that choice of words is disturbing."
They had moved a few desks out of the way to create enough room for both men to face each other, trying to recreate the step-by-step process of the murder method from earlier in the evening.
"This is so cool! I am putting twenty bucks on 'Sito.", Castle chimed in from the back, leaning against the metal cage that contained the bullpen, arms crossed in front of his chest, undeniably entertained.
"It didn't hit me until I remembered what Lanie said about the contusions…", Esposito explained evenly and took off his coat and tie, opened the top few buttons of his dress shirt, then spent a few moments stretching his arms and cracking the knuckles on his fingers.
"What…what are you doing that for, man?", Ryan asked nervously, never reacting even when Beckett patted his shoulder encouragingly.
"I gotta warm up, bro. Can't kill you without my muscles being warmed up."
"Choice of words again. Are we sure this is safe? Is this covered under OSHA?"
"Just relax. I know what I am doing…", Esposito reassured, unable to wipe the devious smile off his lips as he moved into position, his legs shoulder-width apart, upper body leaning slightly forward.
"I know what you used to do. That's what has me worried…"
"You see, our killer needed to remain unseen, so first thing he did was push our vic into the alley where it's dark, disorienting him.", Esposito explained, then proceeded to grab his partner's shoulder and shove him several feet to the side, causing Ryan to flinch slightly, "By now, Harrison has had a few beers, so his responses are a lot more sluggish than they normally would be. But he is alert enough to throw a few punches. Go ahead, Ryan, punch me."
Pointing at his stomach, Esposito waited for his clearly uncomfortable partner to act as though he was fighting back. In Ryan's case, that included barely more than a couple of gentle taps against his midsection.
"That initial shove and the counter attack…that's where the bruises on his shoulder blade and the scraped knuckles came from…", Beckett hypothesized and leaned forward to look at the contact points between both men.
"Right. Obviously, the punches aren't helping and as a last resort, Harrison holds onto his attacker's clothes, maybe grabs the lapel of his jacket and tries to throw him against the wall. That was a mistake, because now, our attacker grabs his wrists and forces him to the ground. Come on Ryan, get your hands up on my chest."
Hesitantly, Ryan followed suit and let out a painful groan when Esposito got a hold of both of his wrists, using his thumbs and index fingers to twist them into the opposite direction, the pressure against his joints unbearable enough to send him knee-first to the floor.
"Jesus Christ…", the younger detective winced as he watched his appendages being manipulated, unable to do anything to counteract the move.
"This is awesome…", Castle chimed in from the sidelines, going as far as bending down to see the technique up close, "You know, this is as close to Kwai Chang Caine as I'll ever get, Esposito. You'll have to teach me some of that."
"Forty bucks an hour and a case of beer, my friend. Thursday evenings work best."
"Can we…please…move on…guys?", Ryan winced from his uncomfortable position on the ground, his blue eyes trained on his secured wrists, grimacing in pain.
"Now at this point, our attacker is setting up for the coup the gras. But the problem is, you can't get the perfect move in unless your victim is still. So, rule three of Esposito Fight Club is to always make your opponent worry about himself, rather than the attacker. In that case, our killer straightens back out and serves a hard kick to Harrison's ribs, causing him to fall to the ground, groaning in pain, losing perspective on pretty much everything else, making him the perfect target for the final move."
Esposito stood up to prepare for a kick when Ryan let himself drop to the floor, arms covering his head, one hand waving in defeat.
"I can act this one out, no need to kick me, Javi."
"Which explains the bruises on his wrists and ribs.", Beckett added, her eyes following him intrigued as he straightened back out.
"Right. I saw the black and purple marks on the back of his hands, and it made perfect sense."
"You said that was rule number three. Do rules one and two have to do with his head getting…unscrewed?", Castle interrupted, hands stretched out in front of his body, mimicking Esposito's moves in as much detail as possible.
"No. Rules one and two apply to hand-to-hand combat in close proximity situations. Hearing those is gonna cost you an extra hundred bucks each during your lesson."
"Fine. Sign me up. Do I make the check out to you or the NYPD Ninja Taskforce?"
"Guys…", Beckett reminded them, then pointed at Ryan lying on the floor in a fetal position, "Let's get on with this please."
"Right. Okay, so our vic's on the ground now, very much worrying about himself. He's not gonna put up a fight. That's when our killer goes down and sets up for the final move."
With both hands reaching for Ryan, Esposito went down on his knees, cradling the younger detective tightly against his chest before wrapping a strong arm around his neck, one hand cupping his chin.
"Position is everything here…", he explained and grabbed a handful of hair along the back of his partner's head.
Then, with a slight jerk that made all of them twitch violently, he moved Ryan's head off to the side, enough to visualize the technique of breaking his neck without actually doing any harm, causing the younger detective to gasp, then release a trembling breath.
"No blood, very little interaction between killer and victim, slim chance of leaving any evidence behind and voila…", Esposito explained and carefully pulled his hands back, allowing Ryan to scramble to his feet.
"So, if this isn't Kung Fu…what is it?"
Beckett stepped forward to help her men stand back up, her eyes scanning Esposito intently.
"It's a little bit of everything actually. Mostly Jiu-jitsu, muay thai, some aikido, karate. In other words, this is advanced combat training."
"You're saying our killer is military?", Ryan asked and rubbed his neck.
"More than likely. I'd say Special Forces, multiple tours, frontline experience, the works."
"I'll look into it deeper, but I saw that Harrison was part of some Veteran Support Network. That could be our link…"
"It's definitely worth checking into, Ryan. Good job, guys."
Beckett was about to return to her desk when Castle cleared his throat, his eyes beaming with excitement.
"This was awesome. You're going to have to show me that wrist-lock technique. Did you ever have to break somebody's neck? If so, how many times have you had to do this during your time overseas?"
The writer's innocent question caused Esposito's expression to turn guarded in the fraction of a second, those brown eyes almost black as he glared back at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about, man. I just saw it on TV some time ago.", he deflected, then moved over to grab his dress coat, never seeing Beckett's scolding glance directed at Castle.
"Looks like we have a pretty strong start into tomorrow.", she said and returned to her desk, "Let's wait for the autopsy report and whether CSU found any other evidence at the scene. First thing in the morning, Castle and I will return to the bar to see if we can get a list of all the patrons that were there tonight. Let's go home and get some rest guys, it's going to be a long day tomorrow."
