"Cause of death remains the same…", Lanie explained and circled the stainless-steel table where their latest victim laid, covered beneath a white sheet, "Complete dislocation of the C-4 vertebrae, severing the spinal cord, killing him instantly. This is one of the cleanest deaths I've come across in a while."
Biting his tongue when an inappropriate remark threatened to leap out, Castle glanced over at Beckett and Esposito, both detectives intently following the ME's explanation, their expression a mixture of undivided focus and disdain for the crime.
"Were you able to find anything on our attacker? Prints? Residue?", Beckett asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest as Lanie passed by her.
"Not much. I found the slightest oil residue along his wrists where our attacker held onto him. I sent the sample to the lab but my guess is that it's leather treatment coming off our killer's gloves. No prints, no DNA, not even a rogue hair on him. It's like he was killed by a shadow."
"A Ninja Assassin striking in the dark of night…this case has the makings of a good book…", Castle mused, causing the ongoing conversation to fall quiet as all three of them stared back at him, "What? You don't like Ninja Assassin? We can go with Shadow Assassin."
"Anyways…", Lanie continued with an irritated sideways glance, "I checked the soles of his shoes but there was nothing put of the ordinary there either. His clothes came back clean minus a few splatters of au jus."
"Great, ok…"
With a weary sigh, Beckett turned back around to face her team, lips pursed in anxious impatience as she sorted her thoughts.
"Espo, Ryan said that Harrison was talking to a Doctor Lafayette at the Veteran's Support Center. That was the last person he called before going to the bar, and the call lasted over eight minutes. Let's look into this next. I have a funny feeling that if we can figure out what that call was about, we'll know why he was killed."
Much to Castle's surprise, the detective turned a shade paler, completely freezing in his tracks as though the name shook him to the core. Meeting Beckett's fleeting glance when she noticed the same thing, he raised his eyebrows, shrugging at the strange reaction.
"Lafayette is a psychiatrist. One of the top guys when it comes to PTSD research and recovery. I saw him a couple of times after my last tour."
His voice had lost all the usual commanding tone, turning almost frail as he stoically met Beckett's eyes, jaws clenched so tightly it caused the veins on his strong neck to appear.
"Ryan is looking into Harrison's ties into that Center. All we know is that he supported it. Could it be that Harrison was suffering from PTSD and he called the doctor before going to the bar, trying to talk something through?"
With a decisive headshake, Esposito stepped off to the side, as though he was trying to create some physical distance to the touchy subject.
"There ain't nothing PTSD related that you can fix in an eight-minute phone call.", he argued, unable to disguise the slightest of shivers running through his body, "My bet is that he was discussing some business…whatever business that may be. He'd just gotten out of work, ready to hit the bar for his usual Wednesday night dinner and tried to tie some lose ends along the way."
"Yeah, I think you're right, Espo…Ok, let's see if Ryan found something in the meantime…"
