All afternoon long, Castle had sensed tensions rising in the bullpen, the strange new case adding an unusual layer of personal drama to the mix that wasn't doing this well-oiled team any favors.

Beckett had briefed him on the way back to the precinct, not that Ryan's testimony was any surprise considering the circumstances.

He saw it in Esposito's eyes the day prior, after leaving Lafayette's office. That distinct look, as though Castle had inadvertently stumbled over his best-kept secret, a hornet's nest of his deepest fears. It was a look of raw vulnerability, so uncommon for a man who oozed confidence and bravery like few others he'd ever met.

And with it came a slew of volatile defense mechanisms that had everyone around Javier walk on eggshells, exchange worried glances or whisper behind his back.

After having already set off one of his trip wires before, Castle had kept his distance to Esposito, taking a backseat on the investigation for a little while, offering his help as a consultant as needed, but hoping not to stir the stormy seas any more than necessary.

In his role of silent observer, he watched Beckett make a few phone calls to neighboring businesses, see if they had surveillance equipment, before disappearing in one of the investigation rooms to make a clandestine phone call to Lafayette's office, see if the Doctor would once again alibi out for the latest murder.

Judging by her tense expression as she returned, the answer was yes.

Then there was Ryan.

The detective reminded him of David sitting next to Goliath, his back tense, shoulders so straight you could balance Grandma's finest china on them. Every once in a while, Ryan looked up from his research, careful not to disturb his partner, barely rolling his chair back when he went for a bathroom break or grabbed some coffee.

As far as Castle could tell, Esposito had barely moved all afternoon, eyes intently focused on his computer screen, his mind undoubtedly somewhere else, more than likely some downtrodden building just north of here.

Nothing had come of their search for an eyewitness so far, forcing the team to patiently wait for the autopsy results in hopes that their killer was finally becoming sloppy.

Checking his wristwatch once again, Castle sighed, knowing they were at least another hour away from Lanie's results; sixty more minutes for Ryan to tiptoe around his ticking-timebomb-partner, for Beckett to secretly look into Lafayette's connection to the case and for Esposito to brood over the unspoken ties that bound him to the unconventional psychiatrist.

At last, it was the ringing of Ryan's cellphone that made all of them look up, following the conversation intrigued, especially once the younger detective smiled faintly.

"We've got an ID on our victim.", he announced upon hanging up and turned back around to type the name into his computer and print out the DMV picture for the murder board.

"Lawrence Anderson, age thirty-seven, not married, no kids. Listed here as unemployed and living in a men's shelter on 400 East 30th Street. Served two tours in Iraq, honorably discharged. Afterward he worked as an auto mechanic for twelve years until he was fired for beating the hell out of a complaining customer. Says here that the assault charges were later dropped when Anderson provided proof that he began seeing a shrink for his depression and PTSD issues."

Castle felt his throat tighten at the mere mentioning, his eyes immediately travelling to Esposito who stopped a few feet short of them, a slight shade of red appearing on the side of his neck where his agitation made it past his brick wall of self-control.

"Let me guess…his shrink was Lafayette.", Beckett hypothesized and waited for Ryan to join her at the board, pinning Anderson's picture above the victim's description and phot of the body.

"The one and only.", the young detective muttered uncomfortably, cringing when he heard Esposito scoff in frustration.

"That doesn't proof anything. It's clear that our killer is targeting people associated with the VSN center. Question is, why? And more importantly, what can we do to keep Doc Lafayette safe?"

"Right now, we don't have a whole lot to go on, Espo.", Beckett tried, immediately causing him to scowl at her, "We still don't know what his connection is to those missing meds. Alibi or not, there are a lot of questions here when it comes to how he conducts his business and for all we know, he might still be involved in all this. His actions could be the conduit for these murders."

"What is it with your witch hunt to ruin his reputation?!", Esposito argued furiously, eyes narrowed as he postured in front of her, "Since this investigation has started, you haven't spent a minute considering the possibility that our killer might be somebody besides Lafayette; and you are wrong. You don't know this guy like I do. In the meantime, our real killer is still walking the streets, laughing at our efforts to pin these murders on the wrong guy while he targets his next victim. You blindly accepted the word of a power-hungry hospital CFO over that of a man who has spent the last thirty-some years talking people off bridges and now you're going to make us waste more time prying around in his affairs when we should be working this case!"

"Whoa, Javi…", Ryan interfered, his efforts in vain.

"I am following the evidence.", Beckett countered sternly, never breaking eye contact with Esposito, "And interestingly enough, every time I do, it leads directly back to Lafayette. Now, I can appreciate the fact that you spent some time working with him and that he's helped you through some dark moments I can't even begin to imagine…but when it comes to trusting blindly, I think you need to take a long hard look at yourself, Espo."

Castle felt his heart jump a few beats as the confrontation turned into a silent staring contest, neither party willing to back off.

Eventually, Esposito huffed like a bull ready to charge, then spun around to head back to his desk, jerking his leather coat off his chair and storming out of the office.

The three of them were left in stunned silence for many long moments, Beckett trembling slightly as she let out a strained breath.

"Well, that went well…", she grunted and ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head in frustration.

"I'll go after him.", Ryan offered, just to have her hold him back by the elbow.

"Leave him be. I doubt there's anything you can say or do right now to calm him down. Let him work through it and we'll deal with it later. We gotta focus on this case or Gates is going to start poking around in our business and that's the last thing we need right now."

Doing the only thing he could think of in the situation, Castle reached forward to gently touch her shoulder, earning himself a sad smile.

"Are you ok?", he asked, feeling her shake beneath his touch.

"No. No…not right now.", Beckett answered hastily, those brown eyes filled with raw concern and regret, "But we will get this sorted out. In the meantime, let's focus on Anderson and find out anything we can on his connection to Lafayette."