"Seeing that we were working late last night, I thought I'd start the day off on an extra sugary treat…", Castle said with a warm smile and handed the large to-go cup over to Beckett, her expression instantly brightening.

"Thank you so much. You read my mind.", she admitted and took a generous sip, before turning around in her office chair to face him.

"I am having CSU go through Larry's room, see if there's anything we might have missed. Unfortunately, without a bank account or a cell phone it will be difficult to track his whereabouts, but I am ready to check all the surveillance cameras in the area if it means we get a good look at our killer."

Sitting down next to her, Castle took a sip himself, relishing the thick, sweet flavor for a brief moment.

"You think the killer followed him all the way from the Mission to the alley where he killed him?"

"I'll lay money on it. This way he could wait for the right opportunity to strike."

He was about to rebut when he saw Esposito step off the elevator, his expression relaxed and cheerful, the stark opposite of the previous day. Next to him, he heard Beckett inhale sharply, before she glanced down, pretending to sort her paperwork while keeping the detective in her peripheral vision.

"He looks like he's back to normal.", Castle whispered and watched him take off his jacket before heading for the break room.

"We'll know the moment we talk to him about Lafayette. Let's wait until Ryan gets in so we can tell them both."

"Tell them what?", Gates' voice appeared from behind, making them flinch violently, causing Castle to nearly lose the grip on his coffee.

Exhaling slowly for a moment to regain her composure, Beckett shared an annoyed glance with him, before turning around to face her superior.

"Tell them that Larry's room was empty when we got there. It seems like he packed up and ran. I am having CSU check it right now. We do have one witness who overheard him talk to somebody on the Mission's landline. Larry threatened to cut all ties, saying that he was done over and over again. We tried to track the call, but it came back to a burner phone."

"That figures…", the captain said and crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking thoroughly displeased.

"Have we gotten any closer to tying Lafayette to these killings? Shouldn't we subpoena his patient records?"

Nodding hastily, Beckett took another sip, choosing her words carefully before replying.

"With all due respect, Sir, if Lafayette is doing what we think he's doing, I doubt he'll leave notes in his regular patient files. We could be sitting here for weeks trying to sift through them and determine fact from fiction."

"And just what exactly is your plan, detective?", Gates countered, the tone in her voice rising slightly.

"I am hoping to look at some camera footage between the mission and our place of murder, see if he was followed. Obviously, Lafayette alibi'ed out on both murders so far, so he's hired somebody to do his dirty work. I want to see who that person is. In the meantime, Lanie said she will check with other morgues to see if any suspicious deaths occurred that we might be able to tie to this drug cocktail he's using. We're looking for ex or current military personnel who died of heart attacks, stroke or renal failure in the past six months. If we find more people, we might be able to tighten our net around Lafayette and find the link."

"Very well, keep me up to date, detective."

As swiftly as she appeared, Gates returned to her office, the clattering of her high heels finally disappearing when she closed her door.

"How does she do that?", Castle whispered, trying to relax again after being ambushed by the stern captain.

"She's everywhere. Might as well get used to that."

"So what are we going to do next?"

With a dreadful sigh, Beckett turned toward her desktop and started to type in the Mission's address.

"Now…now we're going to start making some phone calls, Castle."