The atmosphere in the bullpen had deteriorated to a nervous holding pattern, the unexpected death of their prime suspect putting a monkey wrench into the fast-paced investigation for more than one reason.

Upon arriving at the VSN clinic, Purlmutter had decreed that more than likely, Lafayette died from cyanide poisoning, probably resorting to the old trick of stashing it in his mouth until the opportunity arose.

The problem was his suicide added a lot more questions than it answered.

A visibly distraught Marianne wasn't able to contribute much under the circumstances and it was quite possible that she didn't have a clue as to what had been going on. Her bank accounts and measly monthly salary sure indicated her innocence.

Midway through the mess, CSU had called to confirm that a large amount of unlabeled white pills had been recovered from Lafayette's apartment to be sent to the lab for further testing.

In the meantime, the three of them had returned to the precinct to read through Lafayette's detailed account of drugging Esposito, then dragging him back to the clinic for the initial programming via deep-state hypnosis which led to follow up appointments every other day, mostly late at night.

Amongst other things, the harrowing report depicted him forcing Espo to keep pills under his tongue until they dissolved, making the meds take effect a lot faster. Another incident listed the detective snapping out of the haze and becoming combative, causing Lafayette to resort to sedatives and increased dosages of his mind-altering meds.

Esposito was ordered to keep two days' worth of pills stashed in a plastic bag beneath the driver's seat of his car, to be taken at night only, then receive his scheduled refills when seeing the doctor again.

It had been difficult to read through all the documents while trying to maintain some professional distance and Castle could see it on the faces that surrounded him.

"I have to tell Lanie what's going on in case Espo shows up. We should probably put a uni out front for the night just in case.", Beckett said and looked up from one of the reports, her eyes watery from exhaustion.

"I'll check on his apartment again in a bit as well.", Ryan added, his neutral façade now tense, downright anger riddled.

Castle didn't blame him one bit for the incident with Lafayette; heck, he'd done the same if this were about Beckett.

Truth be told, he might have even gone further.

"Does it tell you anywhere in those pages how to break the spell?", came Gates' voice from behind, her pace urgent after getting dragged into a conference call with the Military Intelligence group earlier.

"Not really, Sir…", Beckett answered disheartened, "He didn't go into much detail about the hypnosis part, only that it worked and successfully implanted modified behavior patterns into Espo's subconsciousness. Upon hearing certain codes, it would cause a correlating reaction. The meds served to make him compliant, drown out any unrelated emotions to help fixate him on his missions. We checked out his car but there were no meds under the seat. So, he either has them on him, or he ran out."

"Just the thought is enough to give me goosebumps.", the captain replied and crossed her arms, "Vargas' men told me they haven't been able to get any more traces on Detective Esposito's whereabout. They offered to send some manpower down here to help us locate him but…but I agree with you, detective. I think at this point it's best to leave him on a long leash and avoid a confrontation at all costs. Until we know who the next target is, we would only endanger more lives, including his."

"Is there any plan on what we're going to do once we locate him?", Ryan's voice was stripped of all emotion when he turned around to face them, his lips pursed to a thin line, "I mean, we're talking about him like he's…he's some dangerous wild animal out on the loose. He's…he's one of us and this goddamn doctor has put him through hell these past few days, right under our noses, without anyone noticing. He's poisoned his mind with some manipulative hypnosis and his body with drugs that were taken off the market because they are dangerous, especially in the dosage that he's been forced to take. He's a victim here, not a criminal. I just think that we should spend some time figuring out how to safely apprehend him and what steps to take to help him recover from this."

Drawing in a deep breath, Gates walked over to his desk, her gaze drifting to the empty chair next to his for a brief moment.

"I am not discounting the severe amount of trauma that has occurred here, detective, but let's also not forget that Lafayette had rock-solid alibis for these two murders and the transcripts we found detailed several accounts of DMM throughout the time period of our killings when it comes to Detective Esposito. Somebody murdered these people, and it was somebody who is very well trained, just like your partner. Until we get the full scope of this, we have to assume a position of caution and damage control. Detective Esposito might not be responsible for anything that occurred during this timeframe but that doesn't make him any less dangerous."

"Hopefully these drugs will begin to lose their potency by now. With any luck, he might give up his position peacefully. In the meantime, we can stage uni's outside any potential hiding place and order them to stand down and call us in if they see him.", Beckett suggested from behind, hoping to ease some of the tension while returning the conversation to a safer territory.

"You've got my permission to go ahead with that, detective.", Gates replied, her eyes never leaving Ryan who stoically looked straight ahead, not willing to discuss the matter any further, "And while we're at it, go home, guys. There's nothing more to do until we find him and you've been at this for days. Get some rest while you can."