American Crime Stories

A/N: Thank you to everyone who left me an encouraging review or PM telling me that they enjoy reading my story!

Arc One, Chapter five

Crime scene

Gina's apartment

Beckett arrived at the crime scene, nodded to the officer standing guard at the front door as she passed by. She walked up to Esposito who was waiting for her. His grim facial expression told her that this case would be bad.

"So, what've we got?"

"Hey Beckett. It's bad. Not only is the crime scene pretty damn freaky, the victim is someone we know: Gina Cowell. Castle's ex-wife."

Beckett was shocked. Although she'd worked with Castle for nearly four years and meeting the woman once or twice, she didn't know Gina very well. Unlike Castle's ramblings about Meredith, he was more tight-lipped about Gina – especially since their failed relationship a few years back. Despite that, she felt sorry for Gina – and for Castle. That would be hard for him and his family. Beckett sighed, "What can you tell me?"

"The body was found by the housekeeper." Esposito and Beckett walked into the room where the victim was. She looked around to take it all in. The apartment was well lit, with only a few personal - especially not feminine - touches. The lack of any masculine objects in plain view suggested to Beckett that Gina had been living alone. The place was nice, high maintenance, just as Gina had been according to a comment Castle had made years ago. Beckett gasped as she looked up to a bunch of barbed wire hanging from the ceiling. It was obvious that Gina had previously hung there. She took a step around a crime scene tech canvassing for fingerprints and walked up to Lanie. The medical examiner was bending above Gina.

"Hey, Lanie," Beckett greeted her solemnly and scanned the victim's body.

"Hey girl," Lanie greeted her back.

"Cause of death?"

"I'll have to examine her back at the lab to be sure but the ligature marks and petechia suggest strangulation."

"OH MY GOD!" The loud exclamation surprised both women and both turned to see Castle standing in the doorway.

"CASTLE, what are you doing here?" Beckett exclaimed but Castle didn't answer her immediately. His eyes were wide open and his gaze was fixed on the lifeless body of this former wife.

"Castle, you shouldn't be here." Beckett told him. Although she didn't know the reason she had noticed Castle more frequent absence from the precinct. She missed him.

Castle didn't reply but turned around and ran out of the door. He didn't notice the pitying eyes of Esposito or Beckett following him out. Castle could feel the bile rising in his throat and he shut his eyes, forcing his breakfast back down. This was…this had to be nightmare, right? His chest was gripped in the relentless clutches of anxiety. He unconsciously loosened his shirt collar, rested his forearm against a lamppost and breathed deeply. This was how Beckett found him. As soon as she saw him she asked an uniformed officer to grab a bottle of water. The officer returned a few moments later and handed Beckett the water. She handed it over to Castle. "Thanks," he said and silently took the bottle, opened it and swallowed a few sips.

"Castle? You alright?" Beckett asked him concerned.

"Peachy," he answered drily.

"Sorry, dumb question. But what are you doing here? How did you know to come here?" She repeated her previous question.

Castle took another sip before answering her. "Elle, Gina's housekeeper, called me and told me what…" He paused for a moment. "She told me what she had found this morning. I came as soon as I could. Might get a few tickets though."

"I'm…" Beckett began to say but paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, Cas., Rick." She said and put a hand on his arms.

"Thank you," he replied solemnly.

"You shouldn't be here," Beckett told him.

"Of course, I should be here," he answered indignantly.

"Castle, you know that you can't be a part of this investigation."

"Why not?"

"Because she was your ex-wife."

"That's exactly the reason I should be part of this investigation. I can help you."

"Castle…"

"Oh, come on Beckett, don't tell me I'm too close to the victim. That has never stopped you before."

Beckett sighed. She could see it in his eyes that nothing that she said would keep him off the investigation. She thought about the crime scene and came to the realization that he in fact could be helpful. His familiarity with the victim and his vast knowledge of bizarre facts could be very helpful. But would Gates see it the same way? Probably not. "Alright, you can look around and tell me what you see. Then you will have to answer some question about Gina."

"Thank you, Beckett."

"Don't thank me yet. I'm not sure that Gates will allow your participation in the investigation." Castle nodded, he could see her point and had no doubts about the Captains reactions.

"Are you ready to get back?" Castle closed his eyes and was quite for a moment. Then he opened his eyes again and took a deep breath. "Yeah, let's get that over with."

They silently walked back into the apartment, both in her own minds. When they got back, Esposito approached them and offered Castle his condolences. Castle stopped before entering the apartment. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath to center himself. Castle entered but didn't look directly at Gina. He walked towards the rear of the apartment. He poked his head into every room, before he came back to the crime scene. He took a deep breath before he looked around the living room. "Ooh, geez. Who puts a body on a ceiling?" Castle exclaimed surprised.

"Beats me. But I probably won't sleep for weeks," Lanie told Castle.

"Looks like something out of one of your books, right?" Esposito tried to lighten the mood. Castle grimaced and Lanie slapped Esposito on the arm. Hard. "Sorry Castle," the detective apologized.

"It's okay. I understand."

"Lanie, can you tell us anything about the TOD?" Beckett asked the medical examiner as a way to get back to the investigation.

"Based on liver temp, between midnight and three am."

"What about this wound on her forehead?"

"It's non-lethal. Given the detail, it looks like it was carved by some kind of razor."

"It's a symbol of some kind," Castle said.

"Do you recognize it?" Beckett asked.

"No, but the killer went through a lot of trouble. It must mean something."

"It's not easy hanging a body and she's at least a hundred pounds." Beckett mused.

Ryan walked up to them. "I checked in with CSU. They found prints in the hallway but the apartment is spotless. Looks like it's been wiped down."

"This guy cleaned up after himself," Esposito stated.

Castle nodded and said, "He didn't mind taking his time."

"So, the killer knew that he wouldn't be disturbed. What's the security like in this place?" Beckett asked.

"Buzzer on the front door, no doorman but there is a security camera outside the main entrance,"Ryan answered Beckett's question. "I called the security firm, it seems the camera wasn't working for the last two days," Ryan informed them.

"That's convenient," Castle says.

"Yeah."

"So, there's no sign of forced entry. No sign of a struggle," Castle pointed out.

"She knew him." Beckett assumed. "You know, if Gina knew our killer, it's possible that her housekeeper could shed some light on all of this." She paused to think about the next steps. "All right, canvass neighboring apartments for anyone that saw or heard anything. And I want to know what this symbol means." She ordered Ryan and Esposito. They nodded and headed off.

TWELFTH PRECINCT INTERVIEW ROOM

When they got back to the precinct, Captain Gates ordered Castle to her office. For a few minutes, they argued about Castle taking part in the investigation. In the end, Castle told her, that his ex-wife and the Mayor have been friends for years and that the Mayor would want all available personal on the investigation. It was a last resort, one that he knew didn't endear him to Gates very much. He didn't care. And it was the truth after all.

A few minutes later Beckett and Castle walked into the interview room.

"Thank you, for coming in, Mrs. Summers."

"Hello Elle, I'm sorry to see you again under those circumstances." Castle greeted Elle with a chaste kiss on the cheek. "How are you holding up?"

"Hello Rick. Every time I close my eyes I see her hanging there," Elle replied. It was obvious that she was having a tough time.

"Mrs. Summers, when did you see Miss Cowell the last time?" Beckett asked her quietly.

"Hm, normally I do most of my work during the time Gina - I mean Miss Cowell - is, was in her office and wasn't working at home. We would talk on the phone regularly and once a month we would have dinner together. We had to postpone our dinner this month because of a business emergency. So, the last time I have seen her personally has been last month."

"Did she say what kind of business emergency?"

"No, but that wasn't anything unusual for her. She was a workaholic." Elle said and Castle nodded.

"So no boyfriend then?" Beckett tried another route to get as much information as possible from the housekeeper. Elle looked at Castle. "It's alright, Elle. Gina and I were long over."

Elle sighed. "She did start seeing someone maybe six weeks ago."

"Do you know who he is?" Castle asked curiously.

"That's the thing, she never did say anything concrete about him. She – she acted like it was some big secret. Like maybe he was married or something? But I think that he bought her some jewelry."

"What do you mean, 'you think'?" Beckett asked her to clarify.

"I saw earrings that definitely was much more expensive than the usual kind of jewelry she bought herself." She looked at Castle and continued. "It was something you would have bought her – high quality. You know what I mean?" Castle nodded.

"Did she tell you anything else about him? The way he looked? Where they met?" Beckett fished for more information on the guy.

"No. All she said was that he was every woman's fairytale. Rich, handsome, and generous."

TWELFTH PRECINCT BULLPEN

"Some fairytale. I'll tell you this much – there's a lot more to this story than an affair with a married man. There is no way that Gina would engage in that kind of relationship. For one, she would never settle for being the second women. Secondly, she would never risk her career like that. It would ruin her reputation if the truth became public that she had been a mistress for some rich guy," Castle told Beckett who was writing on the murder board. She turned to Castle and Ryan. "Maybe, but we won't know that until we find him. Get on her phone records, see if you can ID this guy," She ordered Ryan.

"Yeah. I'll have them pull her emails, too." Ryan moved to head to work but he was stopped by Castle.

"Anything on that symbol yet?" The writer asked.

"I put a call in the Feds. They're running it through their database right now." Ryan said and headed off. Castle turned to the murder board and inspected the facts closely. Beckett noticed it and asked, "What do you see?"

"The way he left the body, the time it took? Whoever did this, he liked it."

"Seems that way. Let's go and see if Lanie has any more information yet."

MORGUE

Castle had accompanied Beckett hundreds of times, but today would be his most difficult visit to the morgue yet. Beckett had told him that she could go alone, that he had identified her at the crime scene. Gina were an only child and her parents had died in a car accident few years back. Therefore, she had asked Castle to stay on as her next of kin after their divorce. Despite their failed marriage and the end of their foolish attempt of a second try, they remained friends. It was important to both of them that there should not come anything between their working relationship as writer and publisher. They made of a lot of money together. That was the reason he'd declined Beckett's offer to go alone and accompanied her to the morgue.

"What've you got, Lanie?" Beckett asked they enter the morgue. The medical examiner was standing beside the exam table and Beckett joined her there. Normally, Lanie would scold her friend for the lack of a proper greeting but seeing Castle with his ashen face made her hold her tongue. "I can confirm that the COD was suffocation. Looks like she has been suffocated with a rope or a scarf," the medical examiner told them and gestured to the body. "If she had a boyfriend nothing happened that night. There are no signs of sexual assault or activity," Lanie told Beckett and Castle. The writer let out a sigh, he was glad that Gina didn't have to go through that horror too before her violent death.

"Were you able to narrow down a time?" Beckett asked.

Lanie nodded. "Somewhere between 2 and 3AM Saturday morning. Lividity and pooling indicate that the body was hung from the ceiling postmortem."

"Why would he hang her body after he killed her?" Beckett wondered.

"Ritual?" Castle suggested.

"That's not all that's weird. Strangulation is a violent act. But there were no signs that she fought back. No skin under the fingernails, no bruising. So, I did some checking. She was drugged." Lanie said and grabbed a sample. "Lung tissue suggests exposure to chloroform. Also, your killer was careful. He was wearing gloves."

"How can you tell?" Castle asked.

"Traces of talcum powder on the body. The same talc used in surgical gloves or the evidence gloves that you use at the crime scenes. Whoever this person is, they knew exactly what they were doing." Beckett looked confused at that revelation but Castle had an inspiration. "He's done this before."

TWELFTH PRECINCT BULLPEN

Later that day, Castle handed Beckett a coffee as they walked back from the break room. The detective was reading from a folder. "Ritualistic killing, takes pleasure in it, significant care taken at the crime scene –"

"All the hallmarks of a serial killer," Castle stated.

"Yeah, but I've never seen this MO."

Ryan walked up to them. "Hey, bad news. The Feds struck out on the symbol. It bears some similarities to some ancient alchemy signs but they've never seen this one before."

"Any luck on the phone records?" Beckett wondered.

"No, but she spent a lot of time on the phone to a blocked number. Phone company traced it to an unlisted burner phone with an unlisted SIM." Ryan said and handed her a report.

"So he planned ahead?" Castle suggested. His answer was a mix of a nod and a shrug. "What about her emails?"

"Nothing from her mystery lover. So, I had them take a look at her hard drive. Turns out portions of it have been surgically wiped. Like someone covering their tracks," Ryan told them.

"So we're back to square one." The others could hear the frustration in Castle's voice.

"Not necessarily. Uh, Gina's housekeeper said that she thought that he gave her some jewelry. Maybe he left a fingerprint on one of those pieces," Beckett suggested.

"I'll head to her place, see what I can find out." Ryan said and left.

CASTLE'S LOFT

It was an emotional drained Castle who walked back into his loft. There he was greeted by his mother and daughter. "Daddy!" Alexis exclaimed, jumped up from the sofa and ran towards her father. Castle could see from her red eyes that Alexis had been crying. He opened his arms and his daughter flew into them, crying. "Hey pumpkin." Castle closed his arms around her and hugged her strongly.

To his surprise his mother wasn't far behind his daughter, "Richard!" Together the Castle's stood in their loft in a family hug. Nobody said anything for a few moments until Martha broke their silence. "Richard, what happened?"

Castle sighed. And they broke their hugging. "Mother, why don't you get us anything to drink?" Martha wanted to object but she saw the look on his face, so she nodded and walked away. He went to put away his jacket and to freshen up. He noticed that Alexis didn't leave his side and followed him. He sighed internally. "Pumpkin, I have to freshen up a bit. I won't be long." Her look broke his heart, she looked lost. Despite her maturity for her age, she was only 18 years old. And it showed, she looked like his little girl again, not the young woman she was. It didn't surprise him much. Despite all the things he had taught her and she had learned at school, this was the first time someone near to her had died.

A few minutes later he walked back into the living. His mother handed him a glass of scotch and he sat down on the sofa, next to his daughter.

"What happened to Gina, daddy?" Castle had thought about what to tell his family. He knew that the media would report on this case. Not only because of Gina's connection to him but also because of the gruesome details of her murder. He thought that his family should learn the facts from him.

"Here is what we know until now…"

TWELFTH PRECINCT

The next day Kate stood in front of the murder board and updated all the facts they had obtained so far.

"Yo, Beckett. You got a second? I need a word," Esposito said as he and his partner walked up to her. After Esposito called her attention, Beckett stepped back and turned towards her approaching team members. She followed Esposito into the workroom and he shut the door. "Okay, so. What's up?"

"We got the CSU report back."

"Mmhmm."

"The inside of Gina's apartment was wiped clean."

"Yeah well, we expected that."

Esposito held up a folder. "Yeah, but we didn't expect this. CSU were able to pull prints off the outside doorknob and from around the doorframe. And they found a set that didn't match Gina's or her housekeepers. When they ran it they found a match to someone else in the system."

"Okay, who?" Beckett asked now very interested.

The Latino detective opened the folder and handed it to her. "Richard Castle."

Beckett groaned while internally cursing the writer. She studied the report. "Yeah – uh – that can't be right. You know what? It was – it was probably just an accident. He probably touched them on his way in before putting his gloves on." She said and handed back the folder and moved to leave the room.

"Yeah, that would explain it. Except that CSU collected them before either of you arrived."

Beckett was stumped, she had no explanation for that and turned her gaze to Castle – who had come in early – through the window. Her face scrunched with displeasure. "He should know better than that."

They walked out of the workroom towards the writer. Castle saw their faces and knew something was up.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"We have a problem. We got the CSU report back and as we thought, the inside of Gina's apartment was wiped clean. However, CSU found a set of prints on the outside doorknob and around the doorframe. It were your prints, Castle," Beckett told him.

Castle looked stunned. "Are you sure about this?"

"Look for yourself, bro," Esposito said and handed Castle the file.

"Castle, think. Is it possible that you touched the doorknob or the frame on your way in?"

Castle silently thought about that. "I don't think so." He sighed. "I was distressed, so I can't rule out that I'd touch it. But when I got there you were talking to Lanie and CSU was doing their thing. I don't know whether they had worked on the door yet."

"When was the last time you were at Gina's apartment?" Esposito asked him.

"I don't know exactly. It's been a while." Castle sighed again. "As Elle said, Gina used to work from home regularly, particularly when she had scripts to read. Normally, we'd talk on the phone or meet at her office. Especially since our last break-up." All three grimaced at the mention of the previous relationship between Castle and his publisher. "So, those prints can't be mine."

"Are you sure you about that?" Esposito asked.

"Javi –," Beckett interrupted.

"What? You know we have to verify it." They all knew that it was true.

"No, it's simple, okay? He touched the door the last time he had been in Gina's apartment and the housekeeper just hasn't cleaned it properly. That's the only explanation."

"Unless I've got an evil twin." Castle tried to lighten the mood. Unsuccessfully.

"Twins don't have the same fingerprints. It's a common misconception. Those are you prints." The male detective corrected the writer.

"Yeah, I know. I was joking," Castle said solemnly.

"Contaminated crime scene is not a joke," Esposito said and turned to Beckett. "I'll square this away with CSU. And you," he pointed to Castle, "You watch your hands next time, okay?"

"Sorry," was all Castle said. To himself he thought that there probably wouldn't be many more investigations he would take part in. That was one thing he had decided on, he wanted to make a clean break from Beckett.

"What do we do know? Should we tell Gates?" Esposito asked.

"No, let's leave it for now. She would just take Castle from the investigation," the female detective said. Esposito nodded and left.

"Thanks Beckett," Castle said solemnly. At that moment Beckett's phone rang. She saw that it was Ryan. "Hey Ryan, you're on speakerphone. Castle is with me."

"Hey. So, we've been through all of Gina's belongings. No sign of any high-end jewelry. But from the empty spaces in her jewel box, there might be some pieces missing."

"He took back the ones he gave her. It's like he knew what we were looking for," Beckett surmised.

"This guy really knows how to cover his tracks," Castle agreed with Beckett.

"Oh no, not all of them," Ryan told them. "Canvass of the building turned up a neighbor who claims he saw someone heading to her apartment at 7:45 on Friday night."

Beckett perked up at the mention of a possible witness. "Did the neighbor get a good look at him?"

"He got a clear shot right through his front door peephole. Bringing in a sketch artist right now."

"All right. Get it over as soon as it's done. The housekeeper might be able to ID him."

"You got it," Ryan said and hang up.

TWELFTH PRECINCT BULLPEN

Later that day, Esposito added the sketch to the murder board. "The housekeeper identified him as Gina's colleague, Lloyd Kurtzman."

"Any priors?" Beckett asked.

"Nothing major. He's got a couple of harassment suits but he does have a sealed juvie file."

"A juvie file?" Castle perked up.

"Call Judge Markaway. If Kurtzman was torturing puppies as a kid, I want to know," Beckett told Esposito and studied the sketch. "Good looking and rich, huh? Just like Gina's mystery man."

"And like Gina's mystery man – he's married," replied Esposito.

TWELFTH PRECINCT INTERROGATION ROOM

"She was such a glowing presence. You couldn't help but notice her. It's hard to imagine anyone wanting to kill her," Lloyd Kurtzman told Beckett and Castle.

"I'm sure it is," Castle murmured.

"Were the two of you close?" Beckett asked.

"As close as I am to any of my colleagues."

"And when was the last time that you saw her?"

"Friday morning. At our staff meeting."

"Friday morning? Are you sure?"

"Yes.

"Not Friday evening?" Castle asked.

"No –"

"So you didn't go to Gina's apartment at 7:45?" Beckett pressed on but was surprised by Kurtzman reaction who laughed anxiously.

"Her apartment? No, no."

"That's funny." Beckett pulled out the sketch and showed it to him. "We um – we have a witness that saw you there that night." Kurtzman studied the sketch. It's obvious for Beckett and Castle that Kurtzman was uncomfortably. "Mr. Kurtzman, where were you Friday night?" Beckett pressed.

"I – um –," Kurtzman hesitated and then sighed. "I'd like to speak with my lawyer now."

TWELFTH PRECINCT OBSERVATION ROOM

Kurtzman was talking in the interrogation room with his lawyer while Castle observed from the observation room. Beckett entered and looked into the interrogation room. "He's not talking."

"I guess a confession was too much to hope for. Some story that might explain it all," Castle said.

"Yeah, we've got teams at his home and his office. We'll know more after the search but Esposito talked to his wife. She said he didn't come home that night. He was working late."

"I'm guessing he wasn't at work."

"No." Castle and Beckett watched Kurtzman through the glass a moment longer.

"I wonder if there were others or if she was the first. If her glowing presence awakened something inside him," Beckett mused but Castle didn't respond. "What's wrong, Castle?"

"It's – uh … just, that crime scene."

"What about it?"

"The person that killed Gina, he was meticulous. But when we questioned Kurtzman he got all flustered."

"So?"

"So, if he put that much thought into killing her, then why didn't he have an alibi prepared?" Castle wondered.

"Perhaps because he was so meticulous he didn't expect to get caught?" Beckett replied. Castle thought about this, but he was not convinced.

A/N: So, we're stepping into the middle of the first story arc which focuses on the happenings of the episode "Probable cause". Obviously, I have changed the time frame as the murder takes place shortly after Castle's overhears Beckett's confession. Also, I have made some changes to canon and will continue to do so in the follwoing chapters. Some will be more obvious than other. I hope you enjoy it!