We are getting closer to finding out who killed our victim. This has no major angst to leave for the weekend, just the same mystery
Kate is saved by the bell once again when her cell chimes indicating an incoming call. This one from Esposito
She swipes the screen "Beckett" Kate puts her phone on speaker and she listens intently for several heartbeats as Javier tells the duo that the NSA agents are leaving the city and heading to Westchester to take over the investigation on the death of Charles Ivy "WHTAT? They are coming here. This is not their case" Beckett remarks
"Yeah? Well they claim that they believe the murder is connected to the break-in and theft at CI Software and they want all the evidence you have waiting for them when they get there"
Castle has a dark look on his face "We have no proof that Ivy's death had any connection to the break-in. Everything still points to a woman that was with him overnight"
"But they don't need proof to come in and try to take over…Javi, are they flying or driving up here?"
"I think driving" Esposito responds, "I overheard one of the agents telling the others he had to stop for gas before leaving to come there"
Kate looks at Rick "We have maybe three hours to find the killer before they arrive" then directing the conversation toward her phone "Espo, call me if anything changes"
The voice from the other end replies "You got it" and the call disconnects
"Rick, I think we better get to work…what do we have so far?"
"A woman's DNA on a toothbrush"
"A woman who is not in the system"
"That means she has not been arrested or even been a suspect of a crime" Castle finishes the thought
After a fleeting moment of silence, he seems to get an idea at the same moment his wife does. They both remark at the same time "Can we track the cell phones?"
Kate looks at the list of attendees and starts looking at the names and contact information "Castle. You know that every one of these people have a cell phone. We will never be able to get warrants to ping even a few of these phones, let alone these phones"
Rick completely slumps as her comment sinks in "We do have to follow the rules. Don't we"
Kate slides her fingers across his cheek "Yes babe. I cannot just go and call each and every number here and ask them where they were, or ask permission to ping their phones to see where they were while Charles Ivy was being murdered"
Castle seems to look out toward the hallway "Too bad we don't have a hacker here like Charles Ivy to hack into the cell phone network and see where the phones were during the kill zone"
Kate suddenly looks at her husband, reaches up with both her hands and grabs him by his cheeks, pulls him in, and kisses him "This is why I love you so much Castle"
"What did I do?"
"You just gave me the possible solution" she grabs him by the hand "Come on" and she starts dragging him toward the lobby
"KATE! What are we doing?"
"Do you remember last year I went to a conference discussing problems the police departments are experiencing with technology?"
"Yeah. You came back telling me that it was not something you completely understood. They talked about network switches, computers, laptops, pads, telephones, and the police radio systems"
"RIGHT! Radio systems. A major problem police departments have been having all over the country is police and fire radios not working inside big buildings"
"Oh, yeah. I read something about that. The buildings have a lot of metal that blocks the radio signals"
"Right! And to fix the issue the codes were changed making the large buildings install a radio repeater system that takes the police and fire frequencies from outside and put antennas inside…"
Rick starts up again "So when police are inside a building their radios still work to the outside…"
"Right and since cell phones are just a different type radio system…"
"They suffer from the exact same problem…."
"And the big buildings have also installed cell phone repeaters for the benefit of the tenants…"
"Or hotel guests…"
"And maybe the building like this hotel have computers that manage the systems and just might keep track of the cell numbers using the antennas…"
"And we might get a cell phone number of someone who was with Ivy…
"Or more than one…"
"But what if they didn't make any calls?"
"It doesn't matter. People don't realize a cell phone sends out a ping every so often to let the cell system provider system know where it is so calls can go thru"
"Then the network here in the hotel should have a record of that"
The pair have reached the engineering department for the hotel and walk in the door. They come face to face with the building engineer. An 80-year-old man with a long mustache and grey hair "Can I help you?"
Rick and Kate are both concerned. They are looking at a man who probably has not accepted innovative technology since the invention of color television and that this may be an issue trying to get prominent level technology help from a man old enough to be Beckett's grandfather instead of a young nerd
"I am Captain Beckett, NYPD and this is Mr. Castle. We are working with the local police to solve the murder of one of your guests"
"Oh yes. Mr. Ivy. The staff was briefed on the event. What can I do to assist the police?" The man asks with a clear voice and strength in his face
"Beckett stutters a moment then "We were wondering if you have a cell phone repeater system in the hotel?"
"Oh yeah. A state of the art system. We can handle up to 100 simultaneous calls along with 5G data and one meg. dedicated to the internet. I have it isolated from our hospitality business system. We also installed a complete Bi-directional Amplifier system for use by the local Public Safety group. Does that help?"
Shocked by an older man with such knowledge of technology "We are hoping the cell phone repeater system has a log?" Beckett asks
"Yes, ma'am it does. Keeps cell phone numbers along with the called placed and calls received and time of call"
"Is the system in zones? Like a general section of the building or just everywhere?"
"Better than that. Due to the number of cell phone call that are made into and out of this building by guests, we have it zoned by floor and quad. I can tell you within a few feet where a call came from"
Standing in complete shock Beckett finally regains her senses "Can you look at the logs for the other night and see if there were any cell phone registered in the area of our victim's room?"
"You bet, captain" the man turns to his computer. This is when she realizes there are three monitors on the credenza behind him and two monitors on his desk top.
As he begins typing on the keyboard Castle touches Beckett's arm and points toward the monitors on the opposite table. The displays show air temperatures and power usage. There are icons indicating both guest room and corridor status. It is evident that this engineer is well versed in technology
"Let me see" he begins "There is a cell phone entering the zone about 10:30 with another just a couple of minutes later"
"do you have those numbers?"
"Yes ma'am, I do" Kate is not accustomed to being called ma'am. Most people she encounters are not so polite.
He reads off to Beckett the two numbers. She quickly scans the list "The first one belonged to Charles Ivy"
"That makes sense" Rick responds
She returns to look down the pages "And the second one belongs to…" She halts in her remarks and points to the page showing her husband
"REALLY?" Castle states "That explains the female DNA on the toothbrush. He WAS having a little tryst with someone from the reunion"
Kate finishes the thought and I am sure her husband came to deal with the situation"
Beckett looks back to the building engineer "Thank you so much. I think you may have solved our case"
"Well ma'am I hope so" he hands Beckett several pages from his printer "I went ahead and printed the report for that night. In case you need it"
"Thanks…uh. I did not get your name"
"The name's Gus. And I hope you catch whoever did this. It is not good for the hotel's reputation"
"Thank you again Gus"
"Let me know if I can help you again"
"We will"
Castle and Beckett head back out happy that they now have a suspect
I think two more chapters will finish this
A part of what I wrote is actual technology.