To my readers who are trying to relate my "Murder In..." series to the canon time line. Do not even try
The stories of "A Murder..." are my own time line and not the canon.
I don't do Canon.
I left the canon many tales ago
So here we are. Close to the end
To say Kate Beckett is not pleased to see this man is a giant understatement. He is doing what the feds are so good at doing, and that is coming in blindly to a situation and thinking they are the answer to solving all the crimes when, in fact, they can be just another road block in the resolution
"Mr. Blackwell we do not…"
He cuts her off bluntly "That is Supervising Special Agent Blackwell, Captain"
"Well SPECIAL Agent Blackwell, we still do not need your help, we are about to close this case and we don't need your interfering"
"Interfering, captain? So you have a suspect in custody?"
"No. Not yet but we are…"
Once more the man interrupts Beckett "If you don't have a suspect in custody, do you know WHO the killer is?"
"No, we have information as to who…"
And, once again, she is not allowed to finish "Well then. Since you don't have anyone in custody nor do you know who it is, I think we need to take over from here. Your assistance is appreciated but we can finish this"
This man has never had the experience of facing an angry Kate Beckett "Listen Agent Blackwell! You may be good at whatever you do, for whatever agency you do it for, but I am more experienced and better at solving murders and this is just that! A plain old murder"
"And just how do you know that this is just a murder and not something more sinister?" is his response since he just got told he is not as good as he thinks he is
The badass Beckett kicks in "Because our victim was having a one night stand with one of my classmates' wife here at the reunion. He had a gambling problem and his business partner just told us that he had emptied the bank accounts to pay off his gambling debts, and we believe he still owed money to a bookie AND we believe they sent an enforcer to collect. we have the cell phone number of that person and are in the process of getting a warrant to find the owner of that number"
This federal agent has never encountered a local law enforcement officer so strong willed and ready to push back against the US government but he decides that listening to Beckett is still not in the best interest of his case. He decides to try a different tactic
Captain Becket, you are out of your jurisdiction and though we do appreciate your local wisdom I still think it is best if I continue to manage this case
A voice comes from the doorway "She may be out of her jurisdiction Colonel Blackwell, but I am not…" The voice of Stanly Drake comes booming in "and I requested her knowledge and experience to assist in this case, and she has proven to be what was needed here"
Hearing a voice from his past Ron Blackwell stops and turns to see an old former Special Forces officer entering the room "STAKE?" is the first word from the federal agent "I heard after you left the service you got involved in local law enforcement. I just never thought you would pick such a small department in an out of the way place to join"
"I picked this location because it is small and out of the way. I had enough of what we did back in the day and decided to finish my life quietly here"
Ron Blackwell has decided he might get much farther if he is not coming in like a bear ready to consume anyone who gets in his way to working with his former comrade "So Captain, you moved to the burbs? I never thought you would drop this far under the radar"
"The lower the better, Colonel. And I am NOT a captain here. I am just a detective and, unfortunately, this case did not stay low key enough"
"Yeah since Charles Ivy was probably murdered by the same people who broke in and stole the servers from the bank vault"
The federal agent looks over at Beckett "OK Captain Beckett. It seems you are still in the lead in this investigation. What is your current plan again?"
"We have a cell phone number that was pinged in the penthouse suite after everyone else had left. We believe the owner of that phone is most likely our killer. We just need a warrant to get the information from the carrier. It is taking way too much time to get one"
"I might just be able to expedite that for you" Blackwell remarks as he takes out his cell phone and dials a number. No one around hears who he is talking to or what is being said, but when he hangs up, he returns to the group "You should have your warrant in about ten minutes"
Just moments after Blackwell makes his call, Beckett's phone rings.
"It looks like it took less time than I thought it would "Agent Blackwell remarks
Looking at caller ID it indicated from the 12th precinct Beckett remarks "No. It's my guys" she pulls the phone to her ear "Beckett" she answers then waits for the caller to give her some information "That is interesting…and strange. Has Lanie said anything about the DNA from the deceased in that case?" she listens for a moment "Thanks LT"
Beckett disconnects then turns back to the group. "We just got information on the case that turns everything around"
"What's that?" Castle asks
"You remember the fake armored truck with the dead driver who crashed into the bridge?"
"Yeah!"
"We had tried to find out who made the purchases of parts that were used to assemble the fake armored car several months ago"
Castle nods his head "But there was no record of who or where."
"Well. Now there is"
"What did he find?" once again Rick questions
"A dealer in Lindale Texas sold a cab assembly to a man over the phone. It was shipped to New York"
"How did he pay for it?" Stake asks
"A bank transfer was made" Kate answers
"Then we just need to go to the bank and get the information from the account" Rick remarks
"The money came from an account set up just to make the purchases but the tax ID turned out to be fake" Kate gives the information that normally leads to a dead end
"Really?" Castle again answers
Beckett continues "Right, but since the account owner must show up in person to open an account the bank had video. It took them some time to go back and review all the video going way back, but they were able to finally make a positive ID of the person who opened the account"
Drake asks the next question "Who was it?"
"Charles Ivy"
"OK wait a minute" Rick starts up "If Charles Ivy paid for the materials to build the fake truck, he was involved in the theft of the servers, but why?"
Rick looks at his wife "Did Lanie get the DNA results on the deceased man that was driving the truck?"
"The detailed report says the man was 68% Eastern Europe"
"That means anything from France to Poland. A very big area "
Agent Blackwell has been listening to the theory building Castle and Beckett are doing and realizes how much good these two are capable of accomplishing and therefore why Stake puts his entire trust in them "We have determined that most of the attacks on our servers have come from that region, it makes sense that the suspects would be from that area, but why would Ivy be involved in the theft of his own machines?"
Beckett's phone rings once more. This time it is the District Court "Beckett" she listens then starts writing notes. "Thanks" she speaks into the phone then turns to the group "We have our warrant the issued it about ten minutes ago, it has been sent to the cell provider, and the call has been made to the phone company. We should have our name in just a…"
Beckett's phone rings once more "Beckett…" a surprised look appears on her face "Are you sure?" someone on the other end of the line repeats the information "Thanks for your help" she hangs up on the call
Turning to the group "You will NEVER guess who the last person to see Charles Ivy alive is"
…