A/N- Thanks for those who follow and comment! Here's the second part.
Chapter 2:
Kate takes in a mouthful of the very hot coffee, and feels the liquid burning down her tongue, though doesn't seem to care.
This afternoon was horrible. For all of them.
Tamara Richmond's parents, Lana and Samuel, were given the most difficult news any parent can possibly deal with, minutes ago.
The reaction was difficult to watch. Mrs. Richmond burst with pitiful sobs and howls, mourning her daughter, endless tears covering her face, as she murmured inconsolably "I knew it, I knew it."
The father didn't cry aloud with agony, but dropped his head in sorrow, the tears he shed for his daughter were almost unseen, but they were there, without a doubt. The husband simply wished to be able to hold his wife and be her source of comfort in this time of need.
Tamara Richmond was to turn 13 the week after the next. She was the youngest out of three children. The only daughter, as both her siblings, 17 and 19 of age, were males. Eiden and John were to receive the news soon, as both were out of the city.
Lana Richmond, while loving both her boys dearly, was especially attached to Tamara, so they were told. She had no problem getting pregnant with them, but Tamara's pregnancy was a tough and complicated experience. Born premature, the doctors didn't believe she'll live through the first night, but the baby seemed to struggle and survive against the odds.
Tamara won all her battles, they were told by a tearful mother.
That is, until yesterday afternoon.
And now Kate sits in front of her desk, thinking. Castle's gaze follows her mutely.
His eyes leave hers finally, to dart on their murder board.
It's about time to put all feelings aside, and get back to work; Beckett gets up to leave the hallway, as Castle follows her.
"So, I walk down to that chick, about to score, then all of a sudden, these guys show up, I mean, five of them, five! And she just leaves with them, just like that. And I mean, man! She was the greatest piece of ass I've ever seen! And those tits! A perfect set of…-"
"DUDE!" Esposito interjects irritably, "focus!" he points on the floor beneath them, eyes narrowing. Seriously, where did they find this guy?! He has no respect at all for the situation, keeps babbling nonsense which has nothing to do with the case at hand.
Roger Atkins, their shoe-expert and apparently an eternal bachelor, as he kept repeating, driving Esposito mad with his so many redundant statements, finally does the favor of kneeling down next to the blood spatters and examines them up closely. "Yeah, those are shoe-prints, alright," he offers, shrugging.
Esposito fights the urge to roll his eyes, "Thank you so much for stating the obvious," he basically growls, "Seriously, man, is that your first day? How 'bout being more helpful?"
"Yo, are you giving me attitude right now?" their expert shoots back, "I'm just doing my job, you know! How 'bout some appreciation, my back's killing me here!"
"Well, in that case, it'll be better of you to get on with it, then!" Esposito comments impatiently, "So we can both get the hell outta here."
Atkins sighs, "Snickers, the new model." he determines, changing positions, "all the three prints. One on the floor, two on the wall. I'd say, size…. 37"
"Bro," Esposito exhales.
Atkins blinks, confused.
"English." Esposito says slowly. Very slowly.
"Urrrgh," Atkins grumbles, "American size 6," he translates.
"Now we're talking," Esposito writes it down.
"Yeah, yeah, anything else you need me for, man? I have this dinner with Lisa, I just might get lucky tonight." He chuckles.
This time Esposito does roll his eyes.
"Man, I thought we'd have more time before this thing goes public," Ryan thinks aloud, his gaze fixed on the high screen in front.
"A high-school murder? Really thought so? Dude."
Castle's eyes are on Gate's office, through the glass he can see she's on the phone, and apparently in a heated argument with whoever it is on the other side, "Hey," he points out, "seems like Gate's having a hard time dealing with the case, too."
Three pairs of eyes turn to said direction, and indeed, Gates is not happy.
Ryan hums a soft "Mhhhm", when the phone rings. Esposito picks it up, "Talk to me," he blurts out.
A long moment passes, Esposito's eyebrows narrow slowly, "You've gotta be kidding me!" he growls, "Really? But… Ok, yeah, I get it. Thanks." he then hangs up.
Circling in his chair, he sighs, "CSU checked out the scene. No DNA traces, no soil, no blood trace, not ANYTHING that doesn't belong to the victim." He throws his pen on the desk dramatically.
"What?" Ryan whines, as Kate releases a tired sigh, and Espo comments, "This guy knew what he was doing."
"What about the hair that was found in her hands?"
"It was hers, it seems".
"This sucks, man," Ryan interjects, "We're basically chasing a ghost."
"No, we're not," Beckett rises up, approaching the murder board, "ghosts aren't real, much less kill teenagers. Whoever did that was a human being, with no special abilities, which means he's traceable. What do we know about the people in her life?"
"Talked to her theater teacher," Ryan says thoughtfully, "Tamara didn't have any problem with anyone as far as she knows, although she did seem quiet in the last couple of weeks," he comments usefully, "Her best friend is on her way over here, her name is…" he opens the folder, "Lee Oggani, 12 years old. She's of course accompanied by her parents."
"Ok," says Beckett, "let's see what Lee has to say to us."
"She was such a great girl, Tamara," young Lee Oggani murmurs sadly, "I can't believe she's gone…"
Beckett's approach is with patience, knowing this is a sensitive issue, any miscalculated pressure and the guardian sitting next to the girl will pounce and hold her back. She's like on eggshells with this questioning.
Licking her lips, she thinks of the way to gain this girl's trust, "I know this is hard for you, Lee, but I need to know, was anything…unusual, happening in Tamara's life recently?" she asks slowly, "anything you can think of, to explain how this sad thing has happened?"
"No….I mean, I don't think so…" she starts moving uncomfortably, and Beckett gets the vibe that she knows more than she's letting on. Quietly, slowly, she sends a warm hand to hold Lee's gentle palm, squeezing softly. She's relieved when the girl doesn't flinch, but tears fill her eyes, "Lee, sweetie, that's ok. Don't worry, we're not judging you or her or anyone else. Nothing will happen to you…But we need the truth. You want Tamara to get justice, don't you?"
Lee nods repeatedly, pulling on her nose, eyes with moist, but she can control herself surprisingly well for a 12 year old; exchanging questioning looks with the social worker and guardian sitting next to her, the young woman nods in encouragement, "Talk to the nice detective, Lee," she urges, "tell her what you know."
Deciding in favor, Lee clears her throat, "About a month ago," she starts, "Tamara started acting weird." She stops there, rubbing her arms uncomfortably.
"Weird…how?" Beckett asks quietly.
"Like, scared weird…" Lee lets in, "She kept looking behind her back all the time, like being afraid someone was following. I thought she was just pulling one on me at first, but then…she started receiving phone calls…"
"Phone calls? From whom?"
"A boy," answers Lee, twitching her fingers urgently, "She said his name is Austin. He got her number from a 'friend', he said. Wanted to meet her. She said she doesn't know who he is, that he should stop calling, but he kept insisting. I told her 'Tam, leave it, just, don't take his calls anymore', and she stopped bringing it up one day, but I don't think he really stopped calling her."
"I see," Beckett says slowly, "Can you describe Austin?"
"No," replies Lee quietly, "I never saw him, when I brought it up she didn't want to talk about it. I know he was from the Bronx, I think he said he was 19 or 20, but I don't really know anything else."
Scratching her head, Beckett considers, then asks, "Anything else, Lee? Anything else you can think of?"
Lee seems deep in thought, "I know this wasn't all that was bothering Tam," she adds feebly, "I know something was frightening her. Some of our classmates bullied her on Facebook about this guy in the 10th grade some time ago. But I know it stopped at one point, I told her to just ignore them and it'll stop. She said it did, but maybe I shouldn't have taken her word for it."
Humming silently, Beckett gives Lee a smile, "Thank you," she said, "and don't worry, we'll find whoever did this."
Lee offers a smile in return, "Tammy was far from perfect, Ms. Beckett," the young girl says, "But she didn't deserve it. I know Lana and Sam are sad. Please find this guy, if not for Tam, then for her parents."
Teenagers, teachers and workers were brought into questioning; none of them gave the team anything useful. It seemed all pulled the three-monkeys method, none of them knew how or who could have done such a thing to such a beautiful young girl.
They needed their lucky break, and so far, they found none. It was more than frustrating.
The case was all out in the open, the public demanding the identity of the murderer, and identity they couldn't bring them.
This morning, the sun cracks through the clouds, as the detective and writer enter the precinct quietly, about to start another day which might just go to waste if they don't come with an idea to catch this bastard soon.
From the Captain's office, they can hear her uncompromising voice yelling at whoever the poor guy it was on the other side.
Castle frowns, "Hey, guys," he doesn't bother with greetings this morning, "What's with Gates this morning?"
"Dude, you don't even wanna know!" Esposito gives Castle an annoyed glare, "Change those tired looks, boy and girl, we're off the case."
"Wait. What?" Barks Beckett, "How come?!"
"That's what Gates wants to know, too," he says, "This case if off and handed over to the 2nd precinct."
"Get out!" Beckett's eyes widen, "No way!"
"Yes way," Ryan appears, face expressing the same dark mood Esposito is seemly in, as well, "Can you believe it? Something fishy is going on here. I told you," he points out, directing his words at Esposito.
"Why?" Castle feels out of the loop, "Is that a problem?"
The three detective exchange looks, "Castle, ma man," Esposito comments, "Sit," his voice turns awfully quiet, and the four sit in a somewhat circle next to Beckett's desk. "You never heard it from us, but there is a very good reason why Gates there is all Iron this morning. The 2nd precinct?" Castle nods, "They're bad news. Everybody knows that."
"Yeah," confirms Beckett, "At first it was just a rumor. Corruption, bribes, cases turning cold because someone 'played' with the system. At least third of the inside-police investigation department reports were pointing at them doing unlawful actions. We know previous mayors said someone needed to 'clean' the 2nd precinct, but it never came to that. This precinct gives the NYPD a bad name. I don't think they even solve cases anymore, more like interrupting anyone else reaching justice."
"They give 'The horrible-twos' a whole new meaning," Ryan jokes humorlessly, "And now they're fishing on this case? I don't like it."
"And apparently 'Sir' is not too happy about it, either," says Esposito usefully, "I mean, C'mon, the 2nd precinct is on the other side of town geographically. What's their interest in this case, anyway?"
Castle shrugs, as he and Beckett exchange curious looks.
"If they're dealing with it, this case will turn cold for sure. You think Sir can talk the commissioner out of making a stupid decision?"
"Hope so," says Esposito, "but for some reason, I highly doubt it."
...TBC...
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