A/N- Thanks for keeping up with me! Here's the next chapter!
Chapter 3:
The three homicide detectives and one mystery novelist are quiet as the Captain's door swings shut behind them. Stepping forward to face her team, she emits a quick puff of air, obviously steamed about the phone- call she just finished having.
"I'm sure you already know that we had a little…problem, with the management of this case," she starts, "As it that the 2nd precinct asked to take over." All four of them exchange unsatisfied looks, something which doesn't escape Gate's attention, "None of us are happy about this, I personally think it's outrageous, but for some reason," a vein in her neck stretches and her eyes narrow in irritation, "this case has turned political, as the second precinct is not the only one fishing on this… I've heard the FBI got the word and some men in very high places are trying to get a piece of 'the action' as well."
"Which is why the governor has a word in this?" Beckett asks. At Gate's arched eyebrow Beckett lowers her head, mumbling, "Or so I've been told..."
Gates frowns, "Seems like it," she says shortly.
"But, Sir, the governor? Isn't this overkill, we're talking about a high-school girl being killed here, why does it concern the high-ranking…-"
"I do not know, detective, and believe me, I would have liked to, and I had a very long conversation with the commissioner, so far, whatever it is, we're out of the loop."
"So, now, what do we do?"
"Our jobs," Gates sighs, "The commissioner's orders are that this is going to be both ours and the 2nd's case, as long as we learn to cooperate with them. Two of their teams are to join us in a couple of hours, information, findings- are to be handed over to them, because they'll have the last word." She ends with obvious contempt.
"Talk about a hostile take-over," Castle whispers in Beckett's ear, and she agrees whole-heartedly.
"I know this current state of things is highly uncomfortable, but those are the orders, and we complete our duties nonetheless." She gestured towards her office door, "Go get me that killer," she orders.
And the four of them turn to leave the office.
The moment the door closes behind them, Ryan eyes widen, "Guys!" he whispers aloud, "FBI? The 2nd precinct? The governor himself having a say in this? What the hell is going on here?!"
"I don't know, and I don't like this," Beckett leans on her chair.
"You know, usually when I say this you're all pouncing on my conspiracy theories, but this time, you'll have to agree," Castle hisses, "Something bigger than we all know is going on with this case, and I have the feeling that this is way more than the average homicide… who was this kid?!"
"No-one," Esposito interjects, then explains "I looked into the family's finances, their history, career, jobs, family members, friends, colleagues…nothing, nothing to explain the sudden interest of any high-source. I just don't get it." He surrenders.
"Maybe we're not supposed to," tries Beckett, "maybe we're stressing over this too much, guys, look- for all we know, a young high-school student was brutally killed, and we need to find the killer. If there's everything more, it's Gates' job to deal with it, ours is to find whoever is behind this," she turns her head to hunt Castle's eyes, "and that is what we're going to do," she emphasizes.
A lip stretches out, and he's basically pouting at her; Kate holds down the impulse to kiss the pout away.
"So, let's get on with it, guys. The teams should be here in a couple of hours, I want us to be ahead of them, I don't trust them in the least. So what do we know so far?"
"Talked to the guys at the computers-department?" Beckett nods, "Lee's statement was a goldmine. We found dozens of messages sent to Tamara by this Austin guy, they're analyzing them right now. With any luck we'll trace the IP and address."
"Well, that's good!" Beckett calls, then Ryan intervenes, "Another thing we've found," he waves out a folder, "Is a lone hair in the victim's fist, a dark piece that wasn't hers. Our guess, she pulled it out of the assailant's scalp during the struggle. Also, the defensive wounds on her knuckles support this theory."
"And what about this hair?"
"Nothing in the system, Lanie could determine it belongs to a female."
"Which helps us…how?" Beckett huffs.
Ryan shrugs sheepishly.
"Our best bet is now on Lanie's findings," Beckett releases a frustrated sigh, pressing her thumb and index finger through the bridge of her nose; she can feel a headache approaching, "Get hold of CSU again, Espo, there might be something useful in their report."
Clucking his tongue, Esposito leaves the room.
"There's something we're missing here, Castle," says Beckett, as she feels him approaching from behind, "I just don't know what it is."
Lanie's eyes narrow in concentration, as she examines the body of the 13 year old. Being the experiences ME that she is, at times she can feel the bodies talking to her, once she finds herself lost in the labyrinth of their demise. Doesn't happen regularly, but when it does, she has to stop and listen.
This is the case now, as the body was bruised in such a violent way, but no traceable DNA was left on it. This guy was an absolute pro.
"C'mon, kiddo," Lanie whispers, urging the girl to give her something, anything, to help her get to the bottom of this, "You know who did it to you, you saw his face…" she mumbles, "So why won't you tell me?"
Her gloved fingers press and touch the bruised flesh, as she turns the child's head aside, and that is where something shakes within her. "Wait," she says quietly, as she examines the bruises to the girl's nape, her eyes widening. Softly laying her head back on the cold metal, she turns to examine the cuts on her neck. Two cuts, one…two…
One deep cut on her cheek...
A grin finds its way into the ME's lips, "Wheeel," she releases a soft breath, "This is interesting!" she then turns to the folder of the case, settled on the table infront. Opening it, she goes through the photos, finding a clear shot of the toilet stall, the one where the shoe-prints are clearly visible.
"Bingo!" she calls in victory.
"Yo, Beckett!" Esposito calls, and both Detective and Writer turn around in their chairs. Beckett notices a young girl, about 14-15, walking behind him. The girl who's tall, brown eyed, dark-haired- and clearly on edge, keeps checking her watch every two seconds. Behind her walks a woman, possibly her mother or another family member.
"Natalie," gestures Esposito towards the girl, "And Ronna" he nods toward the adult woman, "She might actually give us something useful."
Rising up, Beckett shakes her head, "Ok, then," she says, "Let's go."
"Natalie, can you tell me what happened that day?" Beckett's voice is silky soft, and she remembers that the best approach is with a motherly tone.
Looking for some support in her mother's eyes, and finding encouragement, she blinks, "I just left my classroom at about 1:40, maybe 1:45," she mumbles, "and was going to the girls' toilets. I tried the first stall from the right," her eyes are unfocused in an attempt to remember, "It was open, but it smelled. I noticed that the second stall from the right was locked. I knocked once, but no-one answered me."
Writing it down, Beckett knows this is the same booth in which the young girl was murdered.
"So I just entered the third one from the right. But I could hear someone messing with the seat's cover. They were noisy."
"Did you see anything?"
The young girl shakes her head 'No'. "But I think I might have heard the killer" her eyes widen, "I..I don't know! There was nothing I could do! I…"
"Nattie, relax, sweetheart, no-one is blaming you!" her mother soothes her, "The nice lady just wants you to help figuring out who killed the little girl," her gaze darts to catch Beckett's eyes, a look of almost reproach covers her face, for causing this distress to her daughter.
"Anything else you can possible think of?" Beckett sighs.
"It's probably nothing," says Natalie, "But just before I left the classroom, another girl came back to our Drama course from the toilet. I don't know, maybe she saw something. She's younger than me, but this drama activity is not age limited, we have boys and girls from all over the school in this class, so…"
"…-Who was this girl, Natalie? That came back before you left. I need her name."
"Her name's Lee," says Natalie in determination, "Lee Oggani."
Ryan's elbows Esposito, whispering "Man" when noticing Beckett leaving the break-room, "This is Beckett's 'bad mood' pace." He then turns to Castle, who nods.
"Wonder what that's about," responds Esposito, then calls the female detective, "Yo, Beckett! What gives?"
She frowns, "I want Lee Oggani back in the precinct ASAP," she says, "I had the feeling she wasn't completely honest with me back in the break-room, she was there that day, on our murder-window."
Espo's eyes widen, "Shit just got real!" he says, "You think she knows more than she lets on?"
"I don't know, but why would she hold that kind of information from us to begin with?" she then leaves it, "Never mind that, call the social worker, I want her in the box, NOW."
"Already on it!" he picks up the phone urgently.
Lee seems extra nervous as she sits slowly on the chair in the interrogation room, the social worker doesn't seem too comfortable, herself.
Beckett throws the folder on the table in front, and sits down. Leaning forward, her tone is severe- "Lee, I think we both know that you weren't completely honest with me..."
"-…You don't have to answer that, Lee," the social worker interjects abruptly.
"Mrs. Rosemond, with all due respect, you're a social worker, not her lawyer," Beckett's eyes turn to the woman in front, "you're here to make sure this minor's rights are being kept, something that I make sure will not be compromised, but this is a murder investigation, and I want answers, now…-" her glance return to the young girl, "I expect some honesty from you, Lee. I'm going to talk to you like an adult, and as one, I take to mind that your sense of responsibility is undamaged".
With a gulp, Lee says, "Alright."
Silence.
"I had to go to the bathroom about 1:35 that day," she starts, "Maybe a bit earlier. The toilet was just being cleaned minutes before, I think." She blinks furiously, "The first door from the right was open," she says, "But It wasn't clean, so I skipped that booth. The second one was locked."
Writing it down, the detective notices her words come in synch with Natalie's, and she pushes, "And then?"
"I knocked on the second one, and I could hear someone was there."
Pausing her writing, her eyes meeting Lee's, she asks- "How so?"
"I heard the paper, like…being rolled. Someone needed a lot of toilet paper."
"Ok, and then?"
"And then, I asked 'who's there'? and there was no answer for a moment, and then someone just said 'occupied'".
That definitely triggers Beckett's interest, "You heard them," she makes sure, "What did the voice sound like?"
"I dunno," the girl shrugs, "Weird. Like, high voice, but strangely hoarse, too."
"Ok, continue,"
"And that's it," the girl concludes, "then nothing. I didn't think it really matters. I guess I was just…scared."
Dropping her pen, Kate exhales, "Anything else, anything else you might think doesn't matter, but you want to share?"
Blinking, thinking, Lee admits, "Maybe?..." when seeing the detective arching an eyebrow, she admits, "When entering the bathrooms, I saw someone there."
"Oh?" Beckett's interest peeks again.
Lee nods, "Yeah. Another girl. Mid-height, with curls, sunglasses. When I entered the third stall, she just stood there in front of the mirror, staring at me strangely. She had no make-up purse or anything, when I entered the stall I heard her walking out of the bathroom. And then I got out, and didn't see her. I remember wondering what exactly did she came to do in the toilets."
Biting her lip, thinking, Beckett asks, "Did you know her?"
The girls shakes her head, "No," she says feebly, "I never saw her before, or since."
"I thought that they should have arrived by now," Esposito growls with annoyance, as he shoots an angry gaze towards the elevator, "They have no respect for the schedules?"
"From what I've heard," Ryan intervenes usefully, "They had investigated on their own for a few days."
"They have?" Beckett asks, incredulous, "Wasn't it first our case?"
"I know as much as you do," Ryan says, scratches his cheek, "I hope they won't waste our time throwing un-based accusations all over…"
"That is unlikely, detective," a tight voice calls from behind.
All four turn around from their corner, finding themselves staring into the stern face of a tall, dark haired man. "Detective Brock, the 2nd precinct," he presents his badge; Beckett recognizes two other detectives standing behind them, "Agnes Leonson and James Peters," the other cops nod.
Some huffs and hums are the respond of acknowledgement from the 3 detectives. Castle just analyzes them with curiosity.
"We're here to thank you and tell you your service is no longer needed."
Beckett rises up, "I beg your pardon?" she hisses. Just who the hell do these people think they are?!
"Detective…Beckett, am I correct?" Brock takes a wild guess. Kate nods.
"You've done an…. Interesting work so far," Esposito snorts in anger, as Castle aches an eyebrow, "But, since the 2nd precinct was always committed to do the job at the best and most useful way… " he continues, "Your service is no longer needed because it might risk the findings…-"
"What does that even m….-"
"What he says is that we found our guy," Leonson interjects, her tone nothing less than mocking, and she points at the hallway.
"You…what now?"
Their eyes spot two male detectives, holding a cuffed man in his 30's, maybe early 40's. His hair blonde, eyes blow, tall, skinny, head dropped in what seems to be almost shame.
He is held tightly by the two men, as they lead him into the interrogation room.
"Meet Anatoly Aronov," Brock says silkily, "The school's repair contractor. He is our killer." The detective grins with self praising.
...TBC...
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