"Who indeed. Alexis how about you go to the lounge and … do … something." As Alexis walked to the lounge she was passed by Gilberto, who had exited the interrogation room and was making his way back to the board.
"I realized when I got in there; I forgot one key piece of evidence. Beckett, am I right to assume you're coordinating with the FBI on this?"
"I am, but before we go any further, who are you really?" Tension in the room had reached a height that made Rick uncomfortable. The fact that Gilberto had caught the man was having less and less impact on the team. Castle tried to break the tension.
"Busted." Gilberto chuckled as he again took Rick's chair aside Beckett's desk.
"Gold star for, I'm assuming, Mr. Castle. I really thought one of you would figure it out first. Espo, you still have my print right?" Esposito nodded, "Run it. Then you can have the pleasure of introducing me." The group started to get an eerie feeling from this man. He knew Kate's playbook and was beginning to call the team by their nick-names. How could he know so much about us, and we so little about him? The questions mounted with every stroke of Javi's keyboard until the man's true identity was revealed. He sat with his fingers folded together behind his head, relaxed and confident.
"Dude! I didn't even recognize you!"
"Yeah … a little insulted but I do need a spa day. Haircut, shave, maybe even one of those hot stone massage things." The kid in Castle took over.
"OO I love those." Gilberto turned in his seat toward Castle, making a face that mimicked Rick's
"Right?!" And then, like a school teacher trying to regain control of a classroom she interjected'
"Javi, care to share with the rest of us?" Javier had clicked the print button and jumped up as the hot paper slid out of the rollers. Ripping the paper from its grasp, Javi approached the board, Gilberto raised his arms, palms to the sky as if he was accepting an uproarious applause.
"That is New York's own cerebral stud; Twenty-six year old assistant district attorney, Matthew McHale. Reported missing six months ago when he didn't return from a hunting trip."
"Hunting the most dangerous game?" McHale pointed to Castle without taking his eyes off the board.
"Bingo." He then reached down into his pack, removed a file and plucked out one sheet of paper. "Sorry, but the less you knew the better. I need you to take this DNA profile and run it against Tyson's. I need the gun to be smoking before I go back in there." The captain's words rang in Beckett's ear.
"We'll let you go back in there once you tell us the whole story; and not a fiction. We get enough of that from Castle." Kate and Rick exchanged lovers smiles.
"Run that DNA and I will tell you every single detail." Kate took the bribe and headed to the fax machine. A few minutes passed. McHale rose from his chair and began to sift through the files he had brought until Kate returned.
"It's a match, I just got the FBI confirmation." McHale's muscles flexed, each vein popping out as he pumped his fists.
"YES! I knew it." McHale approached the board, and stared into the eyes of 3XK's photo on the board. His emotions and voice calmed, "I got you, you son of a bitch." The team began to realize McHale's grudge against Tyson might actually rival their own. That was a question that would have to wait for later. Detective Ryan remained objective.
"Alright Matt, stop stringing us along, what do you know that we don't?" The word, everything, flashed across McHale's mind. Ryan's question emboldened Kate to challenge McHale with the other piece of information the FBI had given her along with the confirmation.
"Agreed, the FBI said the DNA profile you gave me to compare wasn't even in their database. Withholding evidence is a serious crime, and I swear I'll arrest you if you were keeping this from us for any length of time."
"Detective Beckett, if you want to arrest someone for that, you'll have to arrest the whole NYPD. That profile has been in your basement since 1988, when the case it was attached to officially went cold."