Shared Obsession Chapter 144
At five A.M. the cops outside the door to Kate's building stiffen as Rick approaches, but relax when they recognize him. "Kind of early, isn't it Castle?"
He holds out his bag of groceries for inspection. "Beckett is usually too busy to grocery shop and I thought she should have a decent breakfast before we go back out after our serial killer."
One of the protection detail examines the contents of the bag. "Flour, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, strawberries, chocolate chips." He sniffs. "And fresh ground coffee. Nice – very nice."
"If you're good, I'll bring you guys out plates and fresh brew."
One of the men gestures toward the entrance. "Have a good, uh, morning Castle.
As Castle steps off the elevator he can see something is wrong – very wrong. The only thing that should be in front of Kate's door is the morning edition of The Ledger. And the paper is there. Unfortunately, it is almost covered by a woman's body. "Damn!" Castle mutters. "Looks like no pancakes this morning."
By the time Ryan, Esposito, and CSU arrive, the aroma of Castle's pot of coffee fills the air of Beckett's apartment. With nothing more useful to fill his time, Castle decides to make pancakes after all. At least he can get some food into Beckett – as a distraction if nothing else.
"The paper usually arrives at four," she explains to the detective partners. "And Castle got here at five so that only leaves an hour window for our killer to drop off the body. The team out front never saw him, but he could have gone through the alley and gotten in through the basement. He probably wore gloves, but CSU should dust the door down there anyway to be sure."
"And you're sure Castle got here at five?" Esposito questions.
Kate glares at him. "You can check with Montgomery's protection detail. He said he spoke with them on the way in and promised them breakfast. He's already brought them coffee."
"Not that they deserve it," Castle says from the kitchen. "That bastard shouldn't have been able to get into the building. You guys want pancakes?"
Ryan shakes his head. "Jenny's got me on low carbs."
"I'll take some," Esposito responds enthusiastically.
Shaw studies the scene in the hallway before stepping inside Beckett's apartment. "Now we know why he took the body."
"This was a threat," Kate says, wondering if she can unclench her stomach enough to even look at Castle's pancakes. "He was telling me 'I know where you live.'"
"More than that," Shaw responds. "He's saying he's disappointed in you. In his mind, he gave you a fair warning that he was going to kill again. If you had been smarter, you would have been able to stop him. He's saying, 'This one's on you.'" She puts a hand on Kate's still pajama-clad arm. "Hey, I'm profiling him Detective, not agreeing with him. The guy's a freaking nutbar. Don't let him get to you."
Castle holds up his phone with the online version of The Ledger on the screen. The police sketch of the killer fills almost the entire display. "CSU took Beckett's print version as evidence. But this is the same. He must have gotten his jollies putting the body on it."
"Do we have an ID on our vic?" Kate asks Shaw.
"No, not yet. No missing person report was filed. The coroner's van's downstairs. We need to get the body to the morgue and pull out the slugs. Only four entry wounds. If it's like his first kill, he should have a four-letter word for us."
Beckett's eyes blaze. "I have a four-letter word for him too."
"Why don't you two escort the body to the morgue," Shaw suggests. "After you get dressed."
After Kate hurriedly pulls on clothes, Castle motions her into the kitchen. He points to chocolate chips smiling up from a pancake. "I was hoping to be able to lift your mood. But I'm guessing you don't want me to pack a breakfast for you to take along to the morgue."
"Not the pancakes, Castle. But if you have more chocolate chips, grab them."
"Will do."
Lanie's eyes narrow. "I smell chocolate."
"Tell us something we can use to catch the killer and I'll share," Kate promises.
"Letters on the slugs. "B-U-R…."
"Burn," Kate finishes. "Nikki will burn. Shaw said this guy is probably also an arsonist."
Sarcasm sharpens Castle's tone. "I'm sure she'll be glad to know she was right."
"Our victim's fingerprints aren't in the system. Do you have anything we can use to ID her?" Kate asks Lanie.
"Well, I found formaldehyde on her."
Kate sighs. "No help. That's from the killer. He left traces of it at other scenes as well."
"This was no trace," Lanie declares. "It was under her fingernails and in her hair. She worked with embalming fluid. But I found traces of clay, polyurethane, and animal hair.
"She's a taxidermist!" Kate and Castle exclaim in concert.
Lanie grins. "So cute the way you do that."
In the war room, Shaw quirks an eyebrow at Kate and Castle. "Taxidermy?"
"Embalming fluid plus animal hair equals Norman Bates' favorite pastime," Castle replies.
"It can't be just a coincidence that we found embalming fluid at our first two crime scenes as well," Kate says.
Shaw presses her fingers to her lips. "So, the killer and this victim were connected."
"It seems so," Kate agrees. "There are only seven taxidermy shops in the city. My guys are running them down now."
Shaw stares at the smart board. "But if there is a connection between them, why didn't the comparison matrix find it?"
"Maybe it's not as simple as a work relationship or going to the same gym," Kate muses. "As you said, it takes a mind to hunt a mind."
"Yo!" Esposito calls from across the bullpen. "We got an ID on our third vic. Her name is Sandra Keller. She worked at a taxidermy shop downtown."
"Any connection between her and our killer?" Kate asks.
"A colleague of hers said she had a run-in with a guy who maybe matched our sketch – a customer whose Bison Frise had been killed in the park by another dog – a Rottweiler," Ryan says.
"Customer was heartbroken," Esposito continues. "He paid half upfront to have his Mr. Bumpkins preserved for eternity. When he came back to pick up his dog, he didn't have the rest of the fee."
"When Sandra refused to give up the stuffed Bumpkins," Ryan picks up, "the guy went ballistic and stormed out of the store. Two nights later they had a break-in. Among the things that went missing are the guy's stuffed Bison Frise and a bunch of embalming fluid."
"That explains why we found traces of it at the murder scenes," Shaw says.
"He also trashed the computer," Esposito adds. "So there's no client data, no name."
"My agents interviewed all of Michelle Lewis' dog-walking clients. One of them had to put their Rottweiler down because Michelle lost control of it and it killed another dog," Shaw recalls.
"Mr. Bumpkins," Castle assumes. "So grief-stricken, our killer blames Michelle and Sandra for the loss of his best friend and decides to get revenge."
"All of this about a dog? What does it have to do with Nikki Heat?" Kate questions.
"The dog's the trigger," Shaw replies. "Maybe the killer was reading the book when it was killed. Somehow he blames Nikki for it."
"It seems a little absurd," Kate says.
"There are also some details that don't fit," Castle points out. "The guy doesn't have the money to retrieve his most treasured possession, but he's got 5K lying around to pay Salt. And why steal the embalming fluid? I could understand it if he wanted to be horror movie creepy and embalm his victims, but he didn't. So what did he need it for? And if he blames Nikki for the loss of his dog, why play a convoluted blame game about it? Why not come after her directly like his other victims? He slipped past the cops to drop off the body. He could have tried breaking in and taking Beckett out instead of doing a bad imitation of The Riddler. We're missing something."
"We have to go with what we've got." Shaw insists. "Let's find out if Peterman fits into the doggy tale. Maybe that will fill in some of the holes."
