Author's Note: I'd like to thank MaineCastle, phnxgrl, southerngirl1, and Chkgun93 for their reviews. This chapter starts a couple hours after the last one ended. Enjoy!

Chapter 19

Beckett had to admit that she was disappointed with the sketch. There were almost no distinctive details besides the basics and some parts in the transcript of how the woman had described the "brother" tended to contradict each other, making it difficult to know what she'd meant. Beckett put up the sketch on the murder board anyway and stood back to contemplate.

At least the bedroom's lack of OCD order now made sense. The killer had most likely been in the process of cleaning Oksana's apartment when her neighbor had interrupted him. He probably decided not to risk a run-in with the cops if the old woman called it in. That meant he had only been able to clean the kitchen and living room before the interruption, at which point he had rushed to finish up and bolt, which might work in their favor forensically.

Beckett bit her lower lip; Barner had mentioned in their initial interview that Oksana suspected she might have a stalker. The more she looked at it, the more she felt this case did have the feel of a stalker being involved. So who was it? A former boyfriend who couldn't let go? Someone from the club whom she had rejected? A stranger off the street? A co-worker?

Castle set something on her desk. "I hope you're hungry."

Beckett turned to find a takeout container of pasta on her desk. "Thanks."

"No problem. So I was thinking that Oksana's killer was the stalker Simon Barner mentioned."

"Me too."

"Great minds and all that."

Beckett smiled. "I've been wondering who it might be. Ryan's digging into her life and Esposito is working on confirming the wife's boyfriend's alibi. If it checks out, then the entire group is in the clear."

Castle swallowed. "Unusual, but in this case not entirely unexpected. What did Oksana do for a living?"

"Part time evening shift at the New York Library. Apparently, Barner pays for her apartment and clubbing clothes. Her paycheck covered everything else."

"The wife was okay with that?"

Beckett nodded. "Esposito said that before Oksana, Barner had a new girl each month and the wife wasn't happy with that. Apparently, it was a combination of him getting bored and the girl getting clingy. If he had to pay for an apartment and occasional wardrobe additions to stay with the same girl, then she's happy with the arrangement."

"Could the stalker be from her work?"

"The boys were going to go talk to her coworkers after Esposito gets back. Oksana never filed a police report against a stalker, so I'm guessing she didn't know who it was." Her phone rang. "Beckett."

It was Lanie. "Hey girl, I've got something to show you."

"We'll be right down." Beckett ended the call. "Lanie's got something for us."

"First off, I'd want you to know that my T.O.D. window from this morning was right."

"Good to know. What are we here for?"

Lanie pulled out a folder. "Her medical records came in. She donated blood three days ago."

Beckett sat on a waiting stool. "Why is that so important?"

"She donates blood every few months, basically when she's allowed to do so. And according to this, she always goes to the same med school clinic as a volunteer pincushion."

"That gives us a new location to check for a potential stalker."

Lanie smiled. "I might be able to give you more than that. Because she was volunteering, the phlebotomist's name was recorded. Vladimir Pashkov is a student who's working in the clinic."

"Vladimir Pashkov, was he the one who usually drew her blood?"

"Bingo, almost every time after her first couple visits. The last three times her blood was drawn by him."

Beckett turned to Castle. "I'd say we have a new person of interest."

Beckett and Castle returned to the bullpen to find the pictures for the couple and the wife's boyfriend had been moved to the cleared section of the murder board. Ryan had also left a note saying nothing in Oksana's daily pattern was out of ordinary. The boys were no doubt down at the library right now interviewing Oksana's coworkers, so Beckett woke up her computer. The soon-to-be-Doctor Pashkov was setting off major alarms, so Beckett wanted to do a little research into his life.

An hour later, Beckett had a vague picture in her mind. Like Oksana, Pashkov was from Russia and here on a student visa; unlike the victim, he was still on a student visa. He had no traffic tickets, arrests, DUI's, or any other legal problems on record. At the hospital, there wasn't a patient complaint, citation, or warning signs of any sort. On paper, Pashkov was clean.

But that didn't mean anything. There were several people she could think of who looked clean on paper but had ended up in a pair of her handcuffs. Senator Bracken was just the first name to populate her list at this moment. The absence of an arrest or complaint wasn't an automatic indicator of innocence, and the opposite was just as true.

Castle had been looking through the info Ryan had compiled on Oksana. "You don't have to check in with Oksana's priest anymore. Ryan called him and got the scoop."

"What'd he have to say?"

"'Good member of the congregation, always kind.' The priest wasn't a huge fan of her arrangement with Barner but said it never interfered with who she was as a person overall."

"What were his exact words?"

Castle cleared his throat to read the transcript. "He said, and I quote, 'I don't wish to speak ill of the dead, but I wasn't willing to endorse her relationship with the married man. I can't say I'm surprised though; that is in line with who she was. Oksana was a very generous spirit. She said she was helping to save a marriage. At least she wasn't trying to split one apart.'"

Beckett sat back. "I'm actually surprised he spoke out at all. When I was in Kiev for school, my host family took me with them to church a few times. From what I recall, the priests weren't supposed to speak out about anyone; at least not publicly."

"He apparently wasn't aware of a stalker at all."

"I want to talk to Pashkov." Beckett wrote down the address of the clinic and stood. "Let's go."

Beckett decided on the way to the clinic that she didn't want Pashkov to know they suspected he was Oksana's stalker or killer. Instead she was going to talk to him as though they were only tracking down the victim's last few days. If he was the stalker and/or killer, it would be wise to make it seem they weren't suspecting him of murder. It might lure him into a false sense of security.

The nurse at the front desk recognized Beckett. "Detective! I didn't know you were eligible to donate again already."

"I'm not, not for another month. What are you doing here? I normally see you at Mount Sinai Roosevelt."

She smiled. "My alma mater was shorthanded and asked me to volunteer. I don't mind. How can I help you, Detective?"

"Well Christie, I'm looking for a student working here; a Vladimir Pashkov. I have reason to believe he came in contact with my victim within the last week and I'm trying to establish a timeline for her last few days."

"Oh yeah, he came on about an hour ago. He should be on the floor. I'll go get him."

"Thanks."

A few minutes later a young man in scrubs and a hip-length white coat stepped into the lobby. "Can I help you?"

Beckett flashed her badge. "I'm Detective Beckett, this is Richard Castle. Do you know Oksana Sokolova?"

"Yes, she's a patient, she donates blood." He paused. "What is this about?"

"We're trying to flesh out the last few days of her life. According to her medical records, she was here within the last week. When was the last time you saw her?"

Just as Beckett had predicted, the minute she suggested they were only there to create a timeline, the tension in his body melted away. He relaxed and almost smiled at the thought that the police were oblivious to his potential involvement. Beckett wanted to slap cuffs on him right there, but without any evidence proving his guilt, he would simply walk.

Pashkov had a thick accent still. "She came in three or four days ago to donate. I could check the records."

"That would be helpful."

He went to the computer behind the front desk. "Let's see… three days ago at 3pm. That's when she came in last."

"And you were her phlebotomist, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Were you always her phlebotomist?"

Tension started to creep back into his posture. "Yes, if she came in while I was working."

Beckett used a soft, curious tone to ask the next question. "Why was that?"

His eyes darted around the room. "We were both from Russia. It was nice to talk to someone from back home."

Beckett smiled sweetly. "Of course. What sort of things did you talk about?"

"Um, politics, Putin, music; whatever came up that day."

"So you knew her fairly well?"

"I suppose."

Castle stepped forward. "Did she mention where she was going after she left that day?"

Pashkov was starting to relax again now that the conversation was switching away from his relationship with the victim. "Work. She had work that night. And she said she might go clubbing when she got off."

That checked with Barner's statement. "Did you two ever go clubbing together?"

He shook his head. "No, my hours here don't really allow for that."

"I understand. Thank you for your time. If I have more questions, I'll contact you."

"Of course."

They went outside. "He's our guy."

Castle nodded. "He certainly didn't seem surprised Oksana was dead."

"And the tension whenever things got close to mentioning he might be her stalker? He couldn't hide his guilt."

"So what now?" Castle glanced back at the front of the clinic. "So far we don't have evidence that proves he's guilty. A good lawyer can make his body language just seem like someone who's nervous around cops."

"I know." Beckett headed for the car. "Let's get back to the precinct and figure something out."

Alex rode the subway with her head down. She was being summoned by The Gentleman to receive a new contract and that irked her. She was almost certain he was behind Jim Beckett's murder, which meant either The Gentleman was the one who'd told The Chameleon to frame her for Jim's murder or the hired gun had taken that initiative.

If The Gentleman was behind it, why? Why frame her for that murder? Was he trying to test her again or was it something else? If the hired gun had taken the initiative, why choose her? And who was he? All she had was his alias: The Chameleon.

The name suggests why he picked me, I guess. She was the most famous contract killer in New York City right now, but he had used the wrong knife. And his technique had been atrocious. If she had killed Jim, he wouldn't have suffered as much.

Alex sighed. How had he gotten her hair? Sloan had hacked the NYPD and gotten a copy of Detective Karpowski's case file. The planted hair had been thirty inches long, which meant the hair had been acquired more than two months before Jim's death. The only time she'd been in a position of that vulnerability, she'd been in The Gentleman's lair where Viper had been killed.

The train pulled into the next stop and Alex stepped off. Her musings would have to wait. Right now she had a dangerous man to meet.

A/N: It's been a while since Alex was in the picture. What do you think she's up to now?