Author's Note: I'd like to thank phnxgrl and TORONTOSUN for their reviews. TORONTOSUN: I felt Beckett was the only one who could keep him from the rabbit hole considering what she's gone through in her past (both on the show and in this story). phnxgrl: Sorry, but Alex wasn't trying to give Beckett a clue on the identity of The Gentleman. She was unaware that the walls had ears as well as eyes. Felt I should clarify that for everyone. This chapter starts right where the last one left off. Enjoy!

Chapter 34

Gates was standing behind her desk as if she'd been expecting this. Beckett took a spot by the window, leaning against the low bookcase to leave a space for the Brass. The Police Chief took a seat in front of the desk with the Chief of Detectives by his side. The rest spaced themselves out along the wall. The door closed behind the last to enter. Out in the bullpen, Ryan, Esposito, and Castle were gathered around a folder watching them. Beckett shot them a glare and they quickly looked down.

Gates took her seat. "Did I miss something from the phone call this afternoon?"

The Chief shook his head. "I felt I needed to come here in person. The Shadow Fox case has been open for a few years now with little to show for it. The best we can say are several close calls. One begins to wonder if we are giving it our best efforts."

Gates response was calm. "Detective Becket and her team have the highest case closure rate in the city. The only reason that Alexandra Stevens has not been apprehended yet is that she is just as good at escaping as Beckett's team is at catching murderers. I'd say the only reason we've had those close calls is because Beckett's team is so good." Beckett tried not to flush with pride at the compliment her Captain had just paid her and her team.

"We should turn the case over to the FBI. They have more resources…"

"And a higher caseload." Gates held up her hand. "Turning the case over to the FBI does not mean the case will magically get solved. It only means that we have to turn scenes over to them once it has been determined that another victim was killed by her hand."

"Captain Gates, an AUSA was just killed by the assassin…"

Gates interrupted the Chief again. "And we are already coordinating with the New York office. I am more than willing to work with the Bureau. I just don't think turning the case over is the best play here."

The Chief turned to Beckett. "Detective? Do you think you can catch her?"

"Given enough time, yes."

The Chief wasn't happy with that. "Time is something we don't have to spare."

"With all due respect, sir, I disagree." Eyes had turned to Beckett. "Richard Coonan, Hal Lockwood, Cole Maddox, Senator William Bracken. All of these men were killing in New York for years, some of them for decades, without anyone stopping them. The only difference between them and Alex Stevens is they weren't identified as quickly as she was."

"What are you getting at here?"

"My mother was murdered by Coonan ten years before he was identified as the assassin known as Rathborne. Lockwood's crimes are mostly still unknown, but he was in New York for at least two years before his identification and arrest. Maddox tried to kill me and, like Lockwood, many of his crimes are still unknown. All of these men were hired for different reasons by Senator Bracken. I only found out the Senator was behind my mother's death fourteen years afterward and it took almost two more years to find the proof so we could arrest him for it."

"And?"

Beckett sighed. "I'm just saying that some cases remain open for years no matter which detective is on the case or what investigative branch they belong to."

The Chief eyed her for several moments. "You want to keep this one."

"I do. I know we can get her. But she is very skilled and intelligent. You're not going to catch someone like that overnight."

He finally nodded. "Fine. You have a few more months, but then I'm turning it over to the FBI. Understood?"

"Understood."

The Chief and his posse left. The boys had started watching again a few seconds after she'd glared at them. When the door opened, they scattered, Castle caught between the two detectives, all three making it blatantly obvious they'd been spying.

Gates stood to watch the Brass leave. "I've been trying to shield you from that. They've forgotten what it's like to be on the street."

"I know. Thank you." Beckett watched the Brass board the elevator. "I'm not sure if we can catch her that quickly."

"I'll do what I can to delay the jurisdiction change. You just keep working the case."

"Yes, sir." Beckett went out to the bullpen. "Nice spying; you guys weren't obvious at all."

Esposito shrugged. "We couldn't help it. So, what was that about?"

"The Chief wants to dump the case on the FBI. We have it for a few more months. Gates will do what she can to delay that, but we need to catch Alex and The Gentleman as soon as we can." She glanced at the clock on her phone. "But that can wait till tomorrow. It's late. Put in the requests you'll need to start working tomorrow and go home. We'll get to work on this in the morning."

Next morning...

Lanie looked exhausted when Beckett and Castle arrived in the morning. "I'm working off of cat naps and coffee right now, so please be nice to me."

Castle stopped by the first table. "I'll try to keep my mouth shut."

Beckett doubted that would last for long. "Who's first?"

"We'll see them in the order they died." Lanie opened a drawer and pulled back the sheet to reveal Robert Lakensen. "He was killed first. C.O.D. is a severed brain stem. She stabbed the awl right between the occipital bone of the skull and the C1 vertebrae. She then jerked it to the side, transecting the spinal cord at the medulla oblongata."

Beckett was right; Castle didn't keep his mouth shut long. "So the transmission of signals between the brain and body was basically severed." At least he wasn't being a wise ass.

"Yes. Quick and effective. His death was fairly quiet and almost no blood to give her away." Lanie moved to the next drawer. "Next was James Gregory. All the throwing knives Alex used were the same length, a 3.25-inch-long blade."

"But wound depth wasn't all the same."

"Correct." Lanie drew back the sheet. "The knife in his thigh went in about two and a half inches. Not enough to cause lasting damage, but it would have been painful and he probably fell."

"He did." Beckett looked at Lanie. "Last night, Castle and I watched the surveillance footage from the house. The second knife was thrown into his neck from about three feet away."

"The blade went in to the hilt. Unfortunately for Mr. Gregory, he didn't die right away. The knife acted as a plug, but it wasn't enough to keep him alive. He bled out before he could drown on his own blood." Lanie closed Gregory's drawer and opened the next one. "Next is Shaun Jackson."

Beckett nodded as Lanie pulled back the sheet. "His death was hard to watch."

Lanie nodded. "I can imagine. The shoulder wound would have killed him eventually based on how long it took for the EMTs to arrive at the scene. The subclavian artery was nicked. This neck wound is almost an inch deeper than the blade and at an upward angle. Severed the carotid artery, part of the jugular vein, completely transected the trachea and esophagus and did some damage to the spinal cord as well."

Castle rubbed a hand over his throat uncomfortably. "So… exsanguination?"

Lanie nodded. "Yes. He also has a bruise across his chest consistent with being shoved with a forearm."

Beckett nodded. "That matches the video."

"Next is Ike Thornton."

Lanie opened the drawer and pulled back the sheet to reveal Esposito's old partner. His left eye showed signs of the damage that was partially concealed by his eye lid. The image of him in Robinson's office with a knife sticking out of his eye flashed across Beckett's mind.

"The knife went through his eye and caused damage to the part of the brain known as the cerebral peduncle. That's the part between the brain stem and the brain. Also, the blade hitting the bone behind the eye socket of his skull caused the tip of the knife to break off, which sliced through the brain. Bone fragments from the knife-to-bone contact were propelled into the cranium as well. Combined, the bone fragments and tip of the knife caused irreparable damage to several areas of the brain. Altogether, that damage was enough to kill him." Lanie sighed. "Javi's not talking to me about this."

Beckett put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "He will. He just needs to process it first."

Lanie nodded. "I know." She took a deep breath. "Moving on," she closed the drawer and moved to one of the autopsy tables, "Trent Baxter. You might be able to help me fill in how this happened."

Beckett nodded. "She threw the knife into his arm, causing him to drop his gun. He pulled the knife out of his arm; she grabbed the hand holding the knife and redirected it into his throat before tossing him aside."

Lanie nodded. "That would explain the lack of force in the stab to his neck. Like the others, he bled out. Carotid artery was severed."

"What about Robinson?"

"Alex left her signature in her back, but she didn't show the same skill that she normally does." Lanie pulled the sheet back from Robinson's face.

Castle looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"She missed the kidney completely."

Beckett remembered how Alex had initially stabbed Robinson. "You know, Alex stabbed Candace in a hurry. She'd just punched her to stop her from escaping. The bodyguards came in and Alex stabbed Candace when she pulled her upright to be a human shield."

Lanie nodded in understanding. "Well, that's why Robinson didn't go into shock and was able to crawl as far as she did. The other two stab wounds match Alex's usual skill. It was after that that she slit Robinson's throat."

Castle gestured to Robinson's body. "But why slit her throat? It completely goes against her usual M.O."

Beckett shrugged. "Maybe that was a request from The Gentleman."

Lanie revealed the slash to Robinson's throat. "Whatever the reason, the cut was clean and efficient. With as weakened as she was from the blood loss caused by her previous injuries, Robinson died almost instantly after her throat was cut. Carotid artery and jugular vein were both severed."

"Anything else we should know, Lanie?"

Lanie shook her head as she covered Robinson again. "Not at the moment." She yawned. "I'm going to get some more sleep and then take another look." She handed Beckett a stack of autopsy reports. "This is what I have so far."

"Thanks, Lanie. Get some rest."

The M.E. nodded. Beckett and Castle left the morgue to go back to the bullpen. Upstairs, Ryan was busy watching the footage from train platforms. In the video room, cadets from the academy were set up with computer monitors. Tory and Gates were acting as assistants and supervisors. Esposito wasn't at his desk, so he was probably at Robinson's office getting what he could from The US Attorney's office. Beckett went to her desk and grabbed her keys.

Castle grabbed his overcoat from his chair. "Where are we going?"

"Robinson's home office. If we're going to figure out where she crossed paths with The Gentleman, that's as good a place as any to start."

Robinson's home had police tape across the door and a squad car out front when they arrived. Beckett checked in with the uni's and then cut the tape to enter through the front door. James Gregory's blood still coated the entryway, though it had long since dried. Beckett and Castle went up the stairs, past the streak on the wall and dried pool of blood on the floor left behind by Shaun Jackson, and into the office.

The four blood pools from Ike Thornton, Trent Baxter and Candace Robinson had stained the light carpet in the office a dark, reddish brown and the streak from Robinson's attempted escape was a lighter shade. Beckett glanced up at the holes left by the bullets Thornton and Baxter had sent Alex's way. They had come so close to stopping her. Beckett wasn't sure if she wished they had or was glad they hadn't.

Castle looked at Beckett. "This doesn't look any better without the bodies."

"That's because our minds are putting them in the scene anyway."

"True."

Beckett started for the desk. "Come on. This room's not going to search itself."

A/N: I hope I didn't bore you with all of the info from the autopsy review. We'll be starting in Robinson's office next time. Until then, stay tuned!