Chapter 19
Kate, Espo and Hastings are on the east side of New York standing in the East River Park. The shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge is hiding the setting sun from their eyes. The crime scene tape has been strung around the scene. CSU techs are processing the area around the body. Mounted officers patrol the perimeter of the park. The three detectives are all looking at the body of one Richard Taylor the fashion Mogul. He has been shot in the same manner as the three other victims. Kate kneels down to get a better view of his body. She is not 100% sure, but the bullet hole pattern is a pretty damn close to the previous victims.
As she stands up, a hand rests on her shoulder. She turns to see Lanie there beside her.
"Lanie, what are you doing here?" Kate asks being surprised her best friend is on this scene.
"Well, Kate I drew the short straw. It was either me or Perlmutter. I know how much you love Perlmutter!" Lanie says laughingly.
"Yeah Lane, there's no love lost here... Thanks" Kate agrees.
"So Lanie the COD is the same as the other three victims?" Kate asks expecting her suspicion being confirmed.
"Kate I won't know for sure, but to me, it looks that way. I'll know more when I cut him open. Though, the bullets look like 9 mm in groups of three. Center mass in the torso. If I was a betting woman, which I certainly am not, it looks like your killer. What do they call him…Oh yeah the Playboy Murderer, it is his handiwork." Lanie says.
"Lane, leave that stupid press moniker off this investigation." Kate scowls as she changes the subject slightly. "Can you tell me TOD?"
"I can give you an estimate. He's been dead less than an hour." Lanie says.
"Thanks, Lanie." Kate says, walking toward her other detectives.
As she gives out the assignments she thinks she needs to get in front of this now more than ever.
"Hastings I am going to need you to look for any and all camera footage that covers the crime scene. I don't care what you need to do to get it. Just find what you can and if you need to get a warrant then do it. Just get that footage. Since the bridge overlooks the park I'd start with the MTA. There's probably a shitload of cameras there, recording everything dismissed detective." Kate orders.
Hastings waits for her partner's orders before moving off.
"Javi, I need you to find me anyone who has noticed anything out of the ordinary. I don't care how minuscule it might be. Look for anyone who might have been here during our window. When you're done, I need you to keep an eye on what the CSU team turns up Am I clear?" Kate orders.
"Crystal" both Espo and Hastings answer at the same time.
"Okay, then let's get going." Kate says.
Kate flips out her phone. Kevin still in the AV room at the station answers.
"Hey Kevin, I know you don't deserve this, but I am going to lean on you the hardest. I need you to go over all three cases and pick them apart with a fine tooth comb. Don't overlook anything. If they added a cafe they liked on Facebook then I want to know about it. Run their phone records and dig into their financials. Oh, and Kevin... I need your report on my desk when you're finished. Am I clear?" Kate says without Kevin being allowed to speak.
Once Kate is finished Kevin speaks up.
"Boss, we have been looking over the name you found… Sam Berkowitz?" Kevin asks.
"Yeah, Kevin, what about it…?" Kate asks.
"Well, Sam Berkowitz sounded familiar. So I did some digging. Did you know that this guy is related to another serial killer?" Ryan asks.
"Wait you are right Berkowitz it sounds very familiar why does it, Ryan?" Kate asks.
"Boss Sam Berkowitz is the nephew of the infamous Son of Sam killer aka David Berkowitz in the 1970's. The family name was Falco. David Berkowitz is really named Richard David Falco. It was not reported much in the news. However, we have the sister's name Agnes Falco. She married an Eddie White. They have a son named Sam." Ryan says.
"Do you have an address for Sam's mother?" Kate asks excitedly.
"Yeah, she lives in the Queens…I will text you the address." Ryan says.
"Great Ryan you did it! Just text me the address…This might be the break we need to solve this case." Kate praises.
"Also, Boss we have employment records of Sam White. He works for the city as a Park cleaner. According to his boss, he is not scheduled for the next week. Get this he was scheduled in Central Park for all those killings and today he is there at East River Park. Unfortunately, he has clocked out for the day." Ryan says.
Kate orders a re-canvas of the crime scenes to see if anyone has seen the park cleaner. Then it hits her all at once. Perhaps her boyfriend could help her. In the car, she is stopping on her way to Queens to interview the Mother. She thinks it strange that all the first names of the murdered men are named Richard.
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Rick is all alone in the loft. Martha has met with some friends for the day. Alexis is over with her friend Paige. He is staring at the blank laptop. It is mocking him. He is drawing a blank. He needs to get at least 3 chapters outlined and written so his publisher would give him some slack. He looks at the laptop once more, then gives up. So he decides to move onto something more productive. He checks his fan sites. There is nothing new on any of them.
Then he types 'dogs' into the Google search bar and clicks the "I'm feeling lucky" tab. He is thinking about getting Alexis a puppy as a gift and wants a reputable breeder. He is sorting through the results when he sees a pic of Kate.
Rick reads the article. The Playboy Murderer has struck again. He reads greedily the report. Richard Taylor the Fashion Mogul was killed today. His dogs are missing two full grown water poodles, Mitzy and Frank. NYPD task force commander Lt. Beckett has no comment for the press.
Two missing dogs…Is that what brought him to this article? Rick notices he has an email alert. He checks the first account. It has an email from Black Pawn. He answers it promptly. Checking his other personal account he discovers an email from Paula. She is inquiring about a South American book tour. He replies asking which cities were involved.
He lastly accesses a rarely used account. Signing in he waited for the emails to update. There was only one there. He clicks on it then reads...
"You're lucky that you survived. If it wasn't for the cop I would have succeeded. I won't make the same mistake twice! There's nowhere for you to hide."
Rick goes into panic mode. The email does not show a sender's address as well as an IP address. There are so many thoughts running through his mind. What should he tell Kate? Is this person hell-bent on finishing what he has started? Could he protect Alexis? His list of questions is very long. He is so lost in thought that he never hears the knock at the front door.
He quickly closes his laptop. He gets up and cautiously goes to the door. Swinging it open he notices Kate standing there with a gorgeous smile across her face. She is about to say "Hi" but before she could, she noticed the expression on his face. It is gone in a split second. He hides it well, almost too well.
"So my detective, why give me this mid-morning visit? You can not get enough of your ruggedly handsome boyfriend?" Rick asks, moving in for a kiss.
The couple embraces, then Rick shuts the door behind them. Kate, unfortunately, breaks the kiss. Rick pouts for a moment. Coming to his senses, he moves away, then looks at her smiling.
"Rick, there is something I need to ask you. It involves the murders that I'm currently investigating." Kate says.
"Okay." Rick motions her to the sofa in the living room.
"What can I do for you, Kate?" Rick asks curiously.
"While I am not at liberty to disclose and information on these cases, I need to know if there is something you might remember from that night in the alley?" Kate asks.
"Kate while I want to help, the only thing I really wanted to do was protect Alexis. She IS my number one priority. That's why I positioned her behind me when that guy with the park cap fired at me." Rick says.
Kate's heart softens for him just a little more. She knows that it is likely fatherly instinct on his part that places him in the line of fire that night. But what she sees in him is not what everyone else observes.
"Rick, what park cap…? You did not mention the type of cap the shooter wore before? Kate asks excitedly.
"Well, Kate, it just came to me. It's the green one that city park employees wear. It has a symbol of the City of New York on its band." Rick says. "I'll never forget those eyes blazing full of hate."
Rick shudders at recalling the sight.
Rick, I know this is hard, but did you see anything else? Try to think back to that night. Is there anything that comes to your mind?" Kate coaxes.
"Kate now that you mention it there was a couple of other things. When he extended his arm before he shot me, his sleeve rode up his arm. I noticed a tattoo on his forearm. It was of a German shepherd pup. It was all one color ink, but it was definitely a German shepherd." Rick recalls.
"Anything else…" Kate adds.
"Not for that night, but I received something today. Let me get my laptop?" Rick says rising.
Kate stays seated as Rick goes and retrieves his laptop. He opens the email.
He turns it to Kate so she can read it.
Kate gasps. Rick is still a target. Her heart stops beating in her chest.
"Rick, when did you get this?" Kate asks.
"Kate, you need to understand this is not an account that I log onto often. I was just replying to some business emails and decided to check this account." Rick replies.
Kate fears the worst now.
"Rick, I need to know when you received this email?" Kate implores.
"Okay, Kate. It was there when I logged on. So that was about 35 minutes ago. But I don't know how long it has been sitting there prior to me logging in. The last time I check on this particular account is about a week ago." Rick says.
Kate notices that the date is also missing from the email.
"Rick, I need your password and account number to this account." Kate orders.
"Kate, should I be worried?" Rick asks.
Rick, since this is an overt threat I do feel however that this person who is murdering "Richards" is going to try to kill you again." Kate says as she gets on the phone with Ryan again.
"Ryan, I need you to look into an email account for Richard Castle. There is a threat from our guy! See what you can find out." Kate orders as she gives him the information on the account.
Kate hangs up with Ryan then turns toward a frightened Rick.
"Kate, what should I do?" Rick asks.
"Well, since everyone is fine at their various locations. They might not be in any danger. I will get Uni's over to check on them. You, however, need to come with me. I'm not letting you out of my sight. Come on we need to go and interview someone." Kate strongly says.
Rick shrugs, then gets his coat. They exit the loft together…