A/N: I have absolutely no excuses for how long this took me to update. There are too many distractions on the Internet. But here it is finally. This one's a little different; it focuses on Kate's inner dialogue as she "goes all Beautiful Mind" near the end of the episode. Hope you like it. Review and tell me what you thought.
What am I not seeing? Kate thought as she stared at the whiteboard for the hundredth time, not really even seeing it anymore.
Dr. Joshua Leeds, 37, COD asphyxiation from plastic bag and duct tape, tortured perimortem, most likely sending a message. Plastic surgeon, fiancée of one year Courtney Morantz, no motive, seemed happy, filed missing person's, alibied at cake shop. 'He'd always call.' The woman's words reapeated in her mind, but she forced herself to move on.
Disgruntled patient Jacey Goldber, sued Leeds for his refusal to perform fourth facelift. Castle likes The Elephant Man. Committed to Bellevue, released before murder. Alibied at hospital. Possibly hired the hit, not probable because of torture.
Mystery files traced to DOJ. Surgery for Wit Pro on Jimmy Moran aka "The Rat." How does Castle have a guy in the mob? Employees: Julia Hammond, Maggie Dowd, and Mario Guerrera. All checked out in first round of canvas. None knew of Leeds' work with Wit Pro. Will. No, stay focused. MO matched Moran's. Spilanos definitely involved. He called me extraordinary. God I need more coffee. Moran shot. Our meet. We were followed.
Not Moran, because he wouldn't shoot himself.
Kate heard the boys talking and saw Castle come in, but ignored them, listening only to the evidence. Courtney, Goldberg, Julia, Maggie, Mario. Which one? She sat down, desperately trying to find the one thing she was missing. Our investigation, our meet, followed. Which one?
"I've been reading on the Internet about this new thing called sleep, it's supposed to be real good for you." She cut Castle off, shushing him and waving a hand in his face. She had to concentrate. Courtney, Goldberg, Julia, Maggie, Mario. Where's the mob tie? Goldberg wouldn't've hired a hit through the mob, so she's out too.
"When I gave you that little speech last night I really didn't mean for you to go all Beautiful Mind on me." Extraordinary. Someone we talked to.
"It wasn't anyone at the U.S. Attorney General's Office. They wouldn't need us to find him, so it had to be someone that we talked to." Mario, Maggie, Julia, Courtney.
"You don't think it was my mafia connection?" No. Extraordinary. I already ruled that out. Keep up Castle.
"If he's in a rival family then they would want Moran alive to testify because then the Feds take down the Spilanos and the other families can take over their territories. No." Duh. 'You don't back down.' "We," Kate stood up. The answer was right in front of her and she knew it; she just couldn't see it. "Are looking for someone who had access to the doctor before we got the case." Courtney, Julia, Maggie, Mario.
"So that leaves the fiancée and his staff." Finally Castle was catching up.
"Yeah except the fiancée is clean," Ryan stated as he and Esposito joined the party. "Alibied and accounted for last night. Phone records don't indicate any calls to unknown numbers." I didn't like her for it anyway. Too much pain Kate thought, knowing full well the pain could've been faked, but glad it wasn't.
"And I thought you already ran his staff up." Castle looked questioningly at her, confusion evident on his face. Julia, Maggie, Mario.
"We did; there were no records of anything to indicate ties to organized crime." Esposito handed her the file.
"What about last night?" Mario, Maggie, Julia. Which one?
"Maggie Dowd was at dinner with friends," Esposito listed as Ryan ticked them off on his fingers. "Mario Guerrera stayed late packing patient files, and senior nurse Julia Hammond claims she was at home alone." Soft, all of them.
"What was Mario doing packing patient files last night?"
"They're closing up shop. Patient files are all going to new doctors."
"Just, doesn't that seem like a weird thing to be doing on a Friday night?"
"Yeah well, when you're low man on the totem poll, that's what life is like. People think they can call you into work at six a.m. on a Saturday." Kate ignored Ryan's barb and Castle's snicker. As long as the case got solved, she didn't care if they griped a bit.
"Julia Hammond and Maggie Dowd, how long did they work for Dr. Leeds?" Finally, something falling into place.
"Uh, Hammond was with him ten years; Maggie came on a few months back, why?"
"Because our low man on the totem poll Mario Guerrera started working for the doctor about a month ago." Mario. Will. No.
"We checked him, even called his nursing school. He's clean."
"Check again." Ryan was being overly whiny today. Kate knew she was being a bit bitchy, but she didn't care. She made a mental note to try not to call them in so early in the future. "Can't all be clean." Time to find out. She turned from her desk as the boys left to recheck Mario.
"Where're you going?"
"To see if Mario was actually at the office Friday night." Kate walked out, knowing Castle would follow. Mario. God I need coffee.