I hope you are all safe from this weather pattern that has so much of the US in its grasp. We are definitely snowed in. Thankfully all the animals are taken care of. Be safe out there!

"Raquelle Parker was stabbed approximately 28 times with a spear point knife, measuring 5 inches. Four of those wounds penetrated the heart and killed her. Some of the remaining tissue has shown signs of pre-mortem contusions, so she was beaten and possibly incapacitated during the killing. Some of the bruising on her thighs are indicative of rape but there wasn't enough physical evidence left to run a DNA sample. Perlmutter found her scarf shoved into…her…her private parts. Toxicology came back clean, there were no drugs in her system."

Castle felt a chill running down his spine as he listened to Beckett reiterate the facts of their latest case to her stone-faced audience, each additional piece of information adding to the picture of a gruesome crime committed by a deranged lunatic.

As though the nefarious nature of the murder wasn't enough, the sad story behind Raquelle's upbringing and her family troubles only added fuel to the fire.

"Her mother hadn't heard from her in months and had no desire to contact her, so we are going to have to check out her workplace, friend circle, anyone that she could have come into contact with over the last few weeks. It's possible that she knew her killer, trusted him enough to lure her someplace private. Let's also run her phone records and credit card statements to find anything that might stick out."

Off in the corner, he could see Gates standing with her arms crossed, following the briefing by the murder board with great interest. Undoubtedly the city leaders were worried about this case, and for good reason.

"According to Perlmutter, the dismemberment took place after she was dead. CSU has found no trace of the missing limbs which includes both of her feet, as well as the thumb and part of her index finger on the right side. Time of death occurred around 10 days ago. The body was likely stored in a cool and dry place to slow down the progress of decomposition, not halting it completely though."

"I've ran a preliminary search on any make and model that would fit the car we saw in the video and checked it against the DMV database for vehicles registered in New York alone.", Kevin explained, his eyes red-rimmed from too many hours of staring at a screen, "It's a long list to say the least."

"I sent out a request to all the prisons in the area, see if any of the recent releases have a record of aggravated murder involving a knife. Otisville and Brooklyn already responded with no match. I am having SingSing check their database to see if they have an inmate matching the MO just in case this is a copycat."

"Thanks, Espo.", Beckett said with an approving nod, then turned toward the murder board again, taking a moment to look at the DMV picture of their young victim before speaking up.

"I want to make sure we cover all the angles on this case, guy. Let's hit up the streets again today too, see if we can find any more eyewitnesses. Somebody had to have seen something. Let's also check with Missing Persons, see how many young women of Raquelle's age have been reported missing lately."

"You don't think this was a crime of passion?", Castle asked, not to question her instinct but to see where she was going with her theory. Or better yet, how close her theory was to his.

Sensing his curiosity, Beckett looked over at him, those intelligent brown eyes sparkling at the challenge she'd been presented with.

"I don't think so. The amount of sexual aggression and hate that our killer harbors won't go away after just one murder. He will continue to relive his compulsions on whoever is unfortunate enough to cross his path. For all we know, Raquelle may not be the first victim at all."

At her somber words, the group fell quiet again except for Gates, who walked up to them determinedly.

"Do the best you can to put a lid on this, detectives. And let me know if you need additional manpower. The Chief and the Mayor want this monster caught as soon as possible."

"Absolutely, Sir.", Beckett replied, then waited until the captain returned to her office before addressing the group.

"Her body was found within 8 blocks of her job at a gas station, which is closer than her apartment, so it's possible our killer followed her from work. Ryan, Espo, check out that place, see if there is any video camera footage we can get while we're waiting on the warrants for her phone, bank account and credit card. Castle and I will check out her apartment. Call me if you find anything."

From his position next to Beckett, Castle watched the boys nod obediently before spinning around and returning to their respective workstation, their usual lighthearted banter reduced to a few muttered words.

Undoubtedly the brutal murder weighed heavily on their minds, as did the haunting notion that more innocent women could fall prey to a wolf in sheepskin; a soft spoken, sympathetic, good-looking male who seemed so…non-threatening.

At least that's how Castle envisioned their suspect.

When she noticed him absent-mindedly staring at the murder board, Beckett gently nudged his elbow.

"Ready to see what we can dig up?"

Swallowing hard, he nodded, unable to get the picture of Raquelle's nude and desecrated body out of his mind.

"This time I am actually worried about just what exactly we are going to discover…"