"I've put all patrol units on high alert for any sightings of the Camry. If he's out and about anywhere in the tri-state area, we'll know about it…"
Castle wanted to believe that their combined efforts in finding the car would yield the desired outcome, but he just couldn't get himself to do it.
Something was amiss here, a piece of the puzzle that didn't add up to the whole picture.
After staring at the murder board so long that his eyes were beginning to burn, he'd sat down by Beckett's desk, watching Ryan make more phone calls to Michigan while they began to circulate the composite drawing of their suspect around town.
And what a vague image it was.
Unlike a certain ruggedly handsome writer, their sketch showed a man with hardly any recognizable facial features. His eyes and mouth were nondescript, his hair casual, no scars or a crooked nose that would make him stand out from the rest of the 4-some million males in this town.
All in all, Castle wasn't thrilled with the direction and pace of their investigation, worried that there was a chance more murdered girls would show up on their doorsteps at any moment.
Deep in thought, he'd never realized that Beckett had wandered off, maybe spending more time talking to the brass about their progress, the very thing which was being interrupted by said talks to the brass. When he didn't see her nearby, he reached over for her copy of the case file, the thick manuscript rivaling some of his early books.
No traces of the killer on the third victim meant they were dealing with a professional, somebody well versed in knowing how to evade police investigations.
He still felt that Ryan's arduous task of going through all the communications records between Collins and the rest of the world for the last few decades might yield a lead here or there, but quite honestly, Castle had a hard time envisioning a killer from the 1970's having enough insight into the latest and greatest CSU procedures. Was there a chance that he could have gained some knowledge reading books in the library? Perhaps, and maybe that's what they should add to the list of things to check- his prison library card.
Honestly, he wasn't the least bit convinced that's where the trouble came from.
Their murderer, the man who had been following in Collin's footsteps, had been feeling the drive to kill for a long time, using the elaborate Co-Ed charade as a conduit to live out his fantasies. But renting out a movie didn't make you the producer, so in their case, what was their suspect really after?
The last killing and the pizza incident had made it very clear that he wanted to be closer to them, show them he had the upper hand, be in the proximity of his hunters.
Collins, although lazily overlooked by some of the officers back then, had never made any attempts to mock police. So why the change?
Anger? Resentment? Mockery after one too many parking tickets? What was the real motive here?
Glancing back up, he noticed Ryan and Esposito deeply enthralled going through the barrage of pictures of the 1970's crime scenes, their heads turning in unison to get a better angle on some of them. With Beckett still gone, and the desktop next to him turned on and ready for some research, Castle slowly got out of the visitor chair, casually glancing around the bullpen in case he was being watched, then, upon ensuring his privacy, slowly sat down behind Beckett's desk, immediately feeling the tingles in his fingers that came whenever excitement struck.
Using his injured hand as best as possible, he moved the mouse cursor across her desktop icons until he found the one linking him to the corrections database, hoping that his hunch would proof correct.
But unlike the past, his research would lead him to the present, namely the original owner of the stolen car.