"The landlord promised to go through all the phone and email records of anybody inquiring about an available apartment over the last few weeks.", Beckett explained as she watched Ryan add several handwritten notes to the murder board's timeline.
"After positively identifying Raquelle off our file photo, our homeless friend put the time of abduction at approximately 11:45pm Tuesday, two weeks ago, which is congruent with Perlmutter's TOD."
Putting the cap back on the black dry-erase marker, Kevin pursed his lips, still struggling with the disturbing nature of the case but putting on a brave face regardless.
And who truly could look at these mutilated bodies and treat this like any regular homicide case?
From his position by the nearby desk, Castle watched the team he had come to know and cherish so much hesitate numerous times, all three detectives shell-shocked by the degree of violence bestowed upon each victim.
Despite his battle experience, he noticed Esposito remain unusually quiet, the cocky attitude and lightheartedness set aside altogether for the time being. Beckett held her cards close, working hard to stay professionally neutral to the human suffering that had occurred, forcing herself to lead with steadfast determination to stop a monster that was one step ahead still.
And Ryan; he felt bad for the young detective. Of all of them, the sensitive and caring man was visibly struggling, burying his feelings under a mile-wide layer of lab data and computer queries he'd completed over the past few hours, hoping to distance himself from the spilled blood by a mountain of numbers and information that could lead to their killer.
It made the team feel off, insecure.
As far as yours truly was concerned…well, that was another issue altogether.
Seeing girls close to Alexis' age brutally murdered and tore apart had bothered him greatly, there was no doubt about that. What had bothered him even more were the feelings and intentions his keen mind had associated with the heinous crime. The superiority, outright glee upon causing all that pain and suffering. The deeply ingrained hatred that followed their killer everywhere, creating a need to continue his vile crusade until the pressure from within ceased.
But could it?
And if so, how many more innocent young women would fall prey to him?
His mind formed a scene of a young man, good looking and charming, somebody who could easily persuade a lady to get into his car, then morph into the monster within as he incapacitated his victims, moved them to his lair to rape and murder in the comfort of isolation, far away from anybody who could hear screams. Who knew, maybe he would even grow vivacious by each victim pleading for her life.
He could feel the adrenaline rushing through the killer's body, his fingertips burning from excitement as he stabbed her over and over-
"Castle, are you alright?"
Beckett's worried voice pulled him out of his daydreams, and he looked up in time to have three sets of eyes stare back at him.
"Yes…", he stammered, "Yes. I was just…thinking about the killer."
With an understanding nod, she kept her eyes on him a bit longer than usual before returning her attention to the murder board.
"As soon as we have an ID on our second victim, let's get with the family, friends, place of employment and see where we're at. He deposited both women in a ten-block radius. While it isn't much to go by, it's at least giving us an area to narrow in on."
"I also have a list of thirty-five women in the New York area who went missing over the course of the last three weeks, all of them matching our general criteria of his victims.", Ryan said and held up a thick bundle of printouts, "That doesn't include any underage girls, possible runaways or anyone over the age of thirty."
"That's still a lot of women…", Esposito chimed in, arms tightly wrapped around his muscular chest.
"According to Missing Persons, a woman in New York goes missing every 0.56 hours. About 36% of those women are found in the first forty-eight hours, after that, the outcome is dire in most cases."
The sobering statistic caused another wave of unease to wash through the group, disrupted only by Beckett nervously tapping her foot.
"Alright then, let's go through all those missing files to see if their disappearance includes a man in a black ford or chevy sedan offering them a ride. That should give us a better idea about the scope of our killer and how many victims we are dealing with. Perlmutter said he should get done with the autopsy within the hour, that might give us some more forensic evidence."
"At the rate they're appearing, we might have another body by morning."
Castle hadn't been able to stop the thought from escaping his lips. Too frightening were those numbers, and all of them were hitting much, much too close to home.
"I know, Castle…", came Beckett's immediate reply, as though she'd shared his worry, "Let's hope he's…taking a few hours off from that so that we can get caught up. I have a meeting with Gates in the morning to update her on our progress. Guys, if you haven't gotten anywhere in an hour, let's call it a day and try again tomorrow, hopefully with a fresh perspective."
With a quiet nod, the boys excused themselves to their respective desks, leaving the two of them to stay by the murder board, accompanied by the gruesome pictures and handwritten notes that served as the center of their investigation.
"You think there's anything to this idea of our guy being evil?", he asked before cocking his chin at Ryan, "Every eyewitness the boys talked to said they felt like they were in the company of true evil. They're shaken to the core, afraid to speak up. Given the severity of these crimes, our killer might have some metaphysical connection to Satan himself."
"It's hard to tell what motivates people to commit murder. There is never one shoe that fits all.", Beckett insisted, her voice strained from exhaustion, "He might consider the act of killing as some satanic ritual but it's hard to say until we get to interview him. From what I can tell, he is no more or less evil than some of the other vile murderers that called this town their home in the past."
With her shoulders slumped, she let her eyes drift over to the full inbox, then her desk, where her purse was waiting for the owner to take it home.
Realizing that his time for in-depth conversation about their killer was coming to an end, Castle shrugged.
"Feel like grabbing something to eat? I don't know about you but all that talking about body parts made me hungry for chicken wings."
With a slight chuckle, she glanced back up at him and shook her head, then hesitated for a beat.
"That actually sounds fantastic right about now. I can grab my missing person's files and take a look at them when I get home."
"Well then, so be it.", he said playfully and pulled out his elbow for her to grab, "Allow me to be your guardian for an evening filled with laughter, relaxation and copious amount of grease."
