"So, we have a Michigan Co-Ed killer impersonator here…", Beckett said, unable to hide the bitter undertone in her voice after the latest discovery.

There was no doubt that their third victim was part of the serial killing, the murder method and violence bestowed upon the young woman near identical, varying only in the degree of brutality.

From what Perlmutter had been able to discern, the twenty-something female had by far received most of the attention when it came to the welt marks on her body, indicating prolonged beatings with what looked to be a belt. Also, the killer had restrained her long enough to cause raw rub spots all over her shoulders and chest before beating her to so bad that part of her skull had caved in.

So far, CSU had been unable to find any traces of their killer.

Unlike the other two victims, time of death had only been 24-36 hours prior, a somber indication that Castle might be right about the accelerated pace of killings in connection to the actual murder spree forty years ago.

"We have three victims now and Gates is hot on our case to stop this guy.", she continued matter-of-factly, her glance drifting across her exhausted team of detectives "Autopsy results should come in early afternoon. With any luck, the killer left something behind for us this time. Hopefully we'll get an ID on her shortly and talk to the next of kin."

"Doesn't it bother anyone that he skipped a victim?", Castle mentioned after a while, leaning against the side of her desk with his arms crossed over his chest, "You see, in the original killer case, the third victim was found shot to death with a .22, then garroted with a nylon stocking. The wounds found on our third victim are conclusive with the original 4th victim…"

"Maybe we haven't come across the third victim yet…", Esposito suggested, returning from his desk after a quick phone call, "Like you said last night, if he's on a killing spree, he might have dropped bodies all over town. So the sequence might be off."

"I don't know, Espo. For a guy who's been orchestrating all these killings down to the last detail, I don't see him being careless about which victim we find first. I think the latest body was placed there on purpose, for Ryan to find."

Upon Beckett's words, the young detective looked up sheepishly from his notes, that haunted expression still there from the terrifying find.

"Now that I think about it, there might be another reason actually.", she continued after a brief pause, "I talked to Michigan State Police this morning. They said that there'd been some progress in this case over the last few years and that murder victim number three and six were killed by a different perp, a copy cat who was later found and arrested. So the sequence is correct with the knowledge we have now. I asked them to send over everything they have on the Collins killings to date, as well as any prison transcripts from phone calls and letters."

"What about the other inconsistencies though?", Esposito challenged and stepped closer, ignoring the cell phone ringing in the pocket of his grey dress pants, "Our guy didn't use any part of the victim's clothing to shove it down their throat to muffle the screams. And what about Raquelle's fingers in the pizza? Dumping the body close to Ryan's apartment? Nothing like that happened in the original case. It's like he's making this his own game, based off the old case but with a new spin. He's not killing to kill, he's killing them to play a game and taunt us."

With a somber nod, Beckett took a sip from her strong espresso, her jaws aching from clenching them all night courtesy of stress- and the text that Espo had sent shortly before 11pm, letting her know that Castle had swung by to show his findings and that he was about to call her on them shortly.

And the call did come.

But it felt different this time.

Used to having the writer barge through her door at the eve of a case break, it felt strange hearing about it from one of the boys. It was so unlike Castle to head to the precinct first, without calling her, without verifying if anybody was still around even.

What had stopped the man she'd grown so fond of from sharing his thoughts with her first, like they always did? Seeing if the two of them could conjure up their killer's motives and next moves in order to solve the case? Why hadn't Castle sought her out at the apartment, rather than driving the extra miles to the precinct?

The questions had kept her awake for the remainder of the night, leaving behind a sense of resentment she couldn't deny.

"This guy could be bent enough to enjoy his victims screaming for their lives.", she began, receiving several nods, "It's also possible that he rendered them unconscious. All of them had some form of head trauma that occurred pre-mortem."

"Excuse me…", Esposito said when his cell phone rang once again, causing the older detective to step away from the group, seeking out a private spot near the breakroom before taking the call.

"New girlfriend…", Ryan whispered, earning himself a set of raised eyebrows before Beckett turned toward the murder board again.

"Okay, so under the circumstances, I want to broaden our net. This guy clearly has some sort of affinity for the original killer, and he has also decided to taunt us. He wants us to look bad."

"Which in turn is following history because there was a large public uprising in the Ypsilanti area when police were unable to narrow down the killer for more than three years. Worse yet, Collins was suspected after the second murder, but nobody ever bothered to check his alibi. His uncle worked for the State Police at that time, which might have given him more credibility than he deserved. So, in essence, he is making us look bad just as Collins was fooling police."

Castle was right about that one, Beckett mused, hating the very idea to its core. Moreso, the fact that innocent young women were falling prey to this obscure stranger, whose motives she still wasn't 100% sure about only added fuel to the dilemma.

"Yo, I think I got something…", Esposito interrupted as he rejoined the group, his cell phone still in one hand, "I just got off the phone with a Marlene Ferris. She reported her daughter missing two days ago. Description fits our vic. She's picking up her husband and they're on her way over here because she saw her daughter get into a dark car with some dude she didn't know."