61. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

The conference room table having been cleared of lunch, it was ready to be filled again with notes, crime scene photos, CSU reports, etc.

Beckett stopped briefly in the process. "Ryan, Blount, get the white boards from the bullpen...and pull up anything from CSU and print it. Since the families seem connected in this somehow, we might as well start the murder boards together."

Beckett again gave the captain an overview of the situation in general, this time in more detail. She then gave Karpowski the floor to report more of what her team had found at their crime scene. Esposito was also asked to report, and all of them offered relevant opinions along with their information. Then the captain asked questions that various members of the teams answered. They had all begun to refer to the families in the two homes as Beckett's family and Karpowski's family.

"Mr. Castle, you've been quiet. Any opinions or observations?"

"Only what the others have said or implied. The two crime scenes are too similar not to be connected somehow. Someone was looking for something in both places. He, or they, must have thought someone in Karpowski's family had it. Looks like they had some reason to believe they might find it with a member of the family across the street. There's always the possibility it might not have been found."

"Any indication of what they were looking for?"

"Not yet," Beckett answered. "We have statements from some of the neighbors, but most of them were at work. We're going back tonight when more of them should be at home. Right now, we need to find next of kin and make notifications. I did request that the press not release any names they might find until after the notifications are made."

"I saw your statement," Gates interrupted. "Well done."

"Thank you, Sir, but there wasn't much to it."

"It was handled with authority from our position and a degree of sympathy for theirs. They'll be willing to listen to what you have to say later…which is why you're making the statement on the case at the press conference this afternoon at four-thirty."

"Sir?" Beckett's response might as well have come out as, "Do I have to?"

"You heard me. The chief will open, I'll introduce, you'll explain. The murders of nine members of two families in a quiet neighborhood can't be left unmentioned. Part of your new duties, Lieutenant. You're running this investigation, and you'll be the voice speaking to its progress."

"Yes, Sir," Beckett answered with a look of resignation.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Unless someone has other pertinent observations, I'll leave you to your work," Gates said, and waited a respectably long moment to allow for responses before she returned to her office.

"Congratulations, Beckett." Jennings teased after the captain was gone. "Looks like you get to be the media darling on this one."

"Shut up, Jennings," she answered, and everybody chuckled.

Ryan and Blount had unobtrusively rolled the two whiteboards into the conference room while Gates was being briefed, and after she left, they moved them to a better area for viewing.

"We should get the murder boards started…start coordinating information from both crime scenes," Beckett told them.

Blount and I printed a few copies of the CSU reports," Ryan offered, handing both Beckett and Karpowski a couple of copies for their teams.

"Looks like Karpowski's crime scene is where it all started," Beckett said, drawing a time line on her board while Karpowski did the same. "Victims at the first house died between one and three am, those at the second died between two and four. Assault at the first house was more severe, meaning that was probably the original target. So why did they move to the second?"

"And why were they at the first house at all? What were they looking for?" Blount asked.

"Where do the victims work? Do they have any known enemies, angry exes, arch rivals? Castle added.

"I'll look at workplaces for the Morgans," Esposito volunteered.

"And I'll do the same for the Feldmans. Neighbors we talked to knew the name of the companies they worked for but not much else," Jennings offered before the two men left the room. "There was one neighbor who said one of Feldman's best friends is out of town until day after tomorrow. We got his phone number, so I'll try to track him down as soon as we've notified the families."

About ten minutes later, Freedman came back with the contact information they needed for the Feldmans' families; and Beckett, Castle, Karpowski, and Jennings left to carry out the unenviable task of notifying the victims' next of kin, each speaking to members of the families whose home they had investigated.

"That's never an easy job," Castle said as they left the sister's house.

"It's never an easy job when only one death is involved, but those parents lost their children and their grandchildren, and the sister lost a sibling, a niece, and her nephews. I only know part of that kind of devastation."

Castle put his hand at her waist as they approached the car, a small gesture of comfort for both of them. When they were inside, she started the car, pulled out into traffic, and then took his hand and held it until they were back at the precinct.

The two sets of partners arrived back at the precinct around the same time, equally drained from their recent endeavors.

In the elevator on the way up, Jennings said, "You're back in time for the press conference with half an hour to spare, Beckett."

"Didn't I already tell you to shut up?" Beckett shot back with no real bite to it.

"I don't always listen well," he answered with a playful smile."

"Wow, Karpowski," Beckett teased. "If you don't do some retraining, you may have another Castle on your hands."

"Hey, what was that for? I've been on my best behavior this morning," Castle protested.

"Yeah. This morning," Karpowski teased.

"Do they gang up on you, too, Jennings?"

"Been known to happen," he answered.

And then they were at their floor. Exiting the elevator toward the conference room, the mood immediately became more somber. They went back to the conference room to find that their partners had added to the information on the boards.

"I need to see Gates about the press conference…make sure what I say has her approval. The chief will probably want to pass approval, too. Not my favorite part of the job."

"I'll get you caught up afterward, Castle promised."

Karpowski's victims, the Feldmans, worked in different places. Mr. Feldman was marketing manager for a large toy company. Mrs. Feldman was a buyer for a small department store. Beckett's victims, the Morgans, had an internet business which they ran from home, planning and maintaining websites for a variety of small businesses.

"Neighbors tonight. We'll talk to the co-workers tomorrow," Karpowski told her."

"We'll go back to the neighbors, too," Ryan said. "We'll leave while you do your press thing. By the time we get there, some of them should be home from work."

"Did you find any security cameras that looked promising?" Beckett asked.

"A few." Esposito answered. "Almost all those houses had them. We even found a couple on the side streets and some around the park, but only a couple of those houses had people at home."

"You want us on that before or after we talk to the neighbors?" Blount asked.

"How about you and Ryan stay here and Castle can help interview the neighbors. I'll come back and help you after the reporters try to get me to say something I don't intend to say. Speaking of which, I need to make some notes and get approval from the captain."

"Better you than me," Karpowski answered with the attitude of one who has happily escaped a misfortune.

"Better watch your back, Karpowski," Beckett answered faux threateningly as she returned to her desk to jot down a short statement for the captain. There was a chorus of chortling in her wake.

After a quick trip to the ladies' room to be sure she was presentable, Beckett returned to the bullpen, Gates joined her, and they both walked to the elevator in command mode.

Watching from the door of the conference room, Castle, Esposito, and Ryan looked proud.

"She's so got this," Esposito said.

"That's two damned impressive women," Castle said as the elevator doors closed. Present female company is pretty impressive, too," he added, turning to look toward Karpowski.

"Yeah, Castle," she said, pointing across the room, "If that other impressive woman ever gets sick of you, my desk is right over there."

"So, time to go?" Freedman asked, laughing.

"Yep. Let's go talk to some neighbors."

Just before the press conference started, the team members going to interview the neighbors left the precinct as unobtrusively as possible and spent the rest of the evening collecting whatever bits and pieces of information they could find.

Shortly after they left, the Chief of Police opened the statements to the press, giving a very brief assessment of the situation and introducing Captain Gates as captain of the twelfth precinct. Gates stated the area where the crime had been committed, the time her precinct had been involved, and that two homicide teams, led by Lt. Beckett and Detective Roslyn Karpowski, both seasoned homicide detectives, were investigating.

After a few more words of explanation, she said, "I'll defer now to Lt. Katherine Beckett, who is coordinating the investigation."

Beckett took her place at the microphones and began. "First I would like to thank the very large percentage of the press corps who showed the restraint, respect, and strength of conscience to hold back the names of the victims until next of kin could be notified. This is not something that family members should learn from a news report.

"That said, I ask your understanding again. It's much too early in the investigation to give you definitive answers; so with slight exception, you will hear an accounting of the facts. No questions will be accepted at this time. Updates will be given at the chief's discretion. We received a call early this morning reporting homicides in two homes in the same neighborhood. After further investigation, it was determined that all members of the household in both homes were deceased…Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Feldman and their two teenaged children, ages fourteen and sixteen, and Mr. and Mrs. Brian Morgan and their three children, ages ranging from three to ten. On the surface, it appears that all of the homicides are related. Our initial impression, and it is exactly that, an educated impression, is that the two families were specifically targeted. However, at this very early stage of the investigation, neither a reason nor a suspect is obvious. Our hearts go out to the surviving family members for the overwhelming loss they have suffered."

Some of the reporters started to shout questions, but the chief interrupted with the reminder that no questions would be taken. He promised updates as soon as possible, and he escorted Beckett and the captain back inside.

"I don't have much time, but I'd like to pay my respects to the other detectives if they're available," he said. "I don't know about you, but the death of children was always the hardest to accept."

"Yes, Sir," Beckett answered as they exited the elevator. "For us, too. Ryan from my team and Blount from Karpowski's team are here scouring CCTV footage from the neighborhood."

"Any luck?"

She explained what they had found before she left. "The others are all back at the crime scene talking to neighbors who weren't home when we were there this morning. Tomorrow morning we'll speak to co-workers and anyone of interest after the canvass tonight."

"And you're wishing you were there with them?"

"Sorry, but yes, Sir."

"It's acceptable to want to be there, Lieutenant," Gates assured her. "It means you're anxious to do your job."

The chief smiled. "Let me speak to the detectives who are here. That's a tedious job they're doing, but it often helps close a case."

"I'm back," Beckett said, entering the room. We have com…"

"Finished with the show?" Ryan asked, never looking up from the screen. The tease in his voice was unmistakable, and Blount snickered.

"We have company, gentlemen. I need your full attention."

Ryan and Blount looked up when they heard Beckett's all business tone; and seeing who stood beside her in full uniform, they were on their feet and apologizing immediately.

"Sorry, Sir," Ryan said. "No disrespect intended toward either you or the case."

"Not from me, either," Blount agreed.

"None taken," the chief assured them and extended his arm to shake hands with both men. "I won't keep you from your work. Just wanted to thank you for your efforts. Please pass that along to the other detectives when they return." He clapped each of them easily on the upper arm and left.

Outside the door of the conference room, unaware of their visitor, Lupinski left the break room with his coffee. Seeing their newly minted lieutenant in the doorway of the conference room, he called, "Hey, Beckett. Everybody says if you guys need any help, we got your backs. Killing little kids crosses the line. Anything you need, just say the word. I got elected to tell you." He added the last sentence with a grin.

"Thanks, Lupinski. Good to know." Beckett gave him an appreciative smile.

He raised his mug in a coffee toast and turned to go back to his end of the bullpen just as the chief left the conference room and walked toward the surprised detective. "Lupinski, is it? Is that what I heard?" he asked, again offering his hand.

"Yes, Sir," Lupinski answered, putting his coffee down to shake the chief's offered hand.

As he shook Lupinski's hand, Chief of Police Dawson asked, "Mind if I walk back with you? Don't forget your coffee. I think I remember that the precinct runs on that stuff."

"Yes, Sir," he answered, "You do remember correctly."

"It's good to see the kind of cooperative spirit you just offered your lieutenant."

"She'd do the same for us."

People looked up at the sound of a new voice near them, and started to stand when they realized who the voice belonged to.

The chief waved them back. "Don't stand. I ran into your ambassador to the lieutenant a minute ago and wanted to thank you." He said a few words of appreciation to the others in the bullpen for their willingness to help where it's needed. "I wish I saw that in every precinct."

Various sounds of "Thank you" and "Goodbye" followed Chief Dawson as he left the bullpen, and Captain Gates joined him to walk him to the elevator.

"Thank you, Captain Gates. The esprit de corps here is inspiring. And you and your lieutenant presented yourselves well. I'm impressed."

"Thank you, Sir. Some of the credit for the cooperative work environment should probably go to my predecessor. I'm pleased to have preserved it. As for my lieutenant, I think she has command potential…someone to keep an eye on."

After a few more words, the chief left, and the two men in the conference room pulled themselves back together and got to work again.

"Is this traffic cam footage?" Beckett asked.

"Yep. All sides of the neighborhood. We found what we think is the SUV they were driving. We got a plate number, but it was reported stolen earlier last night. We'll talk to the owner first thing in the morning, but all we're likely to get from this is where they went…if we're lucky. If the owner is lucky, he might get the vehicle back eventually."

The rest of the detectives returned to the precinct around nine.

"Anything new?" Beckett asked hopefully.

"The wife of the neighbor who was out of town was home when we got there and was shocked by the news," Esposito answered. "She said they had been on a camping trip with both of the murdered families the week before and was worried about the effect the loss would have on her children…and understandably worried that someone might be coming for her family."

Castle took it from there. "She said her husband and Mr. Feldman spent some time together the night before they returned, talking away from the rest of the group. Ordinarily Mr. Morgan would have been with them, but he was helping his wife settle their three young children in bed for the night. She referred to the men as the Three Musketeers…said her husband and Feldman looked serious, but she didn't question what they talked about."

A couple of the neighbors said Mr. Feldman wasn't quite himself recently, seemed to have been stressed; but no one seemed to know why," Jennings added.

"You should be getting more camera footage from the neighbors. Everybody was willing to talk to us, but they're all scared," Karpowski told them. "Did you find anything on the camera footage?"

We already got the footage from the house with the cameras on one of the side streets. One of them caught two men putting on and removing masks as they got out of their car and back in. It's not clear enough for facial recognition, but we sent it to the techs to see if they can clean it up. We're trying to track the vehicle now to see if we can find anything useful," Ryan answered.

"We don't have that much to work with yet, and we aren't likely to get anything from the lab before tomorrow at the earliest," Karpowski observed. "Why don't we let the guys see if they can find anything on the traffic cams and take shifts so we all get a little sleep. Today has been a long one."

"I was thinking the same thing," Beckett answered.

"And the friend who's out of town should be home. Maybe he knows something he doesn't know he knows," Castle suggested. When Beckett raised her eyebrows in response, he said, "You know what I mean."

"Sadly, I do," she teased, bumping his shoulder with hers and smiling at him. "All our messages to him have gone to voice mail. I wish he'd call."

"Other than the traffic cam footage and getting the new information on the murder board, there really isn't much more we can do tonight," Castle said. "I need to hug my daughter."

"Me, too," Beckett agreed.

"I need to hug all three of mine," Jennings answered. "They're about the same ages as the Morgan children. I'm glad I didn't have to see that."

"Must have been a tough day for you," Castle sympathized.

"Yeah, it was," Jennings conceded. "If you guys don't mind, I'm gonna see if I can get home before they're all asleep. Go home and hug your daughter, Castle." He stood and gave Castle a brotherly slap on the arm as he went to his desk before leaving.

"Beckett, you should go home first," Karpowski insisted. "If the chief decides he wants a news conference in the morning, you need to be alert for it."

"But…"

"You're good, Beckett, but we can manage without you for a while. Get a few hours in your own bed and come back so we can do the same. You know it may be the last night we have that luxury until we close this case. Besides, you two have a daughter to hug."

"Okay," Beckett agreed reluctantly. "We should get some labs and reports in tomorrow, maybe something from tech, and we might learn something from the workplaces. We'll all be back in the morning and put together a plan before some of us talk to the co-workers and bosses. Ryan and Blount, give it until midnight. Whatever you have or haven't found, give it to somebody else and go home. Get some sleep. Esposito, you take the first shift here with Karpowski. Freedman, you go home now, too. The ones going home should be back here around two-thirty. Ryan and Blount, between six and seven. Somebody call me if anything important comes up."

There were various rumbles of agreement as some of them went to gather their things for their trips home.

"Thanks Roslyn," Beckett said before she left with Castle. "I really do need to hug the kid."

"Just be back on time, lieutenant," she teased. "See you in the wee hours."

xxxxx

As they walked into the loft, both Castle and Beckett were looking for Alexis.

Martha was in the kitchen. She took one look at them and simply said, "She's in her room."

Castle was up the stairs in no time, but Martha slowed Kate down with a motherly hug.

Kate showed no problem accepting it, and a few tears were finally allowed to escape. "Martha, it was awful. They were all so young. One of them was only three, just a baby, and he was beautiful…a little boy with brown hair that was a little messy from sleep. He looked like Rick's baby pictures...except for the bullet hole in his tiny little forehead. If we had a little boy… I couldn't help but imagine… It haunted me all day. What kind of monster does it take to do that?"

Martha held her tighter and murmured consoling words. "I can't imagine having to see all that, Katherine. You were very impressive today as Lt. Beckett, but you're home now. Let yourself grieve for those children while you're here. You can put your façade back on when you leave tomorrow, but right now go and hug your child and know she's safe."

Martha kissed her daughter-in-law on the head before Kate lifted it from Martha's shoulder and wiped away the tears she couldn't hold back. "I'm sorry, Martha. I shouldn't have put that image in your head."

"Darling, you can't carry everything around in there on your own," Martha answered, tapping Kate's forehead. "Now get upstairs before Richard hugs that child hard enough you need to resuscitate her."

Kate started toward the stairs then turned back and gave Martha another hug. "Thank you," she said before almost sprinting up the stairs.

"Kate. Thank goodness. Dad has hugged me tight enough I can barely breathe."

"Well don't consider me your savior," Kate answered with a grin, grabbing Alexis in a bear hug and taking over where Castle left off. "I've wanted to hug you all day."

"It must have been bad for both of you to be like this," Alexis answered, holding Kate a little tighter.

"It was hard for both of us, but probably worse for your dad. He can remember you at all those ages."

"Grams and I didn't expect to see you tonight. We thought you'd be going non-stop on this case for days."

"Since we have two teams and not a lot of information to work with right now, we're sleeping in shifts. I'm going back in at two-thirty. Karpowski is going home then. It may be non-stop after tonight."

"Then you two should stop squeezing the breath out of me and get some sleep. That isn't much time," Alexis said, pulling away.

Castle and Kate both kissed Alexis on the head and agreed that she had a point.

As they passed her on the stairs, Martha recommended that they help each other forget. Touching Kate's arm, she said softly, "Tell him, Darling. He may feel the same way. You can help each other."

Kate trailed a hand appreciatively over Martha's arm as they parted.

"Tell me what?" Castle asked as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"How I felt about the three year old."

"Other than overwhelmingly sad and horrified that anyone could do that?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked toward their bedroom, and she slipped her arm around his waist.

"Yeah."

Not wanting to separate long enough to walk forward through the study door, Castle turned sideways and pulled them through in a silly little sideways shuffle, making Kate smile.

"What else was there?" he asked as they reached the bedroom door.

"He looked like your baby pictures. He looked like I've imagined our little boy would look, but he…"

Kate was suddenly engulfed in her husband's arms and readily met his embrace with her own. "I had the same thought," he told her, "and it affected me the same way. But he wasn't ours, Kate. Ours is in our future."

"I know, but he was still just a baby, and he was... I didn't want to know the color of his eyes. If I knew they were blue, I would have very unprofessionally lost it. And the other two hadn't even lived long enough to finish elementary school."

"I know. I know." He held her tighter for a long moment before asking, "Do you imagine our children often?"

She nodded against his shoulder. "Not all the time, but sometimes…more often than I used to."

"Does that mean we should consider trying to have one? I'm ready when you are."

"Soon? Before the end of the year?"

He kissed her gently and lovingly. "Nothing would make me happier."

"Me, either."

"We could practice before we sleep. Make each other forget anything else for a little while."

"Shower first?" she asked flirtatiously. "We could practice there then just collapse into bed for a few hours."

"We have a plan," he said with a grin, pulling her through the bedroom door sideways again to make her laugh.

They showered, practiced, and slept until two. Then Castle started the coffeemaker…a schedule does have priorities…and they dressed for work. After filling travel mugs, they left just in time to get back to the precinct by two-thirty."