Reborn in Castle (TV show)

Kate gave him a suspicious look because she knew exactly how much more he sometimes understood than he was willing to explain. Travis met her eyes for half a second, and she decided to save that conversation for somewhere without Castle standing three feet away.

Castle moved slowly toward the doorway and looked into the room again, reconstructing the discovery in his head. "Three fingers, victim restrained, throat cut, blood smile, expensive hotel room. Whoever did this copied the pieces everybody knows."

"Exactly," Travis said. "They copied the costume."

Castle looked back at him. "Without understanding the performance."

Travis pointed toward him. "That's one way to put it."

Kate walked around the foot of the bed, studying Allison Reed from another angle. "So we've got somebody deliberately pretending to be Red John. That leaves us with a bigger question. Why?"

"Attention," Esposito said. "Maybe our guy wants headlines."

Castle shook his head slightly while studying the smile again. "Maybe, but using Red John's signature is risky. Remember last time someone said something bad about him on TV? Red John killed his family. You don't impersonate one of the most infamous killers in the country unless you want somebody to notice."

Travis looked toward him. "Or somebody specific."

Kate stopped near the nightstand. "You think this message was meant for Red John?"

"Could be," Travis replied. "The killer might be obsessed with him, trying to impress him, challenging him, or hoping the publicity gets his attention."

Castle's eyes brightened slightly before he caught himself and restrained the familiar excitement. "Like writing fan fiction for a serial killer, except the review section involves homicide."

Esposito grimaced. "That might be the most disturbing analogy you've come up with this month."

"It's still early," Castle replied.

Kate ignored both of them and looked toward the victim's wine glass. "Or Red John has nothing to do with the real motive. Somebody killed Allison for personal reasons and used the symbol to send us chasing a famous ghost."

"Well, we'll know more once Lanie examines the body and we get the forensic report. And it doesn't matter whether it's the real Red John or a copycat; we're gonna catch this killer and put him behind bars. Then, drinks are on me," Travis said.

..

..

[12th Precinct] [Captain Montgomery's Office]

Captain Montgomery stood behind his desk with the phone pressed against one ear while staring through the blinds toward the bullpen. His expression had carried the same irritated tension for nearly five minutes, which told Kate that whoever was on the other end had managed to complicate their morning considerably.

Travis sat in the chair across from the desk with his arms folded while Kate stood beside him holding the preliminary crime-scene report. Castle had been ordered to wait outside, mostly because Montgomery had said he needed five uninterrupted minutes without hearing the phrase "serial-killer crossover event."

Montgomery finally ended the call and placed the phone down with more force than necessary.

Travis watched his expression for a second before letting out a tired sigh. "CBI got a whiff of it, didn't they? And now they want in."

Montgomery leaned back against the edge of his desk and nodded. "Someone sent an anonymous email directly to the California Bureau of Investigation and told them about the murder. The message included Allison Reed's name, the Weyland Hotel, the room number, and a description of the bloody smile before our preliminary report had even finished circulating."

Kate's expression sharpened immediately. "How quickly did they receive it?"

"About twenty minutes after hotel security called us," Montgomery said. "This means that the person who sent that email either knew about the murder before we got here, or they are the killer."

Travis rubbed one hand slowly across his jaw. "That makes our copycat theory more interesting. Somebody didn't just imitate Red John and hope the press noticed. They made sure the people hunting Red John heard about it."

Kate looked toward the case file in her hand. "Or they wanted someone specific inside CBI to hear about it."

Montgomery gave her a small nod. "That possibility is exactly why I agreed to cooperate."

Travis leaned farther back in the chair. "How much cooperation are we talking about?"

"Two CBI agents and one consultant are already arranging transportation to New York," Montgomery said. "They'll arrive later today, assuming nothing changes with their flight."

Kate glanced toward Travis before looking back at Montgomery. "Who are they sending?"

Montgomery picked up a faxed personnel sheet from his desk and read the names. "Supervising Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon, Special Agent Kimball Cho, and Patrick Jane."

Travis's expression remained carefully neutral.

Inside his head, however, several thoughts collided at once.

'Patrick fucking Jane.'

Of all the people who could walk into the 12th Precinct, the one man Travis wanted nowhere near him was Patrick Jane.

Jane could not actually read minds, despite occasionally convincing half the population otherwise, but the distinction provided very little comfort. The man noticed everything. Posture, breathing, hesitation, clothing, tiny changes in expression, unconscious habits, emotional reactions, relationships, lies, insecurities, and whatever else people accidentally displayed whenever they believed nobody was paying attention.

Kate could already read Travis better than almost anyone.

Patrick Jane would treat him like an interesting puzzle within ten minutes.

'Great. Just fucking great.'

Montgomery continued. "Jane has spent years involved with the Red John investigation. Lisbon and Cho have handled Red John cases, suspected Red John cases, and enough copycats to know which details matter."

Kate glanced toward the personnel sheet. "CBI doesn't have jurisdiction here."

"They don't," Montgomery replied immediately. "I made that very clear during the call. This happened in Manhattan, the victim was found inside our jurisdiction, and NYPD keeps primary control of the investigation."

Travis nodded. "So what exactly can they do?"

Montgomery walked around the desk and sat down before opening the folder in front of him. "They're coming under an interagency assistance request. California can send investigators to consult because the crime potentially connects to one of their active serial investigations, but they don't get to walk into New York and start making arrests independently."

He pointed toward both detectives. "And before either of you asks, you're leading this investigation together. Lisbon and Cho are experienced investigators, so treat them accordingly. Jane is officially listed as a civilian consultant, which means he gets even less operational authority than they do."

Travis gave a faint smile. "Something tells me Patrick Jane doesn't care much about operational authority."

Montgomery stared at him for several seconds. "Apparently, you really have heard of him."

Kate's mouth twitched slightly. "How bad can one consultant possibly be?"

The captain gave her a look filled with enough exhaustion that Kate's amusement immediately weakened.

Montgomery opened another page of the file. "According to the notes I received, Jane has entered crime scenes without permission, manipulated suspects, lied during investigations, staged elaborate psychological traps, ignored direct instructions, provoked armed criminals, and repeatedly caused administrative problems for his supervising agent."

Travis nodded slowly. "So Castle with psychological warfare."

Kate immediately looked toward him.

Montgomery's face became very still.

Travis considered the comparison for another second before shaking his head. "Actually, that might be unfair to Castle."

Kate let out a short laugh despite herself.

Montgomery rubbed his forehead. "I already have Richard Castle wandering around murder scenes because the mayor likes his books. I don't need another consultant turning my precinct into an experimental laboratory."

The office door opened slightly before Castle's head appeared through the gap.

"Did somebody say my name?"

Montgomery stared toward the doorway. "Castle, how long have you been listening?"

Castle slowly opened the door farther and stepped inside with an innocent expression that convinced nobody present. "Listening sounds invasive. I prefer accidentally receiving information through an inadequately insulated door."

Kate sighed and pointed toward the bullpen. "We told you to wait outside."

"I did wait outside," Castle replied. "Unfortunately, outside happens to be extremely close to inside."

Travis looked toward him. "Patrick Jane is coming."

Castle froze.

The reaction was immediate enough to make Kate turn toward him.

"Patrick Jane?" Castle repeated as recognition spread across his face. "The Patrick Jane? Former television psychic, human lie detector, professional manipulator, serial-killer obsessive, and walking psychological violation?"

Montgomery pointed firmly toward him. "Do not encourage him."

Castle ignored the warning completely and looked toward Travis. "This is incredible. Jane supposedly convinced a murderer to expose himself once by making him believe a dead victim was communicating through a television."

Kate stared at him. "That sounds incredibly illegal."

Castle nodded enthusiastically. "That's part of what makes the stories fascinating."

Montgomery leaned back in his chair and looked toward the ceiling as though asking for patience from whatever authority handled exhausted police captains.

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