Chapter 55: A Vengeance Sought

"Hello, Esposito, Kevin!!!"

Castle entered the 12th Precinct, cheerfully greeting Beckett's trusted deputies, Esposito and Kevin, before flopping down next to Beckett's desk.

"So, did you and the Chief Medical Examiner from the New York Medical Examiner's Office come up with anything?" Beckett asked with a sharp gaze.

"The Chief Medical Examiner? You mean Henry?"

Castle was genuinely unaware of Henry's prestigious position, despite having watched the series; it had never mentioned this detail.

"Yes, on the way back, Lanie gave me a thorough introduction to Dr. Morgan. Not only is he an authority in the field of forensic medicine, authoring several books used as standard texts for entering the field, but he is also the Chief Medical Examiner in New York. Do you understand what that means?"

"It means this guy not being discovered by Adam is just unbelievable. How could he be so clueless? A chief medical examiner who's also high-profile with book publications—Henry, how are you not flying close to the sun?"

Castle internally raged at the sheer audacity and improbability of it all.

Beckett, noticing Castle's perplexed expression, couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

Castle, unsure whether to manipulate or vent his frustrations first, said, "Your judgment is right. After Lanie took the body back for examination and compared it with the database from the 1888 incident in London, it confirmed that the perpetrator perfectly mimicked the historical killer's methods."

Seeing Castle faltering, Beckett decided to share the information she had in hopes it might prompt a different perspective from him.

Castle, managing to suppress his internal rant, remembered his mission was to distract Beckett and the others from finding the correct investigative leads and discovering Adam.

But really, the police finding Adam was unlikely anyway—considering he was a 2,000-year-old relic who had witnessed countless regime changes and experienced the worst of human treacheries, how could he be easily caught?

If it wasn't for his knowledge from the series, Adam would still be playing Henry, and the police wouldn't stand a chance.

Now, Castle needed to mislead Beckett, keeping her from investing too much into this case. But he recalled that in just three days, the criminal would strike again, imitating another, more famous American case—the "Black Dahlia"?

After a moment's consideration, Castle spoke up: "This imitator, both Dr. Morgan and I believe, won't stop after just one strike. It's likely he will act again soon, and it seems he is taunting someone with his actions.

He won't stop his killing spree until he achieves his goal.

The biggest issue now is the lack of clues. Other than knowing the victim shares a name with one of the original victims from the London cases and was a call girl, were there any samples collected at the scene? Anything suspicious?"

"No, the scene was not the primary crime scene, just where the body was dumped, so trace evidence there didn't turn up anything valuable."

Esposito chimed in with the information.

"Wait, I remember in the series the killer left a hint at the scene about the next crime being the 'Black Dahlia.' Right, he hid a fake flower in a covered drain, which probably wasn't found by the scene investigators."

Suddenly struck by the thought, Castle, almost theatrically exclaimed, "I always feel like there must be a clue at the scene. I'm going back there to check. Beckett, what do you think?"

Now fully aware of Castle's sometimes uncanny intuition, Beckett was quick to agree, "Alright, let's go back to the scene and search again thoroughly."

Meanwhile, at Abraham's antique shop, Henry had calmed down and was conducting an autopsy on Abigail's remains in his basement lab.

Noticing the clear signs of a knife wound on Abigail's hyoid bone, Henry's eyes blazed with unstoppable rage. Castle's words were true—Abigail had been murdered, her throat cut!

The fractures on her skull and ribs indicated she had sustained these injuries in the car crash down the slope, then had managed to crawl out of the car, only to have her throat slit by her attacker.

"Adam..."

Henry was a kind soul; in his two hundred years of life, he had never felt such a strong desire to kill. His confrontation with the slave ship captain had been born out of a protest against brutality, but now, the death of his beloved ignited a thirst for vengeance within him, and he felt grateful to Castle for revealing the truth.

"Henry, you..."

Abraham, holding a hot drink, came down the stairs only to be met with Henry's fiercely determined expression—a look the nearly seventy-year-old had never seen on Henry before.

Seeing Abraham, Henry quickly masked his anger and desire for revenge, looking inquiringly at him.

"I

 just think you've been under a lot of stress since we got home...

Henry, we've brought mom back, though she's no longer with us, I believe she wouldn't want you to be too sad! After all, she loved you so much!!!"

Henry took the cup from Abraham, took a sip, and then set it down before voicing the concern plaguing him: "Abraham, you heard what Castle said. Clearly, the man who killed Abigail has been under his surveillance. Do you think I should follow his plan to seek vengeance against this Adam?"

"Of course!!! Why not avenge her? Mom was killed by that Adam, why should we let him go? Henry, I'm Jewish, and we Jews always seek justice for wrongs done!

I support Castle's plan. If Adam really can disappear and reappear like you after death, then Castle's plan to induce a brain embolism to make Adam a living but incapacitated vegetable is the perfect revenge!!!"

Henry, listening to Abraham's uncontrollably angry roar, for the first time bore a look of dark contemplation, and buried his head once more in his examination of Abigail's remains.

Meanwhile, Castle and Beckett were back at the crime scene of Dorsett Brothers' Meat Market.

Beckett watched curiously as Castle paced the scene, meticulously searching, and finally asked, "What exactly are you looking for? Or rather, what do you think you'll find?"

Stopping in his tracks, Castle crouched down and lifted the cover off a street drain.

"I found it!!"

Beckett watched, incredulous, as Castle joyfully extracted a black flower from the drain with gloved hands.

"I knew it!!! I knew this eccentric guy must have gotten some tip-off, why else would he insist on coming back here? Unfortunately, whenever I ask about his source, he plays dumb!

But who cares where the info came from? As long as it helps the case, I'll take it!"

Before Beckett could respond, Castle approached with the black flower in hand.

"Beckett, I think the killer's next target for imitation is 'The Black Dahlia'!!!"

Castle's expression was grave.

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