Chapter 56: Adam

"A black dahlia? You think the killer left this flower at the scene as a clue for the police?

Then, your guess must be right again!

If this was intentionally left here by the killer, then it's very likely he is provoking someone!"

Beckett looked at the black flower in her hand with a serious expression.

"Let's go, there's nothing worth searching for here anymore!"

Having found the black flower, Castle knew there wouldn't be any more clues here and took the initiative to call Beckett to leave together.

"What should we do next? Even if we know that the killer's next imitation is the black dahlia, we can't know who his target is. Are we just supposed to wait and watch?"

Beckett's sense of responsibility wouldn't allow her to just give up, so she asked Castle, who had already proven himself capable.

"We have too little information right now, just a corpse killed by imitation and this flower. So, we can only wait, wait for this imitator to act again. Only then can we have more clues or pray that the killer makes a mistake. Let's head back to the precinct first!"

Castle, of course, couldn't tell Beckett that he actually knew everything, like who the killer was, where he was now, and how to find him. Adam had to be left for Henry, as a cornerstone for gaining Henry's friendship and enticing him to join his team.

As for how Henry would handle Adam, that wasn't within Castle's concerns.

Beckett also knew Castle was telling the truth, but her sense of responsibility made her feel very anxious about their current powerless situation. However, she acknowledged Castle's logic and stopped fretting, returning with him to the 12th precinct.

Once back at the precinct, Castle began to stir things up: "Beckett, I can't be much help here now. How about I use some of my own channels to gather information?"

Beckett had expected Castle to say something like this and could only warn him again, conflicted and helplessly, that he had no law enforcement authority. He could only investigate, and no matter what he found, he couldn't act alone. He had to inform her!

With Beckett's permission, and after promising not to act alone again, Castle left the precinct alone. While Beckett and the others were busy gathering clues, Henry was probably arranging Abigail's affairs, so the task of probing Adam fell to Castle alone.

After all, it was best to keep the secret of Adam being an immortal known only among himself and Henry's family; otherwise, it could easily attract unwanted attention.

Relying on the fact that Adam did not yet know he had been exposed, and that he did not recognize Castle, he headed towards the New York Seventh Psychiatric Hospital, determined to monitor Adam's movements today.

In his office at the Seventh Psychiatric Hospital, Adam, an ancient being from over two millennia ago, was delightfully oppressing a newfound peer and was thrilled with his ongoing plans. Little did he know, disaster was about to strike.

Decades ago, Adam knew there was another immortal like him. He had been in a car accident and was rushed to a hospital in New Jersey, where he met Abigail, who had run away from home. It was there that he unintentionally learned from Abigail that her husband was also like him!

At that time, Adam was almost ecstatic. He had lived alone for over two thousand years, not daring to let anyone know he was an immortal monster. What was worse, he had been captured during World War II and brutally dissected by scientists for several years. The scientists, upon learning that he would resurrect in a river after death, even stationed troops to guard the river. If he died during their experiments, they would retrieve him from the riverbank.

Tormented repeatedly, Adam's psyche had been severely twisted. Now knowing he was not alone, the excitement made him deliberately get closer to Abigail to learn about her husband.

Unfortunately, he underestimated Abigail, who had served as a nurse in World War II and was very protective of Henry, loving him too much to reveal his secret. Seeing through Adam's intentions, Abigail pretended to take him to her husband but drove off the road, hoping to kill both herself and Adam to protect her husband's secret.

Tragically, Abigail was gravely injured, but Adam, sitting in the passenger seat, seemed indifferent to his injuries and continued to press the severely injured Abigail for information. Finally, after confirming that Abigail would rather die than disclose anything, Adam brutally slit her throat and left her alone in a small forest in New Jersey.

Disheartened but not discouraged, Adam had since focused his attention on New York, knowing that someone like him was hidden among the city's population. With enough patience and skill, he would eventually find him.

As time went on, advancements in technology and society made communication much faster and easier, allowing Adam to

 finally identify and confirm a suspect – Henry Morgan, the chief medical examiner of New York.

Elated that fate had not forsaken him, Adam arranged a test by exploiting a subway derailment involving fifteen people to confirm that Henry was indeed the immortal he had been searching for.

Perhaps everyone has a fantasy of being a mysterious old man; after confirming Henry was his kin, Adam started his cryptic machinations. Watching Henry puzzle over a photograph sent to him from 1958, which showed him with Abigail, brought Adam great pleasure.

But that was not enough for Adam, who had long become indifferent to human life. Seeing Henry's happy life with his adoptive son, he was dissatisfied and wanted to turn Henry into a demon like himself. Thus, a new round of oppression began with his own hands, imitating Jack the Ripper by brutally killing a call girl known as 'Mary Kelly,' sending another signal to Henry.

Adam knew exactly what Henry feared. The fear of being discovered as immortal was their greatest commonality, and thus, he reminded Henry, "I've always been watching you!"

Adam planned to gradually destroy Henry's values and outlook on life, hoping to slowly draw him into his camp.

Adam was in no rush, for time meant nothing to both him and Henry. Watching Henry slowly become the person he desired was an intoxicating satisfaction for Adam.

Unfortunately, this perfect plan had one fatal flaw: Adam did not know that there was now someone who understood him thoroughly and was deeply familiar with the plot – Richard Castle.

And this flaw was deadly, as Castle was already on his way to confront Adam, alone in his office, daydreaming about slowly transforming Henry.

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