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Title: Black Edelweiss
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 2,747
Summary: Two weeks after Claire Bennet's televised leap from the Ferris wheel, the 12th handles it's first case delving into the strange world of specials. Evidence points the investigation toward a former Company Agent, a man Noah Bennet would swear up and down doesn't exist.
Details: Minimal details due to inflation. Full details in main post.
PREV: Chapter Two // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 1
Chapter 3: Truth or Dare
If you have any answers, We will be glad to provide full and detailed questions.
—Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, Illuminatus!
Things had turned busy right after that.
There had been some degree of uncertainty about when the agents would arrive. Until that happened, Kateinsisted, the case was still theirs, and they would make as much headway into it as possible. Now, it was past noon, and they knew time was growing short. Javier did his best to pull his weight, but his mind kept straying to a different topic entirely...
As far as he'd been able to turn up over the past two weeks, the DSA didn't exist—yet. Still, it was easy for him to see the beginnings of its formation already taking shape.
"Specials-involved" had quickly become the politically neutral term for any activity or situations where specials were acutely concerned, regardless of whether they were the perpetrator or the victim. This early in the game, any sort of bill or agreement from Congress was far too much to hope for. Still, an official response was needed. The federal government's answer, so far, had been the very strong recommendation that law enforcement entities coordinate with the FBI in any specials-involved activity cropping up in their sphere.
Enter Noah Bennet.
Soon after Claire's leap, her father had appeared all over the news in multiple interviews. Though years younger, Javier had easily recognized the man he'd run into in that hallway in Washington. Coverage spun him as a proud, but protective father who had done his best to shelter his daughter from all the threats posed by her circumstances. Javier had found it all rather bland and suspiciously vague. A discreet search of his own hadn't turned up much more, however. As far as he had been able to discover, until only a few years ago, Mr. Bennet had been a traveling sales representative for a small paper manufacturer based out of a nowhere town in Texas. In 2007, Primatech's headquarters had burned to the ground, and the company had seemingly gone belly-up after that.
In 2009, however, Bennet's name had shown up on an out of the way government bank roll. Any information to be had there was shrouded in vagaries and bureaucratic nonsense, and Javier hadn't been able to find out much without calling attention to himself. As best he could learn Mr. Bennet had been engaged as a "civilian consultant" on some kind of domestic op. Thinking back, Javier remembered that was about when the late Senator Petrelli had begun his push against a loosely defined "terrorist" threat based in the States. He remembered the footage leaked to the news of what were supposedly American citizens black-bagged and in custody. Nothing had ever come of the allegations, and Javier never found anything linking it to specials—or Bennet specifically—but he knew there was a connection there.
And apparently media attention and a Presidential recommendation had both gone a long way toward winning Noah Bennet's appointment as the FBI's Specials Affairs liaison.
Specials Affairs, Javier turned the phrase over in his head, marveling at whatever government goon had cooked it up. It was a no-brainer what the "DSA" stood for.
"Huh. Thought that address looked familiar."
Javier looked away from his screen—Barbara had seemingly been a very good girl prior to her assault on two police officers, with very boring financials—raising an eyebrow at Kevin's comment. His partner had sat back from his own computer with a bemused expression on his face.
"Find something?" Kate asked, her tone almost hopeful.
"Probably not," Kevin admitted as he spun his chair to face the others, "but our case isn't the first murder that building has seen. Back in '06, that same apartment was being rented as a studio by a comic book artist named Isaac Mendez. You know, I used to read his book, 9th Wonders, which believe it or not was actually about these ordinary people with—"
"Tangent, Ryan." Kate warned, mindful of the clock.
"Sorry," Kevin apologized, moving on. "Anyway, the FBI kept a close lid on things, and I was still in Narcotics, but, you know, you hear things. And it sounded like Mendez was just one in a series of very gruesome murders where the victims were all beheaded."
"Huh," Castle said, expression rapt. "It would be a significant change in MO, but are you thinking it could be the same killer?"
"The man who killed Isaac Mendez wouldn't have used a sword."
The new voice drew everyone's attention like a magnet.
Noah Bennet stood in the doorway, browsing through a folder which Javier had to assume were the copies Montgomery had them make of their case. As many times as Javier had glimpsed his face on the television, having the man standing in the same room—in his precinct—was another thing entirely. Bennet looked away from the papers in his hand, taking stock of the team with that sharp gaze Javier remembered all too well.
"Agent Bennet," Kate greeted tepidly, rising to meet him. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett."
Bennet shook her hand, with a nod.
"Technically speaking, I'm not a member of the FBI," Bennet corrected, affably, "and therefore not an agent. In fact, I'm afraid I have very little real authority here. For the time being the Bureau wants me to tread lightly. I'm sure your team will be relieved to hear I'm only here in a...supervisory capacity. "
"You mean this is a publicity stunt," Javier commented as he, too, stood.
Bennet's smile was tight, but he gave a slight nod. He turned an appraising eye on Javier. His expression was difficult to read, and those stupid glasses he wore certainly didn't help. Still, somehow Javier felt like he'd already given something away.
"Just so, Detective...?" Bennet offered his hand.
"Esposito," Javier supplied, tersely. "Javier Esposito."
He shook the hand firmly, resisting the urge to put more strength into his grip than he needed to. He had decided he wanted Bennet to dislike him, not think he felt threatened. From the corner of his eye, Javier saw Kevin's frown, his partner more than aware he was being unusually disagreeable.
"Right now, Detective, my position is more or less a placeholder. The public needs to feel they're being kept safe from this new...threat," Bennet said, his voice lingering on that last word unhappily. "The wheels are in motion for the development of something with a bit more substance, but as with all things in Washington, seeing that come to fruition will take time."
"Baby steps," Javier observed with a condescending nod.
It was at that moment Castle pushed past him, taking Bennet's hand in both of his in a hearty shake. Whether or not it had been Castle's conscious intent to defuse the situation, it managed to do so rather cleanly.
"Mr. Bennet. I'm Richard Castle. Can I just say how thrilled I am to meet you."
"Castle," Bennet said with a cautious frown. "The writer. Of course. I remember Captain Montgomery mentioned you."
"Listen," Castle asked, lowering his voice slightly, "do you think after this is over, I could ask you—"
"What about the quiet one?" a new voice asked, interrupting. "He's cute."
Kevin turned toward the door and Javier saw his eyes widen. As Javier followed his gaze, he immediately understood why.
The woman who had joined them behind Bennet was tall and classically gorgeous: leggy, with long blonde hair, and despite her professional attire she reminded Javier of a sinful Barbie doll. Perhaps ironically, considering it wasn't the only way in which she seemed familiar. As she stepped forward, toward his partner, Javier found himself wanting to intercept, but a glance had him taking his cue from Bennet. The smug bastard was smiling.
"Before we come to any unfortunate misunderstandings, Detective," she said to Kevin, offering her hand. "I'm Tracy Strauss. Bennet's partner."
Kevin looked at the hand for a moment, though whether his hesitation was out of fear or simple nervousness even Javier couldn't guess.
"Uh, Ryan," he managed once he snapped out of it, shaking her hand lightly with a self-conscious grin. "Detective Kevin Ryan."
Ms. Strauss smiled brightly.
"Well," Bennet said finally, "now that we've gotten past introductions, maybe we should get to work."
(—
=)
"At least now we know the Mengele connection," Castle said quietly, though it was more a stage whisper than anything.
"Hm?" Kate diverted her attention from Kevin's enthusiastic effort to get Bennet and Ms. Strauss caught up on the case. Once it was clear that the case had become classified as "specials-involved", they'd moved their operation. The team and the two consultants were now operating out of one of the small side offices where, hopefully, they could keep the details clear of prying eyes.
"Twins, Beckett. Well, triplets, but still. Mengele was known for his experiments on twins." Castle stopped with a sudden blink. "Or what if they're not really triplets. What if they're clones, like The Boys from Brazil?"
"Castle, is this what you spent your time on earlier?"
Castle's sheepish look told her the answer.
"I'm telling you, Kate, the Auschwitz thing has got to be more significant than that letter lets on..."
"I'd like to take a look at that letter," Bennet said, looking their way before turning back toward Kevin. "If you don't mind."
Kevin nodded and pulled down the copy of the translation they had tacked to the murder board. Tracy took it gratefully, holding it out so that Bennet could read it over her shoulder as well.
"Konrad Reichardt is here in Manhattan," Tracy read aloud. "I saw him yesterday. I'm sure it was him. I know I was only a little girl when I last remember seeing him, but I still recognized him. It never seemed fair to me that his animosity toward you should have cost you your position at the company. I had friends there, and I lost them when we were forced to leave. Whatever else I've forgotten, I never forgot that."
Kate wasn't positive, but she thought she saw Bennet frown.
"I know you've been content to forget, but now that the world knows about us, we don't have that luxury anymore. My sister's visit should have proved that." Tracy paused, a guilty expression touching her features briefly before she continued. "To know where we stand in this new order of things, we have to learn more about what parts you played in its development. Confronting Reichardt may be our only chance to fill in the blanks."
"I know there was bad blood between you, but you've always told me it was less personal than it seemed. That it wasn't you that Konrad hated so much as the reminder you served for what he endured at Auschwitz at the hands of Josef Mengele. I know you've admitted to losing sight of ethics in your passion for your work," another pause from Tracy, this time with an amused quirk to her mouth, "but it is an unfair comparison by any stretch of the word. But that was a long time ago, and if we're lucky, he may have put whatever issues he actually had with you behind him. He might be willing to talk to us. Please consider it. Love, Barb."
"I don't buy it," Javier said suddenly.
It startled Kate slightly, as he hadn't said more than a handful of words since the introductions had ended.
"What about the letter is confusing, Detective Esposito?" Bennet asked.
"It's not the letter that's confusing me, it's her," Javier said, nodding toward Tracy, and Kate saw his partner shoot him a concerned look. "The two of you just happened to be in New York, on the day the case is opened, and your partner just happens to be related to a key person of interest?"
"It does seem like a remarkably unusual coincidence," Kate reasoned, as soon as she saw what Javier was getting at.
Oddly, Bennet didn't seem to take offense.
"Detectives," Bennet said, "I've worked around specials for more than twenty years, and I've seen some amazing things, but the one thing I don't believe in is 'coincidence'."
"They employ a lot of specials at that paper company in Texas?" Javier challenged.
Kate had no idea what he was talking about. Though from his surprised reaction—if one could call it that—Bennet clearly did. He seemed to consider his answer for a short time, when he spoke it was to all of them.
"This information is need-to-know, but since I can already tell it's going to feature highly in this investigation, you obviously need to know it. But it does not leave this room." He cast a pointed glance at Castle. "Is that understood?"
Kate and the other two detectives all looked at Castle, who shot them a betrayed glance in return. He held up three fingers in a salute.
"Scouts honor—"
"Castle," she warned lightly, aware of the ploy.
"Fine, I promise," he said with a huff, taking a seat at the table.
Kate figured she might as well follow suit, and Kevin and Javier followed her lead.
"Primatech Paper," Bennet began, his eyes moving over Javier with a measuring look, "was a front for a private civilian organization founded in the mid-60s with the specific goal of managing specials affairs. It was composed of both specials and standard humans working in the interest of protecting specials from discovery, learning how abilities work, and preventing their abuse. To help distinguish it from it's cover, members of the organization simply called it the Company."
"So, the company Barbara mentions in the letter was the Company. Zimmerman worked for you guys," Kevin ventured curiously.
"Yes, though as the letter also mentions his employment was terminated in 1991," Bennet said. He paused then, taking a seat with a pensive frown. "Unfortunately, I was there when Zimmerman was dismissed, and can't recall Reichardt's involvement in that incident. In fact, I don't remember a Konrad Reichardt working for the Company at all."
"So..." Castle asked, sitting back. "Where does this leave the investigation? Is that a dead end?"
"Not entirely," Bennet admitted. "Most of Primatech's files were destroyed in the fire at its main facility. There were backups, but tracking them down would take some time. The year before the fire saw the deaths of all but one of the Company's founders, and after the destruction of the headquarters its resources and remaining agents wound up scattered to the wind. But there is one person who might be able to tell us more about Konrad Reichardt and his connection to the Company, if it exists. In fact, she was the reason I came to Manhattan in the first place."
"Alright," Kate said, regarding her team. "We still need to find Barbara. Castle and I will accompany Mr. Bennet on his visit, see if we can't find out more about Reichardt."
Since Bennet had as much as admitted it was still their case, she left out any room for debate.
"Esposito, Ryan, I want you to check Barbara's place of work, see if she's been back there, find out if anyone knows where she might have gone. The usual drill."
"Right," Kevin said. "If that doesn't turn anything up, I found a hotel room booked under the victim's name. We'll swing by there, and see what we can find."
Kate nodded.
"Tracy, I want you to go along with them," Bennet said to his partner. "If she sees them again, she might run, but if she sees you, she might think twice."
(—
=)
Before they headed out, Noah took a moment to speak with Tracy alone.
"Keep an eye on them," Noah told her, looking out to the bullpen where the Homicide team was gathering their gear. "Angela didn't give me any details about why I had to be in New York, but I'm sure now this case is it."
"You think she dreamed something?" Tracy said, the importance of that well understood between the two of them. Bennet nodded.
"This is the first real incident we've had since Samuel was arrested," he said, "I don't have to tell you what happens if this goes badly..."
"At least the team seems pretty sharp," Tracy said.
It wasn't like her to be optimistic, and Noah could only agree with her assessment.
"Maybe too sharp," Noah speculated, his eyes following the two male detectives where they waited. "Tracy, I want you to send a text to your nephew. See what he can dig up on this team. In particular, I want to know what he can find about Detective Esposito."
PREV: Chapter Two // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 1
Author's Note: I feel bad about the Barbie doll comment. I love Ali Larter, I really do. Still, facts are facts.
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 2,747
Summary: Two weeks after Claire Bennet's televised leap from the Ferris wheel, the 12th handles it's first case delving into the strange world of specials. Evidence points the investigation toward a former Company Agent, a man Noah Bennet would swear up and down doesn't exist.
Details: Minimal details due to inflation. Full details in main post.
PREV: Chapter Two // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 1
Chapter 3: Truth or Dare
If you have any answers, We will be glad to provide full and detailed questions.
—Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, Illuminatus!
Things had turned busy right after that.
There had been some degree of uncertainty about when the agents would arrive. Until that happened, Kateinsisted, the case was still theirs, and they would make as much headway into it as possible. Now, it was past noon, and they knew time was growing short. Javier did his best to pull his weight, but his mind kept straying to a different topic entirely...
As far as he'd been able to turn up over the past two weeks, the DSA didn't exist—yet. Still, it was easy for him to see the beginnings of its formation already taking shape.
"Specials-involved" had quickly become the politically neutral term for any activity or situations where specials were acutely concerned, regardless of whether they were the perpetrator or the victim. This early in the game, any sort of bill or agreement from Congress was far too much to hope for. Still, an official response was needed. The federal government's answer, so far, had been the very strong recommendation that law enforcement entities coordinate with the FBI in any specials-involved activity cropping up in their sphere.
Enter Noah Bennet.
Soon after Claire's leap, her father had appeared all over the news in multiple interviews. Though years younger, Javier had easily recognized the man he'd run into in that hallway in Washington. Coverage spun him as a proud, but protective father who had done his best to shelter his daughter from all the threats posed by her circumstances. Javier had found it all rather bland and suspiciously vague. A discreet search of his own hadn't turned up much more, however. As far as he had been able to discover, until only a few years ago, Mr. Bennet had been a traveling sales representative for a small paper manufacturer based out of a nowhere town in Texas. In 2007, Primatech's headquarters had burned to the ground, and the company had seemingly gone belly-up after that.
In 2009, however, Bennet's name had shown up on an out of the way government bank roll. Any information to be had there was shrouded in vagaries and bureaucratic nonsense, and Javier hadn't been able to find out much without calling attention to himself. As best he could learn Mr. Bennet had been engaged as a "civilian consultant" on some kind of domestic op. Thinking back, Javier remembered that was about when the late Senator Petrelli had begun his push against a loosely defined "terrorist" threat based in the States. He remembered the footage leaked to the news of what were supposedly American citizens black-bagged and in custody. Nothing had ever come of the allegations, and Javier never found anything linking it to specials—or Bennet specifically—but he knew there was a connection there.
And apparently media attention and a Presidential recommendation had both gone a long way toward winning Noah Bennet's appointment as the FBI's Specials Affairs liaison.
Specials Affairs, Javier turned the phrase over in his head, marveling at whatever government goon had cooked it up. It was a no-brainer what the "DSA" stood for.
"Huh. Thought that address looked familiar."
Javier looked away from his screen—Barbara had seemingly been a very good girl prior to her assault on two police officers, with very boring financials—raising an eyebrow at Kevin's comment. His partner had sat back from his own computer with a bemused expression on his face.
"Find something?" Kate asked, her tone almost hopeful.
"Probably not," Kevin admitted as he spun his chair to face the others, "but our case isn't the first murder that building has seen. Back in '06, that same apartment was being rented as a studio by a comic book artist named Isaac Mendez. You know, I used to read his book, 9th Wonders, which believe it or not was actually about these ordinary people with—"
"Tangent, Ryan." Kate warned, mindful of the clock.
"Sorry," Kevin apologized, moving on. "Anyway, the FBI kept a close lid on things, and I was still in Narcotics, but, you know, you hear things. And it sounded like Mendez was just one in a series of very gruesome murders where the victims were all beheaded."
"Huh," Castle said, expression rapt. "It would be a significant change in MO, but are you thinking it could be the same killer?"
"The man who killed Isaac Mendez wouldn't have used a sword."
The new voice drew everyone's attention like a magnet.
Noah Bennet stood in the doorway, browsing through a folder which Javier had to assume were the copies Montgomery had them make of their case. As many times as Javier had glimpsed his face on the television, having the man standing in the same room—in his precinct—was another thing entirely. Bennet looked away from the papers in his hand, taking stock of the team with that sharp gaze Javier remembered all too well.
"Agent Bennet," Kate greeted tepidly, rising to meet him. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett."
Bennet shook her hand, with a nod.
"Technically speaking, I'm not a member of the FBI," Bennet corrected, affably, "and therefore not an agent. In fact, I'm afraid I have very little real authority here. For the time being the Bureau wants me to tread lightly. I'm sure your team will be relieved to hear I'm only here in a...supervisory capacity. "
"You mean this is a publicity stunt," Javier commented as he, too, stood.
Bennet's smile was tight, but he gave a slight nod. He turned an appraising eye on Javier. His expression was difficult to read, and those stupid glasses he wore certainly didn't help. Still, somehow Javier felt like he'd already given something away.
"Just so, Detective...?" Bennet offered his hand.
"Esposito," Javier supplied, tersely. "Javier Esposito."
He shook the hand firmly, resisting the urge to put more strength into his grip than he needed to. He had decided he wanted Bennet to dislike him, not think he felt threatened. From the corner of his eye, Javier saw Kevin's frown, his partner more than aware he was being unusually disagreeable.
"Right now, Detective, my position is more or less a placeholder. The public needs to feel they're being kept safe from this new...threat," Bennet said, his voice lingering on that last word unhappily. "The wheels are in motion for the development of something with a bit more substance, but as with all things in Washington, seeing that come to fruition will take time."
"Baby steps," Javier observed with a condescending nod.
It was at that moment Castle pushed past him, taking Bennet's hand in both of his in a hearty shake. Whether or not it had been Castle's conscious intent to defuse the situation, it managed to do so rather cleanly.
"Mr. Bennet. I'm Richard Castle. Can I just say how thrilled I am to meet you."
"Castle," Bennet said with a cautious frown. "The writer. Of course. I remember Captain Montgomery mentioned you."
"Listen," Castle asked, lowering his voice slightly, "do you think after this is over, I could ask you—"
"What about the quiet one?" a new voice asked, interrupting. "He's cute."
Kevin turned toward the door and Javier saw his eyes widen. As Javier followed his gaze, he immediately understood why.
The woman who had joined them behind Bennet was tall and classically gorgeous: leggy, with long blonde hair, and despite her professional attire she reminded Javier of a sinful Barbie doll. Perhaps ironically, considering it wasn't the only way in which she seemed familiar. As she stepped forward, toward his partner, Javier found himself wanting to intercept, but a glance had him taking his cue from Bennet. The smug bastard was smiling.
"Before we come to any unfortunate misunderstandings, Detective," she said to Kevin, offering her hand. "I'm Tracy Strauss. Bennet's partner."
Kevin looked at the hand for a moment, though whether his hesitation was out of fear or simple nervousness even Javier couldn't guess.
"Uh, Ryan," he managed once he snapped out of it, shaking her hand lightly with a self-conscious grin. "Detective Kevin Ryan."
Ms. Strauss smiled brightly.
"Well," Bennet said finally, "now that we've gotten past introductions, maybe we should get to work."
(—
=)
"At least now we know the Mengele connection," Castle said quietly, though it was more a stage whisper than anything.
"Hm?" Kate diverted her attention from Kevin's enthusiastic effort to get Bennet and Ms. Strauss caught up on the case. Once it was clear that the case had become classified as "specials-involved", they'd moved their operation. The team and the two consultants were now operating out of one of the small side offices where, hopefully, they could keep the details clear of prying eyes.
"Twins, Beckett. Well, triplets, but still. Mengele was known for his experiments on twins." Castle stopped with a sudden blink. "Or what if they're not really triplets. What if they're clones, like The Boys from Brazil?"
"Castle, is this what you spent your time on earlier?"
Castle's sheepish look told her the answer.
"I'm telling you, Kate, the Auschwitz thing has got to be more significant than that letter lets on..."
"I'd like to take a look at that letter," Bennet said, looking their way before turning back toward Kevin. "If you don't mind."
Kevin nodded and pulled down the copy of the translation they had tacked to the murder board. Tracy took it gratefully, holding it out so that Bennet could read it over her shoulder as well.
"Konrad Reichardt is here in Manhattan," Tracy read aloud. "I saw him yesterday. I'm sure it was him. I know I was only a little girl when I last remember seeing him, but I still recognized him. It never seemed fair to me that his animosity toward you should have cost you your position at the company. I had friends there, and I lost them when we were forced to leave. Whatever else I've forgotten, I never forgot that."
Kate wasn't positive, but she thought she saw Bennet frown.
"I know you've been content to forget, but now that the world knows about us, we don't have that luxury anymore. My sister's visit should have proved that." Tracy paused, a guilty expression touching her features briefly before she continued. "To know where we stand in this new order of things, we have to learn more about what parts you played in its development. Confronting Reichardt may be our only chance to fill in the blanks."
"I know there was bad blood between you, but you've always told me it was less personal than it seemed. That it wasn't you that Konrad hated so much as the reminder you served for what he endured at Auschwitz at the hands of Josef Mengele. I know you've admitted to losing sight of ethics in your passion for your work," another pause from Tracy, this time with an amused quirk to her mouth, "but it is an unfair comparison by any stretch of the word. But that was a long time ago, and if we're lucky, he may have put whatever issues he actually had with you behind him. He might be willing to talk to us. Please consider it. Love, Barb."
"I don't buy it," Javier said suddenly.
It startled Kate slightly, as he hadn't said more than a handful of words since the introductions had ended.
"What about the letter is confusing, Detective Esposito?" Bennet asked.
"It's not the letter that's confusing me, it's her," Javier said, nodding toward Tracy, and Kate saw his partner shoot him a concerned look. "The two of you just happened to be in New York, on the day the case is opened, and your partner just happens to be related to a key person of interest?"
"It does seem like a remarkably unusual coincidence," Kate reasoned, as soon as she saw what Javier was getting at.
Oddly, Bennet didn't seem to take offense.
"Detectives," Bennet said, "I've worked around specials for more than twenty years, and I've seen some amazing things, but the one thing I don't believe in is 'coincidence'."
"They employ a lot of specials at that paper company in Texas?" Javier challenged.
Kate had no idea what he was talking about. Though from his surprised reaction—if one could call it that—Bennet clearly did. He seemed to consider his answer for a short time, when he spoke it was to all of them.
"This information is need-to-know, but since I can already tell it's going to feature highly in this investigation, you obviously need to know it. But it does not leave this room." He cast a pointed glance at Castle. "Is that understood?"
Kate and the other two detectives all looked at Castle, who shot them a betrayed glance in return. He held up three fingers in a salute.
"Scouts honor—"
"Castle," she warned lightly, aware of the ploy.
"Fine, I promise," he said with a huff, taking a seat at the table.
Kate figured she might as well follow suit, and Kevin and Javier followed her lead.
"Primatech Paper," Bennet began, his eyes moving over Javier with a measuring look, "was a front for a private civilian organization founded in the mid-60s with the specific goal of managing specials affairs. It was composed of both specials and standard humans working in the interest of protecting specials from discovery, learning how abilities work, and preventing their abuse. To help distinguish it from it's cover, members of the organization simply called it the Company."
"So, the company Barbara mentions in the letter was the Company. Zimmerman worked for you guys," Kevin ventured curiously.
"Yes, though as the letter also mentions his employment was terminated in 1991," Bennet said. He paused then, taking a seat with a pensive frown. "Unfortunately, I was there when Zimmerman was dismissed, and can't recall Reichardt's involvement in that incident. In fact, I don't remember a Konrad Reichardt working for the Company at all."
"So..." Castle asked, sitting back. "Where does this leave the investigation? Is that a dead end?"
"Not entirely," Bennet admitted. "Most of Primatech's files were destroyed in the fire at its main facility. There were backups, but tracking them down would take some time. The year before the fire saw the deaths of all but one of the Company's founders, and after the destruction of the headquarters its resources and remaining agents wound up scattered to the wind. But there is one person who might be able to tell us more about Konrad Reichardt and his connection to the Company, if it exists. In fact, she was the reason I came to Manhattan in the first place."
"Alright," Kate said, regarding her team. "We still need to find Barbara. Castle and I will accompany Mr. Bennet on his visit, see if we can't find out more about Reichardt."
Since Bennet had as much as admitted it was still their case, she left out any room for debate.
"Esposito, Ryan, I want you to check Barbara's place of work, see if she's been back there, find out if anyone knows where she might have gone. The usual drill."
"Right," Kevin said. "If that doesn't turn anything up, I found a hotel room booked under the victim's name. We'll swing by there, and see what we can find."
Kate nodded.
"Tracy, I want you to go along with them," Bennet said to his partner. "If she sees them again, she might run, but if she sees you, she might think twice."
(—
=)
Before they headed out, Noah took a moment to speak with Tracy alone.
"Keep an eye on them," Noah told her, looking out to the bullpen where the Homicide team was gathering their gear. "Angela didn't give me any details about why I had to be in New York, but I'm sure now this case is it."
"You think she dreamed something?" Tracy said, the importance of that well understood between the two of them. Bennet nodded.
"This is the first real incident we've had since Samuel was arrested," he said, "I don't have to tell you what happens if this goes badly..."
"At least the team seems pretty sharp," Tracy said.
It wasn't like her to be optimistic, and Noah could only agree with her assessment.
"Maybe too sharp," Noah speculated, his eyes following the two male detectives where they waited. "Tracy, I want you to send a text to your nephew. See what he can dig up on this team. In particular, I want to know what he can find about Detective Esposito."
PREV: Chapter Two // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude 1
Author's Note: I feel bad about the Barbie doll comment. I love Ali Larter, I really do. Still, facts are facts.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: Tuesday, 23 August 2011 12:24 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Tuesday, 23 August 2011 04:17 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Sunday, 29 January 2012 10:18 am (UTC)From:Oh, yeah. Now, there's a way to describe Tracy! ^^
Castle made me laugh. All his antics and his excitement and his fake scout's honor. :P
Too bad Kate knows him so much, huh?
God, I can't wait to see what happens to all of them. I mean, in his glimpse into the future, there wasn't any mention of Castle or Beckett. Just 'Final Heat' and the fact that Castle kept on writing about specials after that.
I hope 'final' means the end of the series, not of the inspiration. *shudders*
Hm... the plot thickens.
Micah's going to tail Javi, huh? Well, he's a good kid.
Maybe *he* will get to the message.
Anywhoo... Off to work now. *nodnod*
Am I REAAAALLY gonna have to find myself a Heroes icon?
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Date: Sunday, 29 January 2012 09:22 pm (UTC)From:Yeah, he's so much fun to write, and one of the only ones I can count on not to let angst take over their actions.
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Date: Sunday, 29 January 2012 10:23 am (UTC)From:I'm hoping to see her here, but... yeah. There were so many weird character disapearances that I just... I may need to rewatch it all.
Sadly, no can do just yet.
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Date: Sunday, 29 January 2012 09:23 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Sunday, 29 January 2012 10:04 pm (UTC)From:I don't know what the writers were on, but I loved Elle and they ruined it for me. :(
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Date: Saturday, 14 July 2012 12:56 pm (UTC)From:Plus, I have to go get wood chip mulch now for the rest of the morning, which makes me really pouty that I can't just keep reading. :(
This was awesome. I love it.
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Date: Saturday, 14 July 2012 06:08 pm (UTC)From: