Chapter 1102: A Strange Cause of Death (Patreon)

“Oh come on, Jack was just messing with you. Alexis is probably just in love,” Beckett said with a teasing smile, trying to reassure Castle.

“In love?” Castle visibly relaxed—but didn’t react quite how Jack had expected.

“So... you don’t mind Alexis dating someone before starting college?” Jack asked, genuinely surprised.

Castle looked even more surprised than Jack.
“Why would I mind? Isn’t that exactly what being young is about—sweet, awkward, beautiful romance? When did I become one of those crusty, old-fashioned dads in your eyes? I’m still the coolest dad in her class, thank you very much.”

Watching Castle recover so quickly and start cozying up to Beckett again with that goofy grin, Jack felt joy draining rapidly from his soul.
Apparently, there really were dads out there who didn’t mind their precious daughters being “taken.”

“Okay, according to the county hospital, Dr. Monroe clocked out yesterday around 6 PM. That puts her time of death roughly one to two hours later. I’m heading to the hospital later to talk to her colleagues—see if anyone knows what she did after work.” Beckett finished marking the first point on the case timeline.

Before anyone could respond, Kevin Ryan came bustling into the precinct’s bullpen.
“Hey guys! Esposito spoke with the funeral home staff. Turns out one of the rear windows was broken early this morning. They suspected a break-in and called the police. But since nothing was missing, patrol didn’t even make it out before the bodies were discovered.”

“Any prints on the coffin or the broken window?” Beckett perked up.

Ryan winced.
“Sorry—struck out completely.”

Jack, who had been scrolling through Dr. Monroe’s phone records, shot him a side-eye.
Then Esposito walked in behind him, looking rather smug.
“Maybe, but we’ve still got a swing left.”

He held up a printout.
“I went through Dr. Monroe’s credit card records. Something weird came up. For the past six months, she bought coffee from the same café every single morning—”

“A doctor who buys coffee every morning? My God, what a revelation,” Ryan deadpanned, finally seizing an opportunity to roast his partner.

“Twenty blocks from where she lives,” Esposito clarified, glaring at Ryan.

“Maybe it’s on her way to work?” Castle leaned over to peek at what Jack was looking at.

“Nope. Opposite direction,” Esposito replied, not bothering to hide his irritation.

“Maybe she had a boyfriend living nearby?” Jack suggested, handing the phone over to Castle.

“I’m heading over there now to check it out,” Esposito said, already halfway out the door. Before he left, he shot Ryan another sharp look.

Ryan quickly scrambled after him.
“I’m coming too!”

Once the clowns had left, Castle frowned at something on the screen.
“She searched for hotels in Katonah right after leaving work last night. Could be a lead?”

“Maybe she had family or friends there?” Beckett guessed.

Castle’s face lit up.
“Or maybe she was planning to meet her secret lover—and her jealous boyfriend found out and snapped! Crime of passion!”

“That’s the dumbest theory I’ve heard all week,” Beckett retorted flatly.
“Lanie said the only injury was a small bruise on the back of her head. No defensive wounds. No torn nails. No struggle. Some passion.”

Castle opened his mouth but couldn’t think of a comeback—a rare moment of defeat for the novelist.

Just then, Jack’s phone rang. Unknown number. He answered—and to his surprise, it was Lanie’s voice.
“Jack, can you come to my office? Bring Kate. And her author.”

———

“I can’t believe you called Jack instead of me,” Beckett complained as they walked into the ME’s lab.

Lanie was hunched over a microscope, focused on something.
“Because I need a favor from him. You can’t pull strings at the CSI lab.”

“You found trace evidence?” Jack guessed immediately.

“Gray nylon fibers. Probably from plastic matting. I need access to the full manufacturer database, and CSI has the most complete one. I sent the sample over, but I need someone to make a call.”

Lanie finally straightened up and gestured toward the microscope, inviting Beckett to take a look. Naturally, Castle beat her to it and shoved his face right in.

“What about the cause of death?” Beckett asked, glancing at the covered body on the table. The corpse had clearly been autopsied, but Lanie had at least draped a sheet over it.

“That’s why I called Jack,” Lanie said, pulling the sheet back to reveal only the woman’s head.
“After shaving the hair, the bruising became clearer.”

Jack leaned in and immediately recognized it.
“Knife-hand strike?” he said, miming the move. He preferred aiming at the carotid sinus, but the idea was the same.

“Bingo,” Lanie smiled. “From the size of the bruise, I’d say the attacker was a man. But he wore gloves—no DNA except the victim’s. And as I said before, this wasn’t the fatal blow.”

She turned the head to reveal the other side of the woman’s neck.
“There’s an injection mark. That’s what killed her.”

The tiny red dot stood out vividly against Valerie Monroe’s pale, flawless skin. She had likely died quickly.

“No inflammation. You couldn’t have done a full tox screen yet—but you’re confident it’s the cause of death. So... air injection?” Jack guessed.

“Air embolism?” Castle jumped in, finally contributing something useful.

“Correct, both of you,” Lanie confirmed, giving them a flirtatious wink.
“The injection was clean and confident. I’d bet money the killer has medical training—possibly a nurse or a doctor.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed slightly as he mentally replayed the possibilities.
A skilled attacker. Minimal trace. Clean method.

He didn’t say it aloud—but the question was forming:
Was Dr. Valerie Monroe a random victim—or someone the killer had known very, very well?