“Colin Anders, you are under arrest for the murder of Kaylan Richardson!”
For Kate Beckett, that declaration induced one of two behaviors in her suspects. They ran or they went quietly. Most of her suspects chose the former. So did Colin Anders. Kate learned a couple things during her chase. One was that high heels were not conducive to running on a farm. The other was that even though horses were flight animals, they made fantastic body blockers. And the panic they induced made it hard for Anders to escape. Of course, Kate was all too happy to let Esposito actually capture the man. She had a feeling she would be needing a new pair of shoes.
“You got him?” She asked Esposito. He grunted as an answer and wrenched Anders’ arms behind his back harder before pulling out his cuffs and tightening them around Anders’ wrists. “Now,” Kate continued, pushing her hair behind her shoulder and leveling her gun at the man, “Colin Anders, you’re under arrest for the murder of Kaylan Richardson. You have the right to remain silent.” Anders made a move to get away, but Kate was quickly in his face. “I suggest you act on that right, as well as the one where you begin to cooperate. Because we’ve got you. There’s no where left to run.”
“We found the knife you used on Kaylan in your apartment. It’s being sent to our lab to be checked for her DNA and your fingerprints,” Kate told Anders as she and Castle entered the interrogation room back at the precinct. “But before we get into that, let me tell you the story about a girl who had big dreams of making it in the racing industry. She had talent with horses, this girl. Some called her a prodigy. She was one hell of a jockey, but her real goal was to become a top-notch trainer, and to eventually own her own stable. More than one person noticed her, though. She was already working for one of them when a second man, a better, more accomplished man approached her and offered her the deal of a lifetime. You see, he’d heard about a plan to ruin this girl’s career. Another trainer and jockey, jealous of this girl, had decided to ruin her career, to ruin her chances at a better life. They were going to frame her for using performance enhancers on her horses. So this better man, he offered her a place at his stable as his new star jockey.” Kate watched as Anders’ eyes blazed in anger and he shifted in his chair. “But here’s the thing about this girl,” she continued, catching his eye, “She was an honest, hard working woman. She never took the easy way out. She worked hard for everything she earned. So she refused this better man. He wanted her to throw a race, to let his horse win and secure herself a position at his stable. But Kaylan couldn’t do that. So she walked away. She walked away from her chance at her dream. Despite the fact that life would have been easier, despite the fact that she would have had a better life there, a life away from a trainer with a temper, she did the honorable thing and stayed.” Kate leaned back and let the words sink in. Anders’ eyes were wide, his face blank, in shock. Then, very carefully, very quietly, “And you killed her anyway.”
“But you don’t understand!” He cried, jumping out of his chair. “She was leaving me, leaving Bent Tree for those people at Breaking Meadows. She was! I saw her talking to Townsend before her race. She shrugged him off and they swapped what looked like terse words, but when she stalked off he had a look on his face. He was happy or something. So I knew it. I knew she was leaving. And then she didn’t win her race! She got second to last place and that jockey for Breaking Meadows won. Jessie Rines. I called her out on it but she shrugged, saying that Mystery just faded, that we were pushing her beyond her limit to fun a 9 furlong race. But I knew.” Anders fell back into his chair and let his head fall into his hands. “I thought the same as you, but she wasn’t what you thought, that girl. She was a liar and a cheater just like the rest of us.”
“How did you know?” Castle asked quietly. “How did you know she was just as ruthless as the rest of you?”
“She threw that race.”
