“Wait. How do we know the kid’s name?” Rick asked suddenly.
Ryan and Esposito shared a look. Lanie nodded at them. “Show them, boys.” Ryan pulled out a bagged piece of paper. It was small, about the size of a notecard. On the front it read, “My name is Ronnie Jacobs. I’m 8. Ask me what my favorite candy is.”
“How are we supposed to ask him what his favorite candy is?” Castle asked, his mouth moving before his brain. He cringed and looked over at Kate. “Too soon?”
Kate rolled her eyes, but Lanie piped up. “No wait, that’s a good idea.”
Kate glanced at Lanie then down at Ronnie’s body. “Why would the killer leave a note about the boy’s favorite candy after he killed him?”
“Anything on the body?” Ryan asked.
“Nothing in the boy’s clothes or hands,” Lanie responded.
“What about in the body?” Castle asked.
“In the body? Bro, what?” Esposito looked at Lanie for help, shock coloring his face.
“I can’t tell you what’s inside the body cavity until I get him back to the morgue, Castle,” Lanie replied.
“No, I mean in his mouth,” Castle clarified, sending a what did you think I meant look Epsosito’s way. “What makes a specific candy a kid’s favorite? Its taste. Check his mouth.”
Lanie reached out and pulled on the boy's chin. A rainbow of colored candy pieces tumbled out of the boy's mouth. Skittles. Talk about tasting the rainbow.
"Lanie, what's at the back of his throat?" Kate asked after a moment.
"Another piece of paper." Lanie fitted her hand into a pair of forceps and withdrew the folded sheet of paper.
Kate examined it when Lanie handed it over, then slowly unfolded the mystery paper.
Catch me if you can.
"Call Captain Montgomery." Kate said. "We may have a serial killer on the loose."
"Anything new?" Castle asked as he set her coffee down on the desk beside her. He glanced at the clock. 1:27.
"Since you left to make us coffee two minutes ago? No, nothing. The parents are grieving, but can't think of anyone or anything that would warrant their son's death. Ryan and Esposito are talking with Ronnie’s friends and their parents, and the shop owner, Ernie Davis, is rattled but otherwise perturbed. He doesn’t seem to know anything. Ronnie's dad always dropped him off at the candy shop on his way to work. Ronnie would wait for his friend to pick him up and take him the rest of the way. Every morning was the same."
"Except today."
"No, today we have a homicidal maniac who likes to kill kids, stuff their mouths with candy, and leave notes that taunt the officers who follow him." Kate can't help the frustration that leaks into her voice.
He reaches out and grasps her left hand, fiddling with the ring shining on her finger. "Hey, we're gonna get this guy, Kate. You and me, just like always."
Kate watched his hand in hers, rubbing slow, methodical circles on the back of her hand and swirling around her engagement ring. It should have been enough to pull a smile across her face, but Kate couldn't bring herself to even try.
"Kate?"
She glanced up to find his eyes. "I know, Castle. I do. It's just-- he's a kid, you know? Just a little kid. And I can't help but think--"
