Reborn as an American Writer

Beckett, having made her decision, chose to trust Castle's bold hypothesis. She instructed Esposito and Ryan to focus on investigating the fiancée, Sarah Reed. Meanwhile, uniformed officers were tasked with thoroughly searching the vicinity of Carl Borg's residence, the New York Recycling Company owner who was Castle's primary suspect. Although Beckett wasn't sure it would yield anything, she had pressured Castle into revealing his thoughts, and he rarely spouted nonsense about a case. Trusting him once more seemed a reasonable choice.

With these tasks delegated, Beckett was ready to join Castle for another visit to New York Recycling to meet the boss again. However, her phone rang at that moment. The call was from the police station in the town where the victim, Sam Parker, lived. They had just received a report about a woman attempting to break into Sam's house to steal something. The person who reported it was Sam's wife, and the would-be intruder was none other than his 'fiancée.'

Receiving this call reinforced Beckett's belief in Castle's earlier suspicions. The priority now was to visit Sam's house and speak to these two women. After all, Sam had been killed just last night, and theoretically, Sarah Reed shouldn't know Sam's real identity or home address. Even if she had learned this morning at the precinct that her fiancé had another family, it wouldn't explain her rush to his house in the afternoon and her attempt to break in.

Sarah Reed's actions lent further credence to Castle's theory: either Sam had successfully stolen New York Recycling's supposed advanced technology, or he had discovered something shady about the company. And Sarah was there to find the evidence Sam had left behind.

Without further delay, Beckett and Castle drove to Sam's house in Connecticut. Local police were already there, temporarily detaining the two agitated women at the scene—Sam's home. The local police had promptly informed the New York authorities upon learning that the two women involved were the wife and 'fiancée' of the man recently murdered in New York. Beckett and Castle arrived quickly.

Castle understood Sarah Reed's motives for sneaking into Sam's house but saw no need to explain this to Beckett during the drive. After all, revealing his source of information would be impossible. He planned to reveal what Sarah was looking for in front of her and Beckett. Meanwhile, Castle used the travel time to flirt with Beckett, who, being in work mode, ignored him, leaving Castle to sulk and reluctantly discuss Sarah Reed's intentions.

Beckett drove swiftly, and they reached Sam's house in Connecticut in no time. After a brief exchange with the local police at the entrance, Beckett and Castle headed to the backyard garden.

Sam's wife and 'fiancée,' Sarah Reed, were sitting on chairs in the garden, guarded by two officers, glaring at each other. Beckett ignored the increasingly suspicious 'fiancée' and went straight to Sam's wife, asking, "What happened?"

Feeling wronged, Sam's wife recounted how she discovered the woman claiming to be her husband's fiancée attempting to sneak into his backyard workshop. When she found the woman rummaging through her deceased husband's workspace, she called the police without hesitation. When the police arrived, Sarah Reed claimed she was there to retrieve a pen she had given Sam.

After a brief inquiry with the distressed wife, Beckett turned her attention to Sarah, who had remained calm since Beckett's arrival. "So, you're saying you learned this morning that Sam wasn't who he claimed to be and that he had a family. Then you came straight here to retrieve a pen you gave him? That's all?"

While Beckett questioned Sarah, Castle entered Sam's backyard workshop, looking around. He brought out a shredder placed under the desk, which was still plugged in. Noticing Castle with the shredder, Sarah's calm expression showed a momentary shock, which Beckett, who was keenly observing her, did not miss.

Beckett immediately instructed the local officer to closely monitor Sarah and then turned to Castle, who was bringing the shredder over. "Did you find something?"

Castle gave Sarah a malicious smile before turning to Beckett. "The shredder was still plugged in when I entered. Why don't we see what's inside?"

Beckett quickly grasped Castle's implication. "You mean, Sarah came here to find some documents but had to shred them quickly when Sam's wife caught her, hence the pen excuse?"

Castle clearly saw Sarah's face turning pale and subtly indicated to Beckett to note Sarah's reaction. It was an obvious tell.

Beckett, suddenly not in a hurry, approached Sam's wife and explained that they needed to take the shredder and its contents back to New York for investigation. Sam's wife agreed without hesitation and requested that Beckett take the woman claiming to be her husband's fiancée away. This kind-hearted wife had no intention of pressing charges, seeing the fiancée as another unfortunate person caught in this situation. She just wanted her to promise not to return and disturb them again.

Beckett agreed, letting Castle load the shredder with its contents into their car. Then, with Sarah's face showing mixed emotions, they left Sam's house.

Standing on the sidewalk outside Sam's house, Beckett gave a meaningful look at Sarah Reed, who was both the deceased's fiancée and New York Recycling's chief researcher. "This is your last chance to come clean. Once we return to New York, our forensic lab will piece together everything you shredded. After that, you won't have any room for negotiation."

Sarah, not having personally killed Sam, still clung to some hope and pretended not to understand Beckett's hint. She silently got into her car and drove off.

Beckett, unfazed, watched Sarah's car leave and turned to Castle, who had finished securing the shredder in their police car. "Now, I'm convinced about your suspicions regarding New York Recycling. This Sarah isn't as simple as she seems."

Castle grinned. "I have a strong feeling that what Sarah came for is in that shredder. Think about it: Sam's wife's quick call to the police caught Sarah off guard, leaving her no time to conceal her intentions. So, she used the pen as an excuse and shredded the documents she sought. This way, she could appear sympathetic while diverting suspicion from her true objective. But she didn't anticipate the local police contacting New York authorities so quickly. Nor did she expect us to suspect her so soon. Let's head back to New York. Once we piece together what's in the shredder, the mystery might just unravel!"

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