It doesn't matter who I do it with." Cassel's words nearly made the two people munching on burgers next door spit out their breath.
"Of course not!" Grete looked at him in disbelief.
"Oh, come on, stop pretending, Grete. Sophie is beautiful, and you're about to be tied to marriage in a few hours."
The deep malice was too obvious, wasn't it? Hannah's eyes widened, and she struggled to swallow her food before she spoke with difficulty. "Is he judging others by his own standards? He must be!"
Then she glanced dangerously at Jack beside her. "Are all men like this? Considering how quickly you and Cassel became good friends."
What kind of fairy talk was this? Jack, caught in the crossfire, firmly denied it. "Everything that seems to be free has a price tag already."
"Huh?" Hannah seemed surprised by this rather philosophical statement. She tilted her head and nodded in agreement, not dwelling on it.
At the same moment, Gretl's passionate retort echoed from next door. "No! I love Kayla, and I would never betray her, especially not with Sophie."
"Why especially not with Sophie?" Beckett keenly caught the abrupt emphasis on his last sentence.
Castle looked as if he'd suddenly realized something, as if he'd caught him. "You slept with Sophie before?"
Gretl turned awkwardly, avoiding Kayla's gaze once again. "Why is he here? He's a writer, not a cop."
"Trust me, Gretl," Kayla said, leaning back in her chair triumphantly, gesturing at the one-way window behind her. "Do you think you'd rather face an author or an FBI psychologist? Do you need me to call Agent Taverer?"
"Isn't this guy being too much of a jerk?" Although the man's words were a subtle compliment, Jack still sensed something was off about Kayla today.
"Because his past close relationship with the bride, Kayla, has made him lose his objectivity," Hannah agreed.
"This guy's fuming about his ex, worried that Kayla might be in the wrong relationship." Jack had accurately grasped Castle's current state of mind and was ready to enter the interrogation room and remove him at any moment.
While applying appropriate pressure during interrogation was appropriate, Castle's relentless, overtly provocative questions would quickly trigger a subconscious resistance. What they needed now was Gretel's willingness to share everything that happened the night before, not to call in a lawyer and remain silent.
"So, Gretel, did you really have sex with Sophie?" Beckett, like an insulator, interrupted the electric gaze between the two men.
"Once or twice," Gretel replied with an awkward expression. "But that was before I met Kayla, and we both realized we weren't right for each other."
"Clearly Sophie doesn't feel that way. She's rekindled your relationship, or at least succeeded," Castle scoffed.
Gretel retorted angrily, "No! I was scared when I found out it was her and pushed her hard. She rolled off the bed and fell to the floor. Her earrings must have fallen off at that time.
Then she left the room before I could react. It all happened so fast, like a nightmare."
Beckett asked, "So why did you hide this from the police before? If nothing happened, the police could easily confirm your statement."
"Because I know how bad this kind of thing sounds, and I'm worried about causing some unnecessary misunderstandings." Gretel leaned back in her chair dejectedly.
"Keep on pretending, I've seen through it all," Castle turned to Beckett and said, "As if we can't misunderstanding each other now, this is just a bunch of clumsy lies."
"I've had enough. I want him to leave. It's obvious he's targeting me because he still covets Kayla," Gretel said to Beckett angrily.
"I'm not a murder suspect," Castle said aggressively, leaning in close.
Just as the two were arguing again, and Beckett was finally losing his patience, the door to the interrogation room suddenly opened. Jack stood in the doorway, calmly gazing at Castle.
He said nothing, but it was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, instantly calming the writer.
"Please ask him to leave, or I refuse to answer any more questions." Gretel tried to calm his anger, but even in his previous rage, he never uttered a single curse word.
"Next door is your favorite beef burger and crispy fries. You must be very hungry, Cassel." Jack made a gesture of invitation to Cassel, giving him a way out.
"Remember, this is an interrogation room. You have no right to give orders here. I'm just starving, and it makes my mind a little confused." In fact, there was no need for Jack to give any way out. Cassel would find one for himself.
He threw these words at Gret angrily and walked out of the interrogation room without hesitation.
"OK, Gret, please go over the whole thing with us again." Jack smiled, closed the door, and sat next to Beckett.
Although Gret did not ask to see a lawyer, his uncle Teddy Murphy, who is a lawyer, quickly rushed to the police station. However, by then, Beckett had already finished taking the statement and sent the two out of the police station.
Seeing this, Castle looked like a child, his lips slightly pouting. It was hard to believe that this was an expression a middle-aged man in his early 40s could make, which made Hannah, who was staring at him face to face, even feel a little amused.
"I can't believe you two just let him go like that."
"Because he's very likely innocent," Jack said bluntly.
"Oh, please, don't tell you two that you believed his nonsense. It's just the plot of a terrible adult movie." Castle was a little indignant.
"That's right. If you were to make up a lie, would you make up such a clumsy lie?" Beckett rolled his eyes at him.
"So what? He's a businessman in a suit and tie. Maybe he's not good at telling stories, but that doesn't mean he's innocent," Castle argued.
Jack sighed. This guy was still a bit over the top. "First, we haven't completely ruled him out; he's still a suspect. Second, I remember you said you'd study forensic science. Tell me, have you really looked through the materials?"
Cassel was slightly taken aback, confused as to why Jack said that. But his next words deflated the writer.
"If Gretel is lying, and he really did have sex with Sophie, and then killed her after being threatened or blackmailed, then please tell me, is the right thing to do to have a heated argument with him in the interrogation room, or do you have any other options?"
Cassel was stunned, stunned. After a long pause, he stammered, "I should go to Lanie and ask her to confirm whether Gretel's bodily fluids or the lubricant from the umbrella were in the deceased's body."
(End of Chapter)