"I'm Nurse McClintock, and you're Detective Beckett?" The male nurse looked at the person who looked the least like a police officer among the three people present with some doubt.
"I am." Beckett pushed Cassel away, lifted his coat to reveal the police badge at his waist, and then looked at Cassel with his hands behind his back, "Are you still going to stick with your reasoning?"
"No, although it's different from what I thought, I still insist, just the role relationship needs to be changed."
As if to confirm Cassel's statement, a female doctor in a white coat and long hair passed by the few people and smiled charmingly at the handsome nurse.
"Hi, Greg,"
Nurse McClintock smiled back, her dimples adorning her face. "Hi, Dr. Ackerman."
He watched the man walk away before turning back to Beckett, eagerly asking, "How can I help you, beautiful detective?"
"We're investigating Dr. Monroe's murder," Beckett said, before a female doctor on crutches approached and tapped Nurse McClintock on the shoulder.
"Hi, Greg."
"Hello, Dr. Phillips."
The same scene played out again. Jack even noticed that the middle-aged doctor on crutches, despite her limited mobility, had taken a few extra steps just to greet Nurse McClintock.
"Oh, sorry, by the way, I heard about Dr. Monroe. It's horrible." The popular, sunny young man softened his smile.
Before Beckett could continue, Castle spoke, "We understand you were the last person to speak to her before she got off work last night."
Nurse McClintock seemed distracted, her gaze lingering on Beckett's face. "Yes, we did talk for a while,"
she said, her gaze blazing. "Detective, your hair frames your face perfectly. You should keep it that way."
"Ah, thank you. Oh, yes, I usually do that." Beckett, caught off guard by the compliment, was a bit overwhelmed.
While this wasn't the first time she'd received compliments on her looks while questioning a suspect, she usually took it as flirting or even sexual harassment.
However, if the man was handsome enough and his expression was genuine, even the seasoned detective wouldn't know how to respond. She instinctively smiled in response, but it faded before she regained her compliment.
"Well, as far as we know, you and Dr. Monroe didn't have a very pleasant chat last night. Can you tell us exactly what happened?"
Hearing this question, Nurse McClintock showed a slightly shy smile on her face, "It's nothing, really."
Seeing that the three of them were all looking at him, and obviously had no intention of giving up, he told the truth, "It's just that she thought I was too close to the female residents under her, but sometimes there's nothing wrong with being friendly, right?"
"What happened after that?" Cassel asked.
"I walked her to the parking lot, the one near the ambulance lane, and promised her that I would try to keep my distance from her female residents.
She thanked me and left with a man I didn't know."
"Uh-huh." Cassel was obviously not very happy with what he said, "So you sent Dr. Monroe away, and then happened to see her leaving with a mysterious man?"
"That's what happened." The handsome nurse, clearly sensing the teasing and distrust in Castle's tone, emphasized her words.
"So where were you between 7 and 9 last night?" Beckett continued, ignoring the sudden tension between the two.
"Are you asking for my alibi? Are you serious, Detective?" McClintock's lips curled up slightly, a smile that seemed to indicate he didn't believe the beautiful detective before him would doubt him.
"Yes," Beckett nodded with a smile. "Are you serious?"
McClintock seemed to think she was joking and reassured. "Yes, that's right.
" Beckett's smile faded.
"Really?" The handsome nurse's smile froze, and with an expression of disbelief, she turned to Jack, who had been observing her silently, for confirmation.
"It couldn't be more true," Castle raised his voice impatiently.
"Well, I was..." McClintock frowned in thought. "I went for coffee with Imani, uh, Dr. Phelps, you just met her."
"The one with the leg injury?" Beckett was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.
"No, wait, after that, I met with Rhonda, er, Dr. Zims. We talked for a long time, until almost 10 o'clock."
Seeing the three people staring at him intently, McClintock assumed they didn't believe him. "I swear, you can ask them."
—
"How much truth do you think he's saying?" Beckett asked his two henchmen today, standing at the hospital entrance. Henchman
number one, Cassel, looked disdainful. "I think he's lying."
Henchman number two, Jack, was more objective. "If his IQ wasn't inversely proportional to his looks, he wouldn't have told such an easily exposed lie."
"We have to verify it anyway," Beckett glared at Cassel and pulled out his phone. "I'll notify Kevin to come to the hospital and take over the rest of the investigation."
"And the forensics team. Have them take samples from the carpets throughout the hospital. That might save some time," Jack added.
Cassel wanted to drag Beckett along to Las Vegas, but it was clear the female detective wouldn't be in the mood for that until the case was solved, and certainly didn't have the time.
So in addition to helping to keep up with the progress of the CSI lab, Jack also took on an extra errand, which was to investigate Dr. Monroe's financial situation.
When he stepped into the detective's office of the 12th Precinct again after dinner, he happened to run into Kevin Ryan, who had just returned from the hospital, and of course, Castle, who was sitting idly at Beckett's desk.
"Unfortunately, Dr. Rhonda Zims confirmed the suspect's alibi. By the way, she's really hot." Kevin was holding a thick file bag in his hand.
"She emphasized to me over and over again what a good listener McClintock was, and he would give her some cute little gifts."
"Aha, I knew my hospital love triangle murder motive inference was valid." Upon hearing this, Castle jumped up from his seat.
(End of this chapter)