On the surface, Castle appeared nonchalant as Jabot delivered a formal briefing on the case. However, internally, Castle was shaken—how could the unidentified corpse turn out to be an MI6 operative, a colleague of James Bond?
A British intelligence officer?
Meanwhile, Castle discreetly contacted Jarvis through his smart wristband. With Jarvis's assistance, the killer's identity was swiftly uncovered: an agent from Turkey.
Was this an internal NATO conflict?
Castle felt utterly baffled.
It became glaringly obvious that the NYPD's resources were no match for the databases of intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI. The case that had stumped Beckett for over two weeks had been almost entirely solved by federal agencies in a single morning.
Castle's mind wandered as Jabot continued the briefing. He reflected on the current state of Britain—once the "Empire on which the sun never set." Since World War II, Britain's power had significantly waned. Without support from its "big cousin" across the Atlantic, the nation might not have survived the devastating impact of the war. Among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Britain's status was arguably the most precarious.
After losing its global colonies, Britain's decline began in the 1950s and continued steadily. Even during the 1980s Falklands War with Argentina, Britain barely secured a victory, relying on underhanded tactics to pressure France into cutting off supplies of Exocet missiles to Argentina. Without such maneuvering, the war's outcome might have been very different.
In the 21st century, Britain's position deteriorated further. Once feared for its naval power, the country was now seen by many in Europe as a meddling troublemaker. Historically, Britain's strategy had always been to prevent the emergence of a unified or dominant European power. As a geographically isolated nation, Britain's rulers were terrified of any consolidation of power on the continent.
Castle mused about history: What if Napoleon had never invaded Russia and instead focused on strengthening France? Wouldn't he have eventually targeted his troublesome neighbor across the Channel? And what about Hitler? Why did he harbor such hatred for the British?
Castle thought of Hermann Göring's ego-driven rivalry with Germany's army commanders. Göring had boasted that his air force could annihilate the encircled Allied forces at Dunkirk, preventing a full-scale German assault. His failure to do so allowed Britain to regroup and eventually participate in the D-Day landings. Hitler's obsession with invading Britain ("Operation Sea Lion") had sapped critical resources from the Eastern Front, leaving German forces stretched thin against the Soviets.
Ultimately, Britain had become a nation that most of Europe despised—forever stirring the pot and inciting wars to weaken stronger neighbors. Even in the present day, Britain's role in the European Union was tumultuous. Castle knew that in a few years, Britain would announce its decision to leave the EU, further isolating itself.
Financial troubles had crippled the British Empire's former might. Castle knew the truth: Britain could no longer afford to maintain its famed Royal Navy. Without military power, the nation's grand ambitions were nothing more than hollow dreams.
Yet despite these setbacks, Britain's penchant for mischief remained undiminished. Once a pirate kingdom that plundered wealth from around the world, the country now cloaked itself in the veneer of "gentlemanly" virtue—always claiming to act in the defense of innocent people.
Castle thought back to recent events. Just over a year ago, Britain had been rocked by a devastating "red mercury" bomb detonation orchestrated by a vengeful scientist named Dr. Bailey. The attack left more than 200,000 casualties. Ironically, the disaster was entirely self-inflicted—Bailey had been imprisoned by MI6 for 30 years before retaliating in the most brutal way imaginable.
Despite this catastrophic failure, British intelligence agents continued to carry out missions under the pretense of national interest.
As Jabot explained the current case, Castle processed both the verbal briefing and the classified data Jarvis was streaming to his earpiece. The situation became abundantly clear: both the British and Turkish operatives were targeting him for the advanced technologies he had recently provided to Lockheed Martin.
The conflict stemmed from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project. Britain was a top-tier partner, having invested $2.5 billion—approximately 10% of the project's development costs—under a 1995 agreement with the U.S. Turkey, as a secondary partner, had contributed $175 million to the program. Both nations were technically stakeholders in the project.
After Castle transferred his optical camouflage technology to Lockheed Martin, both Britain and Turkey became aware of the development. However, since the technology was exclusively licensed to Lockheed Martin rather than the entire JSF program, neither country had access to it.
Their solution? Steal it.
For nations with a history of piracy and opportunism, this was the most logical course of action. Under the guise of national interest, they would take what they wanted by force if necessary.
The British had originally planned to send their iconic "007" agent, but following his botched performance in the Le Chiffre case, MI6 decided to assign a less conspicuous operative to the mission. Sending a reckless, high-profile agent to New York could have created an international incident—something Britain could ill afford given its current political and economic struggles.
Turkey, on the other hand, had learned about Castle's technology through a mole within Lockheed Martin. Determined to reclaim its former Ottoman glory and increasingly estranged from its NATO allies, Turkey dispatched its own agent to New York.
However, complications arose. Castle's self-imposed isolation—spending most of his time at home working on his "big toy" project—made him an elusive target. The two rival agents discovered each other while waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Tensions escalated when the Turkish operative recognized the British agent as someone who had previously stirred trouble in Turkey's Kurdish regions. The British agent had been involved in separatist activities and was on Turkey's internal watchlist. Seizing the chance for revenge, the Turkish intelligence agency ordered its operative to eliminate the British spy.
In an ordinary city like New York, where murders were a daily occurrence, killing the British agent and framing it as a random crime served multiple purposes. It removed an obstacle for Turkey's mission and created political complications for the U.S. if the victim's true identity was discovered.
After receiving these orders, the Turkish operative wasted no time in executing his mission—setting the stage for the complex situation now unfolding before Castle.
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