122. Chapter 122

Chapter 122

When Beckett went back to the precinct, she took a minute to make a quick call to Castle to ask if he and Jamie could meet her for lunch at Remy's; and while they ate, she asked if he would come in to work with them on the case.

"It's bound to be the last case we're assigned as a team. The boys are assigned to new teams as of Wednesday of next week."

"Yeah. On my birthday. What would you think of closing The Old Haunt for a party that night? A big shake up like this one calls for a party. We'll congratulate them for their promotions and me for living long enough to get another year older."

"You think we need to congratulate you for that, Grandpa?"

At that, Castle stuck his tongue out at her and Jamie started looking around asking, "Granddaddy? Grandpa John?"

"No, Baby. Granddaddy and Grandpa John aren't here," Kate answered, tickling his tummy and looking amused at the whole situation. Turning back to her husband, she said, "I think a party is a great idea. And I think the boys would like having you there for the case that sees them off to their new jobs, too."

"I doubt that I can get there today, but I'll see about someone taking care of our boy so I can be there tomorrow. Will you bring home copies of what you have so far so I can catch up?"

"Okay. And I think I'll leave having you back as a surprise for Ryan and Esposito. Sully will be glad to see you, too." After lunch, they left the diner, Beckett kissed both her men and went back to work, and Castle took their son to a little park not far from there.

xxxxx

As Beckett drew the timeline for their murder board and started filling in the information they had gathered, the other three members of the team contributed the information they had so far.

"We know Howell was having an affair. He's his mistress's alibi, and she's his. That's too convenient," Esposito said suspiciously.

"And we'll have to follow that line of thinking when we question them," Beckett agreed before she stepped back, looked at her work, and sighed. "I talked to the councilman for a few minutes before you got there, and my gut says he didn't do it. He told his wife he was working late and would crash on the couch at his office, so he did lie to her; but he seemed genuinely horrified at what he saw when he found his wife this morning and devastated about what happened to her. He said he loved both women; and unless he's an excellent actor, he was honestly grieving his wife. Apparently, the mistress was getting dissatisfied at always having to be in the shadows, and he didn't want her to leave him; so he told her he couldn't leave his wife until after the election. She agreed to give him time when he said that a divorce now would hurt his chances for his run for state congress; but he said he never really intended to leave his wife. I guess he was just trying to buy time. He even admitted he sounded like a jerk…which was the gospel truth. But being a jerk doesn't necessarily make you a murderer."

"Yeah, but it makes you a damn good suspect when there's another woman," Sully answered.

"That shot to the victim's head was made with the intent to be sure she was dead. Looks to me like it was personal. The mistress would be my first suspect," Ryan said.

"Yeah. We'll bring her in as soon as we can. We need to talk to Nadine's employees, too, and see if anything was going on there. Then we can send somebody to bring Courtney in." Beckett answered. "Okay where do we go from what's here?" she asked her team.

Taking turns with whatever observations entered their minds, the group thought out loud for one another. "Nothing looked like forced entry. Looks like someone might have had a key. CSU report should tell us." "They must have had the alarm code, too. We need to check the monitoring. If Nadine Howell didn't just forget to turn the alarm on, that could give us the time of entry." "The victim didn't seem to expect trouble. She either knew the person or didn't hear anyone come in. Whatever happened must have surprised her." "The alarm would have beeped if it was turned off. Maybe she thought it was her husband." "On the surface, it doesn't look like the shooter wanted anything except Mrs. Howell dead. Nothing missing or damaged." "There should be blood spatter on the shooter's clothes." "We need the emails and voice mails Howell mentioned and the footage from his security cameras, and we need to talk to his assistant." "We need to talk to him again, too. He said he'd call today and arrange a time to come in."

Beckett said, "Esposito and Sully, go to Howell's office and talk to his assistant, Jeanne Gordon. Find out about the campaign and any problems associated with it. Check the campaign office, too. See if anyone in either place knows of any ill will toward the councilman or his wife. Check other offices near them to see if anything unusual has happened recently. You know the drill. Ryan, see what you can find us on Courtney Webster and Councilman Howell. I want us to be ready when we talk to them. I'm going to give Gates an update and arrange for phone and financial records for the councilman, his wife, and his mistress, then I'll go to Mrs. Howell's business and talk to her employees…see if anything was going on there."

Beckett had been back about half an hour before Esposito and Sully returned. Nothing in anyone's financials showed anything unusual except that the councilman was paying the rent for Courtney's apartment.

"Esposito, where have you been?" Beckett asked when he and Sully came in later.

"Doing what you told us to," he answered. "And we stopped for lunch on the way back. That's still allowed, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," she answered, feigning annoyance before she smiled. "What did you find out?"

"Jeanne Gordon was very helpful," Esposito told her. "We have all the voice mails and emails. People leave some awful things on answering machines. You'd think they'd be more careful in emails where it's easier to identify them, but a couple of those were kinda scary, too. It's unreal how upset people can get over potholes and traffic lights and neighborhood stuff, let alone politics."

Sully added, "She did admit that she and the councilman had a one night stand about a year ago. She said the next day they both decided it shouldn't happen again, but she didn't seem upset about it. Since then she's decided she's more interested in women than men. She was way more open about everything than I'd think she'd be if she had murdered somebody. And she seemed to have a lot of respect for the councilman's wife. The people at the campaign office couldn't tell me anything helpful, either.

"She also said she has the keys and alarm code to Howell's home, but she said she hasn't used it since last week.

We should get Ms. Gordon in here tomorrow, anyway." She picked up her marker and said, "Take those voice mails and emails to tech and ask if they can identify someone attached to them."

They added their new information to the board, listened to Ryan's report on the councilman and his mistress, which didn't yield anything that seemed connected to their case, and discussed the rest of what they'd found, as well as the phone and financial records and CSU photos.

At the end of shift, Beckett went to report to the captain and said, "I know this is high profile, Sir, but I'm sending my team home now. We should have ballistics, more from CSU, probably an autopsy report, and three possible suspects in tomorrow. Castle will be in to work with us, and we'll all be rested enough to work a long day or few to get to the bottom of it."

"I have to admit I'd rather be able to say our detectives are working day and night on this," Gates answered, "but I see your reasoning. If a reporter pushes hard, though, don't be surprised if you hear on the news that you're still at work."

"You wouldn't even be lying. I'm taking home copies of our information to bring Castle up to speed for tomorrow, so two of us will actually be working tonight."

"That makes me feel a little better," Gates answered, and both women smiled. "See you in the morning, Lieutenant."

Beckett raised a hand in response as she left.

After Jamie had his Mommy time, they all had dinner with Martha, and they had tucked Jamie in, Kate and Castle went through the information they had on Nadine Howell's murder.

When they left for the precinct the next morning, Castle said, "I'm glad you asked me to do this. It feels right."

"Yeah, it does."

"I'm gonna go get our coffee. That feels even more right."

"Thanks. I'll be waiting," she answered, adding "Impatiently," with a little grin. "Bear claw, too?"

"It's yours. Be there soon." Castle walked to the coffee shop smiling,

Beckett went to her desk smiling, too, and Ryan was already there waking up his computer. "What has you looking so happy this morning?" He stopped suddenly and said, "Never mind. Maybe I'd rather not know."

"Rather not know what?" a familiar voice asked, and a big box of pastries was being slid onto Ryan's desk.

"Castle! Good to see you, man." Ryan stood and pulled Castle into a man hug, complete with a slap on the arm at the end.

"Esposito walked in and the scene was repeated. "You coming in to help, Bro'?" he asked.

"Yeah. That okay?"

"Sure it is," Esposito answered.

"Mom and Dad are both here for our last case before we move to new jobs. Nice," Ryan said.

"Your coffee, M'Lady," Castle said formally, turning to Beckett with a slight bow. He handed her a cup from the tray that held both their coffees and took the other one for himself, and then they stood looking at each other, reliving the beginnings of being a couple.

"Now I'm sure I don't want to know why she came in looking so happy this morning," Ryan said to his partner, who snickered and continued the teasing.

"Let us know when you're done with the eye sex, and we'll get to work," Esposito told them.

"Some things never change," Castle grumbled, and the others laughed. Sully had walked in just in time to hear and grinned along with the boys.

Beckett called the desk sergeant, gave him Courtney Webster's contact information, and asked to have someone bring her in, and Courtney was in an interrogation room about an hour later.

"Ms. Webster, I'm Lieutenant Beckett, and this is Richard Castle, our civilian consultant.

"Why am I here?" Courtney asked. "I mean I knew you'd need to ask me questions, but…"

"We know that you and Councilman Howell have been together for about a year. Are you aware that his wife was murdered in their home night before last?"

"I heard it on the news yesterday morning. The reporter said that he found her. Poor Zeb. It must have been terrible for him. He still cared about her. And all the reporters are speculating about why he wasn't home that night. Everything is going to be in the news, isn't it?"

"Probably. A politician who talks like a family man, is caught cheating on his wife, and sets his girlfriend up with an apartment always makes for a juicy scandal. Reporters can't resist it," Beckett agreed.

"Has Mr. Howell contacted you yet?" Castle asked.

"No. He must be making arrangements for the funeral."

"Where were you between midnight and three AM last night?" Beckett asked her, all business.

"Um…in bed at my place."

"Alone?"

"No. Zeb was there with me," Courtney admitted, looking embarrassed.

"You're sure he never left?"

"He couldn't have been gone long enough to get to his house and back, if that's what you're thinking. We didn't fall asleep the first time until close to midnight. I woke up about quarter to one to go to the bathroom, and when I got back, he was awake. We…um…kept each other awake for a while. We fell asleep again about two, and he was still there, right where he was when we fell asleep, when the alarm went off at six."

Beckett took notes now and then, and Courtney looked increasingly nervous. "You realize it looks suspicious that the two of you are providing each other's alibis after he told you he'd leave his wife for you." Castle pointed out.

"No!" she insisted strongly. "Neither of us would hurt her."

"But you have to admit it's convenient for you that she's gone."

"I know it looks bad, but I'd never be able to kill someone." She was crying at that point. "You have to believe me. Is that why you sent those officers to pick me up? Are you going to arrest me?"

"Do you own a gun, Ms. Webster?"

"No. Zeb was going to get me one, but I didn't want it. They scare me."

"Not now, but we do have more questions," Beckett answered and launched into the rest of the interview.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Webster," Beckett said when she had finished the questioning. "We may need to talk to you again later, but that's all for now. I'll have officers take you home."

The woman rushed away as if she thought they might put the cuffs on her if she stayed too long.

As Castle and Beckett passed Courtney at the elevator, a woman who was leaving with her teenage son was talking to her. "Nice boots," the woman said. Courtney watched Castle and Beckett warily until they had moved past her, then she answered, "Thanks. We found an amazing sale, and my sister and I both bought a pair."

Castle, long indoctrinated in paying attention to women's accoutrements, and Beckett, long in love with stylish boots, both turned to look.

"She's right," Beckett agreed. "Nice boots."

Beckett called the councilman and asked him to bring the records from his home security cameras, and he told her he could come in at one-thirty. Taking advantage of the time between, she sent someone to pick up Jeanne Gordon from the councilman's office. She was there in half an hour, and was also escorted to an interrogation room. Beckett introduced herself first and then Castle and sat down across the table from Jeanne Gordon.

"We understand you knew both the victim and the councilman's mistress."

"I knew his wife better, had known her longer. She was a kind, generous, capable woman, strong. ran her own business successfully. Her employees loved her, her clients loved her, people at Councilman Howell's office loved her. I don't know who would have wanted to kill her."

"How well do you know Courtney Webster?"

"You're asking if I think she might have killed Nadine?"

Beckett raised her eyebrows in question.

"I don't think so. She doesn't seem to have a hateful bone in her body. I doubt she ever intended to have an affair with a married man, either, but I was there when they met. She was in the office to drop off a message for me. The councilman came to ask me for some copies, and while I was gone, he struck up a conversation. By the time I got back, I knew she would be his next conquest. You could practically see the chemistry in the air."

"Did Mr. Howell do that often?"

Howell's assistant released a long sigh. "To put it bluntly, Lieutenant Beckett, the councilman couldn't seem to keep it in his pants. There were frequent one night stands, but it didn't take too long to see that this was different. The one night stands stopped, and suddenly I had to regularly make a lot of excuses for why Zeb wasn't in the office…or at home. I hated lying to his wife. That was the worst part of my job."

"You told my detectives that you were a one night stand. Did you have feelings for Howell?

"No. I agreed that it shouldn't happen again. It was a mutual decision. We were both exhausted and it just kind of happened…comfort at the end of a long day, I guess; but it isn't practical to try to hide something like that in your workplace for long. And I felt guilty for helping him cheat on his wife."

"But you continued to lie for him?"

"Yes. I'm not proud of it, but I need the job."

Detective Esposito tells us that you have a key and the alarm code to the councilman's house."

"I do. I also told him I haven't used it since last Tuesday. I stopped by while Mr. and Mrs. Howell were at a fundraising dinner to drop off some papers he needed for the next day."

"Are your keys always with you?"

They're on a lanyard and around my neck all day long. They don't come off until I put them on my dresser when I get home.

"What about the alarm code? Does anyone have access to that? Is it written down somewhere?"

"I have a small notebook with a few passwords in it. When he first gave it to me, I did write it there, but again, it's in the drawer of my nightstand. Well away from easy access. I've memorized it now, so the notebook hasn't been out of the drawer for over a year."

"Did Mrs. Howell know you had access to the house?"

"Zeb said he had told her before he gave me keys, and she didn't seem to mind. If I knew she was home, I'd always ring the bell, though."

"So, if you showed up at night and used your key, she would have felt safe about it?"

"I hope so."

"Do you own a gun, Ms. Gordon?"

"Yes." She was beginning to look uncomfortable.

"What kind?"

"A Colt 45. It was my father's. He gave it to me when I was moving to the city and taught me how to use it. Am I a suspect? I haven't ever used that gun except for target shooting. I'm not sure I could shoot a human being, even if I felt threatened, let alone kill someone in cold blood. And I have no reason at all to want to hurt Mrs. Howell."

"Someone used keys and the alarm code to enter the house night before last at twelve forty-five and reset it at one-ten. Does anyone else have access to the Howells' house?" Castle asked.

"Not that I know of. That doesn't leave me in a good place, does it?"

"Not particularly," Beckett responded.

"What happens now?"

"You go home, but you don't leave town."

"I didn't kill her."

"We may need to speak to you again later."

"I have nothing to hide, and I'll be of whatever help I can. Nadine didn't deserve to die this way."

After Jeanne left, Castle and Beckett sat at the table in the interrogation room for another couple of minutes to talk. "Do you think she did it?" Castle asked.

"Honestly, no," Beckett answered. "I wish I did because this puts us back at square one."

"So we don't think it was the mistress. The assistant has the means, but I didn't find enough animosity in any of what she said, even between the lines, to see a reason. And you don't think it was the cheating husband. Yeah. That sounds a lot like square one."

"You'll meet him this afternoon. You can tell me if you think I've missed something."

"Did you get anything useful?" Sully asked when Castle and Beckett were back at her desk.

"Not much. She does own a gun, a forty-five, which correlates with the slugs that were found; and she readily admitted it. She also has access to the councilman's house, but we didn't see anything as a motive. And she's still willing to talk to us again, even though she seemed to think we were on the verge of arresting her."

"We were in observation. That's how we felt after talking to her yesterday, too."

"Did anybody watch the interview with Courtney Webster?"

"Yeah," Ryan answered. "If she did it, she's a lot smoother than she looked. It's happened before, but I didn't get a murderer vibe. She was pretty forthcoming, even though she looked kind of embarrassed about it."

"Castle and I are going for lunch so we're back in plenty of time to talk to Councilman Howell. Anybody interested in Remy's?" The three other members of the team stood in unison to follow, and Gates chose that moment to come to talk to them.

"Any progress?" she asked.

'We have two suspects with motive but no sense that either of them wanted the victim dead. There's another with the means but no indication of a motive. Councilman Howell is coming in for questioning at one-thirty, so we're going to lunch before he gets here. He's bringing the security footage from his home cameras for the night of the murder."

"Go ahead. But I want a report at the end of the day."

"Yes, Sir."

"Nice to have you back, Mr. Castle."

"Thank you, Sir. Can we bring you something from Remy's?"

"A mushroom and Swiss burger and a vanilla shake would be a blessing. Reports are due next week, and I'm up to my ears in paperwork and fielding phone calls."

"Wouldn't you rather take a little break and join us?" Castle asked.

"Rather has little to do with it. I need to be here, but thank you."

In the elevator, Esposito looked at Castle in what looked like disbelief and said, "You do realize you don't have to suck up to Gates anymore, don't you? She already likes you now. Inviting her along? Really?"

"What? She works hard, and she's been there every time we needed her. I like her."

"But there are lines, man."

Well, you'll have a new captain next week," Castle countered. "You can deal with him your own way."

Over lunch they planned a birthday/promotion party at The Old Haunt for Wednesday of the following week.

"Karpowski is leaving, too," Beckett said, "but she was already promoted right after we left for the fifty-first. And Archer and Bisaga made detective." We should make it a birthday/promotion/goodbye party."

"And we invite the entire homicide unit?" Castle asked.

"Yeah. That sounds good." Ryan answered. "And Lanie and Frank. They work with all of us."

They were back in plenty of time to speak with the councilman. In view of the fact that the victim was his wife, they opted to speak to him in the conference room as a courtesy.

Again Beckett introduced Castle, and this time there was recognition of his name.

"You're that writer, aren't you? My wife was a big fan of your books. She kept up with all the gossip, too."

"Councilman Howell, we've spoken with Courtney Webster and Jeanne Gordon. We've identified the time someone entered your home, and it seems awfully convenient that Ms. Webster's time line for your activities that night coincide perfectly with the time the intruder was in your home."

"Oh, god. I know how bad this looks, but I could never hurt Nadine. And Courtney wouldn't hurt anybody."

"And yet she was making demands that a married man leave his wife for her."

The councilman sagged in his chair. Then he looked to Castle in appeal. "Nadine used to talk about the celebrities on page six. When she was reading one of your books, she'd talk about your playboy lifestyle. You understand how it is for men. I didn't want to hurt my wife, so I tried to keep it quiet; but sometimes it's hard to turn down a little variety when there's an opportunity. She said you're on your third marriage, so I guess the first two found out?"

"Councilman, I admit to two divorces and sowing some wild oats after each breakup, but neither divorce was because I cheated. So no. I don't understand."

"You're kidding, right?"

Beckett took Castle's left wrist and held her left hand up next to his to show their matching wedding bands to the councilman. "Both ex-wives told me the same thing…voluntarily. I wouldn't have married him if I believed that about him. Don't believe everything you read in the papers."

Howell dropped the subject immediately.

"It seems odd that your girlfriend was ready with the exact time of your…nocturnal enterprises the night your wife was killed. That kind of activity doesn't usually lend itself to clock watching," Castle mentioned.

Howell sighed. "Courtney has an old clock radio in her bedroom. It has huge red numbers. She got up for a few minutes, and you can't miss the time if you're looking anywhere in that direction," he paused, looking stricken. "So while my wife was being killed and dying alone and probably afraid, I was…"

"If Courtney was right, that's how it looks at the moment," Beckett answered less than sympathically. "The other possibility could be that you and Courtney planned it together."

"No. I can see that it could look that way, but no. I've been a colossal jackass, but I didn't have anything to do with Nadine's death."

Your assistant, Jeanne, has the keys and code to enter your home. Can you think of any reason she would want to kill your wife? We know you slept with Jeanne once, too. Was…"

"She wasn't that interested in me. I think she usually dates women. I didn't know that then, though. And she seemed to feel guilty about Nadine. They got along well. Nadine was completely comfortable with Jeanne having a key. She trusted her. I do, too. No, if Jeanne were interested in killing one of us, I'm pretty sure it would have been me."

"She did say that lying to your wife was the worst part of her job."

The councilman looked surprised at that, and then looked resigned.

Does anyone besides Jeanne have access to your home…a housekeeper, a contractor, a friend?" Castle asked.

"No." Howell answered, and then he reached in his jacket pocket and handed Beckett a copy of the security video. I couldn't bring myself to look at it yesterday, and I almost forgot to bring it today; so I don't know if it will help or not."

Beckett went to the door and called Ryan, who instantly appeared from the observation room.

"See if you find anything useful on this," she told him, and he took it back to his desk.

"We'll know soon if anything is there," she assured the councilman.

"Did your wife mention anyone who was dissatisfied at work, an angry client, a disgruntled employ, a business rival? Any problems with a friend or acquaintance?"

"Nobody. Business was no problem. She was good to her employees. I can't think of anybody who didn't like her, certainly not anybody who would want her dead.

There was a knock on the door, and Ryan said excitedly, "Beckett, come look at this."

"You found something?" she asked as she followed him to his computer.

"It looks like a woman, but almost every part of her is covered."

Ryan wasn't exaggerating. It had been a cold night, and the figure in the video was wearing a full length coat with a hood and gloves. "Is there anything inside the house that would give us a better look?"

"No, but look at the time stamp. It looks like it fits the window we established. There's more when she comes back out, but her head is down, and we still can't see a face."

"Let's see if the councilman knows who it might be." Beckett went to bring Castle and the councilman to look at the picture, but Howell wasn't much help.

"I feel like I've seen that coat before, but I don't know why…or when, or who," he told them. "I feel like it was probably at the office. Can you send the picture to Jeanne? Maybe she'd recognize it."

"Yeah," Ryan answered. "You got a number I can text it to or an email address?"

Howell wrote down his phone number and told Ryan to send it there. I'll call her and ask her to check right away. When she answered, he said, "Jeanne, I'm about to send you a picture of the person we think killed Nadine, I think I've seen the coat she's wearing, but I don't remember who it was. Would you stay on the line, look when you get it, and tell me if you recognize anyone. We can't see the face because of the hood. I'm sending it now, and I'm putting you on speaker." He pressed send, and they waited.

As they waited, Castle was looking at something and asked Ryan to run the video back. "See if you can identify that shiny surface right there where the coat moves up when she puts the key in the lock," he said, pointing out his target. Freeze it right there, he said excitedly. "Beckett! Look at this!"

Just then, they heard a horrified, "Oh, dear god!" On the other end of the line. "It's Emily."

"Who's Emily?" the councilman asked. "Oh wait. Emily, your partner?"

"Yes."

"She's Courtney's sister?" Castle and Beckett asked together.

"Yes, she is."

"Why did no one tell us this?" Beckett growled in frustration.

"Because it didn't seem important," they all heard in two versions…one from the councilman and one from the phone.

"Where does she work?" Beckett asked.

Jeanne told her sadly, and Beckett arranged for officers to pick Emily Carlton up and escort her to the station. She also had Esposito filling out forms for a search warrant for her home and Sully going to tech to put a hold on their phone and email search request for the time being. "When I asked you if anyone else had access to your room…" Beckett started.

"She lives with me, but we have our own separate rooms. We rarely bother each other's things, so I didn't give it a second thought."

"Does she know about the gun?"

"I took her to the firing range and taught her how to use it…in case of an emergency, and I gave her the combination to the safe in my closet."

"And she knew about the book with the passwords?"

"One of them was for a website she asked about, and I thought she might want to use it, so I showed her where to find it. I trusted her. She stopped by to pick me up from work for dinner and saw how tired I was. I was beyond exhausted when I got home that night. She knows I have trouble sleeping; so when I got home, she brought me water and a sleeping pill. I thought it was to be thoughtful, but I guess it was to get me out of the way. I gave her all the tools, didn't I? I'm so sorry. Will I be charged, too?"

"No. In her confession, she said she never told you what she planned and that it was all done without your knowledge. Thank you, Ms. Gordon. I know that was difficult for you."

There was no further comment, just a disconnect at the other end of the phone.

"May I stay long enough to find out why?" Howell asked.

"We can't guarantee you'll have an answer, but you can stay."

Emily Carlton confessed to her crime. She even said she had a moment of weakness before she made the shot to the head, knowing none of her grievances were Nadine's fault, but she went through with it anyway.

As Beckett and Castle left the room and were walking Ms. Carlton to the officers who would take her to booking, Councilman Howell approached her and asked, "Why kill Nadine? Why not me?"

Ms. Carlton said quietly but acidly, "Because you wouldn't suffer enough. Your pleasure and your career come before anybody else. I was there that afternoon to pick Jeanne up for dinner. You had her working late, and you thought we were gone; but I was waiting while she went to the restroom, and I heard you in your office. You were talking to another man about how you were in love with two women. You said Courtney was tired of feeling second best, but you didn't want to give her up, so you lied to her. I heard you tell him you had no intention of ever leaving your wife. Courtney is my sister. She took care of me when our parents died, and nobody should treat her the way you did. She deserved better than you, but you took her life away from her, made her feel like she had to hide all the time to be with you. You wanted her, she fell in love with you, and you took advantage. You took away her chance to find a man who would want only her and put her first the way she deserved. I feel remorse about your wife, but I'm not sorry you're having to suffer. I wanted you to feel as alone and devastated as Courtney was going to feel when she finally realized you never intended to be hers. I hated you for that. And I wanted you to know that your self-centered decisions were the reason your precious wife and your precious political career were taken away from you. I wanted you have to live the rest of your life knowing that."

Howell fell back against the wall as if it might be the only thing holding him up, looking as if he might slide down it any second.

The officers took Emily Carlton away, and Howell recovered himself enough to thank the team for their work in finding his wife's killer. He gave them the name of the hotel where he was staying until his house would be ready to move back to; and he left, looking dazed.

"That was pretty harsh." Esposito said.

"Some of it was the truth, too," Ryan answered. "But killing an innocent woman to teach a man a lesson…"

"I wonder if she thought about how much negative press Courtney is going to get along with the councilman."

"Yeah, and how much guilt she's going to live with when she finds out," Esposito added.

"We get all kinds," Beckett answered. "But we've got her. She should be in holding before long."

"Castle, How did you know it was Courtney's sister?" Ryan asked.

"The boots," Castle and Beckett said together, and they told them about the comment they heard in the hall as Courtney was leaving.

"There was a distinctive metal medallion on a strap at the ankles. That's what I was asking you to isolate in the video." Castle explained.

"That's probably what made the cut on the stairs, too." Beckett added. "And the woman in the video was too short to be Courtney, so we knew it was probably her sister."

"It's only three-thirty. I guess that means there's no putting off the paperwork," Sully kind of whined.

"It's Friday, and we're on call this weekend and off on Monday," Beckett told them. Might as well get this paperwork done tonight so we can enjoy whatever part of the weekend we have."

"Paperwork," Ryan sighed. "Always waiting for us."

"Gates isn't going to want us to wait until Tuesday to get this case ready for the DA. She's already been under a lot of pressure about it," Beckett answered. "I'll go and let her know we have a confession."

Gates was already walking toward them. "I saw officers escorting someone out in cuffs. Please tell me that was for this case."

"We have a confession," Beckett confirmed, and once we have the gun, ballistics should confirm that it's the one she took from her partner's safe.

"Who was it.?"

"None of the usual suspects. It was the councilman's assistant's partner, who happened to be the councilman's girlfriend's sister," Beckett answered with a little smirk.

Gates looked at her detective for a long moment and then shook her head and huffed a little laugh. And you figured that out in two days?"

Beckett nodded while the others enjoyed the show.

"And I heard you say you have a confession?"

"Yes, Sir, you did. And as soon as the search warrant can be carried out, we should have all the evidence we need to back it up."

"Get the paperwork ready for the DA. I want it on my desk before you leave today. I'm ready for the phone calls from 1PP and the press to stop. Enjoy your long weekend. I won't assign your team anything else before Wednesday. If anything else remotely high profile comes in before then, Lupinski's team will take it. She turned in the direction of her office, then she turned back toward Beckett and chuckled. I can't wait to call the chief and give him exactly the same explanation you gave me. Then I'll tell him it's all in the file I've sent. Good work, detectives…and writer. She chuckled her way back to her office and picked up the phone.

Did you see that?" Esposito asked. "For a second there, I thought she might jump up and click her heels together on her way to the phone."

Castle pulled Beckett's chair up to her computer, sat down, and said, "We haven't done this in a long time. You dictate. I'll type."

"Get out of my chair and give me a few minutes to jot down a few things. We could use some coffee."

"I'll make the coffee while you jot," Castle offered. When he came back with two coffees, he asked, "Are you still jotting?"

"I have jotted," she answered, finishing up with a flourish. Standing, she said, "The chair is yours, my nimble fingered husband."

"Ooooo… I could make that really dir…"

"Not here, but maybe tonight…" She whispered, and she did the eyebrow wiggle this time. Castle grinned as if he had just won a Pulitzer. She dictated and he typed, and her paperwork was done well before her shift ended. As the others finished their statements and reports, she compiled the file and turned it in to a grateful Captain Gates.

xxxxx

The party on Wednesday night was a rousing success. The homicide detectives and the officers who work with them brought their dates and significant others. There was a well-used dance floor, hors d'oeuvres and free drinks. Four cakes were brought out along with toasts and cheering for those being promoted, moved to a new location, or birthdayed. One said "Congratulations New Sergeants" and had Ryan and Esposito's names with a sergeant's chevron. Another said "Congratulations New Detectives" and had a gold shield instead of their former silver ones above Archer and Bisaga's names. "Good luck. Don't forget us" had Esposito and Karpowski's names on it, and was accompanied with comments about how much writing the cake decorator had to do for that one. The fourth said, "Happy Birthday Old Man – Better over the hill than under it. Castle loudly took issue with his cake, blaming it on his wife and mother being in cahoots. Esposito bragged that he had two cakes, but one of the other detectives said it just showed how happy they were to get rid of him. Archer and Bisaga were welcomed to the fold, and Castle received a ton of happy birthday wishes. There were war stories, very competitive games of pool and darts, and a lot of laughter. Esposito and Karpowski talked about their first day at their new precincts, and sounded hopeful that they were in good places. A few who were on call had to leave early, but by the end of the party, there was a lighter feeling in the atmosphere than was normally found in the group of people populating the bar.

After all but their small group of friends had left, wishing Castle a happy birthday and offering comments saying that he knew how to throw a good party, the partners and friends moved to their regular booth in the back and pulled up a couple of extra chairs to be more comfortable. While the staff at the bar took care of cleanup, they enjoyed a little more time together in a calmer atmosphere. Hugs, handshakes, and slaps on the back were exchanged before they all went home, knowing that life's inevitable changes were happening and determined that it wouldn't cause them to drift away from one another.