Welcome to the second chapter of A Shot in the Dark! Apologies for the long wait, I had some personal health issues to sort out as well as other life events. Hopefully, this will be the last long wait! This story is Beta-ed by Iris and Amanda (and we have exciting plans for it in the future...).

BE ADVISED: The author apologizes for the extreme case-heaviness of this chapter


"Miss Gray, I'm Detective Beckett and this is Mr. Castle. Thank you for coming in so early in the morning," Kate said as she and Castle walked into the lounge where non-suspects were interviewed.

"So it's true then, what they said? Lizzie's dead?" The young woman sitting on the couch stared up at them with wide, blue eyes. Her voice had cracked on "dead."

"I'm sorry to be the one to confirm it," Kate said, sitting down, "But yes, she's dead."

At this, the girl hung her head and Kate saw spots on her faded jeans begin to dampen. They were just small, scattered damp spots that looked like little, misshapen circles. Just like with Mom, Kate remembered. When Raglan broke the news of her mother's death to her and her dad, she did not say anything, she just wept silently. What are you supposed to say after someone tells you that you'll never see your mother, or friend, again?

"Kelly," Kate said softly to the girl, "Were the two of you very close?"

Kelly sniffled as she looked up. Although she used one of her sweatshirt's sleeves to wipe her tears away, her eyes remained glassy and red-tinted. "Yeah," she said with a gravelly voice, "We were basically best friends."

"So you knew what was going on in her life?" Castle asked her. He left his place , leaning against the wall, to sit next to Kate.

Nodding, Kelly replied, "Yeah, I— I guess."

"What can you tell us about Eliz- Lizzie?" Kate asked. Her insides clenched with hope that Kelly would be able to unravel the building mystery of why a twenty year-old girl was shot outside the library with near-obvious premeditation.

Kelly looked up at the ceiling with a little smile. "Lizzie was my best friend. We had the same major, evolutionary biology, and we were in all the same clubs. She was an incredible person. I can't think of why anyone would want to hurt her."

"Did anything strange happen recently? Anything out of character? It could be odd-hour phone calls, missed classes, something she said, perhaps," Kate pressed her.

"Come to think of it, Detective, she had been a little more secretive than usual. We're pretty competitive within our program, so sometimes we don't discuss research but this was more secretive than usual."

"Why do you think that, Kelly?" Castle asked her.

Kelly shrugged. "She wouldn't tell me. My guess is it was something big. Lizzie's probably one of the best in the program. She'd never give up a huge find if it meant that her notoriety would be boosted. If I were in your shoes, I'd talk to Professor Lang. He was Lizzie's advisor and she'd tell him about the research, I bet. He'd definitely know more than I do."

"Thank you, Kelly," Kate said as she stood up and Castle followed suit.

The student got up to leave, but turned back to the detective before she left. "Detective Beckett, you'll let me know if you find anything, right?"

"I will," Kate told her, "I promise."

Kelly gave her a two second smile before she disappeared out the door.

After she gave the girl a minute to leave, Kate followed out the door wordlessly and leaned against her desk to stare at the sparse murder board.

"I hate when you chew your lip when we're at work," Castle told her after a moment.

She looked over and gave him a devilish grin. "Do you now, Castle?"

"Yes," he said, his voice lowering to a dangerous level.

Sidling over to him, she said, "Well, got any theories that will help us get out of here faster?" Coyly, she traced his arm with her fingertips with a touch that would make any sane man shiver. Castle was all too familiar with what would come next if she kept that up.

"If you keep doing that, I can't think." Kate chuckled and obliged, dropping her arm to her side.

"A competitive evolutionary biology student who suddenly wouldn't share anything with the girl who labeled them as best friends," Castle pondered out loud. They had very little information and, already, it did not add up.

Kate scrunched her face in concentration. "Do you think what Kelly said was true, that she stumbled upon something big while doing research?"

"It's the best lead we have," Castle told her, "And I think Lang would help."

Nodding, Kate stood up from her leaning position. "I'll have tech look at Sanders's laptop and we can go talk to Lang. Hey," she tapped Ryan on the shoulder to make sure he paid attention.

"Yeah?" the Irish Detective responded.

"Castle and I are going to go talk to Sanders's advisor. When we get back, let's start trying to piece this thing together. Nothing is making sense right now."

"You got it, boss," he said, ever -cheery.

The journey back to Columbia was loud with silence. Usually, Kate and Castle would talk about a case or what was for dinner or anything they felt like talking about. Today, however, the traumatic events from the morning loomed over their heads and casual conversation did not have a place. Gone was the playful attitude of less than an hour before.

"Alexis has her last final today, right?" Kate said after they parked the car and started walking towards the Sherman Fairchild Center, which was where the biological sciences department was housed.

"Hm- yeah," Castle replied. His stared at his feet as they walked.

Kate ignored him brushing her off. She had a job to do; a husband who was having a bad day could not compromise her work performance right now.

Once they were inside, Kate scrolled through the directory to find Lang's name. "He's up on the next floor. Room two-oh-six," she said, more to herself than to Castle. They climbed an open stairwell in the lobby to the second floor, admiring the artistic side of the building. It had a scientific quality to it that made it emit waves of modernity and a certain level of intelligence. Kate swore she could see double helixes hidden throughout the structure. The mix of stone and wood, and the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked a small garden in the middle of the building made it feel open and natural. Some of the walls were made of chalkboard, allowing students to work out problems without using paper.

"Lang's office," Kate said as they reached Room 206. She was not completely sure why she announced that out loud given that her partner was not paying her any mind at the moment.

The room was dark and Kate found the doorknob locked when she jiggled it.

"Are you looking for Professor Lang?" a voice from behind the pair asked.

"Yes, do you know where he is?" Castle asked, whirling around. Oh, so he just isn't talking to me, Kate thought in a surly way.

She turned around to see a girl with dark brown hair tied back in a bun, who looked to be about Alexis's age. "He took a personal day," she told them, "I wouldn't blame him after what happened to Lizzie Sanders."

"That's what we're here about," Kate said as she pulled out her badge, "We're with the NYPD and we're investigating the Sanders case. Who are you, exactly? How do you know Professor Lang and Elizabeth?"

"I'm Pollyann," the girl replied, "Professor Lang is my advisor, like he was Lizzie's. Lizzie and I had a few classes together, that's how I know her. Professor Lang loved her, he thought she was a miracle student." Her voice was laced with distaste that had not originally been there.

"You disagree?" Castle pressed Pollyann.

"I—I shouldn't tarnish her memory," she replied, averting her eyes.

Kate stepped forward. "Please. We need to know everything, Pollyann."

The student sighed and looked up at the detective. "Lizzie was always an eager student, even with students outside her specific area of study. I mean, yeah we compete for positions and jobs and stuff but we're just undergrads. I didn't realize how competitive people would be. And Lizzie was the worst. She'd do anything to gain some notoriety in the academic community, even if that meant running someone else's reputation through the ground. But Professor Lang worshipped the ground she walked on, and he's the head of the department. So we couldn't exactly do much about it."

Kate's eyebrows raised higher and higher as the story went on. "Thanks, Pollyann," she said at the end, "Will you let Professor Lang know that we'll be back to talk to him?"

"Sure, Detective," she said. Before they could get another word in, she walked – practically sprinted – down the hall.

Castle came up next to Kate. "That's a very different story from what Kelly told us," he said to her.

"Yeah," she agreed, "And I'd like to know why."


So yeah, very case-heavy. The next chapter will be more Caskett-centric and then we'll balance it out after that.

Please review or PM me :D Also, if anyone can find the most important piece of information we learn in this chapter, bonus points to you.