Chapter 2

Beckett met Lainie at the morgue. "How's Alexis doing?" Lainie asked.

"She's grieving," Beckett said. "Castle is with her. I don't know which one of them is doing worse."

"I have a time of death," Lainie told Beckett. "He died between five and seven this morning. Does Castle have an alibi?"

Beckett smiled. "I have personal knowledge of his whereabouts."

"I bet you do," Lainie smirked. "Pi was killed with the shovel that the boys found. There weren't any prints.

"Well that would have been too easy," Beckett commented.

"Javi did say something about footprints," Lainie said. "You should talk to him."

"I will Lainie, thanks."

Beckett caught up with Esposito and Ryan at the 12th. They filled in the time of death and the weapon on the murder board. Esposito also wrote in size twelve shoes. There was no pattern distinct enough to identify the brand. Pi had his work ID for the Department of Agriculture on his belt. There was no contact information on Pi's ID, but they they did find his cell phone. There was a number on it labeled "boss." Beckett looked at the number and gave a tight smile. "That won't help. That's Alexis' cell phone. Check the other numbers and see what you get."

Martha came through the door of the loft and embraced Castle. "Oh Richard! How is our girl doing?"

"She's asleep," but we'll have to ask her some questions sooner or later. "She's probably the only one who really knows what Pi was up to. I wish I could protect her from all of it".

"She's strong," Martha reassured him. 'She got through Paris, she'll get through this. You go help Beckett."

Castle called Beckett, who told him that she was on the way to an office of the USDA. The boys had found the number for Pi's supervisor on his cell and she was going to find out what he knew. She offered to pick Castle up on her way.

Justin Bright, Pi's supervisor was a serious young man who seemed very upset at the news. He was able to tell them that Pi was tracking bees and pollination in a number of gardens around Manhattan. Pi had taken soil samples for analysis from some of them, but he didn't know what Pi expected to find. He promised to let Beckett know when the lab results came back.

As Beckett and Castle were getting back in the car, Ryan called. The canvas around the garden had turned up a possible witness, who was waiting at the 12th. Beckett and Castle met with Mildred Marshall in the interview lounge. She was tiny, with white hair, but her blue eyes twinkled and she was sharp as a tack. While taking her daily early morning walk she had seen a man walking away from the garden.

Beckett asked Mildred, "Can you describe him?"

"Of course! He was a Caucasian, about six two. He had a Mets cap on but the hair sticking out from under it was brown. He had sunglasses on, so I couldn't see eye color."

"Ms. Marshall, "Did you see any tattoos or scars?"

Mildred looked offended. "If he had, I would have mentioned it. He was wearing long sleeves."

Mildred was calmed by the Castle smile. "Ms. Marshall," he began.

"Millie," she said with just a hint of a flirt.

"Millie," Castle continued. "I'm really impressed. We've had hundreds of witnesses in here and almost none of them do as well as you did."

Mildred preened, running a hand through her white locks. "My pleasure Mr. Castle."

"Ms. Marshall, we're going to put you with a sketch artist," Beckett told her.

"Anything I can do to help," Mildred told her and followed Beckett out, looking over her shoulder to smile at Castle.

After Beckett got Mildred settled working with the artist on a sketch, she joined Castle, who was in her chair by his desk, I-phone in hand.

"Checking on Alexis, Castle?" she asked.

Castle shook his head. "Researching bees. I though I might find a clue to what Pi was doing."

"Anything?" Beckett asked.

"Not yet, I just started."
"Look Castle," Beckett said, "that would probably be easier on your laptop. Why don't you go back to the loft and be with Alexis? I'll call you if I get anything and meet you there when we knock off."

"That actually sounds like a good idea," Castle agreed. "I'll catch a cab and see you later."

Castle unlocked the door to the loft as quietly as he could. Martha was sitting on the couch reading through a script. "Alexis?" Castle asked softly.

"Not a word." Martha told him. "I checked on her a couple of times. She was asleep."

"I suppose that's just as well," Castle said. "I'm just going to look in on her."

Castle made his way up the stairs and sat looking at Alexis, as he had so many times before. She still held tightly to Monkey Bunkey and Castle wished that a cuddly animal would be all it would take to make her feel better, but he knew that it would take a lot more. After about fifteen minutes, he made his way to his office and flipped open his laptop. If there was anything he was good at, it was research.

Beckett put a copy of the sketch of the man that Mildred had seen up on the murder board. "Ryan, can you show a copy of this to Jennifer Berkley?" she asked, reading the name of the woman who found the body from the board. "Maybe she's seen him around before."

"Beckett, can I do that in the morning?" Ryan asked "Jenny and I have a Lamaze class."

"Sure," Beckett told him looking at her father's watch. "It's probably too late to catch Justin Bright at his office to show it to him. Let's knock off and start another canvas of the area around the garden with the sketch, first thing in the morning."

Returning to the loft, Beckett found Castle leaning over his laptop, rubbing his eyes. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed his temple. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm feeling guilty," Castle told her. "Have you ever heard of colony collapse disorder?" he asked.

"No," Beckett answered. "Why?"

"Bees are dying all over the world. What Pi was doing wasn't as stupid as I thought, at least not about bees. I shouldn't have been so hard on him."

"You might want to tell Alexis that," Beckett told him. "How is she doing?"

"She's been asleep in her room. I wish I could keep her that way for a while."

Beckett drew him out of his chair and kissed his lips. Castle pulled her tightly against his body, hungrily kissing her neck and moving down as he opened her shirt. Taking his face in her hands, Beckett placed kisses on the corners of his mouth, his chin, and finally his lips. Then reaching for his hand, she led him into the bedroom.