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Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

And Then There Were Two

Kate and Castle reached Alley's apartment, and Castle knocked on the door a couple of times. The door opened within a few seconds, and what greeted them was a familiar face. One that they've seen earlier this morning on their way to the dean's office.

"You're Alley Lockhart?" Kate asked.

"Um, yes… Did I do something wrong?" she asked shyly.

"You knew Patrick more than you let on this morning, didn't you?" Castle asked.

"No, I swear. We just sat next to each other, that's it. We barely even said four words to each other."

"He wrote about you in his journal."

"He did? I… I barely even knew him."

"You didn't know he liked you?"

She smiled softly and said, "I didn't… He was definitely nicer to me than anyone else, but I thought that was because that was the kind of person he was."

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way," Kate said.

"It hurts to know that Patrick liked me. Not too many do."

"Why is that, Alley?"

"Everyone thinks I'm weird. I'm not really a people person, and I just want to graduate and get out of here."

"You seem all right to me," Castle said, trying to cheer the girl up.

"Thanks… I just wish more people could understand me, but it's okay, it'll be over before I know it."

"I'm sure it will be. Thank you for your time Alley," Beckett said.

"It's fine, Patrick needs justice."

"He does indeed. Have a good day," Castle said.

"You as well, Castle and Detective Beckett."

They nodded farewell to the young girl, and went back to the car, so they could head to the precinct.

Everyone was gathered around the investigation board, studying it thoroughly, as they tried to understand this case a little more. Ryan rested against the desk behind him and asked out loud, "Why would someone kill Patrick randomly?"

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense. It wasn't a robbery, so what else could it be?" Esposito questioned.

"Maybe it was someone else he had confused feelings for," Castle suggested.

"Possibly, but it could also be a possible hate crime," Kate said.

"That's true, there have been quite a few of those popping up lately."

"It's a shame… I thought we'd be passed that by now," Ryan said.

"Yes, but some people just have this hate fused in their system. It's terrible really," Castle said.

They all mumbled their agreements and Kate said, "But someone could be lying to us."

"You think so?" Esposito asked.

"I don't know. They all seemed genuine about their feelings toward Patrick, none malicious whatsoever, but I think someone's hiding something."

"I think so too, it's just who that someone is," Castle chimed in.

"Yes, and we're going to need more evidence to narrow this down."

Captain Gates walked out of her office and said, "We have another murder at the college."

Everyone shared similar looks between each other and wondered what was going on at that school.

They were back at the college and were currently investigating the new murder that took place only an hour ago.

"So, her name was Jessica Gilbert. She was twenty-two years old, and was going to school here for photography," Ryan said as he gave them the run down of what he learned.

"Were there any witnesses?" Kate asked.

"No, there weren't. The Janitor discovered her body here, and then called us."

"Two murders, and neither crime had any witnesses. Not to mention this one was in broad daylight," Castle said.

"Yeah… There's definitely something fishy going on here," Kate said with a sigh.

"Well, all I can tell you is that this was a quick and easy kill. Her throat was slit pristinely, and she possibly died within minutes, maybe even seconds," Lanie said as she pointed at the wound.

"Think this was professional?"

"No… Whatever knife they used, it's definitely not a professional one, but to cut the correct spot that can kill someone instantly, that's a tough move to pull off."

"So, either our killer got extremely lucky, or they've done this before," Castle suggested.

"Possibly…" Kate said to him before she turned her attention back to Lanie, "Do you think you can figure out if the same knife was used in both murders?"

"I can try."

"Thanks… And Ryan, take Esposito and get more surveillance footage. Maybe we can link someone from the footage that we obtained from Patrick's murder, to the new footage."

"Got it," Ryan said before he walked away.

"Let's go see the dean again and see if we can find out if Jessica and Patrick were connected somehow."

Castle and Kate went back to the dean's office, and the dean didn't look too well. He looked visibly shaken and disheveled as he kept running his hand through his hair. He took several sips of water as he motioned for the two of them to sit down. He placed his water back down carefully as he sat down at his desk with a heavy sigh leaving his lips.

"Are you okay, Mr. Spencer?" Kate asked him.

"Sorry… these two murders have really shaken me up. I'm getting calls from parents, students, news reporters, and I have no clue what to say. We're trying to figure out if we have to close down the school until we get this nut job out of here and in jail," he said.

"We understand, Mr. Spencer. I'm sure the 12th will get to the bottom of this in no time," Castle said, trying to reassure the man.

"I'm just hoping they aren't coming for me next…"

"Why would you think that?" Kate questioned him.

"I don't know… I'm the head of this school, they might want to get back at me for something."

"I'm sure you'll be safe. If you want, I could see if I can get a uniformed officer to patrol your office and make sure no one can get to you."

"As much as I feel like I'm overreacting, I think having an officer in our administrative building would be great. It would take at least a bit of the stress off of me."

"Okay, I'll get someone as soon as we're done here."

"Thank you… So, what can I do for you?"

"Can we get some information on Jessica? Like her classes, class mates, where she's staying, and parent contacts."

"Sure thing, I'll pull all of that up and print them out for you guys."

"Did you know Jessica?" Castle asked him.

"Not as well as Patrick. She came in here a few times to discuss her classes, and to transfer some credits over, but other than that, she just went to school and got decent grades."

"Was she ever on the dean's list?"

"I think her first year, but lately she's been getting C's in most of her classes. Her GPA has dropped significantly because of that, but she was still on track to graduate."

He finished printing out the documents and grabbed the papers from his printer before he handed them over to Beckett. She flipped through them and he said, "Hopefully that gets you some good information. I have all four of her classes there, along with the roster for each of them. I have her apartment and parent contact information there as well."

"Thank you, Mr. Spencer. We'll get to the bottom of this, don't worry," Kate said as she stood up along with Castle.

"I sure hope so…"

They left the dean's office, and made their way back to the precinct, so they could sort through the papers they were given.

Kate was currently flipping through the roster of Jessica's four classes, while Castle was making them coffee in the break room. As she got to Jessica's last class, she started to lose hope that she would ever find some sort of connection, but she found a name that stood out to her on that last page. Castle came over to her desk, setting her cup of coffee down in front of her, before he sat down in the chair next to her desk.

"Find anything?" he asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Look at the names on the class roster for her Art History II course," Kate said.

Castle scanned the paper quickly and said, "Well, would you look at that."

"Look's like we got ourselves a lead."

"And quite possibly a killer."

Kate banged on the door of the apartment they were at just hours before, waiting for their main suspect to open it. A few seconds later the door opened to reveal a groggy looking Chase. When he noticed who was at the door, he perked up with confusion, and asked, "Did you find his killer?"

"We need to have a little chat, Chase. These officers will take you down to the precinct," Kate said to him.

"What…? I… okay…"

They were back at the precinct, and were now sitting in the interrogation room, looking for some much-needed answers from Chase. Chase ran a hand through his messy hair and asked, "Why am I here? I have nothing to do with Patrick's death."

"How about her?" Kate asked as she pushed a picture of Jessica towards him.

Chase grabbed the picture and choked out a sob, "Jessica!? She's dead…!?"

Kate and Rick shared a quick look with each other, before Kate answered the young man, "Yes, we found her on campus this afternoon. Someone slit her throat while she was sitting at a bench."

"Oh god… I can't believe she's gone. We were… We were just talking to each other last night."

"So, you two weren't just classmates? You two were close to each other," Castle asked him.

"She's my girlfriend… Was my girlfriend. She was helping me get through things with Patrick, but now…"

"Chase, we know this is hard for you, but you're the only lead we got. Do you know who would want to do this to her?" Kate asked.

"No, I mean… I don't think so. She used to be a big partier and did some wild stuff earlier this year. She was noticing that it was taking a toll on her grades, so she slowed it down a bit. We've been studying and hanging out together for at least three months now. I feel like no one would want to kill her."

"Where were you this afternoon?"

Chase let out a small sigh, and said, "I was in my apartment. I haven't left since I heard the news about Patrick. That's why Jess and I were on the phone last night, she was trying to help pull me from this slump I was in."

"Is there anyone who can verify that?"

"No… There are cameras around the building and if I left, they probably would have caught it."

"Okay, we'll look into it. You're free for now Mr. Grayson."

After Chase left, everyone was gathered around the investigation board, which only had a handful of evidence on it. Since they were pretty much back to square one with both cases, they'd have to figure out how these two crimes were connected once again.

"This has to be one of the hardest cases we had to solve within the last few months," Ryan said as he continued to look over the board.

"I agree, there's to many dead ends, and not enough leads," Beckett said.

"I think the killer knows what they're doing. They know just how far the leads we get will take us, and wind up being just short of finding who they are," Esposito said.

"I'm thinking the same thing. The killer has to know enough about both Patrick and Jessica to figure out how'd we investigate their deaths," Castle said.

"Yes, and so far, the only person that's connected to either of them is Chase," Beckett said with an irritated sigh.

"Whose alibi checked out, leaving us here, back at square one."

"There has to be a connection we're missing. Someone else knows them both, and knows that Chase would be the first person we'd go to as a suspect."

"Think that Tucker guy would know Jessica. He did work at their local bar, and if Chase was her boyfriend, they'd have to have met at least once," Ryan said.

"It's worth a shot, and the only other lead I could possibly think of at this time," Kate said.

Castle and Kate knocked on Tucker's door, hoping that he'd be able to help somewhat in this case. One clue could be the gateway to many more, and potentially leading them to a suspect, and another closed case. Tucker opened the door and said, "Oh, I wasn't expecting to see you guys here."

"Were you expecting someone else?" Castle asked.

"No, I just thought that I was done. I told you everything I could think of."

"I understand that, Tucker, but we were wondering if you could help us out," Kate said.

"With what?"

"There was another murder earlier today on campus. The victim was Jessica Gilbert, and she was dating Patrick's roommate, Chase. Did you know her?"

"Oh wow… Um… I kind of knew her. She was with Chase at the bar a couple of times. I made their drinks and made small talk like any bartender would, but honestly, I barely knew the girl."

"Well, do you remember anything significant that could lead us in the right direction? Did Chase and Jessica ever get into an argument? Did she get into an argument with someone else?"

"You know… I do remember one particular conversation they were having a couple of weeks ago…"

"What was it about?" Castle asked.

"You asked me if I knew an Alley earlier, and I didn't, but they were talking about her."

"The conversation was about Alley?"

"Yeah, I overheard Jessica talking to Patrick about his love life. Chase told her to cut it out, and to stop trying to be a match maker. But she kept pressing about it. Patrick told her that he wasn't quite sure what he was doing right now, and said he had his eye on some girl named Alley."

"Huh, Chase said that he didn't know that Patrick had a thing for Alley."

"Yeah, do you think he was trying to hide it?" Kate inquired.

"Possibly."

"Actually, Chase wasn't there when Patrick told her. Chase had gone off to the bathroom, and that's when Jessica started to pester Patrick more about his relationships," Tucker said.

"What happened after that?" Kate asked.

"She looked taken aback for a second, before she told him to pick anyone accept the psycho freak."

"Wow, harsh words," Castle said.

"I thought so too. Patrick told Jessica that Alley wasn't that bad, and that she was just quiet and misunderstood. Then Jessica proceeded to tell Patrick that she had her in one of her classes last year, and that the girl had a full-on meltdown after she accidently spilled soda on her art project."

"Hmm… So, it seems that Alley has a little bit of a crazy streak in her."

"I guess so… The conversation pretty much ended at that, because Patrick decided to get up and leave."

"Thank you, Tucker. We appreciate the information you gave us," Beckett said.

"It's no problem… Glad I was able to remember that. I hope you find who did this."

"Us too," Castle said.

Alley was brought down to the precinct, and was currently waiting in the interrogation room. She was nervously picking at the cuffs of her long-sleeved shirt, when Castle and Beckett walked into the room. They sat in front of the young woman, and Kate asked, "Nervous?"

Alley looked up at Detective Beckett and answered, "Yes, being in a precinct, and being interrogated, brings up some bad family memories…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Castle said.

"It's okay, I was quite young when it happened, but the memories still haunt me."

"I understand… We have a few questions for you, and then you'll be able to go, okay?" Beckett explained to her.

"Yeah, okay."

"So, did you know Jessica Gilbert?"

"Kind of, we had a few electives together a while back. Is she dead?"

"Yes, she was found earlier today on school grounds. Her throat was slit."

Alley ran a hand down her face and said, "Jeez, I can't believe it."

"We can't either. Were you at school today?" Kate asked her.

"No, I wasn't. I don't have classes on Thursdays. I was pretty much running errands and finishing up some projects that were due soon."

"So, you didn't step on campus once today?" Castle questioned her.

"No… Am I a suspect or something?"

"We're just following up on some leads we have. Your name has happened to come up quite a few times from plenty of different people."

"Oh, come on… I freaked out a few times and it was justified every time."

"So, you admit that you freaked out over Jessica spilling some soda on your art project?"

"Yes, it's no secret. I worked hard on that drawing, probably one of best art pieces that I've done since I've started there. I thought she'd apologize for ruining it, but she just laughed it off, and said it looked better like that anyway."

"I guess that'd make anyone mad."

"Yeah, I mean, wouldn't you be mad if someone spilled a drink on your computer, when your almost finished with your next novel?"

"Yeah, I'd be pretty upset… At least I'm able to save it on flash drives, and write notes down to remember my ideas. But an original piece of artwork is hard to replicate."

"Exactly… It just wasn't going to be the same, and it wasn't. My teacher gave me an extra week to re-do it for a grade, and it didn't turn out half as good as the first one."

"So, you didn't hold a grudge on Jessica for that incident?" Kate asked.

"No, I didn't like the girl, but just because I didn't care for her, doesn't mean I'd want to kill her. I'd never stoop to that level."

"Did you know her boyfriend, Chase Grayson, by any chance?"

"Um… Isn't he Patrick's Roommate?"

"Yes, it is."

"I kind of knew him, just like Jessica and Patrick. We may have had a class a couple of years ago, but honestly, I barely knew the guy. Is he a suspect?"

"We're still looking into it. We don't have any concrete evidence to pin a suspect yet."

Alley nodded and asked, "Am I free to go?"

"Yes, that's all the questions we have for you, for now at least. Please be careful Alley, and if you notice anything suspicious or feel you're in danger, don't hesitate to call the number on the card that I gave you earlier," Beckett said to her.

"Sure thing, detective Beckett. Thank you."

The three of them got up and left the room, and Alley gave them a quick nod before she headed to the elevator to leave the precinct. They watched her leave, and Castle asked, "Do you think she's in danger?"

"I don't know Castle, but anyone and everyone at that school is a target right now," Kate answered him.

"I guess you're right. I just hope we can get to the bottom of this before anyone else gets hurt."

"I do too. So, let's start back at the beginning and see what we can come up with."