Chief Brady points toward the dock office where the officers are staging "Could we go over there and talk?"
"Of course" Castle answers
The three move toward the office. Kate and Rick are still carrying their bags over their shoulders. When they arrive inside the office the chief begins
"Mr. Castle I have read most of your books and I have enjoyed them very much" the officer looks at Kate "Now I understand that this is New York Police Detective Beckett of homicide?"
Beckett answers "Yes Chief"
"…and you are…Nikki Heat?"
Again Beckett bristles. She still gets a little emotional when someone uses that name to describe her. "No Chief, I am not Nikki. She is a figment of Rick's very vivid imagination"
"But you are here…with Mr. Castle" The chief glances between them "And you don't look like a figment today"
Rick tries to interrupt the conversation "Chief, when I first wrote Heat Wave, Kate was just my model for the character and my partner"
"I see things changed?"
"Yeah they did. So chief, how can Beckett and I help you?" Trying to change the subject to something Beckett will be less uncomfortable with
The chief looks back to Castle "How do you two know our victims?"
Castle responds to the question "Chad lives two doors down from me and I only met his girlfriend earlier this year when he brought her by one night at dinner"
Kate realizes that she has never met either of the two victims. She only had heard Rick talk about them in passing conversation. Again this brings her to wonder exactly what all took place here in the Hamptons before she came along
"What can you tell me about them?"
"Chad works at a brokerage house in the city and I believe Edie was a law clerk or legal secretary at one of the larger firms in New York"
"Do you know of any reason either one of them would be a target?" The chief asks
"TARGET?" Beckett asks "Do you think they were targeted and not a just robbery gone wrong or maybe a simple break-in?
"No! The way they were killed and the fact the boat was not trashed leads us to believe that this was a targeted hit"
The police chief looks at Kate "Ms. Beckett you are a homicide investigators. Would you be so kind as to help me with this investigation? I've never worked a homicide before and the mayor is already calling wanting a status update. Wealthy resident being killed is not good for business"
Castle looks over at Beckett and he can tell she is not sure about how to answer. He firmly believes she wants no part of this investigation and he is ready to tell her that he understands and that they can say no and can move on with their weekend together
Inside her head she wants to tell the local police no, but at the same time, her heart wants to help Castle get closure and find his neighbor's killer
"Fine Chief. We will help" she finally answers causing Rick to look at her questioningly
"I can hear a 'however' in your voice" Brady responds
"Chief, I respect your position here and do not want to be overbearing. In the city, I am senior lead detective and I am accustomed to giving orders but Rick and I just started dating and this is our first weekend together alone" she looks at his face then continues her statement "And I don't want to spend all day, every day chasing leads. So I will help you but understand that Castle and I will do what we can, but most of the heavy lifting will still be on you and your department"
"Great. Perfect" the chief responds "So where do we begin?"
"Can Castle and I go look at the crime scene?"
"Sure. This way" Brady points toward the pier and they walk out of the dock manager's office
Rick turns to the chief "let us put our bags back in the car first and we will be right there"
The chief acknowledges the statement and he walks back onto the pier and out to the boats
After dropping the carry on bags beck into the trunk of Castle's car, Rick and Kate start walking toward the boats
"Kate. I thought you would say no to this"
"Castle. This was your neighbor. I figured that you would want to know what happened to him" she pauses then finishes her statement "and I can help do that"
"You are willing to give up part of your vacation so we can know what happened to a friend?"
She reaches out and links her fingers into his, then looks him squarely in his eyes "Yeah, I guess I am"
"I love you Kate"
"Back at ya' mister" she responds as she squeezes his fingers
As the pair walk up the ramp they are handed gloves and shoe covers. The officer notes their arrival in his crime scene log
Having been to numerous crime scenes Castle lays back a little letting his girlfriend take the lead as she is accustomed to doing.
They step onto the boat from the dock and she immediately looks around the deck area. After several minutes of covering the deck area, the pair go through the hatch and into the lounge. This is where the bodies still are on the floor. The local medical examiner, Dr. Dale Jensen, is still completing his initial examination. Beckett and Castle are both taking mental notes of what they see in the room
"Everything looks in place" Rick comments "I have been on this very boat several times before today. I am not seeing anything out of place. Except maybe the bar area has been changed"
Castle pauses in his statement when he steps around the bar looking for anything out of place.
"What has changed Castle?" Kate asks Rick
"The bar is different somehow. Not real sure?"
Kate walks up to the medical examiner "Excuse me…Dr. Jensen, I am Detective Kate Beckett NYPD" Knowing she must maintain protocol pertaining to contamination of evidence she does not offer her hand
The older man looks up from his examination of the two victims. He sees that the two standing here looking like they are more interested in going sailing than working a murder case. He considers their appearance not appropriate to be at a crime scene. He considers these two invaders not worthy of his attention
"Yes, detective, the chief informed me that you would be jumping into our investigation" Sounding a little put out by the presence of an outsider he continues "I don't have anything yet, it will be some time after I get them back to the lab before I will have my report"
"Yes doctor, we do understand. All I need right now is preliminary time and cause of death"
"I estimate time of death between midnight and 2:00AM and the cause is most likely the 9 mm bullet wound in the back of each of their heads"
"This looks like an execution?" Rick comments to Kate
"The way the bodies are staged and the single shot in the back of the head is classic mob hit" Beckett comments to Castle
The ME looks up to Beckett and Castle as they continue their conversation between themselves. His appearance softens a little as he can tell their knowledge seems complete and their interest in the case is sincere.
He watches as the pair begin looking around the room and start discussion what they are seeing instead of being focused on the victim like he has seen before from amateur sleuths
He then comments to the pair "That is my initial thoughts as well. If you can let me get them to my lab I will try to give you more information in a few hours"
"Thank you doctor" Castle states then returns his attention to the rest of the room
"Castle, are you noticing anything out of place from the last time you were here?"
"I am not sure. Something seems different, but you have to remember this boat originally belonged to Todd Green, my next door neighbor. After he died his widow, Sara sold it to Chad. He and his girlfriend Edie, fixed it up some. Changed a few things. But I don't see much changed"
Kate leans in close to Rick "Did you say Sara Green? Isn't that the woman your mother told you were single and you would be attending her single's party?"
"UH?...Yeah…I think so. Yeah"
A small tinge of green eyed monster appears inside Kate
Kate makes another sweep of the room then turns to Rick "Castle, let's let the Crime Scene Investigators do their job then we can then go over the information later at the police station"
Beckett turns to the medical examiner and speaks to get his attention "Dr. Jensen"
The man, who is now standing beside the bodies writing his report, looks at the duo "Yes detective?"
"Castle and I are leaving. If you find anything really unusual would you please call us" Otherwise, I will leave you alone to do your work and will read your summary when it's finished"
The medical professional appreciates Beckett's professionalism. It is something he does not always experience
"Yes ma'am I will call. You are staying at Mr. Castle's estate. Correct?"
Kate is taken back a little by the doctor calling Rick's weekend home an 'Estate'
"UH. Yeah we are at Rick's. Yes we will be there. Thank you doctor. I will talk to you later?"
On the dock they go looking for the local chief where they find him again inside the dock manager's office
Beckett speaks to the police chief "Chief Brady, we looked over the crime scene. Castle has been on that boat before and we are going to go back to his place to make some notes. Will you let us know when you get the autopsy and CSU reports? We can go over them once we have some more data"
"Fine detective, Mr. Castle. It will probably be later today or even early tomorrow morning before we get any results. In the mean time I will have my officers continue their canvas of the area and if that produces any new information, I will send it over to you"
"Fine" Beckett responds
Rick and Kate leave the boat docks and are walking back to the parking lot to get into Castle's car. They are now walking hand in hand with Kate holding Rick's fingers very tightly
"Castle, this might take some effort to solve. We may need to get Ryan and Esposito to do some backgrounds on our victims"
"We'll call them when we get back to the house and get this started"
The ride back to Castle's home is quiet but as soon as they walk inside Kate turns and wraps her arms around Rick. "I wish I had not offered to do this"
"Why? What's wrong Kate? You have worked cases worse than this one"
"It's just they were your friends and neighbors and that always makes it harder. For you I mean"
"Well, I have an idea of something that might take our minds off of this"
He begins pulling her into the living room and she just smiles as she goes with him.
"Would that be an activity that you had already promised for the week end?" She follows him happily
"That's a possibility"
He sits down on the end of the couch and pulls her down next to him. He puts his arm around her shoulder and pulls her to his side. "I did say there would be a lot of kissing, didn't I?"
"Yeah you did"
Before long the pair are lying on the couch making out like two high school sophomores. A nice slow, loving, make out session
Neither one realized how tired they were when this session of romance moved from necking to them wrapped together and asleep
Their slumber is broken by the door bell ringing and the sound of someone rapping on the front door
As a cop Kate's body wakes first at the sound of someone wanting entry "Castle…Castle! Someone's at the door" She shakes Rick
He groggily moves off the couch "What?"
"Rick! There's someone at the door"
"OH" he stands and starts toward the entryway. He quickly glances at himself to make sure he is dressed. Kate has sat upright and also makes sure she is dressed as well. Her sleepy brain was not sure how far their session had gone before sleep took over
Rick reaches out and pulls his front door open to come face to face with an attractive, tall, dark blond haired woman dressed in short shorts and a halter top.
"Hey Rick" The woman says in a sultry voice "I noticed your car in the driveway and I thought I would come by and see how you are doing"
"Sara…uh Sara Green. How are you?"
He looks down and notices that she is holding a bottle of wine
"I am great" she lifts the bottle "I thought I would come by and see what you were doing this weekend
Kate Beckett has stood up from the couch and is walking directly to Castle and she is planning to demonstrate, to this woman, exactly WHO Castle is planning on doing this weekend