"Dad!"

"Dad!"

"Dad!"

Rick turned over in his bed, hiding his face in his pillow. He opened one eye, looking at the alarm clock on the night stand.

8:57

Why was Alexis waking him up this early?

As that he processed that thought, Alexis opened the door and walk into his bedroom, letting in rays of light from the hall. He groaned and shut the eye he'd opened. Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear, he thought to himself.

"Dad, there are two cops here." She told him. He sat straight up in bed

"You're kidding." He said excitedly.

"No." Alexis watched him nervously. "I let them in; they're waiting for you downstairs. What did you do this time? I thought you stayed at the party all night." She crossed her arms. She was used to having cops call about her dad, either to tell her that he was in lock up and that that her and grams needed to go get him, or telling him he needed to go to the station.

Rick threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood. He walked out of the room, saying, 'I didn't do anything, I swear."

Alexis followed, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

Rick walked down the stairs with a skip in his step. He was glad he'd worn sweats as well as his old t-shirt. Somehow, it was better than if he'd simply walked out wearing pajamas.

When he walked into the living room, two cops who'd been sitting on the couch stood. They were indeed the two guys from the night before. "Mr. Castle, I'm guessing." The one that spoke was a Hispanic guy. He spoke with a tough edge to his voice that added to the intimidation factor his stance and distinct muscles gave off.

"You'd be right," Rick flashed them a smile and shook hands with each in turn. "Please, call me Rick. What I can do for you gentlemen this morning?"

"Mr. Castle, I'm Detective Esposito, and this here's my partner, Detective Ryan." The muscled one, Detective Esposito, introduced them and deliberately avoided using his first name. "We're going to need you to come down to the station for questionning about a homicide investigation."

"Dad!" Alexis barked out, shocked. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, pumpkin." Rick put his arm around her shoulders. Her arms remained crossed over her chest and she looked between her father and the detectives, a worried frown on her face. Rick turned his attention back to the detectives. "Detectives, I have no problem coming to the station with you, but I feel like I should let you know right now that I had nothing to do with any murder."

"We appreciate your cooperation, Mr. Castle." Detective Esposito told him. He looked at Alexis. "So far we're just asking him questions. He's not under arrest."

"Good," huffed Alexis. Rick ruffled her hair.

"If you don't mind, gentlemen, I'll go dress before we go?" Rick asked courteously.


Rick sat patiently in the interrogation room, his hands neatly folded on the table in front of him. He'd been sitting there maybe five minutes when the Detectives Esposito and Ryan came in, Detective Ryan carrying a large white folder.

They sat across from him and Ryan opened the folder, pulling out papers and sorting through them.

"Mr. Castle," Esposito began, "You're still willing to do this without a lawyer present?"

Rick raised his eyebrows. "I don't need a lawyer, you're just asking questions. Should I feel I do need one though, I'll let you know." Esposito shot Ryan a glance.

Ryan shrugged and pushed a large picture towards Rick. "Mr. Castle, do you recognize this man?"

The man in the photo was dead, on an autopsy table, probably. There was nothing familiar about him. "No." He pushed the picture back towards Ryan, who collected it and put it back in the folder. He pulled out another picture.

"And this one?" He asked.

This guy in this picture was most certainly not dead. "Of course." Rick said carefully. "That's Edward Beelt."

"Do you believe that Mr. Beelt and this man," Ryan pointed to the picture of the dead man, "knew each other?"

"Impossible to say," Rick mused, "seeing as I didn't know this man." He picked up the photo of the dead man. "What was his name?"

"Eric Heagar." This time it was Esposito who answered. "Killed three nights ago."

"By Edward?" Rick asked, looking up at the detectives.

"That's what we believe." Esposito again. "Now, Mr. Castle," Eposito shifted so that he was mirroring Rick's position. "Mr. Beelt told us that three nights ago, he was having dinner at your place with a few other coworkers."

Rick nodded. "That's right."

"What time did he arrive?" Ryan asked, a notepad in hand.

"6:30," Rick said, feeling as though this were some sort of test that he couldn't fail.

"And he left at…?"

Rick had to think about that. Everyone had left at slightly different times. "To go home? He left at around 11:30."

Esposito's eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean, 'to go home'?"

Rick looked between to the two of them, who were watching him intently. "Well, he left at about 8 to pick up his daughter from a friend's." He cleared his throat. "He was back at 8:30."

"Did he have his daughter with him?" Ryan asked.

"No, he dropped her off at home?" Rick's answered sounded like a question even to him.

Ryan and Esposito exchanged a look. Then Esposito turned back to Rick. "Thank you for your time. We'll have a uniform drive you home." They stood to leave.

"Wait wait wait!" Rick stood, knocking his chair backwards. "There's no way you can give me details, right?" The look her received from the detectives made him rephrase his question. "I'm a writer, and this would make a great story."

Just then, the door to the interrogation room opened, revealing the lady-cop he'd seen last night. "Ryan, Esposito," She called. She gave a jerk of her head, signalling that it was time for them to leave. The three of them had a quick conversation in whispers before the two male detectives made their way out of the room. "Mr. Castle, there's a uniform waiting for you at the front door to drive you home. Thank you for your help." She held the door open for him as he made his own way out of the room, collecting his jacket.

"Here's my card, if there's anything else you remember, please give me a call." She told him as she walked with him to the elevator.

As the doors to the elevator closed, he watched her walk back to her desk, meeting with Esposito and Ryan halfway there.

He tucked the card into his jacket pocket.


"Dad!" Alexis called when he finally got in. She'd been sitting on the couch, still in her pajamas. At the sight of her father, she jumped up and rushed over to him, taking his hands in hers and examining his face.

"Hey, pumpkin." He greeted, freeing one hand to pull her into a hug. "It was just questions. I promise I didn't do anything." He freed himself to hang his jacket up in the closet. "What were you up to?"

Alexis gestured to the couch. "Reading. But now that you're here and not in jail for some reason or another, I'm going to the mall with Jenna, okay?"

"Sure thing." Rick smiled at her. Alexis shot him a smile and kissed his cheek before going up to her room to get ready. As she bound up the stairs, Rick walked into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

Once the coffee was brewing, Rick unfolded the newspaper that sat undisturbed on the counter. Curious, he flipped to page 6, where, sure enough, there was a picture of Edward Beelt being loaded into Detective Esposito's Crown Vic. Rick cocked his head sideways. Not a very flattering picture for Edward, who looked like he was going to bite Esposito's head off. A little farther in the back of the picture, Ryan and the lady cop were exchanging notes.

Rick quickly scanned the article. The lead detective, Kate Beckett, had nothing to say on the matter of Mr. Beelt's arrest, and requested that the media kept a respectful distance as the 12th precinct worked on the case…

Rick felt something go off in his mind. Kate Beckett. The lady cop he'd seen at the party and just this morning.

He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed earlier.

She was the same Kate Beckett who'd been present after the murder in the loft. The same Kate Beckett who'd taken him and his kid out for ice cream so that's Alexis wouldn't have to deal with all the blood.