Chapter Four

Castle and Beckett sat on the edge of Beckett's desk, staring intently at the murder board in front of them, names and photos of the eight prime suspects now filling the board with possibilities.

Ryan and Esposito joined them, the two laughing to each other as they approached them.

"You know, this would make for a nice Christmas card to send out to your friends and family." Esposito chuckled.

Ryan laughed, adding, "So festive."

Castle beamed while Beckett glared at them, changing the subject. "Okay, so what do we know?" She asked, prompting the others to refocus on the task at hand.

"Based on the timeline, it's likely that one of these eight suspects is our killer." Castle responded.

Ryan nodded his head in agreement. "Sure, but which one is it?"

"They were all pointing the finger at someone different." Esposito added.

Beckett rose from her perch on the desk and walked up to the board, pointing at the first photo. "Tyler Brooks, the store manager who we met at the scene."

"He did seem a little insensitive about one of his employees being murdered." Castle replied.

"According to some of the other suspects, our vic had been giving him a lot to deal with recently." Esposito agreed. "Drinking on the job, getting into arguments with the other employees, not exactly a model worker."

Beckett shook her head. "Sure, but if Tyler wanted to get rid of Peter, he could have just fired him. Murder doesn't seem like his best option."

"What about Brent Black, the back-up Santa? Professional jealousy maybe?" Ryan offered.

"Or Ally Shultz, the store's personal shopping assistant." Esposito chimed in. "According to the other suspects, she's the one who always got our vic's coffee in the morning."

Beckett looked over at the other five photos on the board. "What about the rest of them? What'd you get from them at the scene?"

Esposito pointed at the next photo. "Jason Samuels, a salesman in the shoe department. A little shifty, but he seemed harmless."

"Claire Martin." Ryan continued. "She was Mrs. Claus for the past fifteen years, one of the longest-employed people at the store."

Castle grinned. "Maybe Mrs. Claus caught Mr. Claus cheating on her?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "They weren't actually married, Castle."

"No, but Sydney Carter was married to our vic at one point." Esposito replied.

Beckett stared at the picture of the well-known actress. "His ex-wife just happened to be there on the day he was murdered?"

"According to Ally, her personal shopper, Ms. Carter was a fairly loyal customer. Typically there once a week." Ryan responded.

Esposito nodded. "Yeah, but she and our vic got into it a few weeks back. She hadn't returned to the store since."

"Until today." Beckett chimed in, an accusing tone in her voice.

Castle shook his head and pointed at the last two photos. "What about these two?"

"Paul Dasher, the store's resident reindeer." Ryan piped up.

Esposito nodded. "And Rachel Mack, an elf in the SantaLand display."

Beckett kept her gaze focused on Sydney's photo as her partners studied the entire board.

"So where do we start?" Castle asked.

"Pick up the ex-wife." Beckett instructed Ryan and Esposito. "Bring her in for questioning."

Esposito and Ryan nodded and started to walk away when Castle piped up, stopping them in their tracks. "Why the ex-wife?" He asked cautiously.

Ryan and Esposito exchanged a knowing glance as they waited for the conversation to get interesting.

Beckett looked over at Castle, slightly confused by the way he seemed to question her instincts. "She had motive, opportunity, a history with the victim. Seems like a good place to start."

Castle shook his head. "Any one of these eight people could have easily had motive and opportunity. Why assume it was the ex-wife? Just because she and our victim had a fight a few weeks ago, it doesn't mean she wanted him dead."

Beckett's brow furrowed. "Do you have a better theory, Castle?"

"Well, no, I just…" Castle stammered.

Beckett looked over at Castle. "Look, I'm not saying she did it, but she seems like our most likely lead at this point. Plus, she knows the victim well, and we need to start somewhere." She continued to study Castle's reaction, confused by his skittishness.

Before Castle could respond, the familiar ring of Beckett's phone broke the tense silence. She looked down at the caller ID.

"I should take this." She said, excusing herself and heading towards the break room. She stopped along the way, turned back around, and addressed Ryan and Esposito. 'You two go pick Sydney up and bring her in for questioning."

Ryan and Esposito nodded, waiting for Beckett to get to the break room before turning around and glaring accusingly at Castle.

"Bro, what was that?" Esposito asked.

Castle shook his head, innocently. "What was what?"

"You questioning Beckett like that." Ryan replied. "What was that about?"

"It's nothing." Castle said, keeping a watchful eye on Beckett as she paced back and forth through the break room.

Esposito shook his head. "Spill, bro, or I'll get Lanie up here to question you in the interrogation room."

Ryan smirked as Castle brought his attention back to the guys with Esposito's threat.

"It's Gina." Castle admitted. "Beckett gets edgy anytime her name comes up but she won't tell me why…" He trailed off, looking towards the break room again.

Esposito nodded knowingly. "Beckett's jealous of your ex." He tried to hide his smirk.

Castle shook his head. "I don't think that's it. Kate knows how I feel about her. Plus, she doesn't seem to have a problem when Meredith's name comes up."

"Well, what else could it be?" Ryan asked.

Castle looked back at the break room for a quick moment and then turned his attention back to the guys. "I wish I knew."

Esposito nodded. "Maybe she's just edgy about being a possible wife number three?"

"Hold on there," Castle exclaimed, clearly thrown off. "This is all still new to us and we're in it for the long haul but we haven't even talked about that kind of future yet." Castle stopped and thought about the question, though. "Although she has been putting off us telling Alexis about us." He was now deep in thought, averting the eyes of his partners. "Maybe you're right, maybe she's just not sure about all of this yet."

"Hey, don't sweat it, bro." Esposito agreed.

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, Beckett's not the easiest to read but we can tell she's happier than ever with you."

"It's probably nothing." Esposito added.

"I hope you're right." Castle looked over at the break room again, focusing on Beckett as she continued to pace across the room. "I guess I just figured that I could have solved this mystery by now."

Following Castle's gaze, Esposito chuckled to himself. He patted Castle on the shoulder and walked away. "Figuring Beckett out? Sounds like you're asking for a Christmas miracle, bro."

Castle didn't notice as Ryan shook his head and followed Esposito out of the bullpen. The writer continued to look over at Beckett, deep in thought as he watched her.

He took a step towards the break room and then stopped in his tracks. He shook his head as he turned back towards the desk and sat down, still watching the break room intently.