Chapter 4: I hate this case
Previously on Castle... "This case is officially amazing. So? Who's up for an adventure?" Castle says excited, or maybe it's the coffee.
"Don't pack your bags just yet Castle, for all we know Shauna was visiting someone in the city," says Beckett, shooting the writer down.
"Ryan, Espo, you two dig into her life, see if you can find any financials specific to her or any recent activity on her family's accounts. Find out what she was doing in the city and when her activity stops. Remember, she may have been reported missing on Friday, but she's been out of class since Monday," instructs Beckett. "Castle, you and I will go to the morgue and update Lanie. We'll meet back here in an hour."
A little while later at the morgue Castle and Beckett enter the main examination lab; Lanie's domain.
"Hey, got your message," greets Lanie. "Did you get an ID?"
"Yep," Beckett hands her the photo and missing persons report. "Just wanted to double check and see if you found anything else."
Lanie scans the papers, her mouth moving with silent words. Castle watches her and is not surprised when she pauses and rereads a portion.
Lanie looks up. "Umm...are we sure this is right?"
"Which part?" Beckett asks, already knowing the answer.
"The San Francisco part."
"Yes-."
"Isn't this great?!" Castle interrupts, both women turn to look at him. "Well not the death part. But mysterious disappearance five days ago only to show up dead on the other side of the country, come on!"
Deciding to ignore the over excited, coffee high writer Beckett turns towards Lanie.
"As I was saying. Did you find anything useful? Anything that could help us with a timeline at best?"
"Well adding on to our list of the strange and weird I'm putting time of death two days ago," the ME replies.
"Well that should help a bit with tracking her movements, we can knock off two days. Thanks Lanie."
Beckett pulls out her phone and sends a quick text to both the boys. KB: ToD 2 days ago.
Her phone dings a moment later. JE: Thnx. Vic had personal bank account + cards, running now.
"Lanie, is there any way you can narrow down that Time of Death at all? It turns out our vic here had her own bank account and cards so a smaller window will be helpful in narrowing our search," Beckett says as she pockets her phone.
"I'm still running tests and then I'll open her up, but until then two days ago is the best I got for ya, Sweetie, I'll let you know," replies the ME.
"Got it, I'll do the same. Come on, let's go." Both women glance at the writer, who is leaning in closer to the body. "Castle!"
"Huh?" Castle jerks his head up smacking it hard on the exam light overhead. Castle yelps and rubs his head, stumbling backwards. "Ouch!"
Lanie and Kate exchange a look before Beckett guides Castle from the morgue.
A few minutes later Beckett and a still grumbling Castle exit the elevator. Castle makes a beeline for the break room muttering something about: "stupid light" and "I'll go get us some coffee".
Beckett, meanwhile approaches the murder board and updates the timeline, wondering to herself where the boys are and why they hadn't updated the board yet.
Her answer comes a few seconds later in the form of Esposito. "Yo Beckett, you're back."
"Hey, where'd you guys go, and why wasn't the board updated?"
Esposito holds up an ink cartridge in explanation, "Printer was out of ink, had to get some from downstairs." He continues to the printer and busies himself with replacing the spent cartridge.
Ryan appears from the break room with an odd look on his face, carrying two coffees. "Hey, umm do you know why Castle has his head shoved in the freezer?" Ryan hands Espo his coffee as he says this.
"The klutz hit himself pretty good with the exam light. He's supposed to be getting coffee for us," answers Beckett with a sigh.
"Ask and you shall receive," a voice says without missing a beat. Castle emerges from the break room holding two mugs of steaming hot liquid.
Castle hands a mug over to Beckett and frowns when Ryan and Espo nearly spew their coffees, shaking with laughter.
"What?" The writer asks incredulously.
Ryan manages to control his laughter long enough to say, "So, Castle did you enjoy your trip to Hoth?"
He and Espo crack up some more and fistbump. Castle looks at Beckett for help but finds dismay as she too is laughing, though not as hard as the boys.
"I see...you...hick...brought us a...hick...souvenir," hiccups Espo between laughs.
It's then Castle realizes what's so funny: he has ice cubes stuck in his hair. Frowning he shakes his head vigorously, spraying the three laughing detectives with ice bits and water. Holding up his phone Castle fixes his hair and glares at Ryan and Espo, unable to stay mad at Beckett for long.
"So, our vic's financials..." prompts Beckett, bringing the group back to earth.
Ryan takes a deep breath and grabs the freshly printed papers off the printer. "Right here, the last ten days of activity on her..." he breaks off, scanning the papers once, twice and a third time, squinting at a line and shaking his head. "Account..." Ryan rubs his eyes and hands the papers over to Beckett, dodging Castle's grabby hands.
Beckett quickly scans the papers with a sigh, "I hate this case."
Castle snatches the papers out of Beckett's hand, who, to be honest doesn't exactly try to stop him. "Pack your bags, boys, our flight leaves tomorrow."
This time Beckett doesn't correct him because this time, this time he's right. The last known activity on her account had been in sunny San Francisco California and it wasn't for travel to New York or anywhere near it.