Genre: Crime, Drama, Family, Romance, Humor
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: I was very pleased getting reviews; as always; so need to get to the thank yous! vetgirlmx (Had to laugh at your comments about this new suspect, not too surprised to see what you said about them, lol. I really loved seeing your comment about the teaser, lol, 'cause that's exactly why I wrote it, to have readers wondering about it as the story continues. So to see that there, is pretty great reading that! Not surprised you want the whole investigation into Beckett cleared up. Also not surprised at what you said about the recording, lol. And of course really glad you want to read the next chapter, which of course you can now!), Beckett-Castle4ever (Really happy reading that you liked the last chapter so much. And the same for you wanting to read more, and here you can do that with this chapter), life's a mystery (Glad that you liked the way the case progressed in this one, always very nice to hear that!), pcol22 (Happy seeing again you enjoyed the last chapter. And the same that you liked that they got further into the investigation. Not too surprised that you're worried about what might happen to the child. But great that you want to read the next chapter, which you can do of course now!), Monkeywand (Great to see you've been enjoying my series of stories so much that you've gone through all I posted up until this point. With so many stories, I'm grateful people want to do that still, and you doing that is no exception! And I'm so happy that you're hooked and that you like this universe, great compliment, same hearing that you think I'm doing an amazing job! And as for the last chapter not surprised you want everything with the investigation into Beckett to be wrapped up, including the part concerning Julia. And I had the same reaction seeing you want to see what everyone's reaction will be to Castle and Beckett's relationship. It was interesting to see what you're hoping about the election, though I have to admit it was a shock to read that you want the person they're supporting to win) and sammysgirl78 (Lol, yeah, no killer yet obviously, not surprised you thought their suspect was too good to be true. And happy to see you like that the case if progressing now. It was interesting to read you want them going home, but I wasn't too taken aback by that actually. But really glad you thought it was a great chapter! And not surprised you're eager for the next update, which here it is!). So thanks to those of you that sent me the reviews, I loved reading them all and seeing what you thought. And as always, appreciate the time you took to write them!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Devil's Radio by George Harrison, from his album Cloud Nine.
Shapes You Into Something Cold
"So they're bringing them in," Beckett said, walking up to Castle who was sitting in front of the murder board.
"Them?" Castle asked in surprise.
"Them, according to Esposito, Mrs. Catesby was very interested in finding out why the police wanted to talk to her husband," Beckett replied.
"Who're we talking to?" Castle inquired.
"To Mrs. Catesby, I'd like to give Mr. Catesby to Esposito," Beckett said. "And Ryan to be ready to check his alibi as well as look through his financials, to see if there's any evidence of a mistress. Though I know it could have just been a one night stand."
"Nothing on the warrant?" Castle asked.
"We'll get it, it's just the judge is finishing up a trial right now," Beckett told him.
"I remember now, he was telling me about it last week when I had him and the mayor over with Price for cards," Castle said in remembrance. "They were talking about it, the shooting of Olivia Cain by her sister."
"He's presiding over that one?" Beckett asked. When her fiancé nodded she grimaced slightly and said, "Horrible case, I did not envy the 44th that one."
"So if it turns out that Catesby is our killer orchestrating this, how are we going to find the mother and child?" Castle asked her after they were quiet for a moment. "Because we're not just going to give up on finding them right? Even if we do have everything solved with this interview."
"No, we need to make sure they're safe," Beckett replied. "I just realized," she said, looking at the names of the vic's two friends from the hospital. "We can ask Mrs. Bay about Mr. and Mrs. Catesby."
"Think she'd have any more information about them?" Castle asked.
"We'd need to find out," Beckett said. At that moment, the elevator opened, and Ryan came out, followed by the couple and Esposito. "Mrs. Catesby," she said quickly when Ryan had led the man to interrogation. "Please," she said, gesturing with her hand. "My name is Detective Beckett, I'm wondering if my colleague and I might speak with you here."
"Sure, but why are they taking Nate in there?" the woman asked as Beckett led her to the nearby room, sitting on the couch uncomfortably.
"It's just to speak to him," Beckett answered reassuringly. "I'm wondering if you might know this woman at all?" she asked, handing the woman a picture of the vic.
"Oh, yes, that's Sheryl, she… wait, they said a nurse was…" Mrs. Catesby began to say. "She was murdered?"
"You heard on the news?" Castle asked.
"No, I heard it from Dr. Shielding at Lexington, he delivered my son," Mrs. Catesby replied, almost in tears. "He and Sheryl were both at the delivery. She helped Nate throw the surprise party for me and Michael; our son; at the hospital."
"A surprise party, did he happen to pay her at all so she could assist him in that?" Beckett queried, looking at her fiancé.
"He did, since she had to pretty much put everything together. But I don't think anyone knew at the hospital that he did that," Mrs. Catesby said. "He didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea."
"I'm wondering if I might ask you about something Mrs. Catesby," Castle said. "Your pre-nup-"
"That wasn't what we both wanted," the woman interrupted quickly. "That was my mother who insisted on it. She actually hated his father, and she was hoping that he would never let his son agree to that so we wouldn't get married."
"But it didn't seem to work," Beckett said.
"Oh no, we're very much in love, and I doubt Nate would cheat on me," Mrs. Catesby said. "Actually, even if he did, he wouldn't be able to really have a child." When she saw Castle and Beckett's startled faces at that she said, "I know you think he killed Sheryl; I don't know any other reason you'd have us both here to speak with us. And asking about my pre-nup I'm guessing you thought he had an affair and or a baby. But Sheryl was a friend during my pregnancy, and he'd never hurt her."
"Then do you know where your husband was around five thirty this morning?" Beckett asked, having a feeling it was going to be something the woman herself could confirm immediately.
"Sleeping with me, he had a meeting today at the hospital, he left our apartment at six," Mrs. Catesby said. "He's a donor, and they're talking about expanding the neo-natal ward. We'd like to donate all we can since we were lucky to even have our son."
"And is that why you had the party at the hospital?" Beckett said.
"No, the reason was because I could leave, but Michael couldn't," Mrs. Catesby said. "He was born two months premature, and he needed to stay at the hospital. Sheryl escorted me from the neo-natal ward to the cafeteria, but instead took me to a room they have next to it, and there the party was set up."
"Was it elaborate?" Castle then said. When the woman nodded he said, "Are you aware of how much your husband spent for it?"
"I don't because I didn't need to ask," Mrs. Catesby replied. "But if you found out about that check, wouldn't you know she spent it?"
Beckett didn't reply to that; since she and Castle had noticed the small withdrawals of money after that check had been deposited all around the same time, but they'd thought it was the vic going on a spending spree in cash until the money was gone. She finally said, "How well exactly did you know Sheryl?"
"Only in the context that she was there as an aide to Dr. Shielding for my appointments," Mrs. Catesby answered. "We had them late at night because that was the only time Nate could manage to come with me. But if you're wondering why he gave the planning of the party to her, it was because we trusted her."
"Alright," Beckett said with a nod. "If you can wait here Mrs. Catesby, I'd like to speak with my partners."
As she closed the door behind them outside, Castle said, "We were pretty close."
"We were, but at some point we would have found out he couldn't have kids naturally," Beckett said. "So motive would have flown right out the window then. But that would explain the cash withdrawals. I need to speak to her two friends again at the hospital now."
"Ask about the baby," Castle said quickly as they glanced over at the door to interrogation. He then looked back at her to see she was going to Ryan at his desk and talking to him about the alibi for Mr. Catesby his wife had given. He then followed her to her desk, and stood with her, watching as she was soon speaking to their vic's co-worker on the phone.
"Okay, yeah, no I don't see how that was relevant to my investigation," Beckett was saying. "Thank you for clearing that up though. Goodbye. So Mrs. Bay confirmed the party, said Mr. Catesby wanted the party there since he wanted to be near their son. And that the vic was likely worried about the money for the party being enough for what he wanted her to get."
"And her cousin? Why couldn't she tell him about that?" Castle asked.
"Because she wanted to keep it secret," Beckett said. "Believe me, that part didn't make sense," she said when her fiancé looked at her in confusion. "But it's what she said, so since she told me some of the things she knows our vic bought with money, I can confirm the last of the withdrawals as they correspond with some last minute plates and forks. And the four hundred is definitely the cake."
"And the reason for her using cash?" Castle asked.
Looking over his shoulder Beckett nodded saying, "She preferred to use cash because her purse was stolen once, about three years ago."
"That's right," Castle said as he went after her to where Ryan was standing in the doorway. "I remember that on her information. So Mr. Catesby's not the killer right?" he asked the detective once they were in the room.
"No, I decided to jump to the time Mrs. Catesby said her husband left that you told me," Ryan explained. "And got this from one of the elevators."
"Well, that helped she had so specific a time," Beckett said. Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye she glanced at the doorway and said, "We'll let him and his wife go home," as on the TV the man was standing in the elevator, talking with someone else in the car.
"What about when he came back home?" Esposito asked.
"Went back all the way to eight; when he came back from work, and checked every last car up to the time when he was supposed to leave for the meeting, no sign of him or anyone in disguise," Ryan said.
"I doubt he'd go that far," Castle said. "Plus his wife would have mentioned him acting strangely."
"He's right," Esposito said as Ryan and Beckett looked at him. "He was pretty shaken when I showed him the crime scene photo, almost was sick; that's why it took me longer to speak to him than it took you to talk to his wife. He said she was a godsend, as it was her quick thinking after his son was born that saved him from stopping to breathe. She managed to clear his nose and throat since she was the first to hold him."
"Alright, let me escort them out," Beckett said. "On my own," she said to Castle, holding her hand up to him as he'd started to follow her. Going to interrogation, she spoke with LT quickly and waited until Mrs. Catesby was there. "You're free to go Mr. Catesby," she told the man inside the room. "I'm wondering though, when you went into the hospital for appointments, did you ever notice a woman a little further along in her pregnancy than you were, a little disturbed or acting strangely?"
"Oh, that woman that kept her head down," Mr. Catesby said. When his wife nodded he quickly said; as they followed Beckett to the elevator; "She had dark brown hair, I think she was… Rosa's height."
"She was very heavily pregnant the last time we saw her," Mrs. Catesby said. "So she was close to her due date, about two weeks before our son was born. But we never got a good look at her, she had sunglasses on, very large so they hid the shape of her face. And she was on a phone, constantly on a phone."
"Do you know who her doctor was?" Beckett asked.
"No, we were always let in first to see our doctor," Mrs. Catesby said.
"When we were finished with the appointment, she was either gone or she was with her doctor," Mr. Catesby said. "I hope you're able to find whoever did that to Sheryl, it's horrible to think of what happened to her."
"I'm sorry we showed you that picture," Beckett said. "But we're trying to solve this case as quickly as possible. Were the waiting rooms busy at all when you went?" she asked, suddenly realizing something.
Shaking their heads, Mrs. Catesby suddenly said, "It was just us and her, and she was always there before us, I don't know why it took so long for her to go in."
"Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Catesby, Mrs. Catesby," Beckett said, shaking their hands. She gave them her card just in case; though she wasn't expecting them to remember anything else; and then hurried back to Castle and the boys who were in the room still. "Guys," she said once she was in the doorway. "We… what is it?" she asked in surprise, seeing their faces as Ryan hung up his phone.
"There's been another murder," Castle said.
Standing in front of the body of the man facing the back wall of the freezer inside the Bombay River restaurant, Beckett could see the obvious cause of death, and she looked at Esposito who was handing her a note that was stiff from the cold. Reading it, she turned to see Ryan coming back inside and asked, breath coming out in white plumes from her lips, "No luck in getting the cold turned off?"
"I'm afraid not, they need it on for the food, they can't let it spoil," the detective said, pulling his jacket tighter around him before buttoning it. "But I did get an ID on the vic if you want to hear."
"Yeah, sorry, go ahead," Beckett said, looking up from the note.
"His name is Gareth Charlton, the owner of this restaurant; he's thirty-six and is single. According to the hostess I spoke to out there, he was also partially the co-head chef," Ryan told them, looking at his notes. "I tried to ask about our first vic and if they knew of any connection to him, but she's never heard of her."
"What about the hospital?" Castle asked.
"That yes," Ryan replied. "He had a doctor there and also his sister had a baby there a year ago. She's single, so he went with her to some appointments and was in the waiting room when she delivered his nephew."
"That would explain this," Beckett said. "It's in the vic's handwriting; it says Judge Nelson, June 28th, 3pm."
"That's this Saturday," Castle said. "Ever heard of him?"
"Not that I can remember," Beckett said, looking at Ryan and then Esposito, who both shook their heads as well. "We'll need to talk to him, see what they wanted with him. For now though, Lanie, I think it's pretty obvious the cause of death," she said as her friend came inside with two of her co-workers.
"I can see that, but let me see if I can set his time of death," the doctor said, going to the body.
"Can you guys see if there's any way to confirm if Charlton had an alibi for the murder? In case it takes Lanie more time to get a time of death for him," Beckett said. "And when was the last time the hostess saw him?"
"Last night, about two, after they closed the restaurant," Ryan said. "He was the last one here as far as she knows."
"And how was he acting lately?" Beckett asked, wondering why she hadn't asked that before.
"He was pretty happy," Ryan said. "I wasn't sure about it, but from what she said, she guessed that he was in love."
"He was single," Castle said, seeing Beckett look doubtful. But he could tell there wasn't much behind that look, wondering if the boys noticed. "Was he with someone?"
"Not that she knew, he was pretty shy, but, past girlfriends he always brought here, to make them a meal himself," Ryan said. "But he hadn't brought anyone in lately."
"Guys," Lanie said, coming out of the freezer. "First, I'm not going back in there, second, your time of death was more than likely between six and nine this morning."
"When does the first person arrive?" Beckett asked, turning to Ryan.
"If it's not Charlton, then it's her," he replied.
"Ms. Sawant?" Beckett said, going to the Indian woman sitting at a table closest to the front door. "I'm sorry, but were you the first person here this morning?"
"I was," the woman replied with a slight accent. "I told the detective, I arrived at nine, and was a bit startled to see the place unopened, as Gareth usually gives me a call if he is unable to or unwell to do it himself. But I received no such call and no answer when I called him."
"Did you try and call him?" Castle asked. "To see if he was here?"
"I did, and discovered his phone in the waste bin in the men's bathroom," Ms. Sawant said. "We thought he might have locked himself in the freezer, but at our first look inside, he was nowhere to be seen, and we didn't think he'd be in that corner."
Nodding, as the vic had been found in a blind corner between shelves of food, Beckett said, "Do you know a Judge Nelson at all?"
"A judge? No I cannot say that I do ma'am," Ms. Sawant said after thinking for a moment and then shaking her head.
"There are security cameras here," Ryan said, standing just behind Castle. "I can check them out as soon as I get to the station."
"What about any other entrances?" Castle asked.
"And do you do a sweep of the place before you leave?" Beckett added.
"There is only this door to come inside," Ms. Sawant said. "And Gareth should have been the one to do the sweep; to check and make sure there was no one still here."
"Thank you Ms. Sawant," Beckett said. She then nodded to Ryan and went outside to speak with him. "We're heading to the judge now. Ask her if there are any cameras in or around the bathrooms; I'd have asked her but she looks overwhelmed at the moment."
"How was he found actually, that one I was planning to ask her, but Beckett's right, she looks shocked," Castle commented.
"She found him, they were getting ready for the dinner rush which usually starts at about six," Ryan said. "And they needed some lamb for their kabobs, which were on the back of the shelf. She's a little shorter than the shelf they were on, so she got onto step stool she brought in, and saw him crouched like that, low enough so the boxes of vegetables hid him."
"Alright, before you two leave, ask about the vegetables, if they always have those boxes there," Beckett said. "And also if the first people to search for Charlton noticed anything different in the freezer."
"That might be a no," Castle commented. "Or else he'd have been found sooner."
"Talk to everyone you can, take them to the Precinct if you need to," Beckett said. "We'll help out if we need to once we get back from speaking to the judge."
"Yo Beckett," Esposito said from the doorway. "Judge Nelson's at the courthouse now, he's about to leave though so you need to intercept him before he heads out."
"We will," Beckett replied simply and once Ryan headed back inside the restaurant she and Castle walked down the street and she said, "You're forming a theory."
"About Charlton and our first vic," he replied simply. "It's weak though, I'll need more evidence."
"Nothing crazy? About him trying to become part of the Indian mafia but unable to join a family because of a baby he had with another woman?" Beckett asked as they got into her car.
"Actually no, but thanks for taking that out of my hands, now I don't sound like I'm the crazy one," Castle commented.
"You always will," Beckett said, shaking her head before she pulled away from the curb.
"Judge Nelson?" the woman said after opening the door to the man's call. "I'm sorry sir, but there's a Detective Beckett from the NYPD, and her partner."
Walking into the office after the secretary had stepped aside, Beckett said, "Judge, I'm sorry to keep you from leaving, but there are a few questions we need to ask you."
"Sit, please. I was a little surprised to hear from your captain that I needed to stay, especially since she never explained what exactly you had to talk to me about," Nelson commented.
"A body was discovered at an Indian restaurant an hour ago," Beckett said once she and Castle were sitting across from the man. "In the freezer."
"And you suspect me?" the judge asked in concern.
"No, we know you were here early from your secretary for a trial," Beckett said quickly. "We found a note at the crime scene; on the victim's body; with your name on it. And June 28th marked on it with a time." When the judge still looked confused, she showed him a DMV picture of the victim on her phone. "Do you know him?"
"Yes, you said June 28th? Yes, I remember, he was here with a woman, they were asking me personally; out in the halls a week ago; if I would perform a ceremony," Nelson quickly replied as his memory was obviously jogged by the photo.
"A wedding ceremony?" Castle asked, sharing a look with Beckett. "They never said their names?"
"She called him Gareth, as they seemed to be a little desperate about getting married as soon as possible," Nelson replied.
"What did she look like?" Beckett asked, wondering if the woman was the mother of the baby.
"She had short black hair, and very dark eyes, almost black," the judge said after he'd tried to recall her.
"Her," Beckett said simply, showing him a picture of their first vic that fit his description.
The judge nodded and said, "She was particularly concerned about a ceremony. Told him that they needed to make sure it happened as she was going to be sure that 'she' would stick around to wait."
"She? Don't you mean her?" Castle asked, pointing to Beckett's phone.
"No, apparently they were setting up a marriage between him and another woman," Nelson replied. "I thought at first it was going to be them, but the man; Gareth; kept saying he'd talk to her if she let him. I guessed they were trying to elope or the other woman was starting to have second doubts; that happens often."
"That was the only time you've seen them?" Beckett asked.
"Yes, we… wait, I have the name right here," the judge suddenly said as he glanced at his calendar book. "I always write down the ceremonies that I have to perform on Saturdays."
Watching as the man looked down at the box for Saturday, Castle glanced at his fiancée when he paused and then went to his phone. "Is something wrong?" he asked; the judge holding his hand up to stop him from saying anything else.
"Nadine? Yes, I need you to come here," the judge said. As soon as the door to his office opened he asked quickly, "Was this ceremony canceled?"
"Yes sir, yesterday morning before you came in," the secretary said. "I had to field a number of calls since the trial was beginning that morning as well, so I forgot to tell you. But I was able to cross it off your calendar there."
"Who was it that made the call?" Beckett asked, looking at the woman.
"He said he was Mr. Charlton, saying that he didn't want Judge Nelson to perform the ceremony," the secretary replied.
"Do you know when exactly they called?" Castle asked.
"Yes, it was the very first call I answered yesterday, so there should be a record of it," the secretary said firmly. We talked for about two minutes before hanging up," the woman said.
"Thank you," Beckett said. "Judge-" she started to say.
"I'll put in a call to let you have that number," Nelson said, dialing another number.
Glancing at each other for a moment, Castle and Beckett watched the judge as he wrote down a phone number, both of them hoping inwardly that they would finally have a more solid lead than everything else they'd had in that case so far.
"Okay, so taking a look at that number, tech couldn't really track it," Esposito said, coming up to Beckett's desk where she was sitting.
"You mean it's a burner phone," she said.
"No, I mean it's going to take some more time, it's part of a phone tree and it was deliberately buried there," Esposito said. "Looks like Castle might be right about this being a hit."
"Two hits," Beckett said. "With the way our second vic was killed. They must have staked out the restaurant to make sure they could hide in there until he was alone, tailed him to see his habits. And considering the fact that they likely did the same with the first vic-"
"There's more than one killer," Castle said at the same time as fiancée. When she looked at him he shrugged and said, "Too much for one man to do in barely a month if they studied these two so closely."
"And if that's all we're going to get for now, it's more than likely that they'll start looking for the mother and baby," Beckett said in slight frustration.
"What I don't get is why they would kill this guy, he couldn't have known her if he was asking the nurse to talk to her," Esposito said.
"Yeah, it looks like this was definitely an arranged marriage," Castle said.
"To protect the baby," Beckett said. "Which we think means the mother told the first vic that she was afraid for her life, and her child's."
"So she got killed for trying to help the mother hide," Esposito commented.
"Pretty much," Castle said. "And probably why Charlton was murdered too, even though he had no idea who the woman was."
"That's pretty cruel," Ryan said, walking up to them then with a file in his hand.
"Are those the records?" Beckett asked.
"They are," he said, handing it to her.
"Okay, so since you guys have everything cleared with the restaurant, then let's split up these births and-" Beckett began.
"Gates wants us to look into them for now, she had to convince the judge herself that we wouldn't contact the parents unless absolutely necessary," Ryan interrupted her. "And she wants just us to do it."
"I thought she might do that," Beckett said, nodding to show she wasn't bothered by that news. "Then Castle and I will go ahead and look into our second vic, and see what we can find. But, if you're able to determine anything, I'll want to know." When the two had left she turned to her fiancé saying, "What did they say?"
"Alexis is going to make some wraps for us," Castle said. "And they were fine with me staying a little longer."
"I hope so," Beckett said softly. "You don't have to stay the whole time."
"No, but I will," Castle said. "So let's go ahead and look into Gareth Charlton."
"Okay, we have his financials, and they're pretty clean," Beckett said. "But there's a pretty large payment here, about four days ago." She clicked on the link provided, and saw it was to a jewelry store.
"The wedding bands," Castle commented, looking over her shoulder.
"Let me confirm it," Beckett said simply, picking up her phone. She could feel him watching her as she dialed, and she looked to him once she hung up. "It was Charlton, he was by himself at the time, but he was on the phone."
"The first vic?" Castle suggested.
"I don't know, but let me go to his cell phone records," Beckett said, opening up the file on her computer. She went down to where the woman from the jewelry store had said the second vic had come in, and saw a little before that was a number. She searched it, not surprised to see that it was from a hotel.
"Should we go?" Castle asked.
"We should," Beckett replied simply, standing and walking with him to Ryan and Esposito to let them know what they'd found.
Watching as Beckett had the hotel employee step back, Castle waited for his fiancée to go inside before he followed. "I had a feeling," he said when he saw the room was deserted, even the bed was made. "But this woman definitely had a baby with her," he said, nodding to the table against the window.
Looking over at his direction, Beckett saw the brightly colored plastic rattle and tensed for a moment before she nodded, "Did you see the woman who stayed here at all?"
"Not really," the man said, standing in the doorway. "She kept herself covered; I thought she might be a celebrity, looking for anonymity."
"But she had a baby right?" Castle asked.
"She did, but she kept it bundled up and held close to her," the man replied. "It was wearing white, so I couldn't even tell you how old it was, let alone if it was a boy or girl."
"And she didn't check out?" Beckett said. When the employee shook his head no she nodded and started to speak when the phone in the room rang. Her head turning rapidly to the nightstand, she put her finger to her lips to let Castle and the worker know to keep quiet, and went to pick up the receiver.
"Detective?" a woman on the other end said.
"Yes?" Beckett asked, recognizing the voice as belonging to the concierge.
"I just received a call from the woman checked into the room you're in now; she just checked out," the woman replied.
"Are you sure it was her?" Beckett asked. When the concierge confirmed that she remembered the woman's voice she then said, "Can you get that phone number for me please, and call me using the card I gave you," before she hung up. "Thank you for your help," she told the employee who was still standing at the doorway. She left the room then, not surprised that Castle was with her as soon as she set foot in the hallway. "She called just now," she told him once they were in the elevator.
"She must have been going to her room, we scared her off," Castle said.
"More than likely," Beckett said. She frowned and said, "She's around here, somewhere with a baby, she can't have gone that far."
"Do you want us to try and look for her?" Castle asked.
"I'd like to, but I know it'd be next to impossible to find her," Beckett said. "No, we can only hope that she can stay out of sight. For now, I need those two phone numbers."
"So looking at all the names, everything is legit," Esposito was telling Beckett and Castle. "Ryan managed to finish before I did, so he took a look at the numbers; both of them."
"And I got something," the detective called from his desk. Ryan waited for the three to reach him, and said, "Here's your call that cancelled the ceremony yesterday."
"Boodle's?" Castle and Beckett read at the same time.
"What is it?" Esposito asked as they all looked at Castle. "You sound like you recognize the name bro."
"Yeah, it's a club, exclusive to men, very exclusive," Castle replied. "And it's also located in London, England."
"So the person cancelling the ceremony called from the UK?" Beckett asked.
"They can't, the area code is here in the city," Castle said. "That's why I sounded shocked right now."
"It's a legitimate number," Ryan pointed out. "But whatever it's for, they're protective, because when I tried to call it, it was disconnected."
"Like I said, exclusive," Castle said.
"There's no way we're going to have to breech a men's club in London," Beckett said. She frowned for a moment and then went back to her desk, going through the papers they had on the second vic.
"What do you have?" Castle asked as he had followed his fiancée.
"The name Boodle's seemed way too familiar," Beckett said, handing him the paper. "Look at the beginning of this month; the first."
Castle looked down the list, and then stopped abruptly on the first of the month as she'd told him. He looked up at her and then said, "It can't be London."
"It's not," Beckett said. She went to her computer as Esposito and Ryan walked over to them, and searched before she stopped, looking at the page. With a short laugh, she turned the screen to them and said, "Ryan, Espo, welcome to Boodle's, NYC," as they leaned over to see the site was for a non-descript building around Central Park. "And our second victim was a loyal member of said club. Whoever cancelled that meeting yesterday did it while he was there for lunch; they were following him. So we need to breech Boodle's after all."
