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"How are we coming on those insurance companies?" Beckett inquired. "Just got off the phone with Reinhardt Mutual Insurance. According to them, they paid out thousands of dollars to Paul Pulaski for repairs to house that had been vandalized; which he then sold for a profit," Esposito reported. "Ryan, anything turn up linking Lutz to those crimes?" Kate wondered. "There were a few strands of DNA they couldn't identify at the time. I'm having the lab run them against our friend right now," Kevin answered. "Did the hospital say how long it would be before he could answer any questions?" Castle asked. "Tomorrow morning at the earliest. Hopefully, Morgan fill be willing to turn Rachel in for a reduced sentence," his partner proclaimed. "It just doesn't feel right, arresting her for this when we've been trying to solve a murder for all of this time and haven't gotten anywhere. It's like catching Al Capone for tax evasion," he argued.
"Yeah, well; we can't win them all. Miss Pulaski may deny her involvement with any of her father's crimes, but if we can prove she contacted Lutz before he went to her sister's apartment; then we've got her on that as well," the Detective maintained. "So that's it? We're giving up. Two murders are going to remain unsolved because we've exhausted all of our leads and the only viable suspects won't testify because they've been implicated in a federal crime?" Richard inquired. "We both know that Captain Gates has been on our backs to put this to rest. At least this way; we're getting them off of the streets and protecting the other people who might know their secrets, like Al Iyndiri," Beckett reminded him. "Come on, guys. Say we prove Lutz vandalized those places and he was working for Paul at the time. The only evidence we have against Rachel is the call she made to him after we interrogated her. She can say that took place for any number of reasons. We aren't going to prove her guilt unless we keep digging," Castle told them.
"You heard what she said, bro. Sometimes you just have grin and bear it," Javier commented. "And on that note, I'm in need of a hard-earned rest. Once Morgan agrees to tell us what he knows abot Rachel's activities, we'll have probable cause to search her office for further proof of illegal activities. That should be provide us with everything we need to get a conviction," Kate remarked. As the others dispersed, she moved to the board and began to remove the photos of the victims and reached for the eraser which would wipe the slate clean.
"I'd like to make a request, but I don't want you to think I have any doubts about your ability to do your job," he began, then when his partner gave him her attention, went on, "Let me look thru the file this evening and see if I can come up with something. I know we've searched this thing inside and out half a dozen times already. I know that we both want it to be over with. But like you said, justice has waited this long to be served. If we can find out who committed these murders, don't you think it is worth waiting one more day?" "You want to go bang your head against our complete lack of evidence for a few more hours in the hope something suddenly make sense and give me an opportunity to catch our killer at the same time? I can live with that. But if you don't find anything by tomorrow, then I'm going to tell Captain Gates the case is closed. Deal?" she offered and Castle nodded.
"What are you looking at, dad?" Alexis inquired as she came into his office. "The details of our case. We've just about wrapped everything up, except for the murders. At this point, it appears that we'll have to convict our suspect of mail fraud instead," Castle reported. "Sounds like a win to me. I mean; you don't always have to catch the bad guy, right?" she noted. "I suppose not. After all, there have been a few times when someone has gotten away with their crimes. I was just hoping I might be able to make heads or tails out of this if I sat down and approached it like I was writing a novel. But every scenario I've come up with is either too farfetched or has been disproven by the evidence," he replied. "I'm sure you'll think of something. You always do, right?" his daughter observed. Richard smiled and embraced her for a moment before kissing her forehead and asking, "How is it that you always say just the right thing?" "I must have inherited it from Gram," Alexis answered.
"Speaking of which, where has she hidden herself this time?" the writer inquired. "There was a note on the fridge. Didn't you read it?" she wondered. "No, I guess I was too distracted," he admitted. His daughter went across the kitchen, retrieved the slip of paper and brought it back, saying, "She's gone down to the studio to oversee some alterations. Says not to wait up." "No, you definitely get your demeanor from her," Castle declared. "Well, I've got some studying to do. Try not to work on this all night," Alexis advised, leaving him to stare down at the photos. Richard began to shuffle thru the photos of the persons of interest in the case, wondering if one of them was behind the attack on Marsha Simmons.
While they'd established alibis for most of them, he knew that tracking all the leads would be impossible overnight. There was Xavier North, who'd noted a difference in Marsha's behavior towards him and while his story had checked out once he'd admitted the truth regarding his whereabouts; they still couldn't discount his testimony regarding a difference in his former girlfriend. Morgan Lutz would undoubtedly be the star witness in any trial that was held, since making a deal to implicate Rachel was the only way he would stay out of the federal penitentiary if he had any connection to Paul's illegal activities. And we never verified his alibi, since at the time we had no reason to suspect him, Castle reflected. Al Iyndiri had certainly guessed what his former client had been up to and stole a file to prove it before Paul had the warehouse destroyed. From the evidence they'd gathered, the most likely suspect for that crime was Lutz. Iyndiri probably met with Winthrop to arrange the transfer of the documents to a safe hiding place in the same house Paul had been buried in.
Proving who stole the body and laid it to rest would be hard without a confession and given the other crimes which had surfaced, Richard didn't count on that happening anytime soon. While Rachel told us she met her sister there, it was Marsha's investigation which led her father to try and conceal everything. Probably, Paul had Morgan look into her and that's when he learnt she was his daughter, then both of the Pulaskis began steps to alter their wills. But Paul died first, almost certainly due to Rachel's actions. When Marsha showed up, she hired Lutz without knowing about his connection with Paul's crimes; which is why he never mentioned the house to her. Only the records of the sales made thru her company proved there was anything shady going on. And if she found Al Iyndiri, she would have known what.
While her confidentiality agreements would have prevented her from revealing the source of her information, Marsha could have sent an anonymous tip. The only reason why she wouldn't have done that is because she was afraid. Which means Morgan must have threatened her, possibly at her apartment. So she moved out, knowing that he would probably never be able to find her in the very house which would serve as the key to her case against Rachel. But Rachel knew that her father's body had been buried there and couldn't risk having Marsha stumble across it. So they arrange a meeting, to which Pulaski secretly invited Lutz. He breaks in during their heated argument, a struggle ensues and Marsha is killed.
The only problem he saw with the scenario is the fact that Miss Simmons' body had been left there. While Morgan might not have known the site was about to be destroyed, Rachel certainly would've been aware of that and the secret concealed beneath their feet. "Still hard at work, I see?" his mother's voice interjected. "I asked Detective Beckett for one last crack at this case. Solve the whole thing, save the day and convince Captain Gates that I'm more than a giant pain in the neck," Castle told her. "From what I've heard, it will take a lot more than solving one murder to do that," Martha reasoned. "True, but I thought there was a chance I could bring just to the killers of two people. Unfortunately, all I have is a trail of supposition about a mile long and no evidence to back any of it up," Richard replied.
"Too bad you aren't writing this story. You could go back to the beginning and make everything less complicated," his mother proclaimed. "Yes, well after four days on this everyone involved has had just about enough of this mystery; myself included. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm getting nowhere fast," the writer told her. "Dad, are you still up?" his daughter's voice put in and he saw that she was ready for bed. "Oh, come on… it's only… 1 A.M. already? I guess time really does fly," Castle said. "You're doing none of us any good by brooding about this. Put these files away and get some sleep. Before you know it, you'll start working on another case and forget all about this one," Martha counseled. "Yeah, dad. I know how much letting something like this go must bug you. But you're not a cop. You can't solve all the world's problems," Alexis interjected.
"You're right. Even Superman can't be in two places at the same…" Richard trailed off, looking down at the pile of photos again. "What is it?" his daughter wondered. "Rachel Pulaski's alibi is a phone call from her sister's cell phone at 3:20 P.M. She was at work then, but we never found Marsha's phone," he explained. "So? The killer probably took it with him," Alexis observed. "Or tossed it in the trash, like her body. But there's no reason why Rachel couldn't have taken it and made the call herself since we don't know for sure what her sister's voice sounded like," the writer commented. "That still seems a bit thin. You'd have to find the phone in her possession to prove it. And goodness knows she's had enough time to get rid of the thing," his mother reminded him.
"I guess I was just hoping that I was onto something new. Without that alibi, Rachel could have easily been involved in the murder of her sister and father," Castle told them. "Are those the pictures of the people involved in all of this?" his daughter wondered, pointing to the stack he'd been in the process of reviewing. "Yes. I was just going over what we know about each of them in my mind. So far, nothing has fell into place," Richard admitted. "You can't let yourself allow one case to absorb so much of your attention, my boy. You are still an author, after all. If you're doing this, when will you have time to write anything? Don't you still have a few more novels to finish in order to fulfill your contract? Or would you like for your publisher to start calling to remind you of your deadline?" Martha put in.
"You know, it feels like you two are trying to gang up on me," he pointed out. "We're just looking for your best interests, dad. Now you should really get to bed," Alexis admonished. "Who am I to argue with the wisdom of such beautiful and talented women?" the writer declared, beginning to put the pile of evidence back into the box he'd used to bring it home. "Just try to forget about it, dad. I've seen your copy of your first rejection letter, so I know you can deal with failure," his daughter said. "We'll see whether you handle it the same way when it's your turn," Castle countered. "Hopefully, in a few more days you'll forget all about this entire affair and these people; whoever they are," his mother added. Richard nodded in acknowledgement, but even as he did so he felt final piece to the puzzle which had been assembling in his head snap into place and knew that tomorrow would bring about the resolution to this crime which everyone involved had been looking for. I only hope that I can convince Beckett I haven't gone completely insane, he reasoned.