Note to my lovely readers: I didn't realize that final exams for students meant free writing time for me. Sometimes I am an idiot. I can't grade papers when they are taking an exam because they could too distracted by what I am doing. Apparently typing does not cause distraction. Who knew? They are 8th graders, most things distract them, but I guess because they are texting freaks they don't mind the mild clicking noises.

BTW: I don't own Castle. Blah, blah, blah…AM is that genius, not me.

He Said Start at the Beginning Chapter 11

3rd Crime Scene 3pm

The team was disappointed to a large extent by their latest find. The body had already ruptured, releasing long grain rice throughout the scene. Lanie had removed her heels and was making her way around the crime scene wearing rain boots with booties over them to prevent further crime scene contamination.

"I don't know what I did to piss God off this week, but this is getting old." Lanie stated looking over at Beckett who was safely out of the semi-digested rice remains. "I have ruined more than $400 worth of footwear and my dry cleaning bill is not going to be funny."

"Is it safe to say that we have the same COD?" Beckett asked trying not to enjoy her friend's misfortune.

"I think it is probably a very safe guess, but I won't say it officially until the autopsy. Maybe we will get lucky this time and find something of use." Lanie sounded doubtful, but was trying to give the team something to look forward to.

"You gotta be kidding me. A serial killer who makes such a mess that we can't get decent evidence." Esposito kicked a box in frustration as he walked out of the warehouse.

"I don't know what he's complaining about. At least he doesn't have to sieve all these stomach contents for the next several days. The lab techs still haven't even finished with the second one yet." Lanie said pointedly.

"Maybe we are looking at this all wrong. We have been sifting for evidence, but maybe what we need to think about is why these men. Let's go back to what we know about each of them and see if we can connect them at all." Rick offered.

"Castle, we have tried connecting the first two. So far, the only things they have in common are that they own small businesses that import from overseas and that they had rather nasty divorces where the wives took almost everything of value." Ryan stated.

"We can look at it again once we identified the third vic. What do you say Castle, we pick up pizzas for everyone and go stare at a murder board?" Kate offered. "Ryan, you and Espo see if you can get an I.D. while we are out and then we will sit and eat." With that, she led Castle out of the warehouse and back to the squad car leaving an amused Lanie behind.

"Do you think she means to be this obvious or is she just avoiding talking about it by not hiding it?" Ryan asked Lanie.

"With that girl, who knows, but I am going to find out. Save me a few slices, I will be there as soon as I possibly can to get to the bottom of this. And, I don't mean the case." She winked at Ryan. "Who knows, maybe our girl finally wised up."

"Maybe. See you later Lanie."

"Don't tell Javi I am coming, he needs the surprise." With that Ryan left.

Lanie continued giving directions to her staff so that she could have a thorough examination of yet another devastated corpse. "I think I am going to start wearing rain boots to work until they catch this guy." Lanie said to no one in particular. "I am not wasting any more of my nice clothes on examining up this guy's hobbies."

12 Precinct Conference Room Early Evening

The pizza boxes are nearing empty and the coke bottles are nearing empty. Castle has stepped out of the room talking animatedly with Alexis over the phone.

Kate is watching him through the window.

"How long have you been hiding this girlfriend?" Lanie puts the question out there while Esposito and Ryan just turn pointedly to look at her. Kate is aware no one will flinch in this game of chicken so she sighs and wills herself to give a response.

"It depends on who you ask and what you specifically mean. If you mean how long have I wanted to have him in my presence as much as possible the answer should be somewhere around 3 and half to four years. If you are asking how long I have been willing or able to tell him that, we would be closer to the neighborhood of a week." She stops for a second to watch Castle making emphatic hand gestures which Kate suspects is a retelling of what the exploding corpse would have looked like if anyone had been there to witness it. "Thanks guys for not pushing. I am trying to do this and be fair to him. He deserves much better than…well, you know. Better."

Esposito pats on the shoulder as he grabs the last piece with his other hand. "Hija, things aren't always as simple as we wish. Take your time. Learn to bend."

"Javi, don't give advice you can't replicate." Lanie shot him an evil glare. "I don't recall you doing a whole lot of bending."

"Chica, you know I bend. Give me a little longer at work, and we can go home and I can refresh your memory."

"Javi, that isn't the bending I was referring to, but I am going to hold you to that. In the meantime, I am going to go deal with the preliminary reports from the field." She kissed Esposito and left.

"Any more comments or questions from the peanut gallery before I go back to work?" They couldn't fault her. She was giving them an opportunity when it would not embarrass her to explain. She had a feeling they would rather wait until cajoling her would cause a scene for Gates. She was hoping she was wrong. "Offer going once, twice, and I am out to the murder board. Clean up the mess and see if we have any results from running the prints."

Kate walked out to the murder board to sit next to Castle.

"Could you walk me through it since I haven't been here?" he quietly asked.

"First vic. Jonathan Davis. 45. No priors. Imports specialty teas, coffees and spices for his small eclectic tea shops in the 5 boroughs. Divorced. He and his wife settled out of court. He kept the businesses she got the house and a yearly stipend that would never have been awarded in court. Nothing pops on his or her financials. The ex has a solid alibi.

"Second vic. Fred Catalano. 52. Priors for seeking female companionship from undercover cops. Owns Fantastic Fred's Exotic Antiques with locations in Tribeca and the Village. Divorced twice. Both settled out of court. The first is still a partial owner in the business. The other gets a constant income from the stores and gets to keep their rather small apartment in midtown. Exes have alibis and nothing obvious in the financials."

Kate stared at the boards in contemplation. I would say that the only thing these two have in common is that they are both business owners who import, but that isn't entirely true. A lot of Fantastic Fred's Exotics are not old nor are they from anywhere except
China. Davis' imports from China as well, but more of his companies materials come from India, Pakistan and Thailand.

Esposito saunters up to the board with a photo of the latest vic. "Sam West. 43. Juvi Priors. None as an adult. Small business owner. West's Mattress Warehouse. Married. No kids. Small time business that is becoming a big business. You know him. He is the one with the retarded commercials with guy dressed as a mattress doing the dougie."

"I was wondering where I recognized him from. West may be my age but he knows all the dances Alexis knows. I was amazed he could beef it up dressed as a mattress."

Ryan also commented, "He's also a bit of a philanthropist. He provides Christmas toys for all the families living in the St. Luke's Homeless shelter and he provides free mattresses to anyone receiving habitat for humanity housing that is built in the greater NYC area."

"When will we have his financials?" Beckett asked.

"Most likely in the morning." Ryan stated.

Castle stops the conversation and says, "Yes, this is another one of those crazy theories, but what if their commonality is the origin of their imports? West sells cheap mattress which tend to be made in China. Tea comes from China. Fake antiques are from China. And, one of the first torture techniques I read about as a kid was Chinese Rice Torture…where they fed the victim uncooked rice and then force fed them water until their intestine rupture."

Gates had walked up behind them listening to his theory. "As much as I hate to give credence to his ridiculous theory, I want all of you to work toward disproving it in the morning. It seems to be the only link. Maybe if we can unravel this one, we might find the true connection between these men. All of you have been putting in a little more overtime than the forward movement on this case supports. Go home. Sleep. See you in the morning." With that Iron Gates left the bull pen and went into her office where she began to put files in her briefcase. She pointedly stopped to make sure the team began gathering their things to go as well.

"Kitten, are you interested in company this evening or should I plan on a quiet night of reading and soaking in a warm bath?" Kate whispered at Castle as he sat watching her putting her files away.

"If I remember correctly, I have a bag to retrieve from your place…"

"Yes, you do. But, you also have a daughter at yours who needs to see her father."

"Like I was saying, we could go pick up my bag, and pack one for you. And, you can still read and soak in a warm bath at my place. I just can't promise that I won't get tired of reading to you through the door or you could try reading to me while I bathed you. That could work a bit better. We would both be entertained."

Kate blushed a little, trying to convince herself that she didn't have the thought before he did.

"I don't know Castle. I was certain most of the books in your house were scratch and sniff. So, maybe I could scratch and sniff and see where that goes…" He stopped dead in his track about 5 feet from the elevator. He gained his composure while they waited on the elevator. Too many officers were around for him to respond without too many ears.

As the doors to the elevators slid shut, he made a sniffing noise and whispered, "Ah, cherries..."