"Took you long enough." Lanie said impatiently as Beckett and Castle walked though the double doors into the morgue. Joanna Schroder's body was laid out on the first table, mostly covered with a sheet. Lanie held her folder in her arms.

"We were looking through her car when you called." Castle answered as Beckett's gaze was drawn to the body. Lanie quickly met his eyes behind Beckett's back and raised her eyebrows. Castle softly shook his head no and Lanie frowned.

"So, what do you have?"

"Quite a bit actually. It was the stab wound in her neck that killed her. The blade was about four inches long. There is some bruising around the wound, which means…he stabbed with enough force that the wound is deeper than the actual blade itself." Kate closed her eyes briefly as she gripped the edge of the table. It was like reliving her own nightmare. She felt Castle move closer to her and she opened her eyes. She smiled softly at the look of concern on Lanie's face.

"What else?"

"Well, like I said, there was more than one knife. The stab wound on her neck was made by a pretty standard knife. The others I'm pretty sure were made by a knife with a curved blade, that is why they are so deep and wide. The blade cuts, then continues ripping as it goes deeper. I would say a karambit."

"A what?" Castle asked quietly as Kate just took in the information. Lanie opened a folder and handed him a picture. Castle flinched before handing the picture to Kate. The blade was one of the most vicious looking things he had ever seen. It was a curved blade, closely resembling the claw of a big cat or a velociraptor. At the top of the handle was an open ring. Lanie continued with her explanation.

"A karambit. It is a knife with a curved blade. They were originally developed in Java, part of Indonesia, as a farming tool but they are now used in street fighting. The ring at the top of the handle is for your finger, and the knife is held so it comes out the bottom of your fist. They are usually used in a slashing motion, and leave huge, painful, deep wounds, as you can see."

Castle swallowed thickly and turned away from Joanna's body for a minute to compose his thoughts. Flashes of the body at the scene were coming back to him and he shook his head to clear them.

"So two murder weapons…this had to be planned. She wasn't a random target." Kate mumbled to herself.

"There is the duct tape too…and the lyrics…" Castle said quietly.

"Right, the duct tape. It was put there before she died. I swabbed the front of it and her tears are there, which means she was crying at some point after it was put on her mouth. The writing is pretty neat, so I would guess that it was written on before it was put on her mouth. No prints on it or on her face around it. I'm guessing the killer wore gloves."

"So…the duct tape was put there before she was killed…was she killed at the scene?"

"Yes, with the amount of blood that was there, and no trail leading up to it, I would say she was killed there."

"Anything else?"

"No defensive wounds, so I'm going to guess he surprised her and got a hold of her before she could fight back. She wore acrylic nails, but one of them had broken off. It wasn't at the scene, but the nail underneath was rough, and there were some blue fibers attached to one of the corners. They are blue flannel, possibly from a shirt. Maybe she tried to push or grab at the killer."

"Time of death?" Kate sighed.

"I narrowed it down to between seven and eight."

"Alright…thank you Lanie. Call if there is anything else?"

"Of course. Beckett, can I talk to you for a minute?" She said with a glance in Castle's direction. Castle took the hint and headed out of the morgue and back to the bullpen. As soon as the doors shut behind him Lanie turned to Kate.

"Are you doing okay?"

"Yes Lanie, I'm fine."

"Don't you lie to me Kate, everyone can see how closely this resembles your mom's case, and after the case we just had…no one would blame you for being upset by it."

"Yes, I'm upset by it, but I'm fine, really."

Lanie raised one eyebrow at her friend. She knew Kate felt like she had to deal with everything on her own because there was no one strong enough for her to lean on. She was afraid if she started to lean on someone that they wouldn't be there when she needed them the most, so she had learned to just shoulder everything herself. Lanie also knew that it got to her more than she let on.

"Alright, but just know that you have people to lean on if you need us. Especially that man up there that is completely crazy about you Kate. Don't push him away. Let him be there for you."

Kate tilted her head slightly at Lanie. She wasn't surprised at her friends insight; they knew each other fairly well.

"Thanks Lanie. I'll be okay."

She smiled at her friend again before turning to leave the morgue and head back to the bull pen. She was surprised when she found Castle leaning against a desk, staring at the murder board, rather than in his customary chair next to her desk. He didn't notice her come in, so she stood back and watched him for a minute. He was resting against the desk, half sitting on it, gripping the edge with both hands as his bright blue eyes wandered over the murder board. He seemed to have a patterned way of looking at it; left to right like reading a book. She usually just stared blankly at the thing as a whole and waited for pieces to fall into place. She could almost see his mind spinning different stories as he looked over the time line.

A slow smile crept onto her face as she watched and realized how different their methods were and how that difference had made the biggest impact on solving cases before. He thought of things in ways that she didn't, and vice versa. The determination on his face brought butterflies to her stomach. She had only seen that much determination on his face regarding one other case; her mothers, and she knew he was worried at how much this case was going to get to her. She could feel herself pushing him away earlier, and knew it would probably happen again before the case was closed, so she tried to remind herself to make a conscious effort not to.

"Hey you." She said softly as she walked over and leaned against the desk next to him.

"Hey."

He responded without looking at her. She walked up to the board and added the time of death as well as a picture of the karambit knife Lanie had given them. She scrawled in some of the other information Lanie had given them along with a picture of the duct tape and the blue fibers. When she was done she moved back next to Castle. They sat close to each other, their shoulders barely touching. After a few minutes Kate leaned into him and sighed quietly. Castle was shocked at the movement but was thrilled that she was leaning on him. He slid his hand over hers on the desk between them and she turned her palm over and weaved her fingers between his, squeezing his hand softly.

"You okay?" He asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt the moment.

"Mhmm."

He knew she was lying but didn't push it. They sat that way for a few more minutes, both of them still staring at the murder board. Usually Beckett didn't like displays of affection at the precinct, but right now she didn't care. Everyone knew her and Castle were together anyhow, and she needed the moment of comfort that he provided when she let him. She shifted slightly closer to him, her whole side pressed against his, their hands still linked together, resting on the table between them. He turned his head and brushed a soft kiss against her temple as Esposito and Ryan walked into the room behind them.

"So we talked to the owner of End Note," Esposito started as they walked towards the murder board, skipping his normal joke about interrupting Castle and Beckett. He knew if Beckett was upset enough to actually lean on Castle at work, then she wasn't in the mood for jokes. Beckett sat up and let go of Castle's hand as Esposito and Ryan came to stand in front of them. "He says he saw Joanna last night right around seven. He remembered her specifically because she came in right before closing."

"Was anyone with her?" Beckett asked as she moved to the murder board to add the time to the timeline.

"No, she was alone. And no one came in right before her, or after her. He literally walked to the door with her and locked it behind her." Ryan continued. "She was there shopping for a clarinet. A fairly expensive clarinet too. The shop owner said the ones she was looking at were priced between a thousand and fifteen hundred. Buffet was the brand name."

"Do we have the shop owners name?"

"Kenny Mays."

"And she left his shop at seven?"

"Between seven and seven ten. He wasn't sure exactly, just that she had walked in about five minutes before closing."

Beckett blew out an impatient breath between her lips as she scrawled the information, including Kenny's name, next to the time line.

"Alright. There is a list of people the husband called when he was looking for Joanna the night she was killed. Can you guys start calling those people? Make sure the calls he claims to have made were actually made. See if any of them have anything interesting to say?"

Ryan and Esposito nodded and headed towards their desks to get to work. Beckett glanced at the murder board one more time before heading to her desk. Castle lingered for a minute, then followed her, sitting in his chair next to her desk.

"You think the husband could have done it?"

"I think anyone could have done it until evidence proves otherwise. You know how I work Castle." She said, absentmindedly as she flipped though papers in the case file until she found what she was looking for; Joanna's office address. She scribbled the address and phone number on a piece of paper and stood up from her desk.

"Road trip Castle?"

"Sure. Where are we off to?"

"To talk to Joanna's assistant, and anyone else in her office."

Castle nodded as he followed her to the elevator. The doors slide shut and he glanced sideways at Beckett as he fought the urge to wrap his arms around her. She stood farther away from him than normal, lost in her own thoughts as she ran her hand though her hair. He could tell by the way her moods were shifting that this case was already starting to get to her. He knew she was fighting with herself to not push him away the way she had done during the last case, and he appreciated the effort. It made him even more thankful that he had taken her to Vegas and had given her a brief break between cases. He had no idea this case would come along from no where and be so similar to her mothers, but now that it was here he just hoped, for her sake, that they solved it quickly.

Kate bit the corner of her lip and closed her eyes briefly. She hadn't had a chance to really let the details of the case hit her yet and she was working hard to keep them at bay for now. She needed to focus on the case in front of her rather than the painful memories it kept dragging up. She knew Castle was there for her, but she was so afraid that if she leaned on him she would lose control and not be able to get it back. The elevator doors slid open and she walked towards the car without waiting for Castle. She knew he would be there, he always was.

Authors Note:

UGH! The review reply link in my emails isn't working, so that is why you haven't been getting a response to reviews. Its really bugging me, I usually respond to them. But I am reading them, and I do appreciate them!

Review that made my day: CaramelMonkey: Really? Both stories in one night? Wow. It always amazes me when people are sucked in enough by my writing to read one story in one go, but both of them? I'm flattered. Really. And attending Castle's poker night would be awesome, as long as he isn't mean to me like he was Alex Conrad ;) Lol.

All mistakes in this are mine and mine alone. I did some google research for the karambit, which included looking at some wounds so I could describe them, and watching a video on youtube to better understand the thing. I don't recommend the pictures...not of the wounds...talk about something that will never leave me *shivers* But...I can't write what I haven't seen, so anyhow.

The knife itself is just scary looking and fit the bill perfectly when I was looking for a weapon for this story. I needed something with a bit of a "signature" to it, and here we are.

If you are interested, google karambit knife and it will show pictures of the knife itself, nothing graphic. I had never seen one before and was quite intrigued.

As always, even though I haven't been able to respond to reviews, THANK YOU for reading.