Beckett called Judge Markaway for the warrant on Cora's files, to which he informed her he wanted a face-to-face meeting before he issued the paper. It was grinding but Beckett believed Cora was cocky enough to think she'd get away with whatever she was involved with that no records would be destroyed in the intervening time.

'Okay, let's go through this so that when we get in front of Markaway, we'll have a clear and concise explanation,' Beckett suggested to Ryan as she eased onto the freeway. 'We are investigating two homicides in New York City. Both bodies were found in buildings owned by MHC, and both had links to Andrea Hennessey and Daniel Brick.'

'When the ME did the autopsies, rings identical to Andrea Hennessey's were found in both victims. Tracing the rings back to point-of-purchase led us to suspicious accounting and credit card transactions on one Visa and two Mastercards issued to MHC's HR department,' Ryan continued. 'Further investigation has led us to believe that corporate accounting fraud of some kind is taking place at the Westchester firm of Sparks and Foreman who are subcontracted by MHC for certain financial activities.'

'Don't forget the Cayman connection, a place ripe with money laundering. There's also the juicy little tidbit that Andrea's mother's second husband was MHC's CEO and father to the woman working with Andrea who has a bad grudge against her for becoming involved with the man that she wanted for herself.'

'Seriously?'

'Yeah.'

'Okay, are we investigating a murder on Young and the Restless or something?'

'Further proof that truth is stranger than fiction. So here's the Double Jeopardy question - what do you get when you put together a jealous sister, a rich CEO step-daddy, the Cayman islands, a nurse with a grudge, and two dead bodies all in the name of splitting up a very happy couple?'

'Conspiracy.'

Beckett tapped the tip of her nose. 'We're going hunting for a pro. Someone disposable who can be sold out and will do the time without so much as a squeak so that the real parties responsible get away with it.'

'Clearly they didn't count on us, or the fact we've adopted Andrea and Daniel.'

'About that.' Beckett pursed her lips. 'I think we need to do something tonight, provided we don't get a break in the case, for them both. It's poker night at the loft, I'll ask Castle to make room at the table for them both.'

'That sounds like a good plan. And that way if something happens, we're all there for them.'

They rode in silence for a little while, which Ryan broke with a theory he'd been chewing on for awhile. 'Beckett, you remember that Andrea said her mother is on her third hubby down in the Caymans, too?'

'Yeah.'

'What if it's another situation like Kyra Blaine? Remember how her husband's uncle was in charge of the trust fund and he'd tried to use the bridesmaid Sophie to get the wedding called off so the groom wouldn't find out that his wedding gift had been mismanaged by said uncle and the fund was empty?'

'Sure.'

'What if the same kind of thing?' Ryan thought out loud. 'Think about it. Andrea comes from money, a lot of money. She got the lion's share of her father's estate after he died, right? There has to be a portion of it set aside for her wedding and Andrea would have had that money left in trust which she couldn't legally touch until she was married, probably by her mother. What if that money's gone and Cora's tossing smoke screens up while she gets mommy to tap a rich ex to hire a killer and split them up? They already think Andrea's spineless and brainless and will do whatever she's told.'

'That's not bad, Ryan. You work on it when we get back. After Markaway, of course. I want Cora crispy fried and served on a platter.'

When they got back to the city, after a quick detour to the Blue Moon Cafe across the street from the precinct for sandwiches, Beckett and Ryan continued on to Markaway's chambers to present their case and he issued their warrant, which they passed to CSU to extract all the files pertaining to MHC under Cora Gaffigan's purview from both Murdock Holding Corporation and the firm in Westchester.

As Riley Fontina and his minions worked their digital magic, Beckett stared at her murder board and felt a small glower of frustration - she knew that they would probably find proof of a hired killer in Cora's files but there was no hard evidence on her board that pointed to a suspect. It made her more than a little cranky.

Since there was only one good way for her to cure a crank like this, she popped the disc into her computer and began to comb through the footage outside the warehouse on the night of Francis Reinhold's murder to try and figure out just how the hell the killer had managed to avoid being caught on film.

Two hours later, when she thought her eyes were going to shrivel up in their sockets, Beckett's eye caught something just at the edge of the frame. She paused the video, drummed her fingers on the desk. Could it be that dirt simple, that they'd been looking for a clever getaway that they didn't see something in plain sight?

'Ryan,' she called out, and her fellow detective rolled over in his desk chair. 'Do me a favour, can you get a subway map and blueprint?'

'Why?'

'I think I know how our killer's staying hidden.'

R&R&Enjoy