Author's Note: Alexis is home!

Chapter 25

Kate opened the door to the smell of tomato sauce and garlic bread and the sound of Alexis and Martha laughing. She couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face as she set her bag down and walked into the loft. Alexis looked up and shrieked as she ran to give Kate a hug.

Kate returned the hug. "Welcome home, Alexis."

Alexis's smile was infectious. "It is sooooo good to be home."

Kate looked around. "Where's your dad?"

Alexis shrugged. "He said he had to go get something."

Martha chimed in. "Knowing him, it's something for you, kiddo. So, Kate, how is the case going?"

Kate shrugged out of her coat and hung it up in the front closet. "We're waiting for the lab to come back with some hair samples and a partial print. Hopefully we'll finally get an I.D. on the Shadow Fox."

Alexis returned to stirring the pasta. "That's the serial killer?"

Kate joined Alexis in the kitchen. "No, he's a contract killer. Serials have a type or something that sets them off. Contract killers murder people because someone pays them enough money."

Alexis nodded. "On the surface, they look the same, but when you really look at it, they are very different."

Kate smiled. "Exactly. That ready yet?"

Alexis nodded and handed Kate the colander. "Yep."

They were busy draining the pasta when the door opened. "That smells wonderful. Oh good, Kate's home."

Alexis smiled. "Hi Dad."

Rick was holding a box. "I have, with much difficulty and great effort, procured the best Upside-down Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Soufflé in all of New York."

Martha turned to Alexis. "I think that would be something for you, my dear."

Alexis put the pasta pot back on the stove. "It's my dad. Of course it's something for me." She went and gave him a kiss. "Thanks Dad. Wash up, dinner's ready."

Rick settled into bed and pulled Kate into his side. "I'm so glad she's home."

Kate smiled. "I know. Are you coming in tomorrow?"

Rick pulled Kate closer. "I don't know. Anything special planned?"

Kate shrugged. "Prints come back, might make an arrest. No, nothing major."

Rick groaned. "Spend the day with Alexis, or be there to possibly see the Shadow Fox arrested. Do you really have to give me such a hard choice?"

Kate laughed and turned around to give Rick a kiss. "Tough luck. Kitten."

Beckett arrived early the next morning to find Esposito already at his desk. "Hey Javier."

Esposito looked up. "No Castle?"

"No, he's having breakfast with Alexis. He'll be in later." Beckett hung her coat on the back of her chair. "Print results back yet?"

Esposito shook his head. "Not yet. Ryan's getting coffee."

Ryan came out of the break room with two espresso cups. "Hey Beckett. Where's Castle?"

"Breakfast with Alexis. Anything new?"

Ryan set down the coffees. "Not really. We've gone over those cases from Chicago a bit, but nothing in there points to who the killer might be."

Beckett turned on her computer and began to review her notes from the night before. After half an hour, there was still nothing jumping out at her. She was about to get up for a coffee when one landed at her elbow.

"So, what'd I miss?"

Beckett smiled. "Prints still aren't back yet. Thanks by the way."

Castle nodded. "Always."

Beckett took a sip. "What happened to spending the morning with Alexis?"

Castle sat back. "She wanted to hang out with some of her friends; she left a little after breakfast."

Officer Velazquez walked up to Beckett's desk. "Fingerprint and DNA results, Detective Beckett."

Beckett grabbed the file with a hurried "Thanks" and opened it up as the boys ran over. They looked at the name on the page.

Beckett was stunned. "Shut the front door."

Castle looked up at Beckett and grinned. "We got him."

Beckett and the boys spent the rest of the morning filling the board with information about their new suspect. So far, they had discovered that he worked at the Lenox Hill Hospital as a billing operator, but that he had the night off when Colleen and Neski were killed. His print was on the knife, and his hair had been found in the stairwell with the tampered door. He was the right height and hand, and clearly had motive. He had lived in Chicago until '09 when his wife had been offered a partnership at Sullivan and Cromwell. Esposito had uncovered that he was also former military and was tracking down what unit he had served with.

"Okay, thank you." Esposito hung up his phone. "Daniel Maguire was special forces during the Gulf War."

Beckett wrote that down. "So he had the training."

Esposito interrupted. "Oh, it gets better."

Castle looked over at Esposito. "What?"

Esposito grinned. "He was in the same unit as Richard 'Rathborne' Coonan."

Beckett stood in the Observation Room with most of the homicide department as Daniel Maguire was brought in. His demeanor was calm, but confused, like a man who had no clue why he was being dragged in there. Esposito was looking at Beckett as she stood hugging the case file, waiting for her to make the move. The tension in the air was palpable; this could be the moment of truth. Beckett took a deep breath and moved toward the door. Castle moved to follow, but Beckett turned and placed a hand on his chest, looking up at eyes. He nodded in understanding and went back to his spot behind the glass.

Beckett took another deep breath before opening the door to I1. "Mr. Maguire, you have been informed of your rights?"

Maguire straightened up. "Yes."

Beckett set the folder on the table. "And you have waved your right to an attorney?"

Maguire nodded. "I've got nothing to hide."

Beckett cleared her throat and looked at the suspect. "What was your relationship to Colleen Maguire?"

Maguire's brow furrowed. "What is this?"

Beckett leaned against the wall next to the glass. "Just answer the question."

"She was my wife."

"And how would you describe your relationship?"

Maguire was confused. "Why does that matter?" Beckett just looked at him. "Fine, our relationship was fine. We had been a little on the shaky side lately, but that was because she had been busy with work and I saw her maybe twice a week."

"How was Colleen acting lately?"

Maguire sighed. "All last week she's been nervous, distracted. I tried to get her to tell me, but she never said anything."

Beckett nodded. "Were you aware that Ivan Neski was in town?"

Maguire gaze focused on Beckett. "No. The last time I had seen him was when Colleen was working with him in Chicago."

Beckett began to pace. "You and your wife used to live in Chicago?

Maguire looked bored. "Yes."

"When did you move to New York?"

Maguire was still trying to figure out what was going on. "September of '09. Why?"

Beckett shrugged. "Just curious." She leaned against the wall again. "According to your employment records, you served in the Armed Forces. What unit?"

Maguire was becoming impatient. "Look, I don't know what you are trying to get at. If you know I was in the military, then you know what unit. Just get to the point!"

Beckett strode over to the table and picked up the file folder. "Alright. You were Special Forces in the Gulf War. You were in a small, highly trained unit that specialized in infiltration and extraction. According the service report, your unit lost one man, presumed dead. When you left the military, you received an honorable discharge with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. So I just have one question. Why did you kill Colleen Maguire and Ivan Neski? Did they figure it out?"

Maguire was outraged. "You think I killed my wife? You're crazy!"

Beckett slapped a photo of the knife onto the table in front of Maguire. "Am I? That knife was found in the air vent of your wife's room at the Roosevelt." Beckett pointed at the print. "That is your fingerprint in their blood on the knife that was used to kill them. Your hair," another photo hit the table, "was found in the stairwell that was used as the access point to the hotel. If you didn't do it, how do you explain your fingerprint and hair being found at the scene of your wife's murder?"

Maguire was stunned. "I don't know."

Beckett dropped the folder and leaned on the table. "You have the experience, the know-how. The knife is a Wingwalk; a favorite of ex-military members. And you wouldn't be the first in your unit to become an assassin would you?" Dick Coonan's army picture landed on the table. "Your old buddy, Dick Coonan. I talked to your old commander, Dan. You and he were very close, like brothers, inseparable…"

Maguire interrupted. "That's because we were partnered together for patrol! He was captured while we were over there, never found! If you really did your homework, you would know that he's been presumed dead!"

The photo of Coonan lying dead on the floor of the precinct joined those already on the table. "If he had really died during the war, I wouldn't have been forced to kill him to protect my partner. He died four years ago, right here in this precinct, not overseas at the hand of the enemy. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Maguire picked up Coonan's crime scene photo in shock. "He was alive?"

Beckett sat down. "You can cut the act, Maguire. You and Coonan were working in the Chicago area at the same time. He went by the name Rathborne; you are the Shadow Fox. He called you his protégée."

Maguire shook his head and put the photo back down. "I'm not a killer!"

"You killed Colleen Maguire and Ivan Neski because they were investigating the crimes the two of you were committing. They got too close to the truth, so you had to silence them." Beckett pulled out the crime scene photos and laid them in front of Maguire. "You killed your own wife and her friend to cover your ass and protect your secret."

"I did not kill my wife!" Maguire slammed his fist on the table.

"We know you weren't working that night, which means you had opportunity, motive, and ability."

"Yes, I wasn't working that night, but I went to the bar that night to watch the game!" Maguire glared at Beckett. "The 1472 Sports Café. Ask around. There were a lot of people there. Someone must remember me!"

"What about these people? Remember killing them?"

Beckett gathered the photos she had already laid out and replaced them with the crime scene photos of Brian Watson, Jason Caldwell, Angela Crawford, Crystal Peterman, and Kirill Andrevich. As she laid out the photos, she carefully watched Maguire for a tell.

Maguire recoiled. "I've never seen any of these people."

Beckett pushed Peterman and Andreievich's photos closer to Maguire. "Are you sure? Their blood was also found on the knife that killed your wife and Neski. The knife that had your print on it!"

Maguire was outraged. "You've got the wrong guy!"

Beckett gathered all the photos and left the Interrogation Room. She re-entered the Observation Room and sat down, barely registering that everyone was silently watching her.

Gates broke the silence. "Do you think he's good for it?"

Beckett shrugged and sighed. "Motive, opportunity, training, evidence, association with Rathborne; everything points to him. But, his actions in there tell me that he didn't. I don't know."

Gates turned back to the window. "I like him for it. And, as you said, the evidence speaks for itself. Book him. Good work, Detective."

Everyone except Castle, Ryan, and Esposito left the Ob. Room. Beckett stared at Maguire through the glass. Maguire had his head in his hands and tears were running down his face. A uniform entered the room to lead him away.

Castle had been watching Beckett closely. "You really don't think it was him."

"Look at him. Either he is the best actor I've ever seen, or he's innocent." Beckett shook her head. "Ryan, keep going through that footage. Esposito, see if he has alibis for the other murders and if they pan out for any of the cases we have. If he did do them, I don't want the jury to have any doubts."

The boys nodded and went to their tasks. "What are we going to do, Kate?"

"We are going to go through the cases from Chicago." Beckett stood. "I want to see if the husband could have been responsible for the Shadow Fox cases there."

A/N: Is he? Is he not? We'll find out!