Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Lovely Rita written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, from The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Little Like A Military
"Apparently Franklin lied to Andersen," Brad was telling the others. "She didn't move to New Mexico, but here to this house in Watermill."
"Why would she do that?" Beckett asked.
"We'll have to ask her," Brad said, looking at the house they'd pulled up to. "But…"
Sighing, since she knew the chief was looking at her so she could respond because she was a woman, Beckett said, "You're lucky I don't mind. But I would say Franklin is with someone else and didn't want Andersen to get word of it." When the three men with her were nodding she told them, "But we have to talk to her first."
"Us or just the two of you?" Castle asked.
"All of us but I need to see how she is if I need to make it just the two of us," Brad replied.
"Okay," Castle said quickly.
Looking at his friend, Brad saw Beckett was shaking her head quickly and he refrained from saying anything before he turned his attention to the house. They walked up to the front door together and he knocked on it before it was opening. "Ms. Franklin?" he asked the woman who was peering around the door at him.
"It's Mrs. Ewing," the woman replied.
"But you were Tamara Franklin at one point?" Brad asked.
"Yes, before ten this morning," the woman replied. "My wife and I were married and I took her name."
"And who is she?" Brad asked.
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Mrs. Ewing said suspiciously.
"Sorry," Brad said, getting his badge. "I'm Chief Brad Davis with the Hamptons PD. These are my consultants Richard Castle, Kate Beckett and Patrick Darnley."
"Oh," Mrs. Ewing said in obvious recognition of the first two. She then realized they were with the police, and she grew serious saying, "What's wrong?"
"Would you mind if we came inside and spoke with you," Brad said.
"Of course," Mrs. Ewin replied, opening the door fully to them and letting them inside. "Can I get you some water or…"
"That's fine," Brad replied. "We just need a place to sit and talk with you."
"This way," Mrs. Ewin said, leading them to the dining room. Once they were sitting around it, she asked, "So… am I in trouble?"
"Are you missing a phone?" Brad asked first.
"Yes," Mrs. Ewing said in annoyance. "I either lost it before this morning or it got stolen while I went out to eat last night. I was with Larissa and…"
"So you lost track of it," Brad said.
"I did, but with Larissa and I deciding to get married I didn't really have any need of it," Mrs. Ewing replied. She then realized something and asked, "Did you find my phone?"
"We did," Brad said, sliding the picture of it to her.
"That's it! Wait," Mrs. Ewing said in confusion. "Why is it a picture and my phone so dirty?"
"Because we found it in the Southampton Forest," Brad replied.
"The forest?" Mrs. Ewing asked in surprise.
"Have you been around that area lately?" Beckett asked.
"No, I've been around Montauk and this house," Mrs. Ewing said, gesturing around to indicate it.
"Have you been to the Rowling Haunted Manse?" Castle then asked.
"No, I was going to go with my brother though," Mrs. Ewing said, startled when the others were sharing looks before the chief was speaking to her.
"I've seen your information Mrs. Ewing," Brad told her. "You don't have a brother."
"Not on record," Mrs. Ewing replied with a sigh. Before the chief could say anything, she then told him, "His name is Adam Dalton."
Castle looked at his friend and was going to speak before Brad was doing so first as he turned his attention to the woman.
"Adam Dalton," the chief said slowly.
"Yes," Mrs. Ewing replied. "Why?"
"Why don't you walk us through what you've been doing since Sunday night," Brad said.
"Sunday I took my stuff out of Heather's house and moved it here to Larissa's place," Mrs. Ewing began. "I unpacked everything and then went back to Montauk and when I did Heather broke up with me."
"You were having an affair?" Beckett asked.
"Yes," Mrs. Ewing said, hesitating. "But I think Heather was getting tired of me."
"Do you think she suspected you of having an affair?" Darnley asked.
"Probably, but she told me she was too, with a guy," Mrs. Ewing said, rolling her eyes.
"She was bisexual?" Castle asked.
Shaking her head, Mrs. Ewing said, "If you saw my information, you'll know that I was born Thomas."
"We're aware," Brad replied.
"Heather and I were dating for two years, and she knew I was transitioning but… I guess she just really liked men," Mrs. Ewing said.
"Okay, please continue with Sunday," Brad urged her.
Nodding Mrs. Ewing said, "After I left her place-"
"One moment," Brad said. "The breakup. Was it amicable?"
"We didn't really care," Mrs. Ewing said. "Or at least I didn't, I'm not sure about Heather since she has someone to go with I'm really certain she was too." When the chief nodded for her to continue, she said, "When I left, I met my friends." She hesitated and then asked, "Do I need to tell you their names?"
"We've already gotten in touch with them," Brad said.
"Okay," Mrs. Ewing said in obvious surprise. "I went out to dinner with them, we went to Jonquil Shores, a restaurant. I ate with them and as soon as dinner was done, I told everyone what I told Heather; that I was going to move to New Mexico."
"Why did you tell them that?" Castle couldn't help asking.
"I wanted to start over," Mrs. Ewing said. "And get Heather out of my life. But I told my friends it was a cover story."
"Did you tell them to tell the police that?" Brad asked.
"No, they… oh no," Mrs. Ewing started to say in confusion before something hit her. She looked at the chief and said, "One of my friends joked about me needing to hide from the law and… I told them no it was about Heather. But maybe she thought I was serious if you talked to her."
"More than likely. Where did you go after the dinner?" Brad asked.
"Right here," Mrs. Ewing replied. "Larissa will say, and we have a security camera at the door, it'll see me going down the driveway to park in the garage. I got here… I think I managed to make it back at nine and Larissa was waiting for me. We planned our wedding for this morning and then we went to bed."
"Monday?" Brad asked.
"Yeah, we got up, went out to go grocery shopping since we were low on food," Mrs. Ewing replied. "And then came back and made breakfast."
The woman faltered and Beckett was about to ask if they'd remained in the house when she was speaking again slowly, not looking at the four of them and instead at the table.
"We were here the rest of the day," Mrs. Ewing began. "Just… just being together."
"I understand," Brad replied.
"That was all we did for the day," Mrs. Ewing said. "We did make lunch and dinner. Oh, we did make a phone call about having our wedding at the gardens behind City Hall."
"What time was that?" Brad asked.
"Two, we started talking about what we wanted to do to get married and realized we needed to check before we had anything for sure," Mrs. Ewing replied. "This morning we got ready and then went to City Hall and got married, signed the license and came here to…"
Nodding so the woman wouldn't feel like she needed to finish that, Brad said, "Who were your witnesses?"
"The secretary of the official there that officiated the ceremony," Mrs. Ewing replied. "Has something happened to someone I know? Is that why I'm giving an alibi?"
"I'm afraid so," Brad said. He shifted for a moment in his chair and said, "On Sunday night Adam Dalton was found murdered."
Shock appeared on Mrs. Ewing's face before her face seemed to crumple and she covered it with her hands as she proceeded to sob.
"Mrs. Ewing," Beckett started to say.
"This can't be happening," Mrs. Ewing said, still crying.
"Mrs. Ewing we're aware you knew Mr. Dalton," Brad said. "We were under the impression that you were dating him."
"No, oh no, no!" Mrs. Ewing replied in a panic, shaking her head frantically. "No, I never would. Like I said Adam is…" She sobbed and then said, "He was my half-brother."
"You share a father," Castle guessed.
"Yes," Mrs. Ewing said. She sighed and said, "I was told by my aunt that my mother was an escort, and she spent the night with Adam's father… our father. She ended up pregnant with me but never told my birth father. On my birth certificate she told them to put unknown but she knew, she had no protection."
"Was that intentional?" Brad asked.
When Mrs. Ewing nodded, Castle glanced at his friend, wondering if he was going for a motive with that before he said, "She never told your father."
"No," Mrs. Ewing said firmly. "She didn't want money; she didn't want him to acknowledge me. She just wanted a baby and instead of going to a bank or something she went through her job."
"Would it be possible to talk to your mother?" Brad asked.
Shaking her head, Mrs. Ewing dashed away a tear from her cheek before she said, "She passed away the summer after I graduated from high school."
"I'm so sorry," Brad said, the others murmuring the same.
"It's, I know," Mrs. Ewing replied, shaking her head. "But my aunt told me this summer about my father as she had some things of mine my mother had hid in her house and one of them was a picture of them together."
"Do you have it?" Brad asked.
Shaking her head Mrs. Ewing said, "I do have it on my phone." When the chief motioned to her, she hurried to get it and opened it so they could see the picture. "I met Adam because I was looking into suing the women that were at a sorority that harassed me while I was at Briarcliffe."
"Harassed you?" Brad asked in surprise.
"Yes, when I was about to pledge for Alpha Rho Gamma my sophomore year I went to a party and it was all the senior members," Mrs. Ewing said bitterly, obviously annoyed. "They got me drunk and the two of us nearly died from alcohol poisoning. I was going to press charges, but the parents of the other pledge convinced me that I'd be expelled. And since I had a scholarship, I didn't want to risk losing it."
"What does that have to do with the sorority?" Darnley asked in confusion.
"Two years later I decided to start transitioning," Mrs. Ewing said. "And once I had I was found out. One of the girls that was at the Delta Psi party one night ran down and told the Alpha members who were there. I had to run, and I was lucky to get out of there alive. That was the last time I went anywhere at night because I was threatened."
"And you were going to sue them?" Beckett asked.
Nodding her head Mrs. Ewing said, "I was looking into if I could. That's how I met Adam because he was at the firm I decided to go to. We talked and when he said his last name was Dalton I couldn't help asking if his father's name was Seth. When Adam said it was, I had to tell him how I knew his father's name and we discovered we were siblings."
"Was he aware of who you were?" Castle said.
"He was, I had told him that first," Mrs. Ewing replied. "And I asked him outright if he was okay with the fact I was his sister now and not brother and… he was. It was a relief, especially after I found out he was from the fraternity I'd had trouble with. We met at the beginning of August and were spending time getting to know each other. He was so nice to me," she let out with a sob at the end.
Brad was going to speak again but hesitated and then said, "We were told that he took you to meet his parents," not surprised when the woman cried a little again before she was drying her face with a tissue Castle had brought to her and continuing.
"That was Adam's idea," Mrs. Ewing said. "I didn't want to tell our father that I was his daughter… or that I had been his son for that matter. I just wanted to meet him, so I went as Adam's friend."
"Was that going to be it?" Castle asked.
"It was," Mrs. Ewing replied. "I wanted to meet him once."
"You knew Adam a little bit," Brad said.
"A little, only for two months," Mrs. Ewing said.
"Did you notice anything wrong with him this month?" Brad then inquired.
"Not really," Mrs. Ewing said slowly. "I mean, he wanted to see if we couldn't try to sue the men in Alpha too. Actually, he thought we had a better case with that." Her eyes suddenly widened, and she said, "I just remembered something."
"What?" Brad said.
"The last time I went to the firm, on the seventh, to talk to him about the lawsuit I heard him having an argument with another lawyer there," Mrs. Ewing responded.
"What were they arguing about?" Brad asked.
"They were talking about the fraternity and sorority, but the other lawyer was mentioning it was a mistake," Mrs. Ewing explained. "And the last thing the man said was we were probably going to regret going against them."
"Do you know who this lawyer was?" Brad asked.
"I don't know his last name, but Adam called him Ed," Mrs. Ewing said.
Brad was about to speak then before he heard the garage door opening and he said, "Where has your wife been?"
"She went to grab more groceries, we have time off work and we're spending it here," Mrs. Ewing replied. "Will… will you explain to her why you're here?"
"We'll need to," Castle couldn't help saying as Brad was nodding his head. He wasn't surprised when the chief gave him a brief look before they were turning as the door to the garage was opening.
"Tammie," a young woman said, her accent identifying her from Jamaica.
"Oh Larissa," Mrs. Ewing said with a sob, rushing to her wife. "Adam's dead, someone killed him!"
"What?" Larissa said in shock.
"You're Larissa Ewing, Tamara's wife?" Brad asked to be completely sure.
"I am," the woman said. "But… her brother is dead."
"I'm afraid so. I'm Chief Davis from the Hamptons PD and we're investigating Mr. Dalton's murder. We didn't have the chance to tell her, but we were afraid Mrs. Ewing… your wife," Brad began, correcting himself since he knew both women had that name with the marriage. "We were afraid she was a victim as well."
"No, she's been with me since Sunday night," Larissa said.
"We gathered," Brad said. "Is your security camera under your control?"
"No, a company," Larissa replied. "Doorstop Security."
"Thank you," Brad said. "We need to leave, but this is my card and please feel free to call if you think of anything else; either of you," he told the two, handing them his card before the new Mrs. Ewing spoke first.
"We will," the woman said.
"Actually, wait," Brad said as the other three were starting to walk to the front door. "I hope you won't be offended if I ask you Larissa?"
"Did I know Tamara was born a man?" she asked. When the chief nodded, she said, "I did, she was upfront about that when we first met."
"Were you dating anyone when you met Tamara?" Beckett asked.
"No, but she told me her ex-girlfriend was cheating on her, so I don't think we have to worry about her," Larissa replied.
"Did you meet Adam Dalton?" Darnley asked.
"I did, we had him to dinner on the tenth," Larissa said. "We weren't talking about getting married, but he said the two of us were a great couple and he hoped we'd work everything out."
"Did Heather know anything about Adam?" Brad asked.
"No," Tamara replied, shaking her head. "Though she knew I was looking into a lawsuit."
"Okay," Brad said, glancing at his consultants. They shook their heads and he turned to the two women saying, "I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you but… please don't tell his family about me," Tamara begged. "I just wanted to see my father and that's it, I don't need anything else to do with them."
"I won't unless I have to," Brad said.
After they'd said goodbye to the women, they were shown out and they headed down the path back to their cars.
"Call me," Brad said to them. "One of you, and we'll talk on the drive back to the Hamptons."
"He doesn't know what we're going to do now?" Darnley asked once they were in the car.
"He does but he might not be sure where to go first," Castle said, starting the car. He wasn't surprised when his wife was dialing Brad's number immediately after he'd done that before the chief was answering.
"Okay, I want to go to the law firm where Dalton worked," Brad said. "But I don't think it'd be a good idea to head in there without some research first."
"I agree," Beckett said after her husband and friend were silent for a while. "How big is the law firm?"
"Not that big," Brad replied. "But I'll meet you guys back at the station."
"I'm not sure how we couldn't," Castle couldn't help saying after his wife had hung up with the chief. "We are following him."
"You're lucky he can't hear you," Darnley said wryly.
"I know," Castle said. "What do you guys think about Tamara though?" he said to them both.
"It's a sad story, but Brad did say there was no information about her father," Beckett said.
"She's lucky she doesn't look like Adam's father," Darnley commented.
"I don't think they would have had that dinner if she did," Beckett said. "Though is it weird I'm wondering about her ex-girlfriend?"
"She…" Castle said, about to say they had an alibi for Andersen though he quickly remembered Brad had never asked her. "We'll have to tell him."
"I will," Beckett said.
"Hey, what about the mummification?" Darnley said.
"That we might have to wait for," Beckett commented since they had nearly a half hour drive back to the station as there was construction and a little traffic.
"Okay, so why don't we play a game, alphabet with the license plates?" Darnley said. He couldn't help laughing when his friend turned back to him and gave him one of her looks. "Maybe not but I'd like you to come up with what we should do now," he said, startled a little by what she brought up when she responded to him.
"And the B&B?" Beckett asked him.
"Oh, you want to talk about that now," Darnley said.
"You're still going," Beckett stated instead of asking.
"As far as we know," Darnley replied. "Of course if Trev gets a case or something…"
Nodding Beckett said, "Good, do you have your costumes?"
"Now we do," Darnley said. He wasn't surprised when his friend looked at him questioningly over her shoulder and he explained, "Trev and I were talking about it, and he left when I did to rejoin you guys to go to the costume shop."
"What'd you decide?" Castle asked. "Or you can't say?"
"I'm not going to say," Darnley replied in amusement. "You already knew?" he asked Beckett. When she nodded, he squeezed her shoulder and then said, "Is this how the cases usually are?"
"I've told you about them," Beckett reminded him.
"But the majority of them can't be that weird," Darnley said.
"They usually are to be honest," Beckett said.
"She's right, we've had a few basic but I guess the majority are weird," Castle commented.
"I wonder why?" Darnley said. "Is it because of the people here?"
"He has a point," Castle said when his wife glanced at him.
"I don't know if it's because they're richer really," Beckett said slowly.
"But if it wasn't for that there'd be no Dallas," Darnley said.
"Or Dynasty for that matter," Castle added in agreement.
"Okay," Beckett said with a mock annoyed sigh. She then glanced at her husband and said, "I see your point but if that were the situation, we'd have a lot more cases."
After they'd driven a little further and he could tell they were getting closer to the Hamptons Darnley said, "We're close right?"
"We are," Beckett replied. She glanced at him and said, "You're learning."
"Slowly, I'd still be afraid to go outside of our town without GPS," Darnley said. Something came to him, and he asked his friend, "How's Montauk?"
"You haven't been yet?" Castle asked in surprise.
"Not really, Maddy's had school and we've been getting the house settled," Darnley replied. "Funny though, I forgot Alexis and Louis have been doing that."
"They finished though," Castle said.
"And you finished a while ago," Beckett said, looking back to him again.
"But we had some work done too, the front took a little," Darnley said.
"I'm not surprised you changed the color," Beckett replied, as Darnley and Nkosi had decided to paint their house a very deep green color. "Though the door was a surprise."
"The dungeon look isn't our thing," Darnley replied. He and Nkosi had opted instead for a black door since their trim was white and they wanted that as a contrast. "But you said you liked it."
"I did," Beckett told him reassuringly and in amusement since it wasn't the first time. "And your room colors, your bedroom was a surprise."
"Hey," Darnley started to say before he had to stop as they were all laughing together. When he'd calmed down he said, "Okay, I was going to say I showed you the samples we had."
"I was just surprised you went with such a dark color," Beckett told him as the two men had gone with the color Frank Blue for their master bedroom. "And then lighter for the bathroom."
"Well," Darnley began before she gave him a mock glare. "That was because we wanted it relaxing in the bathroom," he explained as they'd picked Wonderous Blue for there. He then said, "Nothing about the kids' rooms?"
"No, I wasn't surprised," Becket said. "Though I thought Maddy might pick pink or lilac to be honest," she added before her friend laughed briefly and she glanced back at him to see what the joke was before he was explaining.
"I joked with Trev that she would. I tried to have him bet with me, but he refused to, saying it was unfair," Darnley said. "But she nearly picked a really nice lilac color, so I was half right."
"Why did she pick that yellow?" Castle asked.
"Because she liked the name," Darnley said in amusement. "We tried to tell her that shouldn't decide it for her but… you know." When the two in the front nodded, he couldn't help starting to tell them about his time with his family choosing all the colors they needed for their house so they'd pick them together.
"Why do you like the name princess?" Nkosi asked the little girl.
"Because it will be the sun in my room every day," Maddy said seriously and with a nod.
"Well," Darnley said slowly as his husband was looking at him. "We can get samples, paint a good part of her wall and see what she thinks then."
"You do not want this color?" Bethany asked her granddaughter, pointing to the lilac Maddy had almost picked a shade called Euphoric Lilac.
"No, I don't think it is pretty," Maddy said, handing Darnley her paint sample of the color Daybreak.
"She knows what she wants," Joseph said in amusement.
"I think she does," Darnley said laughingly. He turned his attention to his son and said, "Alright Keo, time for you to decide, which-"
"This one!" the boy said, waving the sample he had picked out from the different shades.
"Are you sure?" Nkosi said.
"Yes!" Keo said eagerly. "Blue!"
"That's not the name," Maddy told her brother almost imperiously.
"It's not but it doesn't matter," Nkosi told him gently.
"What is the name Tata?" Keo asked with a frown.
"It's called Undercool and it fits you perfectly," Nkosi replied. He smiled when his son hugged him, and he embraced him back before he looked at his parents. "Have you decided?" he asked them.
"Yes, and you will love the name," Joseph said. "Red Tomato," he said, though he was looking at his grandchildren who giggled.
"I think they liked it," Darnley commented.
"What about the other colors Daddy?" Maddy asked him.
"We'll tell you what we picked out," Darnley said first. "But if you don't like any of them please let us know." When his in-laws said they would he said, "Okay, Bethany I'm sure you're wondering about the kitchen, and we decided on Moonmist." He nearly swore before he said to his husband, "Trev," before the investigator was speaking first about what he had planned to remind him about.
"I just remembered," Nkosi said. "We forgot to tell you about a program we found that will let us see the colors on the walls."
"We took pictures of the rooms for that," Darnley added as his husband was getting his tablet.
"We can see them now?" Joseph asked.
"We can," Darnley said as Nkosi was showing his parents their room with the color they had told them.
Nodding Bethany said, "I think it looks wonderful."
"This is ours," Nkosi told his mother as he got their bedroom picture.
"Ah, it suits the two of you," Joseph said, nodding at the same time his wife was.
"Here's your room Maddy," Nkosi said next.
"Do you like it?" Darnley asked her.
"It's pretty," Maddy replied with a beaming smile at her fathers.
"And yours Keo," Nkosi said.
"Pretty!" the baby exclaimed.
"Here's the Moonmist in the kitchen," Nkosi told everyone, going to that picture.
"It is beautiful," Bethany said, nodding her head as her son and son in law were looking at her. "It is light enough for cooking but not distracting from the cabinets."
"What about the entry and the hallway?" Joseph then asked after the kids had clamored that they liked the color as well.
"We were thinking of this color, for the upstairs hall too," Darnley said. "Smoky Azurite."
"Very nice," Bethany said. "The dining room?"
"That we're a little torn between two," Nkosi said. "Either Rhythmic Blue or Porch Ceiling."
After letting Joseph and Bethany see the two options Darnley said. "We were thinking of using the other still if we didn't use it for the dining room."
"Maybe you should have the greyer color for the dining room, the other for here?" Joseph suggested, motioning to the family room.
"That's what we were thinking Tata," Nkosi said with a smile. "We're set on that?" he asked his husband.
"Very," Darnley replied with a nod and a smile.
"What about the other bedrooms?" Bethany asked.
"And the library," Maddy added.
"For the library we decided to use Dynamic Blue," Nkosi said. "And for the other rooms we decided to paint them different colors. Just random ones."
"Grand Canal, Fun Yellow, Picnic, Morning Glory and Cherries Jubilee," Darnley said as his husband was showing that on the tablet. "Different colors but we didn't want to streamline and just use grey."
"You do love colors," Bethany told them.
"We do," Darnley and Nkosi said at the same time before they were laughing together heavily.
"There is one more thing," Joseph said. When his son and son in law looked at him, he said, "The house?"
"We decided," Nkosi said with a smile as he and Darnley had been working through their choices for a while by then. "And we picked Hunt Club."
"Not a fan of the name," Darnley said after he'd made a face. "But it was what we wanted, a good green."
"And black front doors," Nkosi said.
"Wonderful. When will you start to paint?" Bethany said.
"Soon, very soon," Nkosi assured her.
"Apparently not soon enough," Darnley told his husband with a smile before he got up and took the kids to the kitchen to grab a snack for them while the others were talking about the colors at the table.
"I feel a little useless," Darnley told his friend as they were sitting at the table in the breakroom.
"I know, but he has to use his authority of course," Beckett said. She realized something and touched his arm before she said, "Sorry, I've been in this position longer than you. But this is usually what happens." She watched her friend, while he was mulling something over, and she was going to ask what was wrong when he spoke first.
"I've done this before, so I know the basic process but really…" Darnley started to say before he trailed off.
"We've dealt with this before," Beckett said firmly. "But we'll be going to the law firm."
"No need," Castle commented as he walked into the room with Brad behind him.
"Did he talk with the lawyer?" Beckett asked.
"No, but he did find out who it is," Castle said. "Edward Abbing."
"Abbing?" Beckett asked.
"Do you know the name?" Castle asked in surprise since his wife was looking uncertain.
"I… let me call my dad," Beckett said, getting her phone. She dialed her father's number and then put the phone on speaker before setting it on the table.
"Katie?" Jim said once he'd picked up his phone.
"Everything's okay Dad," Beckett told him quickly. "But a name came up in the case and I wanted to ask you about it."
"Oh," Jim said in surprise. "What name is it?"
"Edward Abbing," Beckett said, looking at Brad as he was standing in the doorway since the chief had nodded.
"Abbing?" Jim asked. "I know a Norwin Abbing," he said after a moment. "And he has a son named Edward so that could be Norwin's son."
"Do you know anything about him?" Brad asked.
"Not exactly, the last time I saw him he'd been accepted at Harvard," Jim answered. "Katie, you'll remember him. Eddie with the DUI."
"Oh," Beckett said in sudden realization. "Now I do," she said before she looked at the others. "He had a series of DUIs, his father defended him and got him off every time."
"Please don't speak to him," Jim said.
"Why?" Castle asked immediately.
"He flirted with me a lot," Beckett said. "I rebuffed him, but he kept going."
"He never assaulted you, did he?" Darnley asked.
Shaking her head Beckett said, "No, I never let him see me alone so if he was aiming for that it never happened."
"She's not talking to him alone is she?" Castle asked Brad.
Shaking his head, the chief turned his attention to the phone and said, "Is there anything else about the son?"
"No, but I'll say that if he's like his father he's ruthless as a lawyer," Jim replied.
"We'll keep that in mind," Brad said.
Pointing to his wife's phone, when the chief nodded Castle said to his father in law, "How's Josie?"
"Good, she's just woken up from her nap and Martha is giving her some apple slices," Jim answered.
"Give her our love," Beckett said. "And we'll text once we're on our way," she added, though looking at her watch she knew they weren't going to make it for most of the girls' dance class.
After his wife had hung up with her father, Castle said to Brad rapidly, "You're not going to have her in there with-"
Holding up his hand to stop his friend, the chief said, "I wasn't planning on it. I'm talking with him on my own."
"Interrogation?" Darnley asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Brad said firmly. "If he's like Jim said he might be, I'm going to need to be more assertive. Any objections?"
Since the chief was looking at her, Beckett shook her head and said, "I hated seeing him, so you're doing me a favor."
"Who's bringing him in?" Castle asked.
"Wade," Brad replied. "Listen," he told them. "I need to send you guys home soon-"
"It's not that late," Beckett said quickly.
"No, but I'd have to answer to your families as to why you're still out here," Brad explained.
"Wait and see what happens after you talk to Abbing," Darnley said.
Watching the two men leaving, Castle looked at his wife and said, "Want to tell me?"
"Not really," Beckett said, standing up. "Because if I do," she then told him. "You'll run over to him and force Brad to jail you for the night."
"But-" Castle started to say before she was covering his mouth with her hand.
"No, you're going to stay here with me until Patrick comes to get us," Beckett told him firmly.
"Fine," Castle said, speaking against her palm.
Rolling her eyes, Beckett said, "Thank you." She moved her hand away from him and pulled away before it was suddenly grabbed. "Rick," she said simply.
"Just this," Castle said earnestly. And before his wife could reply to that he was leaning down, kissing her lightly on the lips before he pulled away slowly.
"Is that it?" Beckett asked. Her husband nodded, letting her go before she looked out into the bullpen. "He's here," she told her husband.
"Is it the same guy?" Castle asked her.
"Brad would have mentioned if my dad was wrong," Beckett said, though she was nodding at the same time. She was watching Brad head into the room before she said, "Let's go," and she and her husband were leaving together.
"Hey," Darnley said. "I'm sure Rick asked you, but same guy?"
"Same guy," Beckett said, looking through the mirror. "And just as smug as I remember him."
"Mr. Abbing," Brad was saying inside the room. "I'm Chief Davis and I had my officer bring you here so I could ask you some questions about a current case I'm investigating."
"Is it a murder?" Abbing asked.
"Why do you ask?" Brad said, keeping his face passive.
"I know who helps you with cases," Abbing replied. "I knew Kate Beckett back in the city. I'd love to see her again."
"Rick," Beckett said sternly as she grabbed his arm. When he looked at her, she gave him a look before he relaxed, and she loosened her grip but didn't let them go.
"That's not the reason why you're here," Brad said firmly. "I'm here to ask about the relationship you had with this man," he told her, sliding the picture of Dalton across.
"Yes," Abbing said, losing his smile. "I heard what happened to him."
"I was told that you and Mr. Dalton had a rocky relationship," Brad began with.
"Not really," Abbing said swiftly. "I'm assuming whoever told you that heard the little… argument we had."
"What do you mean by little?" Brad asked.
"Look, I knew that Adam was looking into suing in Alpha Rho Gamma or Delta Psi," Abbing began to say. "And I couldn't let that happen."
"Why?" Brad asked.
"Because they're both about to start up again," Abbing replied.
"Where?" Brad said.
"At Stonybrook," Abbing said. "And my half-brother and half-sister are leading the groups. I knew that if Adam let everything go through my siblings were going to have a very hard time with the NGO."
"I wonder if they were going to keep that hidden," Castle said. He glanced at his wife and was about to speak again when Brad inside the room was.
"And was there a reason why they had to use the same names?" the chief said.
"Yes, it was available and my siblings had no idea what happened the past with those groups at Briarcliffe," Abbing replied. "I begged Adam to not do it, but he said it was a matter of principle. So after we both calmed down, he asked if my siblings couldn't get different names."
"Did they agree to it?" Brad asked, assuming the man had spoken to them.
"They did, they're going for Beta Chi and Mu Sigma Zeta," Abbing replied. "They're in the process of getting those names approved of by the NGO. Adam was happy, I was happy and we left on a handshake. I did wish him the best it because I really wasn't sure he'd have any luck."
"Alright," Brad said, writing down the new names. "I'm going to need to know how to contact your siblings, their names as well."
Beckett wasn't surprised when Abbing started to laugh before he stopped, seeing Brad was serious. While he was telling the chief that and his own alibi she turned to her husband and friend and said, "He's not the killer."
"No, he's a smug prick but he's not the killer," Castle said.
Glancing at Darnley, who had palmed his face in response to that, Beckett turned back to her husband and said, "I'm glad you agree with me. But where does this leave us?" She saw her friend was hesitating and said, "Did you think of something?"
"Did either of you look at his financials?" Darnley asked them as Brad was getting up from the table.
Knowing he meant Dalton, Castle said, "No, we've been busy with everything else. Someone looked at them."
"Looked at what?" Brad asked as he'd opened the door at that moment.
"Dalton's financials," Beckett told him. She was startled when the chief suddenly swore before rushing out of the room and she said, "Do you think he didn't?"
Shaking his head Castle said, "I wonder if he forgot to ask whoever he assigned to it."
"Probably," Darnley commented before Brad was walking inside.
"Sorry," the chief said. "We're checking Abbing's alibi; he's gone by the way; and about Dalton's financials I had Emerson on it, but he didn't finish since he had to go on patrol."
"The new guy?" Darnley asked.
Nodding Brad said, "And since he's still out… will you take that over?"
"We can," Beckett said before the chief led them out.
"He got this far," Brad said inside his office as the three were sitting around his desk. "But-"
"We'll look at it from the start," Beckett told him.
"I figured you would," Brad said, giving her the rest of the papers. "Feel free to yell out to the bull pen if you need to."
"Where's he going to work from?" Darnley asked when the chief had left.
"Any desk out there he wants to," Beckett said, speaking absently because she was starting to look at the paperwork they had.
For a while all three were quiet as they were flipping through the papers, only pausing to get some water or Darnley asking about a local company. It wasn't until it was nearly four that Beckett got up and started grabbing a few papers spread over the table that they were stopping.
"Beckett?" Castle asked his wife.
Shaking her head, she looked at three pieces of paper before she finally responded to him and explained what she'd seen at the same time. "I'm noticing a discrepancy in his money on the fifth," Beckett said. "Brad!"
Running into the office a few seconds later the chief said, "You found something."
"I'm not totally sure yet but on the fifth this month seven thousand was taken out of his account," Beckett began. "But he has no house payments, he had no new car and it's not enough for a new apartment. I guess it could be a down payment but… the company name is standing out to me."
"Executive Blueprint Limited," Brad read. "Have either of you heard of it?" he said to Castle and Darnley.
Shaking his head with his friend's husband, Darnley said, "Never did, but the timing is weird."
"Yeah, that I'll look into," Brad replied, walking around his desk and sitting down. He typed the company name on his computer and froze for a moment before he said, "I need to make a call."
Beckett shook her head rapidly when her husband was looking at her questioningly since she couldn't read what was on the information since the text was too small. She glanced at Brad, wondering what it was about the company as he was speaking to a representative.
Castle couldn't help but feel a little frustrated his friend hadn't put the phone on speaker but when he mentioned the word contracts he then understood why. But he couldn't help saying to his friend once he eventually hung up, "Please tell us what's going on," not surprised when the chief breathed out heavily before he was answering.
"I'll have to send you guys home," Brad said. "They're a company with military contracts and… they mentioned you two by name and they requested you not be involved in looking at them."
"Why am I not surprised," Castle said. "We can't know what they do besides the military stuff?"
"Something with construction, that's all I can say," Brad told them. "But I'll be able to tell you why the money was taken once I find it."
Beckett reached over to her husband as he started to speak and she said, "You'll call us tomorrow?"
"I will," Brad said. "Oh, I should tell you now Abbing and his siblings have been cleared. The siblings were at separate friends' homes for dinners and Abbing was with his wife. And the Ewings are cleared as well."
"Wait," Castle said. "He wanted to see Kate but-" he began before his wife was holding onto his arm again.
"Leave it Rick," Beckett told him firmly. "I'm not intending to see him again."
"And he's likely not going to come back," Brad said. "I'll contact him by phone."
"Does that mean we have no suspects right now?" Darnley asked.
"No, but I can take a look at the information we just got and hope we'll find something," Brad said.
"We didn't finish looking through the financials entirely," Castle let his friend know.
"No, but since you weren't that far from finishing, I'll just have another officer do that," Brad said. "But thank you for everything today."
"Have you gotten onto Dalton's phone yet?" Beckett asked.
"No, but tech is getting close," Brad answered. "That I'll tell you about tomorrow, please go home and rest."
"We know," Castle said, aware the chief was thinking of them losing time finding the killer. "But what about his regular phone?"
"I told you," Brad said. "We can't find that at all, and I would guess it's with the killer or at the bottom of the ocean."
"You don't think it's back out in the forest?" Castle couldn't help saying.
"We'll go if it comes to that," Brad said after hesitating for a moment. "But I have a lot more right now and this phone wasn't as important. At least not yet," he said, holding up his hand before Castle could say anything.
"We'll go," Beckett said, looking at her husband pointedly.
"Sorry," Castle told his friend. "I just want to find out who did it."
"I don't blame you," Brad replied. "You guys have the B&B coming up."
"It's not that important," Beckett said.
"Yes it is," Castle, Brad and Darnley said as Beckett looked startled.
"Okay… we'll come back once you call us in the morning," she said after she had shaken herself. "Let's go guys," she told them.
When they were at their car Castle said to Darnley, "We'll drop you off this time."
Nodding the carpenter said, "I'm sorry you guys couldn't make it today."
"We haven't every time," Beckett said. "It's why we constantly tell them we might not."
"Then… let's get to the house," Darnley said. He smiled when his friend laughed, and he got into the backseat so they could drive back to their neighborhood. During the drive he was thinking of his kids, hoping his husband had their costumes so they could try them on together before he spotted his house. When the car stopped, he reached up to Beckett and squeezed her shoulder saying, "Thank you for the ride and the car earlier."
"You're welcome," Beckett said, looking back at her friend. "I'll text you once we get word from him."
"Hopefully it's soon," Darnley said, not surprised when the two nodded at that before he told them goodnight and left.
"Okay," Castle said, reaching for his wife's hand.
"Let's get home before we start that love," Beckett said.
"Sure," Castle replied, though he pressed his lips to the back of her hand. He let her go reluctantly and then drove down to their house where he pulled into the garage, and they hurried out of the car to get inside to see their family after their longer day on the case.