Lanie walked into the bullpen and tossed the autopsy file on Esposito's desk.

"He might have been murdered."

Espo looked up, startled. "Hi to you, too."

"Hi. Alex Conrad? That hit-and-run?" She shook her head. "Nothing concrete, but I'd say there's a strong chance someone ran him down on purpose."

Ryan rolled his chair over to join them. "You said murder?"

She nodded. "No skid marks at the scene. Witnesses said Conrad was safely away from the street, and the car came up after him. Autopsy report was - well, gruesome. That car was after him. I'd say there's about a seventy percent chance that was a murder."

"Guys! Guys."

Kate Beckett hurried in, manuscript in hand. "I just finished this."

Ryan sat up in his chair. "And?"

She handed him the manuscript. "It's the story of the CEO of a publishing company. She starts having an affair with the governor, then starts embezzling money from the company to fund his campaign."

"Whoa. Whoa." Esposito grabbed the book. "You think -"

In the tech room, Tory looked up from her computer screen. "Hey, you guys. What can I do for you?"

Kate pulled up a chair beside Tory. "Can you pull up Gina Griffin's email records?"

Tory nodded, typing swiftly. "What are you looking for?"

"Communication between her and Alex Conrad."

Tory hummed, clicking and typing, biting her cheek as she cut through whatever firewall Black Pawn thought they had. "What was the name? Conrad?" She waited for the search engine to pull up her results. "Here's the last one. A week before his death, he emailed her saying he had a draft done. Right here -" Tory pointed - "I'll have a hard copy on your desk by close of business tomorrow."

Kate looked back at Ryan and Esposito. "So we know she saw his draft of the book."

Ryan nodded. "And then - Castle's version?"

"Right. Tory, can you check and see if Castle gave her a copy of the book? - it was based on Conrad's copy."

After another search, Tory nodded. "Here. Nine days before Meredith Castle's murder, he sent her a full spec sheet, including an outline, character drafts, and full plot summary."

"Gina saw this book. A book telling the story of an editor who slept with a senator, stole money, and split it between herself and his campaign. And then one week later, Alex Conrad is dead."

"Tory, is there a reason she didn't delete those emails?"

Tory just grinned. "Oh, she did. She tried to. But she's not an IT person. She didn't know how to scrub them from Black Pawn's server."

Outside the tech room, Kate stopped in the middle of the hallway. Espo almost bumped into her. Ryan did bump into her. "Whoa. Sorry."

"So Conrad dies for writing a book in which even I recognize Gina Griffin as the character who's having an affair with a politician. And now Castle breaks into the home of the security chief of Senator William Bracken, who's up for re-election?"

Ran's eyes went wide.

"Wait. You don't actually think - is Gina Griffin actually, really having an affair with Senator Bracken?"

Kate pointed out her door. "Get her in here, now."

"On it."

Esposito ran out and started barking for backup, while Kate turned to Ryan. "If she's having an affair with him, wouldn't his personal bodyguard know about it?"

"Only one way to find out." Ryan reached for the phone, calling up the patrol car back in the Pullman neighborhood. "Hey, guys, we need you to bring in Davidson for questioning."

"On it," the cop replied.

Ryan pulled out his notes. "You think Castle has this figured out?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea. But my guess is, he would recognize Davidson's face. And we know he saw the picture of Davidson and Bracken."

"Huh." Ryan flipped through his notebook. "We're going to have to talk to Senator Bracken, aren't we?"

Kate grabbed her jacket and headed briskly for the elevator, wrestling with a finicky sleeve.

"Beckett! Beckett!"

Ryan came running across the floor, phone still in hand.

"Patrol cops just called. Davidson's gone. He's not in the apartment. They didn't see him leave."

He'd honestly thought his disguise skills were pretty good, but if the deputy recognized him even through grey hair and glasses, then Rick had more work to do.

With a heavier coating of facial hair and more layers of clothing to bulk up his silhouette, Castle stopped at a payphone, bracing himself against the cold, blustery March air. It was colder today, a hint of snow in the air.

It was a risk, but after a moment's hesitation, he put in a quarter and dialed.

"Hello?"

He had to fight back the sudden tightness in his throat.

"Hello, Mother."

"Richard! Oh, my God, darling -"

"It's so good to hear your voice."

"Richard, where are you?"

"I don't have a lot of time. I'm sure your phone is being tapped. I just - I wanted to tell you I'm okay."

"Richard, there's a woman looking for you. A marshal."

"Beckett, right? Tall, gorgeous? Well dressed?"

His mother chuckled dryly. "That's her. She called me, Richard. I spoke to her. And I think she's starting to believe you're innocent."

His heart sped up in his chest.

I didn't kill my wife.

So tell me a better story.

"Are you sure?"

"She asked me for your notebooks. I gave her what I had, even that Conrad novel you wrote. Although she seemed surprised - said something about she had thought you weren't writing when Meredith was killed?"

He blinked. "Wait. Who told her I wasn't working on anything then? I spent months on that book."

"I guess I'm not sure, dear. I know they spoke to Gina. But I didn't really ask."

Rick stared blankly at the keypad, his mind whirling.

Gina already had that draft.

"Richard? Are you still there?"

"I'm here." He took a long breath. "I have to go."

"Please, Richard - where are you? What's going on?"

"You know I can't tell you anything, Mother." He glanced up, watching pedestrians walk past, unseeing. "Just - tell Alexis I love her. I miss you both."

"Richard -"

"I'm going to figure it out, Mother." He took a deep breath. "I'm going to end this. And then I'm going to come home."

He hung up before she could respond.