-8-

"Mr. Grant couldn't do this." Kevin clashed the name of the new suspect from the board. "He was on the plane. He was coming back from his daughter."

"What confirms that he was there?" Kate asked.

"The camera captured him at Chicago Airport at 12:49 p.m." Kevin used his notes. "There's also a more than two-hour flight. It comes out that he had no way of committing this crime. I also spoke with one of the stewardesses. She claims that he was on plane that landed in New York at 3:10 p. m."

"Maybe it was the person who replaced him for those few days, as he was with his daughter?"

"I checked too. It was Henry Tower. I have a witness who will confirm that he had lunch with him around the time of death."

"So, We're going back to the starting point" Beckett said in resigned voice.

For a moment they sat in silence. Eventually, the woman broke off from her chair.

"Where are you going?" Kevin asked.

"We were so easily able to disproved the theory that Martin Grant is a murderer. I think it's time to clear our friends' name as well."

"What are you going to do?"

"I will talk to my husband. He will tell me everything about where he was, what he did and with whom." He heard tenacity in her voice.

"I will take care of the others …" Kevin also got up from behind the desk and rushed with her to arrest.

They went down to the basement. There was just as cool as in the archive and even less light. She found cell where Castle was locked. The man, who was tightly covered in a blanket, lay on his bed. Kate shook the plaid separating them to draw attention to herself. Rick raised his head. His hair was ruffled and on his pale face were clearly signs of sleepless night. When he saw her he smiled.

"I already thought you had forgotten me" he said as a good morning. "You can open this cage already and let's go home."

"I didn't come here to let you go." Her voice was firm and her face was serious.

"No?" The man seemed slightly confused.

"As an alibi, you gave the fact that you sat at home and wrote a book. Meanwhile, the caretaker saw you leave the house and come back almost after two hours. So it means that you don't have an alibi. That's why I ask where you were then?"

The man remained silent for a moment, thinking about the answer.

"I sat at home and wrote" every word was spoken with uncertainty in his voice.

"This is your version?"

He nodded. He didn't dare say a word when he saw Kate's face.

"So you say that our caretaker, who has known you for about ten years, had second-guessed? That suddenly he came up with the idea that he saw you while you were sitting upstairs with a laptop on your lap? I don't think you really want to get out of here."

"Why do you think that I want to sit here? Do you think I did it?" He was serious.

"Of course not. But repeating over and over again that you sat and wrote will not provide you with an alibi."

"But I…"

"Please don't tell me if it's not something that will change everything. If the prosecutor is good, he will charge you without any problem and make you sit. I don't know for how long. I will visit you once a week, then probably less often. You will sit in a dark cell. Banquets and book promotions will end. No more solving mysteries."

"Do you wanna say that…?" With every detective's word his eyes were getting bigger and now the size resembled saucers.

"If you're so stubborn…" He didn't have to say it. Kate knew what he meant.

He moved away from the grille and sat on the bed.

"It supposed to be a surprise." He said so quietly that she could barely hear. "As you probably know, our first wedding anniversary is coming. I wanted to prepare something unusual for you." He looked her in the eyes. "The proposal was the way you wanted, the wedding was modest. Now I wanted to do something in my style. Something big and crazy."

"Just tell me where you were. I check it out and you'll be free" her voice was calmer.

Rick told her where exactly he was and a name of man he was talking to. It turned out that he had rented a balloon to take them to the Hamptons, where they were to celebrate the anniversary.

When she returned to the upstairs she felt like a huge stone had fallen from her heart. The vision that Rick would be released was almost real. All she had to do was talk to the man castle had given. Kevin was already sitting at his desk. He reported to her how the conversation went. It was apparent that Gates had to leave the restaurant for a while, because it turned out that she had taken with her some documents that her husband badly needed. She came out to deliver it to him. Esposito was called by a friend from the army. Due to the fact that he finished writing the report and the fact that there is nothing new to do he decided to meet with him. Then it fell out of his head, because they got a new case.

Their moods have clearly improved. They were only hours, maybe even minutes away, to free their friends. However, there was another problem. The murderer was still on the loose and had no evidence of who he might be.

"So, what are we doing now?" Ryan asked.

"I have an idea…" Kate with a mysterious face dialed the number and put the phone in her ear. "Hi, here's Kate Beckett… can I take a moment?"