-10-

Knocking on the door snatched her from her mind. Who could it have been at this time? She covered the board and took an uncertain step towards the door. Behind them stood Kevin. She was surprised. From the moment of their last quarrel they talked only when they had to and only if it was something about their cause. If he had something new he wouldn't have to come to her house. It would be enough for him to call.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, and uncertainty could be heard in her voice..

"I want to apologize to you" he said, very contrite. "I checked all the alibi and it turned out that everyone was innocent. They're going to let them go. That's why I wanted to apologize to you for what I said that Castle was all to blame. And that you help him cover up this murder. I was foolish about the fact that we can only trust our colleagues, friends, and so on. But I forgot that you are my friend too and that I should trust you too. I've failed all over the line and I don't feel good about it. I really thought Castle was behind it. Not because I don't like it or anything... I just wanted to find the culprit, and only he matched to me. I hope you forgive me.."

The detective threw out his words at the speed of light. He did not wait for any reaction from Kate, as if he were afraid that if he had taken at least a small break she would have just closed the door in front of his nose.

"Will you go inside?" Kate asked with a smile on her face when he finally stopped talking.

"Sure…" It seemed that these words surprised him. He precariously crossed the threshold and waited for Beckett to close the door behind him. When she did not speak all the time, he broke his silence. "And what? Will you forgive me?"

"I have forgiven you a long time ago.." Her response was immediate. "I'll show you something…"

She took her guest to the office where the board was hidden. She took off her blanket and showed him what she had set so far. The man carefully looked at each picture and read every inscription on the board.

"You can take it off" he showed his photo , signed "leak.".

"Right, I forgot about it." she smiled as she took off his photograph.

"Did you think I was the one who talked to the press?"

"Let's say yes. But now I have other suspicions. "

Kate told him about her assumptions about Peter Keen. Kevin agreed with her. To him, too, seemed to have a sudden psychological control of the at least strange thing. At first, he thought it was probably because of a shrinking budget. They probably wanted to find the weakest link they could eliminate. However, after Ian's death, it would seem that this matter should be shake. Meanwhile, Peter appeared more often. He joined the investigation. He then withdrew when three of their friends were taken into custody.

"It was through him that I believed that Castle could do it." Ryan made an unexpected confession.

"What do you mean by that?"

"As we have already made arrests, I went to him. Somehow it didn't fit in my mind that we had such different opinions. I wanted to ask if they would be capable of committing murder. Eventually he watched our unit for a while and I thought he would help me. But he said that each of them could do it. I couldn't imagine that a policeman had done it, so I blamed Castle."

Their conversation was interrupted by the jaws of the keys. Someone walked into the house. After a while, Rick stood at the door. His hair was tousled, his clothes crumpled. He looked around the room.

"There is no welcoming party?" He asked, making a face of a compacted dog.

"You've been gone only for one day" a gentle smile appeared on Kate's lips.

"And all night. You could even come after me."

"Don't complain."

"Maybe I'll go …" Kevin said. "See you tomorrow. I will take care of the warrants. . And once again I apologize."

"You don't have to."

"Do you have a suspect?" Castle asked when the door behind Ryan had closed.

"Maybe" Kate covered the board with her body. "But you can't take part in this investigation."

"But I am already free."

"Such instructions of the boss. We have to do it with Kevin ourselves. If any of the previous suspects get involved, we may have problems. We want to catch who is responsible for this. I hope you understand."

"I understand, but I don't have to like it."

"Let's move on to things that you will like."

"What do you mean?"

"It just so happens that my husband released from custody."

"He probably missed his wife."

"I hope so."

"Would you like to find out?" The distance between them became smaller and smaller with each word spoken. They were so close that they felt the other person's breath on their faces.

"You don't know how much" she whispered.

He kissed her passionately. He behaved as if they hadn't seen each other for at least half a year. During that one night, they could forget for a moment about the cause and the consequences of it. That night they had just for themselves.