"Captain Beckett, Mr. Castle…if you will excuse me, I need to make a phone call" Detective Drake makes a quick exit leaving Rick and Kate sitting in silence

"What just happened?" Rick questions

"I have a feeling this case has just taken a deep plunge into the world of classified secrets and ghosts"

"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts" Rick chides his wife gently

"Not the same ones you do"

"Hum"

"Babe, I think we need to go back and look at my former classmates. I will contact Caroline Nady and get that attendee list"

The two leave the room and go back to the reunion check in table to see about getting the list

Once there, the person at the desk contacts Caroline and asks her to come to the lobby that Captain Beckett and her husband wanted a copy of the list of attendees

While they are waiting the two are looking out the front windows at the blue sky and high clouds making the day even more gorgeous than the day before

Kate leans into her husband's side and places her head against his arm "I had planned to spend time alone with my man and not investigation a murder"

He leans over and kisses her across the temple "I know. I did too, but just think about all the foreplay we are getting by having to solve this case"

A smile crosses her lips and she whispers "True"

A voice appears behind them "Kate. I understand you needed to see this"

Rick and Kate turn around to see Caroline standing behind them holding a set of papers "This is the list of everyone that came to the reunion"

Beckett takes the list from the woman "Thanks, I will get this back to you"

"Oh, no need. It is a copy of my master list"

Beckett nods her head "Thanks anyway"

The other woman stands quietly for a moment then "Kate. Do you really think Charles was murdered by one of the people on that list?"

"We have to look at all the options"

Another patch of quiet "You know Kate, when we were in high school, I never imagined you becoming a police officer"

"Yeah I know" Kate responds. It is far from what I thought about while in school"

"Yeah Kate. After all the things you did back then, being on this side of the law was the farthest from where you were."

Kate suddenly realizes her husband might hear tales from her past. Tales that might just shake things up in ways she never considered when she was younger

"You know Caroline, I was young and impetuous back then"

"We all were" the woman responds "Just, you were such a rebel"

Beckett realizes the color has completely left her face and the walls seem to be moving

"Some of the things you did in school. If you had been caught…"

"Well, I was just not thinking about the future might bring to me"

"OH yeah" Caroline again remarks "You went from being my fellow classmate and the wild teenager to being where we are now"

Castle finally decides it is time to get a few facts about his wife. Maybe another layer of the Beckett onion that he continually loves to peel off. He looks at her and sees her face is fixed "What is she talking about Kate?"

"Rick…" she looks at the man she loves more than anything "I just did some silly kid stuff"

"Yeah. Kid stuff that would have got you expelled"

"Kate. If you had been expelled, your mom and dad would have…"

"They would have killed me. But I promise what I did was just a prank"

Caroline laughs out loud "You call evacuating Bed Sty High school and causing a full blown chemical spill and hazmat response from the fire department a PRANK?"

Silence issues from the room then Castle finally gathers his wits "You caused a full blown hazmat response form the fire department? What in the world did you do?"

"Well…there is a funny story to go along with that"

"I am sure the FDNY probably did not think it was very funny"

She looks up at her husband with Doe eyes pleading for understanding "I panicked"

"PANICKED? I am sure evacuating the school caused a panic for all your classmates"

Caroline comes to Beckett's rescue "Everyone knew quickly it was a prank…"

"They knew Kate did it?"

"No. But everyone was glad to get early release that day. We were having exams and they knew that there was no way this was anything but a prank"

"Kate, what did you do? What happened? And how did you evacuate the entire high school and cause a chemical spill alert and bring on a hazard materials spill?"

Kate drops he head paying careful attention to her boots "I uh…there was this…you know an English Lit exam that I had not studied for. I spent the night before going to a rave. I didn't get home until just before sunrise. I was wasted and I was not in any condition to take the test and…"

She looks up at her husband. She can tell he is waiting for the answer to what happened and not her fear of repercussions

"Beckett. The stature of limitations passed way before I even met you. What did you do?"

Dropping her head back down "OK Rick. I got a hold of a bottle of tert-Butylthiol…"

Everyone can see Castle thinking a minute, then. "KATE! That's the chemical they put in natural gas lines to make the horrible odor during a leak"

Caroline laughs "That's what it's called? All I know is when we started smelling that natural gas smell the school administration evacuated the building and we spent the next few hours watching the fire department search every nook and cranny looking for a busted gas main"

Kate looks up at her husband through her long eyelashes and she sees something he has given her so many times. A look of love mixed with awe and she knows he is thinking of some devilish response to use on her

Leaning close to her ear "I am beginning to think I am finally reaching that inner layer of the Beckett onion I have tried to peel for so many years

She continues to look at her man "UM! You just think you know? I promise there is more I will NEVER tell you about" she kisses him on the cheek

Castle looks back to Caroline who has been watching these two play their version of the game of love she returns to her description of why Kate is the honoree

"You know, Kate, that from your rebel days to losing your mother and returning to New York and joining the NYPD…."

Kate is confused now "You knew about that?"

"Kate, what you have done since high school is why we are honoring you later. Youngest female to make detective…"

This brings back memories of Captain Gates remarks

Caroline looks at Rick "Then you get a famous mystery writer following you" she looks back at Kate "Made me envious of your life, by the way…"

Now Beckett's face is turning red and she gives a smile

"You made the cover of Cosmo? I mean really Kate? Highest case closure rate in the department. Then you got this guy to fall in love with you…" pointing at Rick "get an entire series of mystery books written about you…get married to the guy…two children. A step daughter who is a doctor… now you're a captain"

Kate's face goes even redder than before

"Kate. The reunion committee did not have any trouble naming you the winner"

Beckett smiles at her former classmate "Thank you Caroline"

"You are more than welcome" The woman turns to leave "Oh and I promise we are saving the episode of what you did to 'Peg Leg Pete' for the ceremony tomorrow"

And the chairwoman exits to the corridor, leaving a panicked Kate standing looking at her husband once more

"There is an interesting story to go along with that one too"