Kate Beckett has once more put on her investigator hat as she enters the meeting room reserved for the police use

She drops down in a chair beside her husband and the local police detective Stanley Drake and the federal agent standing nearby watching the events unfolding

"Mariam, do you know why you are here?"

"No Kate. I don't. does it have something to do with me telling the stories of what you did in high school, because if it does, I will never mention the ride down Lexington"

Castle looks over to his wife and can see that this comment caught her totally off guard. He is not positive, but it does look like his wife has turned a little red around the ears

"UH…uh no it has to do with you keeping information from us"

The woman does seem totally caught off guard by Beckett's remark, but Kate has seen suspects try to fool their interrogators by constant denial of the situation "What information?"

"The information about you going to Charles Ivy's room last night and killing him"

"WHAT? NO! I was in my room asleep when he was killed. I went to bed early because I was planning on shopping. I was never in his room or anywhere near it"

Beckett drops a piece of paper down on the table and points to the print out "This report says that your cell phone was on the floor with Charles Ivy. You were there for about ten minutes then left?"

Mariam glances at the page and the listing but does not register what she is seeing "I was never near his room"

"Well your phone was. If you didn't have your phone, who did last night?"

"No one had my phone! It was with me in my room. I had put it on the charger when I came back from the party. It was late, I was tired, and I went to bed"

Beckett moves higher in her interrogation mode "Mariam! We have the proof right here" Beckett points at the page once again.

Just as she does, there I a knock on the meeting room boor and an officer steps up to Beckett and whispers something to her. Kate stands up "Excuse me" she turns and heads out the door into the corridor with her husband close behind

Once in the pre-function area she is met by Charles' partner and CTO, Nancy Hopkins "What is it Ms. Hopkins that needs my immediate attention?" Kate asks

The woman presents Beckett a piece of paper "I was checking the bank accounts to see if any checks bounced and discovered this"

Castle is looking over Beckett's shoulder when their faces both go from normal to shocked. Beckett and Castle both look up to the woman at the exact same moment "Is this right?" Beckett asks

The woman is nodding her head and speaking at the same time "Yes. I called the bank to make sure"

"Do they know where it come from?"

"No, not immediately. I asked them to trace it but so far it bounced through several banks in Europe and even in the states but the chief teller is not real encouraged about getting to the original source"

Becket looks at Nancy "Can I keep this for a little while?"

"Certainly"

"Will you let us know if they can trace the transaction to its source?"

"Yes, of course"

Beckett and Castle re-enter the meeting room where Mariam is still sitting looking across to the blank wall nearby. Beckett looks at the local detective and federal agent "Can you join us in the hall?"

The two men step outside and they close the door leaving Mariam inside with a uniformed officer

Beckett holds up the piece of paper just given to her "We have a situation that I did not see coming"

"What's that?" Drake asks

Indicating the document, she is holding "Someone deposited twenty million dollars in Charles Ivy's bank account earlier today"

"TWENTY MILLION?" Ron Blackwell remarks in shock "Where did it come from?"

"They don't know. It bounced across three continents and over a dozen banks, some accounts opened just for the transfer, then closed immediately after the transaction was completed"

"Is there is no way to determine where the money came from or why?"

Castle has been standing quietly, obviously considering the events. When Beckett looks to her husband, she sees his mind working "Rick? What is it?"

"What if Ivy planned this whole thing?"

Everyone looks at Castle like he has lost his mind, but his wife knows him too well "what do you mean?"

"OK…ivy bought and paid for the parts to build the fake armored car. That means he WAS involved in the theft. Maybe he was in trouble with foreign bookies, maybe even gambling debts to the Russian mafia"

Kate smiles to herself seeing the man she loves prove why she love him "Then he strikes a deal to pay off his debts and put the money back into the accounts"

"Yes!" Rick continues "The value of the software far exceeded the money he got"

Finally the federal agent enters the conversation "OK. Ivy sold out his country for a gambling debt. Did the foreign mafia then kill him?"

"No. I don't think so" Kate continues "I still think he was a murder victim for some other reason"

"What do you think that is?" Drake asks

"We still have not determined WHY Mariam's cell phone was in the penthouse. We need to go back in and talk to her some more"

The four agree and re-enter the meeting room and, once again, Castle and Beckett are seated across form the woman

"Mariam. Do you still deny you were in the Charles Ivy's room?"

"Yes Kate. I never left my room. I went to bed and did not wake up until this morning"

Kate takes the computer printout off the table and looks at the information "So. Are you saying that phone number 212-555-9855 is NOT you phone?"

The silence in the room becomes palatable when the face of the woman goes from normal to snow white

"Excuse me? What number?"

Beckett repeats the number. "The phone provider said this number is registered to you"

Mariam takes in a deep breath "UH…it…I…the number is registered to me but that is NOT the phone I carry"

"Then who uses this number?" Beckett questions

The woman is looking down, as if doing so will prevent her from answering

Beckett drops a little softer in her questioning "Mariam. You know who carries this phone. Who is it?"

She finally looks up "My husband…my husband has that phone number. I bought our phones and I guess they are both in my name"

"Was he here? At the hotel?"

"No…I mean he is not supposed to be here"

This is when Ron Blackwell speaks up "Mariam, we need to talk to your husband. If you know where he is you need to tell us now. If we find out you have been withholding information, it will not go well for you"

"I promise, I have no idea. He told me he was staying home"

Beckett continues the questioning "We will get the cell phone company to ping the phone a then we will have him. So, if you know, you need to tell us"

The woman finally looks up. He is here…in my room waiting for me to come back. He came in late last night. He had blood on his hands and seemed upset"

"Mariam, he had just killed Charles Ivy" Beckett remarks "Do you know why?"

The woman drops her head once more "Yes. He was the investment banker who financed Charles' original business. He had discovered the money was missing from the accounts. He told me he just came to ask what happened to all the cash"

Beckett stands up and walks around the table drawing handcuffs from her belt "Mariam Yarnell, you are under arrest for accessory after the fact in the murder of Charles Ivy"

The woman is escorted outside to await a female officer to take her in

Drake has sent two officers to the hotel room to arrest her husband and bring him down to the meeting room. Once they arrive it is evident that the man has been in some type altercation. He has a bruise under his eye and lacerations on his arms

Blackwell decides to start the questions "We know you were in Charles Ivy's room last night and I am sure we will get DNA off the lamp that you used to kill him. Care to tell us what happened?"

After a moment of silence "It was an accident. Charles came at me with the lamp telling me to leave. I grabbed the lamp and hit him to protect myself"

Being the local law enforcement officer, Drake continues "Why was he so mad. What had you said to him?"

"I was the investment banker for the business. I noticed the accounts drained. There were a lot of investors that would be asking what happened to the money and I came to get answers"

"But you killed him instead?" Beckett remarks

"He told me that he took the money but it would be replaced soon and I needed to wait. I told him I did not have time to wait that I would be meeting the investors early next week and will have to explain why the accounts were empty"

Castle speaks up "Did he say how the money would be replaced?"

"No, he just said he made a deal with someone and the accounts would be soon"

Drake directs the uniformed officer to take Mr. Seibert to central booking and he would be there shortly to file the charges

After the room is empty, silence if finally broken by Castle "He sold his technology to some foreign government of entity to pay off gambling debts"

Beckett continues "and he arranged it to look like a break in but that he orchestrated it"

"He was the only one who knew where, exactly, the servers were located and how to get to them" Drake fills in

Blackwell has watched this tale unfold "So we do know that a foreign power has possession of some our most powerful software, so my job is just beginning" he stands to leave then stops to look at Castle and Beckett "So how is it that you two are not with the federal government helping us stop attacks on our way of life"

Rick and Kate both chuckle a little when Kate finally answers "You are not the first to ask" then looking at Rick "but we are happy together and happy raising our kids at home where they have a family"

Blackwell nods his head in understanding when Drake speaks up "You know I might like to help with this"

The federal agent has a stunned look on his face "I thought you said you were happy here"

"I am…but maybe it is time for me to put my pains aside and sink my teeth into something tougher"

"Stake…let me think about it" turning to Castle and Beckett "I certainly hope I have the chance to work with you two again someday" he reaches out a hand to shake then exits the room into the hall

As the door opens Nancy Hopkins has been waiting to talk to someone about what happened "I understand Charles was murdered by the banker"

"That's correct" Beckett answers. Ivy sold out the company secrets for a bank account full of money"

Hopkins lets out a little chuckle

Castel looks at her with a question "What is that for?"

"Someone paid him a lot of cash to steal the drives. And that got him killed. If he has just let the drives crash and the data lost he would still have the money?"

Beckett looks to the woman "What do you mean?"

"I never told Charles, but to protect the company and all the investors I had taken out a loss of business insurance policy. The company will get an insurance claim for 100 million dollars"

She shakes her head and walks out.

Drake looks to the couple "I need to go do the paperwork in Seibert. I will see you two again" he turns to walk out of the room

Cate takes her husband's hand "One more time that keeping information has caused someone to lose their life "

Rick gives Kate a squeeze

She looks down to the connected fingers "how about you and me going to our room and celebrate life"

He goes willingly as she pulls him toward the elevator

Just an epilogue and we close this chapter in their lives