Once at the station the team begins setting up a murder board. Except now it needs to be called a crime board since the team can now be used for not just murders but other major crimes as well.
But this time it is still a murder board.
As Beckett begins writing information on the white background, Ryan steps up "We have a little more information on our victim. She is Blaire Collins. She has worked at the shop for a little over two years. Her family is in Connecticut. They have been notified by the local PD. She was scheduled to go in about 7:00 to drain the old oil and refill the container"
"It appears she was refilling the vat when she was killed" Beckett comments
Ryan continue "Yes. The drained oil was in the recovery container that it is placed in for recovery. The used oil is sent off to make biodiesel. There also were several empty containers of fresh oil so she had begun to refill the cooker"
"Were there any cameras in the store?" Castle asks
"Yes, but they are only on during the open business hours. The recorders are off at night" Ryan replies
Beckett asks the obvious ""Do we know if she had any relationship problems? Ex boyfriends or current problems"
Esposito enters the room "According to the manager she was seeing someone but she had kept it on the down low. She acted very happy about it. He did say she came in most days with a smile on her face and when she was asked, she would just say he was the best thing that ever happened to her"
Castle comments "It would appear her love life might not be the issue, unless they had a spat and he killed her"
They are all standing at the board when Beckett's cell phone rings "Beckett" she listens "Got it Lanie. We will be there in a few minutes"
She looks at her husband. "Lanie has something for us…let's go" Beckett turns to the guys "Keep digging. Try to find out who would want our victim killed. Rick and I will go the morgue "
The couple are back in the car and on the street heading to the morgue to see the Medical Examiner when Beckett decides to ask her husband a question that has been burning inside her ever since he came into the crime scene
"Castle, when I texted you and asked if you would be finished in time for us to have lunch and we could meet somewhere, you called me back like you were in a panic talking about coming to the crime scene"
He just looks out the window causing her to know that something is bothering him
"Rick. What is it?"
"Just…I am glad you texted me when you did. It gave me a chance to get out of a very uncomfortable situation"
"What was uncomfortable in doing paperwork?"
"Uh…there was more than just paperwork…I was in the president's office when you texted me"
"OK. What is so uncomfortable about that?"
"Well…she…she said she was a big fan of my work was being a little forward and I…I needed"
"You needed What Castle!"
"I needed rescuing and by the best officer in the NYPD"
Beckett feels herself becoming flushed just not by being embarrassed. But feeling her temperature rising a little with the reemergence of the green eyed monster and wanting to know more about what took place
"What happened Castle?" She finally gets the question out
"She was being a bit flirty…no actually a lot flirty. She was wearing very revealing clothes. Sitting on the couch showing a lot of her legs. Then when I called you back, she was standing as close as she could and acting in a way that is considered improper"
"So you weren't attracted to her?"
"NO! Not at all"
Kate lets out a sigh that she didn't know she had inside "Are you sure?"
He reaches across the console and takes Beckett's hand "Kate. There is nothing on this planet that would make me jeopardize what I have with you. Nothing!"
She feels a little comfort from his comment but...
They pull into the parking lot of the medical examiners' office and head inside
"Hey Lanie, What do you have?"
"Hey guys" she responds "It is like I thought. Her COD was blunt force trauma to the head. Based on CSU tests I believe the weapon was a full bottle of cooking oil found at the scene with her blood on it"
"Were they able to get prints off the bottle?" Castle asks
"No. The outside of the bottle was covered in cooking oil and obliterated any prints that might have been left there by the killer"
Beckett continues to ask "Since we found her inside the vat, I assume the killer was probably male and capable of putting her inside?"
"Actually I found bruising across her belly that matches the height of the rim of the cooker. I believe the killer hit her from behind as she was facing the vat. She probably fell forward into the container. The killer simply lifted her legs and dumped her inside"
"So our murderer could be a woman?" Castle asks
"It looks that way"
Beckett follows "Anything else?"
"That's all for now. If I get anything else I will let you know"
"Thanks Lanie"
Castle and Beckett leave the morgue and head home
When they arrive at the loft they are overtaken by the wonderful aroma of the pot roast that Castle had put into the crock pot that morning before leaving to go to the university
"Oh Castle. That roast smells divine. I can't wait to dig into it"
"Well Kate when Alexis and Jimmy get home we can eat"
"I am going to grab a quick shower then" She heads into the bedroom while she begins to get undressed
"Castle goes into the kitchen and checks on dinner and sees that in fact it is ready. He goes to the cabinet and brings out plates and silverware and sets the table. He goes back into the living room just as the door opens and their two children come inside
"Hey dad" Alexis barely gets out before her brother is running to their father "Hi daddy" he jumps into Ricks' lap and gives his daddy a kiss and hug
"So kissing daddy is OK but daddy can't kiss mommy?"
"No. That's gross"
"OK" Castle rough houses with his son for a moment when Jimmy sits back up
"So what did you do today?"
"We learned about letters. A,B,D,E, C…"
"That is how daddy makes money writing stories and he has to use letters to do those stories"
"Stories for little boys and girls?"
That question catches Rick off guard. "No my stories are for big mommies and daddies"
"OH" he replies then follows "Sissy took me to the park to play on the swings"
"She is a good sister"
"Yeah. She told me that when she was little you took her to the park too"
"Yes. We went all the time when she was little like you"
"Daddy, Alexis said you were always meeting mommies at the park just like at the museum"
"She told you?" he has to catch his breath
"Hey little man, slow down. Lexi told you about the other mommies at the park?"
"Yeah! She said when it was warm outside you took her to the park and there a lot of mommies there but not very many daddy's and that you talked to a lot of the mommies"
That comment causes Castle to choke a little. He is now worried as to where this is going to go
Unbeknown to big Castle and little Castle, the mommy in question has emerged from the bedroom and is listening to this conversation
"But you picked my mommy out of all those other mommies. I like the mommy you picked for me so why did you pick my mommy over all the other mommies you met out there? I mean she is the best mommy"
Jimmy continues "She is the best mommy but I know you had other mommies to choose"
Castle decides this might not be so bad "Yes, little man. She is the best mommy. I picked her so that I could have you. And you will have all the best parts of her. She is smart…she is a great police officer. She catches the bad guys…"then Rick's heart takes over "she has pretty eyes, she is beautiful "Getting a grip on himself "and she loves her little boy"
"I love her too"
Kate walks up behind "And she loves her two men" She leans down to kiss Jimmy and Rick
Castle can do nothing but smile at what he has "Listen you two, dinner is ready" he looks at Jimmy "Go wash up and tell Lexi to come down to eat"
Jimmy hops down and runs up the stairs
Kate walks around the couch and sits down on Rick's lap, puts her arms around his neck "So I guess I was the pick of the litter?" she leans in to kiss him before he can even breathe
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Monday morning and they have very few leads on the case of the girl in the cooker. Morning is going slowly when Kate decides to go to the school and surprise her husband and convince him to take her to lunch, or maybe home for some afternoon delight
She enters the university and has to ask where Castle's room is located. She enters the lecture hall just as Castle is wrapping up the first session
Most of the students are leaving the room but a couple are hanging around. They must not have another class, so Kate waits at the top of the room.
This is when she sees it. One of the coeds seems to be flirting with Castle. In fact she is more than a little flirty with him. She is smiling and giggling and reaching out to touch him.
Her mind goes back to her days at Stanford and her coed crush on one of her professors and how badly that would have been
This is when Kate decides to hatch a little flirty plan of her own
