The team is sitting in the break room looking over the evidence once more
"This is getting harder by the moment" Beckett comments
Castle responds to his wife's remark "We are running out of suspects quickly"
Sexton comes in the room carrying a file folder "Captain, we just got a clue that might help us narrow down the killer"
"What's that?" she asks
"You remember the pen and pencil set from Dr. Seller's desk?"
"The one with her name plate?" Castle asks
"The one that was found on the floor behind her desk?" Beckett wonders
"Yes that one. CSU got a partial finger print, but it was not in the system, but more importantly they got a DNA sample. There was a trace of blood on one edge of the marble base that was not a match to Sellers"
Beckett asks the next obvious question "Do you think the killer might have cut their hand fighting with Sellers?"
"It appears to be a possibility" Sexton answers "The blood sample did not belong to the president so it must be her murderer"
"Is there a match in the system?"
"No exact match. But it narrows down the possibilities to a woman. The DNA strand indicates the blood drop came from a female"
Bryan makes the next statement "That narrows it down to only 4 million suspects in the city"
Beckett looks back to the detective "Actually that is a start. We can now close down our field of suspects to a woman, and as of right now there are less than a dozen women we believe are possibility involved"
"Except you have to leave out the wives of any of the other male professors we know she was popping. They all have alibis" Bryan remarks
Beckett stands up "OK, then let's have CSU check all the databases, both criminal and public that we can access. Maybe we will get a hit on one of them"
The team steps out of the room and moves back to the desk area "OK, Castle and I are going to the morgue and see what Lanie might have for us. Keep me informed if you hear anything on the DNA"
"Got it captain" Sexton responds
As they walk to the elevator Castle is not sure what he needs to say but as the door closes, he turns to his wife "Kate. We don't need anything from Lanie right now. Why are we going to the morgue?"
He thinks he sees a funny smile on his wife's face then she turns toward her husband "I don't need anything from Lanie…" she pulls his face closer to hers "But I definitely need something from you and I don't think the bull pen is the best place to get it"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
As Kate and Rick pull out of the motel and get back on the street he is at a total loss for words so he chooses to keep quiet for the time being. In fact, he is not positive he is capable of speaking at this moment
As if someone knew he needed a distraction, Beckett's phone rings
She pulls it out of her pocket and swipes the screen "Beckett…" listening for a moment she gets a smile across her face "REALLY?...you have a match…bring her in and we will be right there"
"What did they get?" Castle asks
"A familial match. A women that works at the school is a family member of our killer"
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Castle and Beckett enter the interrogation room and as her usual, Beckett starts in on the woman on the opposite side of the table
"Miss Rowe, I am Captain Beckett. Do you remember me?"
"Yes. You are the one who is investigating the murder of Dr. Sellers" Misty owe responds
"That's right and do you know why you are here?"
"No ma'am. I have no idea"
"I believe you claim to have found the body"
"Yes. I came in and found her on the floor"
"I believe you did know about her affairs with various professors at the school?"
The young woman drops her head and almost whispers "Yes. I knew"
"And you also knew this was a serious breach of professionalism on her part"
"Yes"
"And a black eye on the school?"
The young woman is turning red from the questions and is obviously uncomfortable as she responds meekly "yes"
"Did you know that there was a blood drop found in the office that probably belongs to our killer?"
She looks up to Beckett "No"
Kate opens the file in front of her "we ran the DNA on the blood sample and it came back with a partial match to someone at the school"
Misty does not raise her head
"Do you remember giving a DNA sample as part of admission at the school?"
She shakes her head yes
"What if I told you that the DNA came back with markers indicating someone in your family?"
"I DIDN'T DO IT" With tears in her eyes she almost screams
Calming the room down a little, Castle comments "Misty…we know you didn't do it, but you are the daughter of the murderer"
Tears that were welling up in her eyes are now pouring down her face
Beckett also lowers her voice "We have brought in the woman who killed Dr. Sellers, your mother Tami Crawford, and she is being charged as we speak. We are hoping that you will fill us in on what happened"
Wiping her face and trying to explain "After my father died, Mom married Lawrence Crawford. I mean she really fell in love with him and then joined him in his passion for this school. His great-grandmother founded this university and he was so proud of it"
"Your step father is the Chancellor of the school. Keep going" Castle encourages her
"The family welcomed Dr. Sellers to the school when she was hired. Mom gave her that name plate with pen set as a welcoming gift. Then the problems began. Lawrence…my step dad…tried to talk to her and work it out but Dr. Sellers was not leaving because of her contract"
Castle responds to that "We know that Crawford and the board of trustees had agreed to buy her out of her contract"
"The problem is that there is no money to pay her off and she would not take a payout. Dad was going to have to mortgage our home and mom decided to try and talk Sellers into taking the payoff"
"Do you know what happened that morning?"
"Yeah…Mom went to try once more to convince Sellers to take the money…they got into a fight. Mom grabbed the marble nameplate and said she did not deserve it. Sellers grabbed it from mom. They fought and Sellers fell backwards and hit her head on the desk"
"So you were here?" Castle asks
"No. Later that evening mom told me and dad what happened. Are you going to arrest her?"
"She is already on her way downtown. We knew the DNA belonged to your mother. We just had to figure out who she was. We discovered your addresses were the same. A little records search it all it took"
"Captain Beckett…it was an accident. Mom did not mean to kill Dr. Sellers"
"Misty. That is not for me to decide. It is up to the DA but I am sure all evidence will be taken into account, but you are an accessory after the fact for not disclosing what you knew. You will be charged as such"
"I understand"
The two 54th precinct detectives are waiting for Castle and Beckett as the come to pick up her gear and leave
"Captain Beckett, it was an honor to meet you and watch you do your magic"
"Thanks guys" She responds "If you are ever around the 12th come on in and all of us can go The Old Haunt for drinks"
"Yes ma'am"
Beckett looks at Castle. "I need to go to the 12th to wrap up some paperwork. I might be a couple of hours"
Castle looks at his watch "That's OK. I have to go the Black Pawn for a short meeting. I will see you at home later"
"Don't forget, your mother has Jimmy and Alexis is on that overnight observation at the hospital. So no diner for them"
"Got it" as he walks out the door to catch a cab
As soon as the elevator door closes Beckett takes out her phone and dials a number. When the call is answered she begins "This is Kate Beckett and I need to see the doctor…no nothing bad but I think I do need to come in…is there any way she can work me in today?" after a short pause "OK great. I can be there in thirty minutes"
She hangs the phone up, drops it into her pocket and walks to the elevator to leave satisfied that they have closed two more cases but maybe opened another totally different type of case
Just enough time to do an epilogue
