Is the lab clear? asked Castle.

Yeah, Lanie replied.

Beckett, can you close and lock the door to the dressing room? Castle asked his partner.

They were in the lab before Beckett had the time to put her hand down from locking the door. She switched into business mode immediately. "We need to get back before anyone notices we're gone," Beckett announced to the group, "so let's make this fast. Lanie, what do you have?"

The ME handed Beckett the 'official' copy of her report. "Official cause of death is the spear to the throat," Lanie informed them, "so no surprise there."

"What's the surprise?" asked Castle.

Lanie handed Beckett the large bag holding their murder weapon. "The surprise is that there's nothing on the spear that matches that substance you guys had Alexis scrape off the back wall of the theater. The spear's completely clean."

*That* surprised the group. "Wait a second," Castle started thinking out loud, "if a ghost didn't kill Engebretsen, then what did?"

"Magic," Beckett replied, never taking her eyes or her hands off the spear. When she realized her statement had the group's complete attention, Beckett explained, "When Castle enchants something with a strong spell I can feel the energy in it. There are traces of that kind of energy running through this spear. It's fading slowly, but it's definitely there."

"So we're looking for another wizard, now?" asked Esposito. "Not a ghost?"

"That would be my guess, yeah," Beckett replied.

Esposito looked relieved. "Good. Wizards, I can handle."

"Can't argue that," Beckett agreed. "Listen, we need to get back and finish interviewing Stephanie and her friends. Ryan, Esposito, follow up with Forensics on the prints and have them run the rest of the letters in case anyone else is in the system. Now that we know we're not just ghost hunting maybe that'll get us a more solid lead."

"You got it, boss," said Ryan.

"We need to get back, then, Castle..." said Beckett.

They were back in the dressing room before Beckett had a chance to add on to the statement. Unfazed by the instant change in her location, Beckett simply went to the dressing room door and opened it to find Vanderkellen's assistant patiently waiting outside. "We need to see Stephanie Frederickson and Alex Korotkin," she ordered the man.

"Right away, detective," Martin responded, running off to get the requested women.

While the two Guardians waited for their next interview to arrive, Castle asked Beckett, "Do you think we're looking for a wizard or a ghost?"

"Both," Beckett replied. "Well technically, one of each. From what Royce told me, I'm pretty sure the bird is a ghost."

A third voice joined the conversation. "And the old lady isn't?"

Castle and Beckett turned to discover that Mike Royce had materialized in the room. "There was no ectoplasm on the spear. Not even traces," Beckett informed him. "So we can't conclusively say that a ghost handled the spear that killed Engebretsen."

Royce was undeterred from his argument. "But you can't disprove it, either."

Castle shook her head. "Still, I need to keep an open mind. Your ghost might not be the killer we're looking for."

"*My* ghost?"

The opening strains of the overture came through the monitors as the group turned to see Stephanie Frederickson enter the dressing room. Castle switched gears from arguing with his partner's former partner to greeting their witness and covering for their conversation with the ghost. "Ms. Frederickson, I presume?"

Stephanie nodded. "You asked to see me?"

"I did," Beckett told her. "We have reason to believe that those ghosts you've been seeing might not be ghosts at all. I need you to think back to your encounters with them. Did you see or hear anything that might have led you to think that someone else was around when you saw them?"

"Some of my friends have seen them over the years," Stephanie replied as she sat down.

Beckett nodded, agreeing with the statement even as she opened her notebook. "Mr. Bradford has already mentioned to us that he's seen them."

Stephanie nodded. "I know he's seen them, Bryce has seen them..."

"Bryce?" asked Beckett, looking for clarification.

"Bryce Parrish," replied Stephanie. "And Alex Korot..."

Stephanie's voice was cut off as a scream ripped through the monitors and echoed down the corridors backstage. The orchestra stopped as soon as the conductor realized that something had gone catastrophically wrong, leaving no music to underscore the woman's worried cries of "Oh God, no, no, no, no, no no no no no..."

Beckett and Castle followed the distraught woman to the theater, where she pushed a path through the crowd of onlookers to find her best friend collapsed in a pile on the landing. The detective followed Stephanie through the crowd to Alex's side and checked her pulse, letting out a relieved breath when she found one. "She's alive," Beckett declared to the crowd's relief.

Castle started barking out orders to the crowd. "Call 911," he told one person. "Get Vanderkellen here *now*," he told someone else. To the rest, Castle announced, "NYPD, we'll take care of her from here."

Castle? Beckett's voice echoed in the wizard's mind.

Beckett? he asked back. What is it?

Alex is *badly* hurt. If we don't get her to Lanie she might never recover from this.

Castle sighed, knowing the risk they were taking if this wasn't handled with exacting precision. All right, I'll get everyone. I'll use the dressing room. Back in two minutes.

Castle closed and locked the dressing room door behind him. The three people he was looking for appeared instantly...although none seemed to be too happy to be where they were. "Jesus, Castle," exclaimed Esposito, "you're just lucky we were in the elevator..."

"Sorry," Castle apologized, wincing.

"What's the rush?" asked Ryan. "Is Beckett okay?"

"She's fine," replied Castle. "But one of our witnesses just took a massive header on the stage. She's barely hanging on. Lanie, Kate asked me to bring you in *specifically*." Lanie nodded, understanding the significance of the request. Castle turned to Esposito. "Javi, go with her. The, uh...conscious witness with Beckett is Stephanie Frederickson. She knows more than she thinks she knows about our 'ghosts'."

Esposito nodded. "On it."

"Ryan, can you work crowd control? Make sure no one thinks anything is too suspicious?" Ryan nodded. "Thanks. Oh, and paramedics have been called, can you give us a heads up before they get here?"

As Ryan nodded again, Castle told the group, "I'm going to see if I can get some vibes off of this machine..."

Lanie touched Beckett on her shoulder, letting her distracted friend know of her presence. We're here, honey.

Beckett stepped away from the first aid she was delivering, allowing herself a small relieved smile. "Don't worry," she told Stephanie, "I promise you your friend is in the best of hands."

I'll take that as a compliment, Beckett heard Lanie's voice echo in her mind. And you were right to call me. I'm surprised your friend here's still alive.

How long do you need? asked Ryan.

I'll take all the time you can give me, Lanie replied.

Okay, so far anyone who passes this door thinks it's to the broom closet, Ryan told the group, but I can't keep that up when the paramedics get here.

ETA two minutes Ryan, Beckett chimed in. Thanks. She backed away from Lanie's work space, looking up to examine the point from which Alex had fallen. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, and she saw the problem immediately: the wire dangled high above their heads, its shredded edges still swaying from the force of the break. The two other Rhinemaidens hung precariously next to the wire that had held their friend, dangling from similar, though far more secure-looking wires. The girls were shell-shocked; their worst nightmare had just played out in front of them and the terror on both their faces proved that they hadn't quite come to grips with their own situation just yet. Castle? Beckett asked through the group mind-link, Can you get the other two girls down?

On it, Castle replied. The wizard focused on gently but quickly lowering each girl into Esposito's waiting arms, who unhooked each woman from their riggings.

The two women snapped out of their haze when their friend sat up with a groan. "Alex!" the two women exclaimed, "You're okay!"

"I am?" Alex replied, slowly finding her voice again.

Paramedics incoming, Ryan announced to the group over the mind-link.

We should probably get back to the morgue, insisted Lanie.

Agreed, Castle projected through the link. Thanks for your help, guys.

The two Guardians slipped into the background as the paramedics burst into the area and disappeared while everyone's attention was focused on the fallen singer.

Beckett and Castle supported Stephanie as the paramedics wheeled her best friend Alex Korotkin out of the theater. A third woman clad in black rags ran up to the trio, watching the stretcher in complete distress. "Is that...Steph, is that *Alex*?"

Tears streaming down her face, Stephanie nodded. "Yeah Bryce, her wire snapped during the overture. Go. I'll cover for you."

Bryce gathered her friend up into a fierce hug, whispering a quick "Thank you, Stephanie," before sprinting off after the paramedics.

"That was Bryce Parrish?" asked Castle.

Stephanie nodded. "She's Alex's girlfriend."

"She's the other one who's seen the ghosts?" asked Beckett. Stephanie nodded again.

Vanderkellen intercepted the group as they were helping Stephanie back to the dressing room. "What's going on?" he asked. "Why did the rehearsal stop?"

Beckett and Castle exchanged quizzical glances before addressing the surprisingly clueless general manager. "The wire on one of your Rhinemaidens snapped during the overture," Beckett told the man, "She is currently on the way to the hospital."

Vanderkellen looked like someone had sucker punched him. "How did I not know about this?" he gasped out.

"I sent someone to get you as soon as she fell," Castle insisted. "No one found you?"

Vanderkellen shook his head. "I was in my office. Everyone knew where I was..."

Beckett pulled away from Stephanie, moving to help the older man. "Mr. Vanderkellen, you need to cancel this rehearsal and give us access to that stage. Until we find out what's going on here, anyone in this building could be at risk."

"Yes," Vanderkellen responded almost without thinking, "yes, of course. Whatever you need."

"We need to talk with every member of the cast and crew...anyone who was backstage before the rehearsal started. Since the accident happened before the women were onstage, it should be fine to let the audience members leave," Beckett told him.

Vanderkellen nodded mutely and left to talk to the ushers and theater management staff.