Chapter 3:

They arrived at the precinct a few minutes later and went straight to Kate's desk. She started to write on the murder board. As she finished adding the final details of the case, Castle came so see her holding a cappuccino. It had a heart design made with the cream and smelled so good. It was just what she needed at that moment.

They were talking about the case when they got a call from Lanie that said to come down right away.

Entering the morgue Lanie greeted them happily as usual.

"Hey cuties! How was you morning?" She said.

"It was pretty good. We didn't get much from we interviews though. The employees don't seem to know anything about our victim. Do you have any information about the body?" Asked Beckett.

"Girl do I have some interesting information for you. The first thing is, he was stabbed three times but the stabbings are different."

"Stabbings can't all be the same so why does that matter?" Asked Castle looking a little confused.

"Well I'm not sure, the stab wounds are so different. Like they were made by different heights or different times, areas or I don't know? You guys are the detectives so figure it out."

"No crazy theories Castle? The CIA didn't come in to throw us off by sending alien mixes to kill a 25 year old technology worker?" Teased the detective.

"Unfortunately I have nothing to explain this. Frankly I'm disappointed in myself. Where has all my imagination gone?"

"Oh I think you have enough imagination Castle. I'm not disappointed in you. You'll always be my crazy theorizing writer. I'll always love your creativity." Complimented Kate.

"Thanks Beckett. It makes me feel so much better about my shortage of inspiration." Giggled the writer.

"Oh you guys are so cute!" As Rick and Kate thanked the ME and started leaving she shouted one more thing. "Bye love birds!" With that comment, she earned a friendly eye roll from her best friend.

The got back to the precinct and it was pretty late. They put everything away and decided to walk home. Castle wanted some fresh air. His lack of inspiration seemed to have really affected him. Beckett wanted to spend some quality time with her husband and try to cheer him up.

The started walking out of the precinct hand in hand. They were off work so they were permitted to show some affection. As they were walking back Castle said something that did not surprise Kate. She was expecting it.

"Why can't I find a theory to explain this murder? " He seemed sad and hurt.

"Well Castle this one is confusing. I don't expect you to have a big theory about it because we don't have enough facts. Once we start getting our information together and question more people, we will have a better idea." Reassured Beckett.

"Alright thanks Kate. You really are the best. And…" Richard started to speak but stopped himself when he noticed someone walking who looked very similar to Mario. The victim did not have any next of kin so why was he seeing the resemblance? "Kate, turn around. This man looks just like Mario accept 30 years older."

Kate turned around and practically screamed. Were they hallucinating? The man looked about 55; he was walking like he was depressed and crying. The man could have been their victim's dad. Kate needed some answers so she went up to the man to ask some questions.

"Excuse me sir, I was wondering if you were by any chance related to Mr. Mario Pacheca?"

The man looked up. He looked like he was in so much emotional pain. He said: "Yes."

"Well who are you? My name is detective Kate Beckett and he is our murder victim. What was your relation with him?"

"I am his father."

It was Castle's turn to let out a scream when he heard this. "Are you back from the dead?"

"I really don't want to discuss this over here. Could we go somewhere more private?" Asked the victim's father.

"Yes, in fact, you can follow me to my precinct." Said the detective.

Arriving at the precinct, they put Mr. Pacheca in the break room. This wasn't an intense interview so they took it a little easy. The man had after all just lost his son. Beckett started the questioning.

"Alright lets start with something very simple. What is your name?"

"My name is Juan."

Beckett continued the questioning. "Ok, now something a little harder. Why aren't you dead?" She looked at him very seriously as if she was not impressed.

"I faked my death to get away from my old life."

"What was your old life?" Asked the writer.

"I was a big time drug dealer at the coast of Mexico and I was scared certain people I traded with would come after me." Was his reply.

"Alright. This doesn't make any sense. Do you have any idea what it does to a person to think a member of his of her family is dead?" Asked Beckett. She was very angry at him because she knew what it felt like to loose a parent.

Juan spoke softly "Well, I guess I will have to tell you two. I waited approximately 3 months before coming to see Mario. I knew he was tough enough to survive that time without me. I went to ask him if he could do me a favor."

Beckett was furious so she spoke up: "YOU PRETEND TO BE DEAD, SHOW UP 3 MONTHS LATER AND ASK FOR A FAVOUR? WHAT KIND OF CRUEL PERSON ARE YOU?" She calmed down a little and said, "My mother was murdered. I was devastated when I heard she was dead. Those three months were the worst in my life. If she came to me and asked for a favor, I would…" She started to get very frustrated.

Castle took Beckett's hand to try and calm her down. He rubbed little circles as he had done a long time ago with the dog. This action calmed Beckett down so Juan continued his story.

"When I had disappeared, I went to Venezuela to start a new technologic company and changed my name to stay away from my past. Back then, Mario did not have a job so to help with my company, I asked him to act as a spy in Byron Enterprise. Because of my past with drugs and all that stuff, I had no problems faking a resume to get him the job. In that business, you learn techniques to stay under the radar and create a new life."

Castle sucked in a breath as he heard this story. He then added: "Why didn't I think of this before! This is such an amazing story!"

"Castle, please calm down. Mr. Pacheca, you are saying that you asked you son to spy on another company for you?"

"Yes I did and I think that is what got him killed. Or, someone found out I was still alive and killed him to punish me. I am responsible for my sons death." The man looked devastated.

Beckett was shocked so she tried to clarify things with the facts: " So you are saying that you faked your death, started a company in Venezuela, came back here and asked your son to spy on a different company. You also think that either the company killed him or your old drug enemies."

"Yes that is what I am saying. "

"Just one last question, how did Mario learn all that stuff about computers when he had not gone to college or University?" Questioned Castle. He was so excited about this case.

"Mario is a very fast learner. All I had to do was give him a computer, give him a problem and ask him to figure it out. When he had tried for a bit, I would teach him different things the computer would do and he would learn. My son was a genius. And now he's gone because of me."

Castle and Beckett let the man go and started walking back home for the second time today. It was really late and they just wanted to get home. Beckett just put her notes on her desk without bothering to sort them out in her drawers. They stuck to their plan of walking home because they were just funny like that. Once they had decided on a plan, they always wanted to stick with it.

They arrived at the loft very late so they quickly changed and went to bed. It had been a long day.