A/N - A little fluffy chapter before we get into it.

Wednesday 1:18 pm

12th Precinct

A big man in a three piece suit stepped off the elevator and looked around the bullpen. He sauntered over to Gates' office and knocked on the jamb of the open door. "Captain Gates? Good afternoon. I'm Lieutenant Clifford Robinson from IAD."

Gates stood up and walked around her desk to shake his hand. "We're glad to have you on board, Lieutenant. I'm expecting a call in a second, so I'll take you over to meet the team lead." Gates walked out of her office to Beckett's desk, who was reviewing files with Demming. "Detective Beckett, this is Lieutenant Robinson. He'll be aiding you during this investigation." Gates promptly spun on her heels and went back to her office, closing the door behind her.

"Hi, Detec…"

Robinson stopped when Beckett threw up a palm and said, "Wait a minute, Robinson." She turned to Demming and said, "Could you check on their whereabouts last night?"

"Right away." Demming grabbed his chair and a dozen files and returned to Karpowski's desk.

Beckett called out, "Castle!" Castle left Esposito's extra chair and wandered over to Kate's desk.

"You bellowed, ma'am?"

Beckett pointed to the Lieutenant. "This is Robinson. You'll be working together but before you start, can I please have a refill?" She handed Castle her empty coffee mug.

"Sure. You want some coffee, Robinson?"

"That'd be good. You should all know, I prefer if people, especially civilians, called me Lieutenant Robinson or just Lieutenant".

"Robinson!" Beckett's voice froze the big man halfway to the break room. "On my team, we don't use ranks or titles. It divides the team." Beckett dismissed him by diving back into her files.

"Come along, Robinson. I'll show you how this machine works." Castle and Robinson disappeared into the break room. In a few minutes, Castle returned holding two steaming mugs in his hands. He paused and whispered something to Demming, waited for Demming to nod back with a huge grin, then continued on to his chair near Beckett's desk. He handed her mug back to Beckett. "One latte, with two vanilla pumps."

"Thanks." Beckett took a sip and sighed. "How's Ryan doing?"

"Great. He's got it down to about thirty possible properties, and he's eliminating one every two or three minutes. Any word from Esposito?"

"He's on his way back, should be here in twenty minutes. Looks like we were right, the weapons came from the evidence warehouse. He was circumspect on the phone, so he'll have to fill us in when he gets here." A loud rattling and quiet cursing emanated from the break room. Beckett eyes sparkled at Castle as she asked, "What did you do?"

Castle shrugged. "Who me? Well, I might have unobtrusively turned the water off to the espresso machine." They both watched as the IAD man came out of the break room. At the same time, Castle whispered to Beckett, "Watch this" as Demming got up and entered the break room.

Robinson stopped in front of Beckett's desk. He set his mug down, and they both noticed it was filled with tap water. Castle didn't even try to hide his grin. Robinson announced, "Detective, I'd like to review with you any NYPD personnel you suspect may be involved in this crime."

"Robinson, we need to set some ground rules here." Beckett's glare, perfected in hundreds of interrogations, pinned Robinson in his place. "This is my team. How I use your … assistance … is totally at my discretion. You will do what I say, when I say it. Now," she added as she reached for two thick files, "both you and Castle will familiarize yourselves thoroughly with these two thieves killed in the armory robbery. Then, we'll see if we can connect them to anybody on the NYPD."

As she handed the files to them, Demming emerged and wandered over to Beckett's desk. The coffee in his hand was steaming and aromatic. He dropped off a file on the desk, told Beckett "Not him" and then commented to Castle. "Thanks, Rick. This Kona blend is terrific!"

"My pleasure, Tom." Castle thought about asking about Robinson's coffee, but he didn't want to be too over the top. At least not yet. He pointed to a loose thread on Robinson's shoulder. "You might want to get that before it snags, Robinson." Robinson looked at the thread, grabbed it, and yanked. He ended up with about two feet of thread in his hand and a damaged shoulder seam.

Castle looked at Beckett and smiled. "See, Beckett, that's why I don't buy suits three-for-one." He turned back to the IAD man. "Come on, Robinson, we'll use Esposito's desk."

Robinson tried to stare down a smiling Beckett, but failed miserably. He turned and stomped after Castle. Castle pulled out Esposito's desk chair. The big IAD man announced, "I'll use that chair" and quickly sat. It became immediately apparent the chair had been set for a much smaller person. Castle stepped back to Espo's side chair and sat. He started reading the file rapidly.

Without looking up, Castle asked, "Should I finish the story, Ryan?"

Ryan, still glued to his computer, responded "Sure, Castle."

Castle proceeded to describe a party he had attended with Billy Joel around Christmas. He was talking loudly and dropping A-list names right and left, describing various dramatic moments with the rich and famous. He could tell that Robinson was mesmerized by the story, and basically had stopped pretending to look at the file. About six minutes into the story, Castle paused and offered his file to Robinson. "Switch?"

Robinson looked at the file in his hand. He was still on the first page. He closed it and said, "Sure" swapping files with Castle.

Castle resumed both the story and scanning the file in his hands. He was just getting through the tale of a knockdown, drag out fight between the Kardashians and the paparazzi when Beckett wandered over. "Quit clowning around, Castle. What did you guys find out?"

Castle closed the file. "These guys spent a lot of time getting arrested elsewhere, Beckett, but nothing jumped out at me here in New York. "

Beckett looked at Robinson. "Anything?"

"Er. Um. Nothing special here in the city."

Castle said, "Well, there was that armed robbery arrest here with Roche, the guy from New Orleans."

Beckett said, "Oh, good. Which precinct was that, Robinson?"

Robinson opened the file and started paging through it rapidly. Castle leaned over and handed his file to Robinson. "Here. This one is Roche. That file is Taylor's. Regardless, it was the 33rd precinct. Arresting officer was Detective Wershing."

"Okay. Anything else?"

Castle nodded. "Oh yeah, there was an arrest in the 3rd precinct for Taylor."

"Which officers were involved with that one, Robinson?" Beckett was practically tapping her foot.

"Ummm." He opened the other file and started rifling through it.

Castle said helpfully, "Try the third page from the back."

The IAD man went straight to the 3rd last page and read blindly off the form "Sergeant Tomlinson."

Castle said. "Ooops. I'm sorry. It must be the second last page." Castle looked at Beckett and grinned. "Tomlinson was from Brooklyn on the aggravated assault arrest. Patrolman Egan was from the 3rd, but it was a small parole violation."

Beckett leaned over the big Lieutenant. Her eyes were shooting lasers, her voice quaking with anger. "Robinson, we take our work here very seriously. It is up to us to protect the people of this city from the worst criminals imaginable. This is not a trip to Disneyland. Did you even read the fucking files?"

Robinson sputtered, "You can't treat me like this. I'm not some pissant Detective, Beckett. To who do you think you're talking to."

"Whom" corrected Castle. "To whom do you think you're talking. Common mistake. Also, you ended your sentence with a preposition."

"I'm not going to sit here and let some playboy civilian correct my grammar."

Castle grinned. "Syntax. Not grammar. Another common mistake."

The big man's face had turned red with anger. He put his hands on the chair arms to rise out of the too small chair. Immediately, Castle and Ryan were standing on either side of Beckett, giving him insufficient room to stand. Ryan raised his hands in supplication.

"Lieutenant Robinson, don't blame Castle." He gave him a placating smile, his blue eyes guileless. "Captain Gates has become a stickler for correct usage of the English language, both written and oral. As a matter of fact" he added quietly, "she has asked us to correct her when she makes a mistake. We actually have a pool to see which one of us will be the first to correct her use of the word 'clear'. She always used to say 'Am I clear' when she wanted to say 'Am I clearer'. 'Clearer', of course, being the comparative form used in declarative sentences." Ryan gave a friendly laugh. "You wouldn't believe how long it takes us to write reports now."

Robinson cooled off somewhat during Ryan's explanation. He looked at Beckett. "Fine. I will try to make sure my English is perfect. In the meantime, the commissioner thought I could be of use as an expert in illegal activities by NYPD personnel. Now, do you think it's a cop or not?"

Beckett looked at him. "That's our theory at this time. We believe it was someone who was from or associated with the 3rd precinct, but we are having trouble narrowing it down. Are there any ongoing investigations of personnel over there?"

Gates' door opened. Robinson grumped, "I'll check in a moment" before standing and marching to the captain's office. He knocked briskly and stepped in, closing the door behind him.

Castle turned to Ryan with a look of wonder. "Detective Kevin Ryan, that was … inspired. I am in awe!"

Ryan looked smug, resuming his seat. "Well, Castle, I learned from the best!"

Castle pressed his palms together, and bowed deeply to Ryan in obeisance. "And the apprentice becomes the Master. Padawan."

Ryan chuckled. Beckett asked, "What's this guy's story?"

Castle responded, "He's overly ambitious, a social climber, and a big whiner. NOT a good combination."

Ryan shook his head. "This guy probably threw every partner he ever had under the bus."

Beckett and Castle returned to her desk. As they sat, Beckett asked, "What's our end game with Lieutenant Douchebag?"

Castle looked at her. "I think we'll send him to Bob".

Beckett smiled. Demming walked over and dropped off another file. "Who's Bob?"

Beckett giggled. "Don't ask."

Demming turned on Castle and asked, "Was that BS or did you really go to a party with Billy Joel?"

Beckett laughed out loud and answered, "Billy Joel wouldn't know Castle if he walked up to him and bit him in the ass."

Castle wiggled his eyebrows. "Yeah, but I bet he'd know me after said biting!"

Demming shook his head. "You guys are wasted in Homicide. You should all be doing stand-up at the Improv." He returned to Karpowski's desk.

"What's wrong with Demming?" Beckett asked.

Castle shrugged. "Honeymoon withdrawal?" he guessed.

Gates' raised voice could be heard through the closed door. Everyone in the bullpen smiled. Suddenly, a much more distinct Gates could be heard yelling "Do NOT correct my grammar, Lieutenant. You forget your place. Now, get out there and help the team. If Detective Beckett asks you to jump, I want you to JUMP. AM I CLEAR?"

The door opened, and a chastised Robinson re-appeared. He walked up to Beckett and said, "What would you like me to do, Detective Beckett?" He didn't try to hide his anger and embarrassment.

"Well, Robinson, unfortunately we haven't narrowed our suspect pool enough for you to assist. However, despite our lack of progress, the mayor wants an immediate update. Do you think you can handle that?"

Robinson's change in demeanor was nothing short of miraculous. He asked hopefully, "In person?"

Beckett nodded and said, "Yes, unfortunately. ASAP, at the mayor's office in City Hall."

Robinson tried to look reluctant, but had no acting ability. "Okay, if you need someone to, I'll do this favor for you Beckett, but you'll owe me. I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned and marched for the elevator, giving Ryan a dirty look as he passed his desk.

As soon as the elevator had swallowed Robinson, Castle pulled out his phone, scrolled through his contact list, and thumbed a number. He raised the phone to his ear and waited. "Hi, Denise, it's Rick Castle … No, I don't want the big cheese, I want you ….. That's not very appropriate for a married woman, is it? ... Well, you're absolutely right, THAT is much less appropriate ….. okay, before I start blushing, I need a big favor … of course. Don't you want me to owe you a favor? ... Are you sure you're still married? ... alright, there is a police Lieutenant named Clifford Robinson that is coming to see the mayor ….. Good, I'm glad he's busy, because I want the opposite. I want you to give this guy the royal run-around … it's kind of a practical joke ….. I don't care. If you can keep him busy until Friday, that would work for me …. That'd be great. Thanks Denise, now I owe you … okay, now I really am blushing .….. thanks, you too ….. bye."

He hung up, then caught Beckett's look. "What?"

Beckett growled, "Castle, you and I need to have a little talk."