Reason: Chapter 13

New York City Marble Cemetery was lovely this time of year. The air was crisp and clear, signing the coming of fall. The trees were just starting to turn but the grass was as green and clipped as ever. There were no headstones, only marker pillars, as the occupants were all buried in underground vaults made of solid white marble.

Beckett's eyes wandered over the graves and for a moment, her impenetrable mask slipped, giving me a glimpse into her emotions. What I saw saddened me. Her face was solemn as she reached her hand up to clasp her mother's ring. Unconsciously, her fingers fidgeted with it. She seemed to realize what she was doing for she looked at them and dropped it, clearing her throat.

I wanted to ask her what was on her mind but I allowed it to pass by. The last thing she needed was an interrogation as to her feelings.

"Where do you think Carlson hit the gems?" I asked, turning to look at her. She seemed slightly relieved that I hadn't pushed her or offered some condolence.

"Could be anywhere, really," she replied, scanning the area.

"What if Gary had a relative buried here?"

Beckett looked at me again and I continued. "A pirate relative. Gary decided it would be poetic to-"

"No." Beckett looked away again. "We should look for signs of recent digging."

"It's a cemetery. They dig here."

She gave me a shut-up-Castle look to which I replied with a what-did-I-do-now one.

"No one's been interred here since the 1960's," she told me, sounding all smart and superior.

"You looked that up on your phone just now, didn't you?"

She smiled sneakily. That gave me an idea. I quickly whipped out my phone and googled 'New York City Marble Cemetery' and pulled up the website.

"Hey Beckett," I called, tapping her on the shoulder. She turned.

"What is it?"

I turned my phone to show her.

"The website for the cemetery has all the interments listed."

She looked at me and matched the triumphant smile on my face.

"Let's find out if there's a Carlson on that list."

Oo..oO

Esposito rolled his chair over to where Beckett and I were sitting.

"Bad news. No Carlson on that list," he said, leaning back.

"You sure?" I asked, leaning towards him.

"Yeah, dude. Even used the search function."

I sat back with a huff.

"Check his mothers' maiden name," Beckett commanded. Esposito nodded once.

"On it, boss." He slid away smoothly.

Beckett's phone rang, cutting through the relative silence of the bull pen. I saw Josh's name just before Beckett pressed ignore with a ferocity that surprised me. I decided to change the subject. Anything would do.

"What's the mothers' maiden name?" I asked, not having heard it before.

Beckett looked straight at me. She kept a completely serious face as she told me, "Cheryl Quackenbos."

"Quackenbos?"

"Quackenbos."

Her mask was slipping and a smile started so show through. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. I squeezed my mouth together.

"Apparently her nickname was Duckie," Kate told me.

I convulsed slightly with restrained laughter and stuck my fist in my mouth. Kate grinned in complete amusement, both at 'Duckie' Quackenbos and me.

"That's so wrong," I choked out. "Who does that to a child?"

Kate started to laugh just as Ryan walked over.

He looked between us, trying to figure out the joke. He held a manila file in his hand.

Beckett stopped laughing but still smiled which made me smile.

"What's so funny?" Ryan asked, grinning cautiously, like he hoped he wasn't the butt of our joke.

Beckett shook her head. "Nothing, Ryan. Whatdaya got?"

He held out the file. "Owner of the jewels. And you'll never guess who."

Beckett took the file. "No, I won't because I told you before, I'm not guessing."

"Spoil sport," Ryan muttered, walking away.

Beckett smiled after him then looked down at the folder. She opened it and we both leaned together to read it.

There was a picture attached. The subject in the picture was female, black hair, blue eyes. Relatively pretty. Gave off a weird vibe last time I saw her.

I smiled first. Beckett followed suit but then got her someone-lied-to-me face on.

"Let's go get Debra Sanson."

Oo..oO

Beckett banged forcefully on the door to Debra Sanson's first floor apartment.

"NYPD, open up!" she yelled, taking a break from her incessant knocking.

"She's either ignoring you, running away, suddenly deaf, or not home," I said casually. I leaned against the rail of Sanson's porch while Beckett began knocking again.

"Alright, enough's enough," Beckett muttered. She stepped back from the door and looked around. "Castle, look in the windows, see if she's here."

I went to do as she said quickly. I glanced in the front room. On the table sat a steaming cup of something.

"She's here," I called. "Hot beverage."

Beckett nodded. She was feeling on top of the door frame.

"No key," she told me. Beckett reached in her jacket and pulled out her lock picking equipment.

"Uh, is that legal?" I asked, pointing at the instruments in her hands.

"Gotta warrent, so," she paused as if to think about it. "Yup."

Crouching, she fiddled around inside the lock. With a click, the door opened and she stood up straight, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Ninja," I said quietly. She smiled slightly but rolled her eyes.

"Police officer," she replied.

Beckett quickly became serious as she reached for her gun. She entered first, searching the area around her until she was confident it was clear. I followed behind her, peering over her shoulder.

"Debra Sanson?" Beckett called into the apparently empty apartment. She kept a hand on her holster while walking, alert for any hostile movements. I let her side to look in the front room. The cup of what I now confirmed to be coffee was still there, still steaming.

The front room connected to the kitchen and I, with great caution, stuck my head around to look. Nothing. But the kitchen connected to another room and I saw movement inside. Moving slowly, I grabbed a pan from the counter and walked towards the doorway. There was definitely someone in there. Taking a deep breath to steady myself I tightened my grip on the pan and lunged forwards into the room with a sort of battle cry.

"Woah!" Beckett shouted, pulling her gun out to point at me.

"Oh!" I cried, dropping the pan instantly. It clattered to the floor, narrowly missing my feet. I raised my hands high. Beckett lowered her gun and shook her head in disbelief and anger.

"Jesus, Castle, I coulda killed you!" She still hadn't put the gun away and it waved wildly as she gestured. I kept my eyes locked on it and my hands up.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were a killer," I told her quickly, adrenaline in my system making me a bit jumping.

She shook her head again and holstered her gun. She narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Just," she paused, slightly angry. "Stay behind me, okay?"

I nodded quickly.

"And put your hands down."

I acquiesced immediately. Beckett looked at me once more, as if she wanted to yell at me but then rolled her eyes and turned away. I scrambled after her.

We looked in silence for a few moments. We reached the back of the apartment and Beckett turned around. We were in a bedroom. The closet door was slightly ajar and I had a terrible feeling of déjà vu. I went to pull open the closet door. I poked my head inside reluctantly. No dead body.

"Hey Castle, look at this!"

Beckett was standing by a computer desk littered with papers. It was obvious Ms. Sanson didn't clean much. Beckett was holding one piece of paper up for me to see. I walked over to her and studied it. I familiar scrawl had written a similarly familiar clue. Also on the paper were notes like the ones Beckett had taken. And underlined on the bottom was New York City Marble Cemetery.

"Looks like we got our killer, Castle," Beckett said waving the paper.

"It would appear so."

I reached past Beckett and wiggled the mouse for the computer. The internet was open to the cemetery's website.

Beckett folded up the piece of paper and I took a shot of the screen with my phone. Who knew, could come in handy. Beckett walked into the center of the room and looked around. She seemed as if she were lost in thought.

"Where are you, Debra Sanson?" she asked the air. "Where are you?"

A/N: So, what did you think?

Also, I really want to thank you guys for reading this. I know that season 3 fics are kind of passe so I appreciate it all the more. Thanks for sticking with me through this.