Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Humor

Rating: M for language, sexual situations and violence

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.

A/N #1: I have some phrases in Spanish here, I'm not fluent in Spanish, I understand it more than I can speak it and definitely am not too confident writing it, so should I have any mistakes, I am sorry and if I'm made aware of them then I'll correct them as soon as possible.

A/N #2: For those readers who aren't aware, in Spain they do have your mother's maiden name at the end of your full name officially. I'm not sure if they do this in other countries in the world, but in Spain I know for sure that they do.

A/N #3: Not aware of Canadian e-mails, if a ca follows an address, but for the purposes of this story I needed to add it in there, so artistic license again!

A/N #4: Thank you to my reviewer for the last chapter, Guest. Was funny reading your review, because to tell you the honest truth I'm not really too aware of Joss Whedon's work, I only know of it, have never really seen much more than a clip of a movie he recently made- a version of I believe Much Ado About Nothing, can't be sure of the play though. So if I am trying, lol, it's not by design! But was fun to read you saying that. So thanks again for taking the time to let me know that, I definitely appreciate it!

A/N #5: The title of this chapter comes from the song It's What You Value, by George Harrison from his album Thirty Three & 1/3.

What You Value

"Three .22s, just like the previous three victims," Lanie said as she straightened up from looking at the victim on the stretcher.

"And an assault rifle on you both outside," Esposito said as he walked into the apartment from the fire escape. "You were lucky you didn't get shot. The bullets are all around that alcove you were up against."

"I don't think they wanted to kill me," Beckett said, pocketing the handkerchief that Castle had given her to get the brick dust off her face. "They've got enough to worry about without killing a cop. It was a warning to back off. I think that's what happened to her."

"What, she was investigating de Alba's murder?" Esposito said.

"Seems like she was making phone calls she shouldn't have," Ryan commented, coming over from the laptop that was on a table on the other side of the room. "There are two phone numbers on this pad of paper."

"And all there are for both of them is one dash and a six," Beckett sighed as she saw Ryan had gotten an imprint from the paper above. "We need her computer checked," she said to one of the CSU members. "And look for a cell phone, though I'm sure it's long gone. Ryan, Esposito, canvass the area for anyone who saw a car leaving the alley that runs along this side of the building. With the gunfire and tires squealing, someone had to have seen something or somebody." When the two had left, she went over to the shot out windows and looked out. "She must have known," she said to Castle who had followed her.

"Or she got closer, a lot closer than we did," he said, looking down at the fire escape. "She must have known who the Lakes were working for. But since Mr. Lake left the horses to Black, wouldn't that make his boss angry?"

"And Alvarez probably knew who that was. She must have called him, told him she knew what he was doing and he stopped her from letting anyone else know," Beckett said. "We need to find out who the boss is. Lanie? Anything with our vic here besides the gunshot wounds?"

"Not really," Lanie replied, looking up from the hands of the victim. "She was standing by the bathtub, her fingers broke when they were bent the wrong direction as she fell," she said showing the two the right hand. "She was dead as soon as the first shot hit her, like the other three victims."

"Three again, maybe there's something that has to do with that number," Castle said.

"Like what?" Beckett asked, glancing at him.

"I would have said forget the horse, we're dealing with a serial killer who's got an obsession with the number. But obviously she kind of destroyed that possibility," Castle replied as they looked at the body.

"I'll take her down to the morgue," Lanie said then. "And I'll let you know if anything comes up. Oh, I finally got an estimated height of our killer," she said as a coworker pushed the stretcher to take the body out. "They could only narrow it down to around 5'10" to 6'2" which is the best they could get considering we're not sure how the killer and victims were positioned exactly when the shots were fired."

"Still, that'll be helpful once we have a solid suspect, thank you," Beckett said before the doctor left. She turned to Castle when one of the CSU members called her name.

"Sorry Detective, I checked this laptop, the hard drive is missing," the man said as he showed that the laptop had been pried open underneath the keyboard.

"She was on to them," Beckett said. "We need to get back to the Precinct and look into her again."

"Or hope someone outside saw something while we were ducking bullets," Castle said, gesturing with his thumb out the window as they left the apartment to CSU.

"Do you remember anything about the guy when I kicked in the door?" Beckett was asking Castle as they were sitting at a table looking through some papers that had been brought in from Victoria Alvarez's apartment.

"Not really," Castle said, looking up from a bank statement. "He was dressed all in black," he said slowly as he tried to recall. "Might have been tall, but I was ducking along with you so that's all I can see in my mind." He closed his eyes and then shook his head saying, "No, that's it."

"Yeah, you remember more than I do," Beckett said. She sighed and set aside a file with bills in it before she glanced up and saw Ryan running up to the doorway. "What?" she asked.

"We didn't have a chance to call," the detective replied, breathing a little hard. "Everything went down incredibly fast. But we were canvassing and got a witness statement from a bodega owner across the street from the building. When the suspects started shooting at you, she saw someone dressed completely in black, even a black fedora getting into a black 300 before it squealed off. We got the same statement from everyone else who was in the area at the time and could see. No license plates though, looked like the car had just been bought."

"Okay, that's a place to start," Beckett said quickly. "Where's Espo?" she asked, noticing he wasn't at his desk.

"I wasn't finished," Ryan said. "While we were walking away, the same owner of the bodega started screaming that the man she had seen getting into the car was in her shop."

"In so little time?" Castle said in surprise.

"I know, but when we grabbed him, after some initial struggles, and got him into the car, we asked the other witnesses there, and they agreed it was the same person, right down to the hat," Ryan said.

"Where is he?" Beckett asked, stepping out with the two men following her.

"Waiting to hear from you," Ryan said as they walked to the observation room. "Thing is that-"

"Why is he still covered?" Beckett asked as they walked in and she saw that the man was hunched at the table, the fedora hat pulled down and a black surgical mask covering his face up to his eyes.

"He's not into S&M is he?" Castle asked, looking confused as well.

"Remember the 'initial struggle' I talked about before?" Ryan asked them. At their nods he said, "He fought us when we tried to take off the hat. It was only when we agreed to leave it that he agreed to come in with us."

"I explained to him that stuff has to come off, but he's not saying a word now," Esposito said, coming in. "Something's wrong with his voice though. It doesn't sound… you'll see if you can get him to talk to you," he said as Beckett started to leave the room.

"Did the witnesses say what dealership was on the paper in the license plate of the 300?" Beckett asked, stopping at the door to the interrogation room.

"Not really, but they did see Tri-State on it," Esposito answered.

"The name of the dealership or area," Castle said.

"Check and see if you can find a black 300 bought recently with that anywhere in the name of the city or dealership," Beckett said quickly. She turned and entered the room, saying to the man, "Sir, I'm Detective Beckett, this is Mr. Castle. I need you to remove your coverings, now without any argument."

The man looked like he was about to protest, but then let out a heavy sigh, and removed the hat with one hand. As Castle and Beckett sat across from him, he then took off the hood covering his hair, and finally managed to get the mask off before looking at the two.

Rocking back in his chair in shock, Castle blurted out, "Patrick de Alba?"

"Who the hell are you?" Beckett asked, since it looked as if their first victim was sitting across from them.

"I'm not Patrick, my name is Cathleen. Cathleen de Alba, I'm Patrick's twin sister," the woman said in slight annoyance. "Why the hell did you arrest me?"

"Are you aware of the fact that your brother has been murdered?" Beckett asked.

"Why do you think I'm here in the city?" de Alba snapped. "I live in Toronto but when I heard about Patrick's death I rushed down here."

"And dressing like that?" Castle asked. "Are you hiding in Canada?"

"How astute," de Alba sneered. "Yes, I have some money problems, but I came down for my brother."

"When exactly did you come into the country?" Beckett asked.

The woman hesitated for a moment and then quickly said, "I'm not sure the time, I came in on a Greyhound bus at about ten at night. I was tired."

"You're sure about that?" Beckett said, catching the hesitation; as had Castle since they'd shared a glance at it. "Okay," she said slowly when the woman had nodded. "So you're dressing that way to hide yourself from whoever you owe money to. We'll ask you about that later. First I want to know why you were around that bodega."

"When I came down here I was picked up by a friend of mine," de Alba said carefully. "She told me about you two and the investigation. I've followed you-"

"You did what?" Beckett said in shock.

"I followed you, not to hurt the investigation, I just want to find my brother's killer and make them pay," de Alba said defensively. "But I followed you to that building, and when I heard the gunshots I ran the hell out of there because I was worried with so many police there I'd stick out like a sore thumb. So I went to the bodega."

"And you didn't think you'd stick out there?" Castle said.

"Look, I panicked, you were going to see Victoria and-" de Alba began.

"Whoa, wait," Beckett said quickly. "You knew Victoria Alvarez."

"Yes, she picked me up, wait, you said knew," de Alba said before her eyes went wide. "No, no, wait, you mean she's dead?"

"Murdered," Castle said. "By three shots to the back of the head. The same as your brother and the same as Victor and Louise Lake."

"The Lakes are dead too?" de Alba asked. When Castle and Beckett nodded she groaned and buried her face in her hands saying, "This is not good."

"Why are all these people being killed Cathleen?" Beckett then said as they watched her.

"Look, my brother is… was a genius when it came to horses," de Alba began. "He, oh god, is my cousin alright?"

"Megan's fine, but she never mentioned you," Castle said.

"It's a long story," de Alba said. "Short story, I started promising my brother's horses to people I owed."

"And you believe it's because of that these people connected to you are being killed because of your debts?" Beckett said.

"I have no debt," de Alba sighed deeply. "Pat paid it off before I went into hiding up north. No, the only reason I can imagine these people being killed is because they know that if my brother is dead and the will isn't found, they can get the stables and the horses. More importantly my brother's jewel, Asturias. You've seen him I'm guessing? Vicky said he was shot while riding him. If you have and you have an idea as to the worth of a good horse, you'll understand why."

"So your brother is killed because of his horse, but the Lakes?" Beckett asked, seeing a possibility to find out who their boss was.

"The Lakes probably because of their boss," de Alba said. "Xabi Fernandez, he owns race horses."

"You mean the boss of the Fernandez family in New Jersey?" Castle asked. When de Alba nodded, he leaned in a little towards Beckett and said in a low voice, "He's the head of a Spanish mob family, one of the only ones I've ever heard of out here in the US."

"And he's actually a distant cousin," de Alba said, leaning over to them. When they looked at her she said, "It's only a table not a desert. Look, he was who I was in debt to, I would bet on his horses, and they did terrible. Idiota, never knew anything about horses."

"Do you?" Beckett said.

Snorting contemptuously, de Alba shook her head and said, "Only thing I knew about horses was betting on them. I was the despair of my family." She sighed deeply and said, "I'm pretty sure Dezi wanted to get his hands on my brother's stables. If you're looking for a killer, he's your most likely suspect."

"You know, for a woman who's just lost her brother and apparently a friend; murdered in cold blood; she doesn't seem to really care that much. Just about herself," Castle said after he and Beckett had left the room and they watched de Alba go to lockup.

"I know, but of course, we can't just go by that," Beckett said. "Espo," she said then, turning to him. "Anything on the 300?" she asked him.

"A long list, two were actually reported stolen three days ago," Esposito answered.

"Do they have any kind of tracking device on them?" Beckett said.

"They do, but when they checked on them, one was in Ohio, the other was disabled," Esposito said. "So that's our car, I've got the VIN, but without the car itself…"

"Still, it'll help whenever we do find it," Beckett said. "I need you both to look into Cathleen de Alba, as much as you can possibly get, focus on her alibi, being in Canada until 10 yesterday." When the two had turned to their computers she strode to her desk and sat down asking Castle who was behind her, "You said New Jersey?"

"They're a small family," Castle said as Beckett began to type. "As far as I know they used to be in Hell's Kitchen, back in the 1950s, but once the Westies moved in they were pushed out of the state. Plus they deal only with horses; apparently they have a lucrative enough business with just that. And by lucrative I mean sabotaging other horses."

"Great to hear," Beckett said under her breath. "Okay, so Xabi Fernandez, fifty-two years old, some priors here, mainly DUIs. He inherited the Three Clover stables from his father and they race at the Palms Racetrack outside of Haledon."

"Three, there's our number three," Castle said as he looked at the screen. "I wonder how his losses have been lately."

Going to the racetrack's site, Beckett was able to look at the stats for the horses from the stables which she read before turning to him. "She was right," she told him. "He was doing horribly; a horse of his hasn't won for at least a year and a half."

"Asturias would definitely break that losing streak," Castle mused.

"What are you thinking?" Beckett asked, watching him.

"First I believe he's the boss that the Lakes were talking about," Castle said.

"Ryan," Beckett called. When he looked over his screen she said, "Look and see if it's possible to find a connection between the Lakes and Xabi Fernandez."

"Okay, so if there is the connection between them, I'm thinking that Fernandez probably had the Lakes working on Patrick de Alba, running him into debt in the hopes that he would turn to him to pay him back. Since he's the Lake's employer, they'd direct de Alba to him. But when the Lakes couldn't get him to give up Asturias, Fernandez hires someone, just maybe someone from his stables who knows horses, and who has a small caliber gun with a very effective silencer to kill de Alba. Say he knows about the will, what if he also knows de Alba hid it where only he could find it?"

"Then he knows he has the chance to get the stallion," Beckett said slowly. "It's an interesting theory, if he hired someone to kill de Alba there might not be any proof though. If he's a mob boss, then he should know to cover his tracks."

"He might have made a mistake," Castle said.

"I've got a connection between the Lakes and Fernandez," Ryan said, coming up to them. "Payments with a check, but Fernandez was pretty smart, he would write them out to HF1."

"The amount corresponded with deposits in the Lakes' account," Castle said.

"It turns out the Lakes would cash the check, and deposit the money into their account via ATM, only the amount was what got my attention," Ryan said.

"Great," Beckett said. "But it doesn't really prove Fernandez was involved with their deaths."

"Yo, I got a hold of a passenger manifest from Greyhound, it has Cathleen de Alba's name on it," Esposito said. "But there's a problem."

"What?" Beckett asked, wondering if it would be a break in the case.

"She came in at 7am yesterday morning into Grand Central," Esposito said.

"She had time to commit the murders," Beckett said. "But she said she wasn't that good with horses."

"You don't think she's our killer?" Castle asked, seeing the doubtful look on her face.

Without a word to the others, Beckett turned and walked over to the holding cells and down to the last one where de Alba was sitting. "You lied to us," she said as the woman stood.

"Oh, you saw that," de Alba said with a sigh.

"Of course, we do check alibis," Beckett said. "Where were you at 10 yesterday in the morning since you were in fact in the city?"

"Not in the city; at the race track in Haledon," de Alba replied.

"You're betting again," Castle said, having standing behind Beckett.

"No, I wanted to see Fernandez, look into his eyes and see if he was finished haranguing me so I could come back home," de Alba said. "Unfortunately one of his thugs caught me and had security toss me out. I had to wait the rest of the morning to get back to the city."

"Why didn't you just tell us that in the first place?" Beckett said.

"Because I knew you'd think I was the killer as soon as I said that," de Alba said.

"Why were you in the city before your brother's murder?" Castle said as he realized something.

"Am I under arrest?" de Alba asked.

"No but-" Beckett started to say.

"Then I do not have to answer that, and if you are going to consider me a suspect, I want a lawyer," de Alba said.

Beckett left holding then, and her heels nearly pounded into the ground as she went back to her desk telling Esposito, "Check the racetrack, see if there was an altercation and if it was her that was involved."

"You still think she's not the killer?" Ryan asked.

"No, I think she was serious about not being good around horses," Beckett replied. "But why she's being so defensive I don't know."

"Are you sure it's so important for the killer to be that good around horses?" Ryan asked. "Because if that's the case, you could even be the killer."

"Thank you for that, but I do have an alibi," Beckett said simply before she went to Esposito who was hanging up his phone. "And?"

"Security confirmed it, they had an early race, and there was an argument between de Alba and a Juan Pablo," Esposito said. "And he is a known 'employee' of Mr. Fernandez. They're sending security footage of that right now."

"Right, let her go once you see the fight, and then look into her deeper, financial, anything up in Toronto that you can get. Focus on anything that has to do with horses, if she's got any experience with them," Beckett said as she switched her blazer for her coat. As she buttoned it she then told Ryan and Esposito, "Castle and I will go to the stables Mr. Fernandez has and interview him. Ryan, check the known associates of Fernandez, check their height, guns they might own, horses, anything you can get."

"I'm surprised Ryan didn't ask about your alibi," Castle said as they went into the elevator after leaving the two detectives.

"And what, you would have told him you're my alibi?" Beckett asked, smiling at him. She then shook her head and said, "There's too much in this case that doesn't add up."

"One thing I got though, she really doesn't seem to care that her brother is dead," Castle said.

"That's why I think she's not our killer," Beckett replied, walking to her car. "There's something else that's weighing a lot heavier on her mind."

"Which is pretty coldblooded, they're twins and she's thinking about something else," Castle said. "I think it's likely dealing with horses, something about her brother's stables. What if his death actually helps her out?"

"It would depend on that will," Beckett said. "No, there's something else that's a threat to her own life."

"What if she promised Asturias to someone, to maybe Fernandez, and her brother wouldn't agree to give him up," Castle said as Beckett started the car. "And now that the horse's ownership is in limbo, whoever the person is that wanted him is holding her responsible."

"It could be any number of people," Beckett reminded him. "We've got a long list of names that Megan de Alba suggested might have motive for murder."

"I'm starting to think that it's not just connected to the horse, but also to Cathleen de Alba too," Castle mused. "I just can't make the connection between the two besides her offering the horse to someone."

"It'll depend on her financials," Beckett said. "But I'm starting to think you're right about her."

"Papa, this is Detective Beckett from the NYPD, and Mr. Castle, they have come to talk with you about Patrick."

Looking up at the young man in front of him, Xabi Fernandez peered around his son and at Beckett and Castle. "Please have a seat," he told the two, his accent thick. He then spoke to his son who translated, "My father wishes to let you know that he can understand English, but can't really speak it. I'll need to translate for him, unless you understand Spanish?"

"I'm afraid not enough for what I'd like to talk to you about Mr. Fernandez," Beckett said to the man who nodded. "You're obviously aware of your distant cousin Patrick de Alba being murdered yesterday morning."

"We were very saddened by the news," Fernandez's son said.

"Yes, well, I'm wondering if you're aware of the fact the ownership of his stables are open to anyone now that his will is missing?" Beckett asked.

Fernandez spoke rapidly before his son translated saying, "We're aware of that fact, which has destroyed our hopes for the stables. We were planning on paying whatever it took to get the stallion."

"But isn't it easier now that Mr. de Alba is dead to get the horse?" Castle said.

"Less now," the man to the right and behind, slightly in the shadows, said as he looked down at his nails.

"He's right, there are a number of people who all want their hands on the horse," Fernandez's son said quickly, following his father's words. "And there are many who will easily pay more than us."

"Then I'm guessing you and all your associates here have alibis," Beckett said. She glanced around as the men in the room started to move and she rolled her eyes before looking back at Fernandez.

"You'll have to excuse them, they are young and hot headed," Fernandez said through his son. "But we were all together at the racetrack when the murder happened; it was in the morning I believe. You should speak to the twin sister of Patrick, she can corroborate our story."

"Actually, it was from her that we got your name," Beckett said. "Another name I'd like to ask you about, the Lakes of Stony Point? I understand they are under your employ."

"Yes, they are breeders and trainers for the stables, but they have been lacking recently," Fernandez's son told them. "I suggested getting Asturias and using him alternately as a stud horse and for the races. They were eager to do that since they recognized he is a brilliant horse."

"I'm afraid you've lost out on any more horses," Castle said, glancing at Beckett. "At least from Mr. and Mrs. Lake."

"Están muertos?" Fernandez said, sitting up, his son looking shocked as well.

"I'm afraid so," Beckett said. "They were shot yesterday around two in the afternoon."

"If you're asking for an alibi there," Fernandez's son himself said. "I can attest that we were all here in the office. There's a security camera out in the lobby and you see only one entrance and exit to here."

"We'll be interested in taking a look at that," Beckett said slowly, looking at Fernandez. "Sir?" she asked as his hands were shaking as he placed them on the top of his desk.

"Mrs. Lake is his niece, his brother's daughter," the man to the right of Fernandez said.

"Yes, he's right," Fernandez's son said. "And we loved her." His father spoke then, and he looked at him before translating, "We did not kill them, but it was likely someone who thought they were abusing the horses."

"Es ridículo," Fernandez said firmly. He then spoke rapidly, which his son translated as, "We never harmed our horses, we have great pride in our horsemanship and as long as we keep everything free of the taint of abuse, our stables will continue. I know no one among my family harmed my niece and her husband, wonderful people."

"They were abusing your horses," Beckett said, a little anger seeping into her voice. She fought it back as Castle looked over at her in surprise, and said, "We found more than one heavily whipped, bleeding, in their stalls, left on their own. Three horses in the barn at their farm need to be specially treated for being badly abused."

"We did not kill anyone," Fernandez's son translated for him. "I loved my niece and her husband. And he says we're done here."

"I think we are," Beckett said, standing up abruptly. "But I would be careful about your horses."

"Do you know a woman named Victoria Alvarez?" Castle said before Beckett left the office.

"Victoria? Yes, she's a friend of mine," Fernandez's son said. "She actually let us know about the auction."

"Auction?" Beckett said, stepping back up to the desk. She was surprised when Fernandez handed her a paper, and she read the e-mail that was on it. "I think this won't be occurring, and I'll be taking this. Gracias," she said, nearly spitting the last word out.

"Detective," Fernandez said. When Beckett and Castle turned to him he stood and said, "You may check the horses if you will. We have nothing to hide," taking a while to speak as he translated in his mind.

"Lo haremos," Beckett said simply before she turned and left.

"What did you say?" Castle asked once they were outside of the building that housed the office.

"That we will," Beckett said. "Come on," she told him to keep him from mentioning her anger during the interview. She walked toward the first building and went inside before she turned to him.

"You believe him?" Castle asked. "Because I sort of… did," he said slowly, trying to read her expression as she looked in the first stall. He was surprised when she didn't answer him, instead reached out and let the horse that stuck its head out to smell her hand before it bit lightly at her coat sleeve. "Beckett?" he asked.

"No, I think he's correct," Beckett said slowly. "I think the Lakes, well, Mr. Lake, was working for someone else at the same time."

"So Fernandez might not have been the boss that he was referencing," Castle said, walking over to her. "But his wife thought he was since he's her uncle. By the way, how was that not in any information about her?"

Thinking for a moment as she ran her hand over the horse's neck while Castle rested his hand on its muzzle, Beckett said, "Wait, in Spain, a person's full name includes the mother's maiden name. Mrs. Lake could have gone by her mother's maiden name, maybe to step away from the Fernandez name."

"Maybe whoever this other boss is might be our killer," Castle mused. "Patrick de Alba as the first victim because he discovered that Mr. Lake was abusing horses. Then he killed the Lakes because they were bringing undue attention to himself. And Victoria Alvarez because she was informing de Alba's sister about what was going on." He was surprised when Beckett shook her head and asked, "Not a good theory?"

"The second boss as the killer, maybe, but your reasons why all our victims were killed, no, I'm sorry," Beckett said, handing him the paper Fernandez had given her.

"To whom it make concern, you have all been invited to take part in an auction at the Green Hills Stables on the twenty-ninth of November, at midnight, to become the next owner of the Andalusian stallion Asturias. Sired by Pancho and foaled out of Lucida, by Los Dobles," Castle started to read before he got to that point and he glanced up at Beckett.

"His sire and dam, and his dam's sire," Beckett said.

"No, that I know already from… the ponies," Castle said quickly as Beckett rolled her eyes. "But I've heard of Pancho and Los Dobles."

"How?" Beckett asked.

"The Olympics last year," Castle said, snapping his fingers as he tried to remember. "Two of the riders from Spain had horses sired by them and they were pretty good. So you're right about Asturias being an excellent horse. Maybe where he was sired has something to do with all these people wanting him."

"I'll call Ryan and Esposito to take a look into that," Beckett said. "Keep reading."

"Beginning bid will be set at $98,000, payment in cash only," Castle finished the e-mail. "Cash, and this e-mail is from…"

"I know, I looked at that first thing, but look at where the e-mail is registered," Beckett said.

"Canada," Castle said, seeing the ca after the dot in the address. "So it's likely Cathleen de Alba. Didn't she say that she was going to Fernandez to ask if she could return to the city?" he asked as they turned from the horse and started to leave.

Before they got too far from the stall, Beckett turned and said, "So she was lying about being out of debt. At least to Fernandez since nothing in her financials in Canada popped… we didn't check to see if she still had any accounts here open in the US. She needed to pay him back to return home and to the racetrack again and the only way she could-"

"Was to auction off her brother's horse, because her debt is obviously more than ninety-eight thousand," Castle said. "So she sets this auction up in secret, but somehow-"

"Her brother finds out and he confronts her… maybe over the phone," Beckett said quickly. "Or e-mail, we'll have to check. They argue, and she realizes the only way she can get the money Asturias was going to bring-"

"Is to kill her brother, which she has an alibi for not doing, or hire someone to do it herself," Castle said. "And if she wasn't the killer, then it could easily have been one of those men in the office that did it for her. Did you see that guy that was standing behind Fernandez? Creepy as hell with that smile that never stopped."

"I know, but they were all potential suspects," Beckett said. "We have to find some way to get the names of his associates, and check and see if they were involved in the auction as bidders besides their boss."

"I hope the boys haven't released Cathleen de Alba yet," Castle said. "We're going to need to talk to her about this," he said, hitting the e-mail with his hand. "What?" he asked when he saw her eyes had gone wide as she looked behind him, starting to reach for her gun. He soon had his answer, as there was the loud click of a gun being cocked to fire and a gruff voice came out of the stall they had been standing in front of moments before.

"Do not move Mr. Castle, or I will blow your brains out."