"So we have a man killed by a Special Forces issue knife…" Castle begins "and the remains of a glo-stick found on the floor"
Kate responds to her husband's comment "What could the two things have in common?"
"Maybe the Homeland Security guy was investigating the illegal importing of glow sticks
Kate glares at Rick
"Just one possibility" He remarks at her facial expression
Castle starts thinking "We need to set up a murder board and try to put together the pieces of this case"
The two begin putting notes on pages and sticking them on the wall using cellophane tape.
At this moment the wall is still very blank when Castle's phone rings.
"Castle…oh hello Agent Fallon" Rick listens to something the DHS officer is saying "Good. You have that list of possible foreign agents that we trained?" he pauses for a moment "OK good. Sent it to Alexis at the morgue and she will forward them to us"
Rick looks at Kate "He has the list of foreign soldiers trained by our Special Forces units and he is sending them over. After we get them,.. .I will contact Agent Gray and ask him to do a cross reference for any possible rogue agents that might be responsible"
"Do you think he will be willing to help?" Kate asks just as the corridor door opens and a small man enters the room
"Mr. Castle, Captain Becket…or should I say Mrs. Castle? It is so nice to see the two of you again. And I must say that marriage is setting well on both of you. Kate, you look more radiant that the first time we met"
The man's remarks catch both of the Castles off center
"Agent Gray" Rick begins "What are you doing here? We were about to contact you"
"I know. That is why I am here. You needed information on possible foreign operatives that might be attempting to enter the country illegally and plan to do harm"
"That is correct "Beckett responds "But how did you know?"
The man only looks at the couple with a face that gives them their answer "We know everything"
"So then if we give you the lists of trainees can you…?"
Castle's question goes unfinished when the CIA man responds "No. None of the men that are on the DHS' are trying to enter the country to do harm"
"Are you sure?" Kate asks
His answer is a glare telling Kate he is positive
"Captain Beckett, Mr. Castle…I suggest you look elsewhere"
Agent Gray, I do believe you, but DHS had credible information that there was a threat and that is why they sent Agents Walker and Martin here to investigate" Beckett responds
Agent Gray looks around the room "We knew about the possible threat. We heard it also. We did a lot of work outside the country and found no intelligence to support that threat, but we did ask the coast guard to keep an eye on the waters off Long Island. They have been out there for two weeks with anti- personnel radar and have had no contacts with anyone other than local fishermen. So we believe the reports were a diversion"
"You think that the terrorists are planning something else and this was just to throw us all off?"
Again Gray looks perplexed "No. After the leads ended up being unfounded, we did some more digging into their source and found the tips came from somewhere closer to home"
"How much closer to home?" Castle wonders
"An internet café in Queens"
Beckett also looks confused "Someone sent a tip to the DHS from back home in New York City?"
"Yes. We had the FBI get involved and they have tried to look into the café and they have determined it is owned by reputable business people who have always been open and cooperative in investigations surrounding computer hackers or threats being originated from their store"
"Have you been able to get anything of the fake tip?"
"The date of the connection is about a week ago and the video was inconclusive. The café was full of customers and several had on hat and hoodies so their faces were not clear"
Castle brings up the next question "So where do you go now?"
"We have the FBI working to identify the MAC address of all the connections that were online at that time of morning. They are hoping to isolate the specific machine and be able to narrow in on the threat"
"What can we do to help?" Beckett asks
"Just keep doing your investigation. We feel like there is no foreign threat but that does not remove the possibility of home grown radicals"
"We will do Agent gray and please let us know immediately when you have anything "
The man shakes his head in acknowledgement
Kate looks back at Castle "OK, so we have even less to go on than we did before" she looks back to ask one more question of the man but finds the room is empty. He has vanished "How does he do that?" is the exasperated comment from Kate
Castle has a sneer on his face "Maybe it is a good thing we postponed any activities we might have done in this room"
"MAYBE?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Castle and Beckett have returned to their car and are just sitting on the parking lot. Castle reaches across the front seat and takes Kate's hand. She wraps her fingers around his
"Kate…you know if you retired then we would not be doing this anymore…and if there is one thing I learned about you many years ago, is that you love doing this. You love the chase"
She smiles back at her husband "You mean like I love the chase between you and me?"
"Yeah" he smiles back "And like all the ways you still make me what to chase you"
She pulls his hand from the center of the console and places it high on her leg "I have no idea what you are talking about"
"Huh" is the sound coming from his throat "Maybe we should go back in there for a minute" pointing toward the station
She gently pulls his hand back up on the seat "Later…I promise. But right now we need to find more evidence"
Under his breath "Yeah, like more chasing"
Rick places the car in gear and turns to head back toward the lighthouse "We might find something else if we look one more time in the lighthouse"
"Mr. Castle…Are you trying to get me alone in the lighthouse again?"
"NO?"
"Then why would we go back there?"
"I don't want to look inside the lighthouse. I want to look outside the lighthouse"
"OH?" more like a question
As they are passing through the middle of town, Castle notices a store and suddenly pulls in to park directly in front
"Castle, what are you doing?"
"Glo-sticks"
"What about them?" Kate is totally confused
"Glo-sticks. If these lights have been seen for months then someone had to buy glo-sticks"
"OK. So they bought them"
"Where would you buy glow sticks?"
Kate looks at the store her husband stopped in front of"
"A party supply store" she remarks
The pair gets out of the car and goes into the store. Once inside they are greeted by a young perky teenaged girl
"Hi. I'm Mandy. What can I do for you today?"
"I am Captain Kate Beckett and we are investigating the death of a Federal Agent and we were wondering if you could help us?"
"Sure. What can I do?" She suddenly seems nervous
"We are looking into the source of glo sticks. I assume you sell them here?"
Now the girl seems unnerved "uh…yes…yes we sell them here"
"Do you sell very many of them?"
The girl seems to be blushing "We do sell more at Halloween or when someone is having a birthday"
Castle is watching this conversation closely "Halloween is months away so have there been a lot sold lately?"
"Yes" is the one word answer from the girl
"Mandy, is there something wrong?" Beckett asks "You seem nervous"
"No…no…I just…my boss is watching and I am not selling you anything"
"Mandy…is there something you need to tell us?" Kate asks
"No…I'm sorry, but I need to get back to work" and she walks briskly to the back of the store"
"That was odd" Castle remakes
"More than just odd. She seemed scared"
"We need to find out what is happening"
Kate responds "And I think I know who to ask, but first, let's make that trip to the park"
/\/\/\/\/\/\
It is nearing dusk as they make their arrival onto the park grounds. Kate gets out to open the gate and Castle pulls the car inside and she closes it behind... He parks over to the side of the building
Rick speaks to Kate "Let's walk around and see what we can find"
Castle and Beckett both get out and start looking at the surrounding grassy area.
After about thirty minutes they both return to the car as it is getting too dark
"There is nothing" Beckett remarks
"Kate, you said you knew someone we need to talk to now. Who is that?"
"Robin and Brett Edwards"
"Why do we need to talk to them?"
Before Kate can answer Castle's cell phone rings. Caller ID says 'Blocked'
He swipes the screen to answer but his face is filled with doubt "Castle" after just a moment his face changes "Hello Agent Gray"
Castle places his phone on speaker "Do you have something for us?"
"As a matter of fact, I do and you are not going to believe who sent in the false terror tip"
"Who?" Kate asks
"Your victim's partner Zack Martin"
"Why would he do that?" Kate wonders
Castle seems to have a moment of clarity "I think I know why he wanted to get his partner here"
"Why? And do what? To kill him?"
"Agent Gray. Do you know if Zack Martin is married or has a girlfriend?"
"OH yes. And she is a beauty from what I hear, not to mention the rumor mill had Lance and her having an affair"
Castle repeats what his poker partners have said many time "There are only a few reason to kill "To cover up a crime or…"
"To cover up an affair! Lance Walker was having an affair with Martin's wife?" Kate asks
"It would appear so" Gray responds
Castle fills in the blanks "Martin reports a threat to national security"
Kate adds" Knowing he and Walker will be assigned to the case"
Rick "He convinces his partner to go into the lighthouse to observe"
Kate "Trapping him alone"
Rick "Zack sneaks up in the dark and…
Kate "Kills his partner"
Agent Gray hears a rush of sound then suddenly notices the phone line go dead. His attempts to call back go straight to voice mail