Getting out of the car Darnley looked around and said, "You were right. It's a university but really small." He then turned to the writers and said, "How do you guys know about this place?"

"I do," Castle said. "Kate didn't until we passed by a few years ago."

"Why did you come here?" Beckett asked him.

"I was doing some research," Castle said before he hesitated. He then said, "I think I mean I tried to because I got tossed out by security… why are there booths here?"

"It looks like they were having a Halloween event," Darnley said.

"With a lot of people," Castle added. He glanced at his wife when she didn't say anything and he reached for her, taking her hand before she was shaking her head.

"I'm surprised you didn't mention the conditions of the buildings," Beckett told him when they let each other go. She noticed the way her husband and Darnley were looking at her and she said, "What?"

"You weren't sensing anything?" Castle asked her.

Though her first reaction was to make a face at him, Beckett kept herself from doing so and then said, "No, I was trying to see where Brad is."

"Well, at least we know we're at the right place," Castle commented since there were officers around the complex.

"There he is," Darnley said swiftly when he saw Brad leaving a building.

"It's not good," Castle said, frowning while he was studying his friend's face.

"I'm glad you guys got here so fast," the chief said when he reached them. "How're you doing?" Brad asked.

"What's wrong?" Beckett asked, grabbing her husband's arm before he could respond to that.

Studying the three for a moment, Brad then sighed and said, "I really debated having you join me, but I thought I could use your help."

"If we know what happened we might be able to," Castle said firmly.

"There's a Halloween scare fair Hofstra is holding here," Brad explained. "And with each building there are a couple rooms inside where they have scares. Last night three men ran out from one, yelling for the police because they had found dead bodies."

"Bodies," Darnley stated. When the chief grimaced, he said, "How many are you talking about?"

"Four," Brad said. "But the weird thing is that they were all seated at a table when they were discovered in the basement."

"Alright, but that doesn't seem that strange," Castle said. "Especially since you sounded like it was bad."

Shaking his head Brad said, "I'll be blunt, the vics were sitting at the table in the basement and when the three men went down to them one of them slapped a vic's back. That led to that man's head falling off and when they ran out, one of the other two bumped into another and that vic's head fell off."

"All four were decapitated," Beckett stated.

Nodding Brad told them, "They've taken the bodies but I'm warning you now that there are figures there without heads. If you want to stay up here you can," not surprised when his friend was speaking first.

"You think we're afraid of mannequins?" Castle asked. "Unless… it's not a mess down there, is it?"

"No, the killer cleaned up," Brad replied.

"Wait," Beckett said when her husband and friend started to move. "When were they killed?"

"About six yesterday evening," Brad said. "They were found a little after midnight," he then added since he was aware someone was going to ask him.

"Then this basement isn't part of the scares," Beckett said. "You said fair but I'm guessing since it's for Hofstra it was just scares and liquor."

"Secret liquor," Brad answered before they were turning to Darnley as he spoke in confusion.

"Why is this attached to Hofstra? I thought their campus was in Hempstead?" the carpenter said.

"They bought the property," Beckett answered before the chief could. "And then sold it to a new university."

"I don't think that's been finished yet," Brad said slowly and with a frown. "I spoke with Hofstra representatives, and they talked as if they still owned the property."

"We may have to talk to the Report," Castle told his wife. "They said the deal had been finished… who are the victims?"

"I had that thought myself," Brad replied, nodding his head. "But let me take you downstairs so you can see the scene and I can explain more."

Heading to one of the buildings, Beckett walked ahead of Castle and Darnley in the basement. She then noticed the round table in the middle of the basement and the mannequins without heads before she turned to her husband.

"Have you put a compass in the middle of the table?" Castle asked.

"Yes, and yes they're sitting at the four points, but the table was not set up by the killer," Brad said. "Do not try and tell me this has anything to do with satanists," he added.

"I won't," Castle said, holding up his hands slightly in defense.

"What's up with this one? You sound…" Darnley started to say before he trailed off.

"It's the victims," Brad said, taking a tablet from Bernier. "Go ahead up to help Rice and Gulland with interviewing everyone who was here."

"Yes sir, the three that found this room are at the station," the officer told him.

"Thank you," Brad said with a brief nod. He watched Bernier leaving and once they were alone he said, "We were here at two in the morning."

"That's not the reason why," Castle said, seeing his wife shifting for a moment before putting her hand in her pocket.

"No," Brad said before he paused. He then looked at the three seriously and said, "I'm going to show you how we found the bodies remember, two of them don't have their heads still with their bodies." When there was no response, he started to give the tablet to Beckett when he hesitated again.

"It wouldn't be the first case with decapitated heads that I've had," she said sternly while she was taking the tablet from him.

Nodding, Brad watched the three and when he saw their reactions said, "It's still bad."

"Incredibly," Castle said, shaking his head.

"Are there more?" Beckett asked the chief. At his nod she swiped across the screen, and they looked at shots of each victim until they she had reached the last.

"What is that?" Darnley asked.

"I have no idea," Brad said, aware of what they were looking at. "I asked Bernier since he's good with cars and he had no idea what this is either."

"Where is it?" Darnley inquired, taking the tablet from Beckett to look at it closer.

"In my cruiser," Brad said. "Do you know what it is."

"To tell you the honest truth… I do," Darnley said. "And I think it's the bracket for the engine of a Cessna 411."

"How do you know that?" Castle asked.

"We were going to announce it on Halloween when we were with everyone," Darnley said. "We bought one."

"You did," Beckett said in surprise.

"Yeah, we want to take the kids and his parents around," Darnley explained. "And Trev loves flying…"

"He's going to fly that for fun?" Brad asked.

"No, Clarence Leckner will let him use his Piper when he wants," Darnley said. "But this bracket in this basement during a Halloween event?"

"Now I can tell you about the victims," Brad said, getting his phone. "There were bags in the corner with their things. First is Knox Brand, twenty years old and he was in his third year at Hofstra majoring in Computer Science," he told the three while Beckett held his phone. "Next is Piers Harding, he would have been twenty in two months, second year and majoring in Computer Science as well." When he saw she had swiped across the screen he continued with, "Sarah Lavigne, twenty-two in her final year and also majoring in Computer Science."

"Let me guess," Castle said. "The last victim is majoring in the same thing."

"She is," Brad said, nodding to Beckett. "Lyla Garnett and in her last year too."

"Is there something with their major that connects them to this place?" Darnley asked.

"They weren't part of the scares, that was a fraternity and sorority," Brad explained. "But there's something other than their majors that I would guess is the reason why they're all sitting here at this table. Eris Limited."

"Why… their parents," Castle started to say before he corrected himself and turned to the table. "All of them are kids of the CEOs."

"What's Eris?" Beckett asked.

"Besides being named after the Greek goddess of strife? They work in titanium alloys," Darnley answered.

"Does it have to do with planes?" Beckett said.

"Yeah, they're a big company for a lot of different types of parts with planes," Darnley said. "But Trev has told me that and anything else… I can't help you with," he added. He frowned for a moment and said, "Is that it for here? I'd like to see that bracket in person right now."

"Come on," Brad said after he looked around.

"Have their parents been notified?" Castle asked before the chief's phone started to ring in his wife's hand.

"It's the station," Beckett told him while she handed it to him.

"I think the parents are here," Brad said. "They all live in Montauk and Amagansett, and we IDed everyone at four," he added before answering once he was out of the basement.

Watching the chief while they were walking behind him, Castle touched his wife's arm and asked her, "What did you do?"

"I started a text to Lily," Beckett replied. "But I'm going to wait to send it."

"Lunch?" Darnley asked. "By the way, you two are going home, right?"

"Alexis sent us out on our own," Castle commented before Brad was hanging up the phone.

"That was Hutchinson," the chief told them. "All eight parents are there and are furious. I'll let you look at the bracket after I talk to the officers to let them know what I need them to do." Leading them to his cruiser, Brad took out the evidence bag and handed it to Darnley. "Tell me what you wanted to do that for before we leave."

"Are you just checking to see if it's…" Castle started to say when Darnley was taking a picture of the part.

"Yeah, it's titanium alloy but that's not why I wanted to see it," the carpenter replied before he was putting his phone up against the bag.

"What are you-" Beckett started to say.

"Ah, this is counterfeit," Darnley said, interrupting his friend. He swore and then told the writers, "I was afraid of that."

"Why?" Castle and Beckett asked him at the same time.

"We need to call Skye," Darnley said while he looked up at the two with a frown.

"This is a murder investigation you know that right?" Castle asked the carpenter.

"Duh," Darnley said, making a face. "But this part is something Skye has been working on for nearly a year now," he added, not surprised when Beckett was responding first.

"X5L246?" she asked.

"She told you about that?" Darnley asked her.

"She did, but she said it was an Embraer that crashed in New Mexico," Beckett replied in obvious confusion.

"I think it's a little… endemic in smaller planes right now," Darnley said before they turned at the sound of the door to the station opening.

"Alright, come inside," Brad told the three since they were in the officer's parking lot.

"Where are the parents?" Castle asked him.

"Going to a house they rented," Brad said, breathing out hard when they stopped in front of him. "I know, they want to make sure I'm… doing my job," he added before rolling his eyes.

"You will," Darnley said.

"We need to work right now so I hope you'll help me," Brad replied.

"Even with what they were yelling at us?" Castle asked since the fathers of their victims had seen the three of them walking into the bullpen from the lobby and had started hollering.

"I managed to talk them down, reminded them that you two were detectives and you've been a consultant on homicides for a little over thirteen years now," Brad explained while he led them to his office where there were two blank murder boards. "That and the threat of charges calmed them down," he added. He then turned to Darnley and said, "We need to call Skye?"

"No, he texted her already," Beckett commented in amusement. When her friend was looking at her, obviously startled, she said, "It wasn't that hard to notice you realize."

"Yeah well… she said she'll be here," Darnley said, looking at his watch. "Soon."

"S-" Brad started to say before he stopped himself. "Right, she's in DC."

"Strangely enough for this case," Castle commented. When he saw the way Brad was looking at him, he said, "For now it's connected… wait you didn't talk to them about the counterfeit parts did you?"

"Are you kidding? And have Skye kick my ass metaphorically?" Brad asked before he snorted. "No thank you." He then turned to Darnley and asked, "Trevor?"

Shaking his head the carpenter explained, "It's West's case since the crashes have been on that side of the country. And Skye's since she had the Embraer first and they brought her in on the Bombardier."

"And the Fokker," Beckett said with a nod.

"Does she have her plane at all?" Castle asked.

"No, she's going to have to go commercial," Brad said, putting up the pictures he had of the victims on one of the boards.

"Oh, she'll be in a great mood once she's here," Darnley said. "Don't tell her I said that," he added before Beckett was talking to Brad.

"For now what about the three young men who found the bodies?" she asked.

"They wanted to talk to the two of you," Brad replied slowly.

"You're sure about that?" Castle asked in obvious annoyance.

"Rick," Beckett said simply. When her husband looked at her, startled, she turned to the chief and said, "I just want to make sure, they're going to talk to all four of us."

"Yes," Brad said with a firm nod. "They weren't demanding luckily but they said they wanted to talk with the writers."

"I think it's for Shades of Night," Castle told his wife. "Which is weird," he added when she had nodded in agreement. "That's the Mill Valley series."

"But it has decapitated heads," Darnley said. "One head, sorry, I thought we might have something."

"Are you guys ready to talk to them?" Brad asked. At three nods he led the way to the interview room before Beckett was stopping him and he turned to her.

"What's their condition?" she asked.

"They were shocked when we got there, the event had some medics so they were tending to them and I think they fell asleep on the way here," Brad replied before they were looking into the room. "They've had some food and water so I'm hoping they're lucid."

"Were they drunk," Darnley asked, watching as Castle was moving to stand next to his wife.

"No, the glass in the basement we had cordoned off?" Brad told them. "That was their drink Mr. Amsel had gotten," he said, having told the three what he knew about the young men on the drive back to the Hamptons.

"Right," Castle said with a nod. "So we're going now?"

"Right now," Brad said, opening the door and stepping inside before the three were following him. "Are you three doing alright," he said in greeting.

"Yeah," Amsel said with a frown. "We need to talk to you now, don't we?"

"That would be preferable," Brad told them. "I know you're aware of two of my consultants, Mr. Castle and his wife, Ms. Beckett."

Trying not to roll her eyes at what the chief was doing, Beckett watched the young men, noticing Amsel and Breck seemed to be alright while the third was hunched into himself. She shared a look with her husband, not surprised to see by the expression his face that he had noticed the same.

"And to let you know, this is my other consultant, Mr. Darnley," Brad was saying. "I know you've given a brief description of what happened to you early this morning already, but I need you to tell us in more detail," watching them before Breck was talking first.

"How much more detail?" the young man said.

"As much as you can tell us," Castle said.

Sighing Almer said, "He's worried because we were drinking but I'm turning twenty-one on the second and Josiah isn't until the twenty-sixth of December."

"And you Mr. Kean?" Brad directed to the third man.

"I'm twenty-one," he replied hoarsely. "Is… is there a bathroom around here somewhere?"

"Down the hall to the…" Castle started to say before the man was shooting out of his armchair to the door. "To the left!" he yelled after him.

"He's been feeling sick all morning," Amsel said. "So am I but I didn't really see the first…"

"Do we need to wait for him now?" Breck asked.

"Actually, you told Officer Rice you didn't go to this fair with each other," Brad said. When the two young men nodded, he then said, "Then why don't you tell me Mr. Breck about your time at the event since you arrived until you met with Mr. Amsel."

While Breck began relating that information, Beckett got up and left the room before heading to Wade who was standing at the door to the men's bathroom. "Is he still in there?" she asked in slight surprise.

"Yeah, he was throwing up for a little, but he seems to be okay now," the officer said before they were turning to the door as it opened.

"Sorry," Kean said, his face glaringly pale.

"That's alright, I'm not surprised you had that reaction," Beckett said. She then turned to Wade and asked, "Do you think you can make some tea for him?"

"Of course, I'll bring it to the room," the officer said with a nod.

Leading Kean back Beckett said, "Do you feel you might be sick again?"

"No, I can talk," the young man said reassuring. "But… you know what we saw," he then stated before she was nodding while she responded.

"We have seen the crime scene but the circumstances of you three ending up in that basement are what we need to figure out," Beckett said.

"Yeah," Kean said absently. "Okay… yeah."

Trying not to frown at his rambling, Beckett led him back to the interview room, startled to see her husband was frowning himself. She gave him a look before he rolled his eyes, and she did her best not to sigh since she was aware one of the two young men had either said something or watched her leave. Pushing that aside quickly she said, "Mr. Kean is okay to speak now."

"I am," the young man said quickly.

"I'm glad to hear that, but if you feel like you might be sick again let us know," Brad said. "Your friends just told us about what happened to them from the time of their arrival to the event to when they saw you."

"Sure," Kean said before he talked about getting to the property. When he mentioned the secret room, he paused and then said, "Did you tell them what that was?"

"We were waiting for you," Almer replied.

"The two groups have a sort of unofficial contest, those of us who are higher up in years know about it from the first time we go to this," Kean said.

"Where did they have this last year?" Darnley asked the three.

"At the two houses, for Alpha Phi and Delta Omega Phi," Breck answered. "They're right next to each other."

Glancing at his consultants, Brad wasn't surprised to see Castle and Beckett exchanging a glance before he wrote ask groups why event held away from school this year. When he finished, he then said, "And what's the purpose for this contest?"

"There was, the last years," Almer began. "When it was in the houses there were little rooms they made up with nondescript doors. If you found it and the person inside you'd take them to the entrance and you'd get twenty dollars. When we found Kean, he was at the door to the basement, and he said he thought it was the secret room."

"I just figured it was because those nondescript doors you kind of had to force your way in," Kean himself said. "Not like… breaking and entering," he added in a rush after he'd realized what he'd said. "But you would need to open up a lock."

"That had a lock?" Castle asked, unable to help saying that since he was watching the young man closely.

"I… no, okay, I had to pick the lock," Kean said in annoyance. "You needed to pick a lock. It was a joke, and you were supposed to be 'training' to be a thief. I picked the lock even though it was… harder. I just thought it was because we were in a different place."

"Okay," Brad said. "Since the event was there legally and there likely was a lock that needed to be picked, I won't charge you for anything. So you picked the lock and?"

"They found me," Kean replied, nodding to Almer and Breck. "And I told them about the room before we went in, I was first. I saw the table and then four people which was weird because there was only supposed to be one. But then I thought it was because it was a way bigger space this year, so I went up to the one on the…"

"They were at the points of the compass," Brad supplied.

"Okay, then I guess the body I thought was Jason Manners was to the south and I slapped him on the back and that was when his head… fell off," Kean started to say before he was putting his fist to his mouth and turning his head.

"And after I bumped into another body… I guess to the east since it was to the right of the one Kean bumped into," Breck said. "But we were freaked out and heading out of there as fast as we could."

"That's not a surprise," Brad said. He then took out the four pictures of the victims and set them on the table in between them and the three young men. "These are the bodies that you found, do you know them."

"Damn it, Lyla," Breck breathed out. "She was in my statistics class last year," he told the others. "She was really nice."

"We've all heard of them," Ansel said then. "They… well they were kind of their own group since they're like… ultra-rich."

"They had other friends though," Breck said in slight annoyance.

"Sure but they were fairly clique-y," Ansel replied.

"I know, knew the two guys, Piers and Knox," Kean said quietly. "We called him General because of Ft. Knox and the whole… military connection. They were nice, talked to me. Piers was dating Sarah," he added, touching the two pictures. "And General was single, along with her."

"Lyla," Breck said firmly.

"Yeah," Kean said, nodding.

"Did anyone have any issues with them?" Brad asked. "Disliked them because of their wealth or academic achievements?"

"Not that I know," Breck said first.

"He's right, they weren't the most popular, but I never heard of anyone wanting to do what happened to them," Ansel said.

"The same," Kean said when the chief was looking at him.

"Alright," Brad said, noting something quickly on the piece of paper he was writing on. "One more thing, did you notice anyone acting oddly before you reached the basement?"

"One of the organizers wasn't there," Kean and Ansel said. They looked at each other and the former said, "Leo."

"No, Anise," Kean said with a frown.

"So two weren't there," Brad stated.

"I guess not," Kean said. "Anise Tunstead is in the sorority, and I heard at the event she just found out she's in trouble with her grades and was taking a make up test to stay in school."

"And Leo?" Brad asked Ansel.

"I have no idea, I just heard it walking around the place," the young man said with a shrug.

"And his last name?" Castle asked.

"Capello," the three young men said.

"Okay, thank you," Brad replied before he stood up after writing down the name.

"Can we go?" Ansel asked.

"Give me a moment," Brad replied before he was leaving after his consultants.

"What do you think?" Darnley asked.

"You didn't want to ask about the Eris company?" Brad responded with his own question.

"They're not going to know," Darnley said, shaking his head. "And I think you might want to wait for Skye to get here to explore that possibility." He then noticed the way Beckett was looking at him and said, "You thought I would?"

"No, but are we suspecting them?" Castle said before his wife could say anything.

"No, they told me their alibis at six and all three were with their roommates," Brad answered. "So I'll be releasing them."

"Then why didn't you already?" Beckett asked him.

"Because I wanted to check with you," Brad said, looking at Castle.

"Why me?" he said in surprise.

"His story about the locks," Beckett told her husband before he could answer.

"Oh… at first I was going to say it was suspicious, but I was looking at my phone while you were talking to them and there was a special lock," Castle explained.

"Great, let me go ahead and release them," Brad said before he was turning and then paused. "Will you start to fill out the boards?"

"Sure," Darnley said before they were watching the chief leaving them. He then turned to Castle and Beckett and said, "Are we going to the office?"

"In a second," Beckett answered before her husband could say anything. When the carpenter left them she said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but Patrick had to hold me back," Castle said. "Luckily the two didn't notice and kept talking. But they were nudging each other when you followed the other kid."

Squeezing her husband's arm, Beckett then took his hand and pulled him after her to the office.

"Oh, hey he was angry, but he didn't do anything," Darnley said, turning to the pair when they walked into the office.

"He told me, and thank you for stopping him," Beckett said before she looked at what he had written, her husband speaking shortly after.

"Do you need our help?" Castle asked.

"No, I think I have it," Darnley said. "At least on this one."

"And there isn't that much," Beckett said, taking the marker he was holding. She was about to write the first female vic's name under her picture before she paused and said, "Will Skye even be involved in this?"

"You don't want to see her?" Castle asked. When his wife was giving him a look he said, "Sorry it just seemed like you were wondering why she was coming."

"To be honest I'm hoping it will involve her," Darnley said.

"I am too," Beckett replied. "I know how much this has been worrying her. And Mary too."

"She doesn't get to go home," Castle commented.

"No but you're aware she wouldn't miss the chance to solve three crashes," Beckett told him.

"I think I should text her," Darnley said absently.

"Why?" Castle said in confusion. "You said she was on the way."

"Just to see where she is," Darnley said.

"Is Trevor invested in this too?" Castle asked him.

"Everyone at the NTSB he told me," Darnley answered. He then sighed and said, "He told me that even though it's technically Skye's case they need to know for… it sounds a little corny but to keep it from happening again."

"I have one question," Castle said before his wife was glancing at him. "Where is she going to go?"

"Here," Brad said. "This office has more than enough space for us."

"Are they on their way back to the campus?" Beckett asked.

"Where the event was, their cars are still there," Brad replied, going to his desk.

"What did the other people there say?" Darnley inquired.

"They didn't notice anything until the three were running out and yelling, the other two were throwing up then," Brad explained.

"I thought they were a little calm," Castle commented.

"They were but remember they were sitting in that room for some time," Brad replied, looking at his e-mail. "And Kean was the one who caused the first head to… fall," he added, making a brief face. "But again, they've been cleared."

"Now that everything with our vics is on that board," Castle said, noticing his wife and Darnley were finished. "I want to know about what killed the four of them, you've never said," he told them before his wife was speaking first.

"You didn't see the machine in the corner?" Beckett said.

"I did but I'm still wondering how it worked," Castle said. "Thanks for letting us know about it."

"The tech that's part of CSU told us to stay away from it," Brad said. "In case it might go off again."

"You didn't disarm it?" Darnley asked.

"Of course, first thing but the woman who we spoke on the phone to about it, the technician, told us that even with us dismantling the garrote the mechanism could still go off," Brad explained, going to the second murder board and putting the picture of the mechanism in the corner. He picked up the marker in the tray and then wrote as he spoke telling the others, "It's definitely homemade but whoever made it was extremely professional since Hopper, the tech, saw it over the phone. But from what she could tell there was a trigger that was set off remotely."

"Would it be traceable?" Beckett inquired.

"I'm not sure," Brad said. "She should be there now, and I told her to call me when she has more information."

"Now I want to ask something," Darnley said.

"You already have," Castle said.

"Guys," Beckett told them both sternly.

"Then I want to ask something else," Darnley said before he turned to the chief. "How exactly did that work?"

"She'll make a diagram," Brad assured him. "And bring the device dismantled too."

"To the evidence room," Castle commented.

"Oh no, here," Brad replied. "I want her to explain to us immediately what it did and how exactly," he added before he was rushing to take his phone out of his pocket. "Davis," he said.

Glancing at his wife while his friend was talking to Thayer, Castle murmured to her, "Have you heard anything from Julia?"

"No," Beckett said simply, looking at her phone though she had already ten minutes before. "Which is a relief," she added before he was speaking swiftly.

"Do you want to call her at lunch?" Castle asked.

"We'll see," Beckett replied, seeing Brad was getting off the phone.

"Okay, so there's a couple things Thayer just told me," the chief said. "First is that all four were killed by the device. The garrote was long enough to do that."

"Now I really want to see that diagram," Castle said.

"Me too," Brad said. "And the other thing is they were sedated."

"That would make sense," Darnley said. "How could you handle four bodies."

"I hope you have someone looking into where they were and how they might have gotten to the event," Castle told his friend.

"Wade is now," Brad replied, writing down the information he'd had from the ME. Looking at it he said, "I forgot to mention Thayer needs to test it, but he's pretty sure it was some kind of barbiturate."

"Which would mean more to look into," Darnley said.

"Not the first time we've dealt with that," Brad said a little absently.

"What is it?" Beckett asked when he paused and hit his palm with the cap of the marker.

"I'm thinking of getting another board in here," Brad said.

"Did we miss something?" Castle asked, sharing a look of surprise with his wife.

"I feel like we did," Brad replied with a slight frown.

"Of course you did," a voice said in the doorway of the office. When the four turned to her, Skye smiled briefly and said, "Your other consultant."