"I thought you two were here to help," Beckett snapped, growing increasingly frustrated. Standing in front of the half-finished timeline on the evidence board, she found herself unable to continue jotting down notes.
"Okay, I'll help," Hannah, not as thick-skinned as the guys, picked up a whiteboard marker and stood beside her.
Jack, standing behind them, reviewed the parts already completed:
Saturday, 5:00 PM: Wedding rehearsal begins.
7:00 PM: Dinner.
9:40 PM: Guests, along with the bride, groom, best man, and maid of honor, head to the bar.
11:45 PM: The bride retires to her room.
1:00 AM: The groom returns to his room. Around the same time, the victim—maid of honor Sophie—leaves the bar with an intoxicated best man, Mike.
2:00 AM: Hotel records show Mike entering his room for the last time.
"Something doesn't add up," Hannah said, flipping through Beckett's notes. "Didn't you mention earlier that Mike was later drugged and locked in a storage room? Did he mention returning to his room at any point?"
Beckett's eyes lit up at the reminder. "No, he didn't. He said Sophie seduced him, claiming she wanted to 'try something exciting,' and lured him into the storage room."
"Then who used Mike's keycard to access his room?" Hannah asked, puzzled.
Jack chuckled. "It had to be Sophie. Looks like we've figured out why she drugged Mike."
At that moment, the elevator dinged, and Castle burst into the precinct, jogging into the office. He paused upon seeing the crowd, then shouted, "Mike's keycard!"
Without even glancing at him, Beckett turned and headed out, instructing Ryan and Esposito as she walked: "Contact Mike and find out what happened to his keycard after he woke up. We're going to the hotel."
"Huh? You figured it out too?" Castle fell in step behind Beckett, his tone eager.
Beckett ignored him, but Hannah kindly answered, "About a minute before you walked in."
Back at the Beaumont Hotel, Beckett requested hotel security to let them into the best man's room. Like the crime scene, the room had been left untouched per police orders, allowing for a fresh search.
Castle trailed Beckett into the room. "Didn't Ryan and Esposito say they'd already searched this place?"
He'd been making small talk throughout the ride, but Beckett had largely ignored him, much to Jack and Hannah's private amusement.
Jack decided to ease the tension, sensing Beckett's silence might also stem from the awkward presence of the FBI pair. "Yes, and they confirmed that Mike's keycard was missing when he woke up. But nothing else was stolen, so we're looking at this from a new angle."
Castle wandered the small room, muttering to himself, "What could be so important here that Sophie drugged Mike to get in?"
The suite, though typical of a five-star hotel, wasn't particularly remarkable. Its layout was similar to the crime scene room.
The only difference? This room was a connecting suite, linked to the adjacent one by two doors.
"I don't think Sophie wanted to access Mike's room," Beckett said, turning the doorknob and easily opening the door to the next suite.
Connecting rooms, or double suites, were common in Western hotels. Once the middle doors were unlocked, two small suites became one large one. Such setups were ideal for families or, in Jack's case, for team discussions during late-night casework with JJ when traveling with the BAU.
"So Sophie went through all the trouble of drugging Mike to get his keycard, not for his room but to access this one? Whose room is it?" Castle asked, playing the sidekick role.
Beckett shot him an annoyed look. "You don't have to act like this. My bad mood isn't because of you."
"Wait, it's not about what happened in the elevator last night? I didn't mean to avoid your question because I'm hung up on Kyra or anything." Castle defended himself hastily.
"I couldn't care less about your romantic escapades," Beckett snapped, glaring at him.
"Hey, can we focus?" Jack interjected. "Are you really going to argue at what could be a murder scene?"
Both turned to him simultaneously, blurting out, "Murder scene?"
Jack, now wearing gloves, held up an earring he'd picked off the carpet near the bed. "Remember the missing earring from Sophie's left ear?"
As if on cue, the suite's main door opened, and the groom, Grant Murphy, stepped in, looking shocked. "What are you doing in my room?"
"Would this count as a confession?" Castle quipped, glancing at his FBI and NYPD companions for backup.
"What nonsense are you—" Murphy began, only to stop mid-sentence as his gaze landed on the bloodstained earring Jack held up.
The hotel security team had circulated images of the missing earring throughout the building, so Murphy instantly knew to whom it belonged.
Under the stunned gazes of friends, family, and his bride-to-be, Kyra, Grant Murphy was escorted to a police car. Though Beckett brought him in under the pretense of "assisting with the investigation," the connection to Sophie's death was evident to everyone.
The discovery of Sophie's earring in Murphy's room had spread quickly, thanks to the hotel staff. By now, multiple versions of the story were likely making the rounds.
At the hotel entrance, Kyra stood watching, heartbreak written all over her face. Jack nudged Castle. "Not going to comfort her?"
Before Castle could answer, Hannah gave Jack a playful kick for stirring the pot.
"Of course not," Castle said, glancing at Murphy in the police car. "I'd rather hear the story this guy's about to tell."
Back at the 12th Precinct, Jack and Hannah stood behind one-way glass, watching the interrogation room where Beckett and Castle sat with Grant Murphy. Ryan and Esposito were off digging into Murphy's background.
As they munched on burgers and fries from a fast-food run, Jack and Hannah listened to the exchange.
"Your accusations are insane. I didn't kill Sophie Ronson," Murphy said, taking a deep breath to calm himself before speaking further.
"Then why was her earring found in your room?" Castle asked, his tone accusatory, like a judge passing sentence.
Beckett shot him a sharp look, already regretting letting him participate.
"Grant, this is your chance to explain. Tell us what happened," Beckett said, her tone measured. Her instincts told her the situation wasn't as straightforward as it seemed.
Without clear evidence or a motive, they couldn't secure a conviction based solely on a missing earring. And Murphy hadn't lawyered up—he'd willingly come in for questioning, which suggested there was more to the story.
"I already told you—I returned to my room around 1:00 AM. My uncle Teddy loves tequila and insisted I drink with him at family events. By the time I got back, I was wasted," Murphy said, shifting in his chair to avoid looking at Castle.
"At around 2:00 AM, I started regaining consciousness. I felt someone on my bed, touching me. I thought it was Kyra, that she'd changed her mind about not seeing each other before the wedding. But..."
"But you realized it was Sophie, didn't you?" Beckett finished for him, noting his hesitation.
(End of Chapter)
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