Welcome to part 3 of The Castle Onion, Peeled universe! I would suggest reading the first two stories in the series or you may miss out on some references. Once again, I am not the owner of Castle or any other parts of this you recognize. I do own the plot and the characters you don't recognize but I'll share if you're nice. :) These chapters will hopefully come out about the same pace as TCOP2 did, but I will not start posting until I am at least a chapter ahead. Enjoy!

Chapter 1 The same but different

Kate Beckett had been a detective with the twelfth precinct for many years. She knew the building inside and out; thousands of hours in a place will do that for you. So it was hard to pinpoint exactly why sitting at her desk felt so surreal.

She looked at the family of elephants on her desk that had been her mothers' and the newly added picture of her and her fiance taken over the weekend at the beach. She studied the picture and could finally see what Lanie had been describing as her 'besotted' look. A neighbor had kindly agreed to take a picture of the two of them standing in front of the house. She was leaning back into Rick and had her arms over his that he had wrapped around her waist. The easy smile on both of their faces captured the feeling that they shared perfectly.

Thinking of the man in her life, she looked over at the newest addition to the bullpen; Rick's desk sat there waiting to be used, but it's owner was currently in the captain's office helping define the new rules. She looked over as the door opened and Rick walked towards the desk. He sat down in the chair and flipped on the PC.

She grinned. "Ready there, partner?"

Rick looked up and nodded. "Yeah. The captain and I have worked out the details. Where are Ryan and Esposito?"

"I have no idea. I don't think..." She shut up as her phone rang. "Beckett." She talked into the phone for a few and made some notes. After she hung up, she looked at Rick. "Ready? We have a body."

Rick nodded. "Want me to call Esposito?"

She shook her head. "I'll call and you text them the address when we are in the car."

He grinned. "You got it, boss."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her purse and keys. "Let's go. Do you have your vest?" At his nod, they headed for the elevator and out to the crime scene.

TCOP3

They pulled up at the corner of 42nd and Lexington Ave and got out of the Crown Vic. Rick looked around as they made their way to the police tape and under it. Rick nodded to LT as they neared the body. He slipped on gloves as Kate did; he looked at the young man and then at the ME. Perlmudder looked up. "Hello, detective and non-detective. There is a GSW to the chest…twenty-something year old white male. First responder saw a woman kneeling over the body but she took off before he could get to her. He secured the scene and waited for back-up." Rick rolled his eyes at the man.

Kate listened and nodded. "Is there any ID on him?"

Perlmudder shook his head. "Wallet was missing, but he had keys on him. They have been bagged." He handed the bag to her. "I'll know more when I get him back on the table but I would guess it was a small caliber handgun. CSU finished a couple of minutes ago, so I am going to move him."

"Thanks." He nodded and headed off to get the gurney.

Rick looked at Kate. "The blood pool means it happened here. What kind of car key is on the ring?"

Kate looked at it. "Looks like an Audi."

Rick leaned down and looked closely at the victim. He lifted the sport coat and noted the manufacturer. He looked around and noted a parked Audi several cars away. Taking the key from Kate he clicked to lock it and the vehicle beeped. He looked at Kate and smiled.

Esposito and Ryan pulled up and walked over to Rick. He looked at them, smirking. "It's so nice of you to join us."

Esposito rolled his eyes. "What have we got?"

"The victim was a twenty something year old white male; one GSW to the chest…small caliber. No Identification but his Audi is parked right there."

Kate walked up. "Guys, get that Audi to impound and then have CSU look it over. You guys do a quick canvass and Castle and I will head back and get the board set up." They all nodded and headed off to start their assignments.

TCOP3

Kate started on the murder board while Rick typed up his initial observations. He had taken a picture of the victim's license plate and started running it through a DMV search. While it was running he headed into the break room to make coffee. He watched Kate through the window as she stood in front of the murder board, tapping her lip with the marker. He grinned as he watched her; she was unaware that she even did that.

He grabbed their coffee and headed towards her. He handed her coffee to her and went to his desk to check the DMV search. It had completed and he looked at the results. "It looks like our vic is Henri Renard, aged 24. He was an attaché to the Swiss consulate. Home address is off of Central Park West. I'll print a picture for canvassing."

Kate smiled. "Sounds good." She liked that Rick was able to quit hiding his knowledge of procedure. She wondered how much easier it would be for them while they were working to solve cases. When he came back she took the photo from him and put it in the center of the board with the victim's name underneath. Her phone rang and she answered it.

Esposito updated her on the canvass; there was a potential witness but they only had a partial name. Ryan was speaking with a barista at a local coffee shop. Castle had forwarded the DMV photo to them and they were showing it around. "Keep at it. We need to determine what was going on this morning."

After she hung up the phone she sat back on the edge of her desk and stared at the mostly empty board. Rick got up and leaned next to her and nudged her shoulder. She looked over at him and smiled softly. "You get anything from the crime scene?"

He shrugged. "I have a couple of things to think on. One, with a job at the Swiss consulate and the location my first thought is espionage, but that doesn't fit. Two, did you notice his nails? He had a manicure done...and recently. Three, the lack of defensive wounds suggests he knew his killer. I think someone needs to follow up with his employer."

She nodded. "You want to drive?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Why mess with tradition?" She chuckled and grabbed her keys.

TCOP3

Kate couldn't help but smile. As she drove back towards the crime scene, Rick sat in the passenger seat and played with the radio. He looked over at her and grinned. "Good to be back?"

"Yeah. It's nice to be in a familiar setting. How does it feel to be able to quit hiding your skills?"

"Too early to tell. The guys seem to be okay and so does Roy. The uniforms are all okay, but Karpowski is avoiding me."

"Really? I wonder why. She likes you...she told me months ago I should just kiss you and get it over with. Maybe I will ask her if I see it."

Five minutes later they arrived at their destination. Kate found a spot and parked; they got out of the car and made their way towards the Consulate. They entered the building and Rick grinned at the primary colors that decorated the outside. They got on the elevator and headed towards the thirtieth floor.

Entering the lobby, they approached the receptionist. Kate pulled her badge and showed it to the woman. "Excuse me, but I need to talk to someone about Henri Renard."

She looked at them and nodded. "One moment, please. I will see if someone is available." She picked up the phone and spoke rapidly in German. Rick looked at Kate and smiled softly. He glanced back at the woman once she hung up; she told them that someone would be with them shortly.

A couple of minutes later a tall blond haired gentleman approached them. "Detective? My name is Klaus Brieg. I am the senior adviser for the consulate's legal team. I understand you are here about Henri?"

Kate nodded. "Henri was found murdered a couple of blocks from here this morning. We are trying to find out who killed him."

Klaus looked sadly at them. "Poor Henri! Come, let's find a room to speak in." He led them to a small conference room off the lobby. "Please, sit. What happened?"

They took seats and Kate looked at her notebook. "Around 8 this morning an officer spotted a woman leaning over Henri just inside an alley. She left the scene in a hurry. He called for backup and checked for a pulse; there was none. Henri had been shot once and his belongings were missing except for his keys. What exactly did he do here?"

Klaus wiped his eyes. "Ah, Henri was working for my office. He was a naturalized US citizen originally from a small village in central Switzerland. His parents ran a small hostel and had saved for him to attend university. He was accepted into the law program at Columbia and moved here with his parents several years ago. He was focused on contract law and worked with others here at the Consulate for Swiss companies looking to open offices here in the US."

Kate made notes while he was talking. Rick looked at Klaus for a moment. "Are you aware of any issues he was having here or at home? Possibly anyone that was angry at him?"

Klaus shook his head. "He was very easy going. No one here or that he had worked with had any issues with him."

Rick nodded. "Did he have a girlfriend? What about his parents?"

Klaus thought for a moment. "Henri was gay and I do not remember him mentioning anyone. His mother passed away about two years ago and his father returned to Switzerland shortly thereafter. He and Henri were not on speaking terms."

Rick paused as he processed the information. He thought about the facts that they had gathered and looked at Kate. She looked at Klaus. "Could we see Henri's office?"

"Of course...follow me." He led them out and back towards the elevators. He entered a hallway just before them and walked to a small office about three doors down. He opened the door and led them inside.

They looked around. The small office was very neat and organized. Rick walked over and sat in the chair and studied the office. Kate was talking to Klaus and making more notes. Rick looked at the small appointment book and opened it up to scan it. He took a plain piece of paper and made some notes before closing the book. He looked through the desk drawers, noting anything he found. Once he was done, he closed everything back up and stood.

"We'll make arrangements for his funeral. Who should we contact to collect him?"

Kate scribbled on the back of one of her business cards. "Have the funeral home contact that number and they can make arrangements once the autopsy is completed. Again, I'm sorry for your loss." She looked over at Rick and he nodded. They followed Klaus out and headed down in the elevator. Since there were others around them they really couldn't talk; Rick smiled at her and mouthed 'precinct' and she nodded.

TCOP3

They walked back into the precinct to find Ryan and Esposito sitting at their desks. Kate walked over to them. "Anything yet guys?"

Ryan nodded. "The manager of the GNC store across the street saw the victim and a young woman arguing as she went to open the store. She said that the two looked pretty upset and the woman shoved the man at one point. Then they got quiet and she went in her store."

"Did she get a good look at the woman?"

Esposito shook his head. "No, but she said the woman had a strange looking backpack that caught her attention. We got a general description on the woman from her and it fit the one that the uniform gave earlier."

Rick looked to Javier. "Did she give you a description of the backpack?"

Ryan consulted his notes. "She said it looked to be a few years old, but it was reddish brown with dirty yellow trim. It had some kind of emblem on it in the middle of the flap with a green background." Rick's eyes widened as he hurried to his desk and logged into his PC. The others walked over and watched as he opened a web browser and brought up a website. He clicked on a link and up popped a picture of a backpack similar to the one Ryan had described.

Rick printed a picture out. "Kevin, can you go back to the witness and see if she can identify this as the backpack?" He nodded and followed Javier out.

Kate looked back at the screen. "How did you know that, Castle?"

Rick looked up to her worriedly. "I used to own one of those. We used them at Sedgewyck."

TCOP3

Thanks for reading!