Author's note: It has been a long time since I wrote/posted anything related to the Castleverse, but with everything that happened in the final season, and with a sudden urge/ideas to write, I felt it was time to return to the Shadow Fox version of this world. So, without further ado, here is the first case in the final part of the saga. It starts a few years after LockSat was taken down. Hayley is a part of this universe now; Beckett has become Captain and Castle has his P.I. office (Alexis works there too). Everyone caught up? Great! Let's get started. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Castle opened the door to his P.I. offices to see Hayley hard at work already. "What do we have today, Hayley? Anything juicy for me to sink my teeth into?"

Hayley looked over at him. "Not unless you count a man who wants us to find out if his wife is cheating on him."

"Eh, boring." He headed for his desk.

"His wife came in a little later. She thinks he's cheating on her."

"Slightly more interesting." Castle sat down. "What do you think?"

"I think they should just get a divorce and be done with it, but that's not my call to make. I'll check them out."

"You really want to?"

Hayley nodded. "Yeah, it sounds like an easy one to me."

"Okay, have fun."

"I will." Hayley smiled and sat across from Castle. "So, how's your wife?"

"Enjoying her job."

"It's been, what? Two years since you guys beat LockSat? You haven't had any crazy cases since then…"

"Don't jinx it. Hey, Pumpkin."

"Morning, Dad. What's with the cops downstairs?"

Castle stood up. "I don't know. No one was there when I arrived." He looked out the window.

Hayley was looking out of the window in the reception area. "It's about a dead body."

Castle's phone rang. "Hey, Honey."

Beckett was on the other end. "I just got a call about a body at your building. I was worried."

"I'm fine. I just heard about the body. Everybody here is fine, too."

"I wasn't worried about Alexis or Hayley. The victim is a male."

"Victim? It's a murder?"

"Lanie says there's a knife sticking out of his back, so, yeah, it's murder. Meet you downstairs?"

"On my way down." Castle hung up and turned to Hayley. "It's a murder downstairs. What to come? See if you've noticed the victim around?"

"Couldn't hurt."

Beckett arrived with Ryan and Esposito a few minutes after they got downstairs. "You brought Hayley, too? No offence. I didn't mean it like..."

Hayley smiled. "It's fine. None taken."

"She spends more time in this area than I do."

"Castle just wants me to see if I know the victim from around here."

"That's not a bad idea. This way." Beckett followed Ryan and Esposito to the crime scene. "Lanie didn't give me much over the phone. All I know is white male, mid to late 50's, with a kitchen knife sticking out of his back." They walked through the police line with a few officers saying "Captain" to Beckett as she passed by.

Lanie looked up as they got to her. "Captain. Always nice when you come to my crime scenes."

"Hey Lanie. What do we got?"

"Can't give you much more than what I told you over the phone. His wallet is gone, so I don't have an I.D. We have his phone, though."

"His name is Dalton Smithe." Hayley had crouched down by Lanie to look at the victim's face. "He came in about an hour and a half ago. Thought his wife was cheating on him. His wife, Melinda, came in half an hour after he left. Same story."

Esposito turned to Ryan. "Looks like we got ourselves a suspect already."

Hayley stood up. "That would put his time of death between ten and twenty minutes ago. When did the 911 call come in?"

Esposito looked at Beckett. "Around thirty minutes ago."

"Then she didn't kill him."

Esposito scoffed. "And why's that?"

"She didn't have any blood on her when she came into the office."

"She could have washed it off."

"You can't wash blood off cashmere or suede quickly. She was wearing both fabrics."

Esposito caved. "Alright, so maybe she didn't wield the weapon, but we still need to talk to her."

"I agree." Hayley smiled, satisfied. "Just know Melinda didn't stab him."

Ryan put his phone to his ear. "I'll get her brought to the precinct."

"I can't believe he's gone." Melinda Smithe was sitting across from Beckett and Castle in the precinct lounge. "I'm not going to act like I still loved him more than life itself. I know he was cheating on me, and it's been going on for a lot longer than my relationship. Unfortunately, if I couldn't prove it, I couldn't file for divorce."

"So you were in another relationship?"

Melinda looked at Beckett. "Yes. Mostly because of my husband's relationship. You said he also went to Mr. Castle's P.I. offices?" She scoffed. "He's such a hypocrite. It's okay for him to have another relationship, but if I get one, he wants to screw me out of any money."

"Did you have a motive to kill your husband?" Castle leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands raised. "I only ask because we will have to look at you very closely."

"I get it. I was in the area, I had a reason to want him dead, but no, I didn't kill him. He was worth more to me alive."

Beckett's brow contacted in confusion. "And why is that?"

"His will states that I don't get a thing in the event of his death. I'm his second wife, and we don't have any kids. The children he had with his first wife get everything now."

"I'd like permission to…"

"I'll let my lawyer know to give you access to everything. You can search my home, see my financials and email," she pulled her phone from her purse, "and you can go through my phone records. The passcode is 8492."

"Thank you, Mrs. Smithe. Um, we will need to ask about your… relationship."

"His name is Aaron Blakeshaw. We've been together almost a year. His number is in my phone. I can text him and ask him to come in if you'd like."

"That would be great." Beckett handed the phone back and Melinda sent the text.

"There. What else did you want to know?"

"What was your morning like today?"

Melinda sat back in the armchair. "I got up around 7:30 and had breakfast. I was going to go to my yoga class, but I decided it was time for me to get proof that my husband was cheating on me. That's when I went to Mr. Castle's office."

"And your husband?"

"He left while I was eating. I thought he was going into the office, but I guess he wasn't." Melinda looked at her hands. "I didn't love my husband the way I used to, but I did still love him. I didn't kill him."

After Mrs. Smithe left, Castle followed Beckett into her office. "So, what do you think?"

"I want to believe her, but we've seen our fair share of convincing, grieving spouses."

"True." Castle sat across from his wife. "I believe her. The willingness she had to give us everything? That makes me think she didn't do it. Though I do think the boyfriend is someone to look into. If he wanted to marry her, getting the husband out of the way sounds like a good motive."

"Which is why we'll need to talk to him." Beckett's phone buzzed. "Well, Ryan and Esposito will. Lanie's ready downstairs."

"That was fast."

"That means the C.O.D. was what we saw at the scene."

"Hey, Lanie."

"Hey. Thought you might want to get out of your office."

"Much obliged."

Lanie pulled the sheet covering Mr. Smithe down. "C.O.D. is as expected. The knife punctured the right atrium and ventricle of his heart."

Castle held up the knife tube. "How hard would there be?"

"That depends on if they were going for that or if they got lucky. My guess is that they got lucky."

"Why do you say that?"

"The heart is protected by the ribs. The posterior portion of the ribs are closer together around the heart. From the front, it would be easier to get to the heart. From the back, the killer would have needed to find the gap between the ribs and reach the heart."

Beckett nodded. "He was only stabbed once. The killing blow was a rare strike."

"And the angle of the thrust was low. My guess is that the killer is between 5'2" and 5'6". His killer is probably a woman."

"You're sure?"

Lanie nodded. "That or a very short man. But I wouldn't bet on that. How tall is his wife?"

"5'9". Same as me."

"When you're not in heels. If she held her arm at a weird angle, I guess she could have killed him, but it's unlikely."

"Okay, thanks, Lanie."

"No problem." Lanie turned to Castle. "Hayley said that both the victim and his wife came into your office hoping you'd help them discover if the other was cheating on them? How often does that happen?"

"This is the first time I've heard of it happening."

"Huh." Lanie turned back to Beckett. "Well, here's the file. Good luck."

"Thanks, Lanie." Beckett took the folder and led the way back to the bullpen.

Ryan looked up as Beckett and Castle returned. "Hey, so Mrs. Smithe's records all check out. Financials, email, and phone; she doesn't appear to have any connection to any hitmen."

"What about the boyfriend?"

"He hasn't arrived yet. Esposito is trying to find him."

"Found him." Esposito walked in. "Uniforms say he was at home. He misunderstood Mrs. Smithe's text and was waiting for someone to come get him. He's on his way now."

"Good." Beckett handed Ryan the autopsy folder. "Lanie says the killer is between 5'2" and 5'6". They are also most likely female."

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Beckett nodded. "I agree with Castle. The girlfriend is a good bet, so when Mrs. Smithe's boyfriend arrives, ask him about the woman."

Esposito raised his hand. "Don't take this the wrong way, but doesn't this case seem a little easy?"

Beckett smirked. "I seem to remember a young detective who wished that life would 'gimme a Jack shot Jill over Bill so I can get my collar and go home.' What changed?"

"Ten years of working the freaky ones with you. And that was before you became Captain."

Ryan grinned. "Add another three with you at the helm and the weird cases have become old hat for us. Now the easy cases are the weird ones."

"Different kind a weird, obviously."

"Well, enjoy the easy cases when they come your way." Beckett headed for her office. "But never assume a case will be easy."

Singh Vikram stood up when Beckett came in. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes." Beckett sat and opened the locked drawer of her desk. "The victim's phone is locked. His wife didn't know the code. I'm hoping you'll be able to get in."

"Do we have a warrant?"

"We have the wife's permission, but I'll get a warrant if that will make you feel better."

Vikram took the phone from Beckett. "No, that's okay. What am I looking for?"

"His wife was sure he was cheating on her. We need to know if that's true and who the mystery woman is."

"Okay. I'll get right on that."

"Thanks. Let us know what you find."

A/N: I know this wasn't the story most people thought I would return to posting with, but I've been a little stuck on that one and this one decided to fill in the gap a bit. Hopefully I can get unstuck on that one soon. Did you guys like how this first chapter went? Leave a comment below and stay tuned for more.