Work Text:
"I solved it."
Ryan looks over the top of his newspaper at Rick Castle's daughter, who's sitting in Beckett's chair very patiently with her hands on her knees. He narrows his eyes.
"You didn't solve it," he says behind his newspaper. Alexis giggles into a smile, and rolls her eyes in a way that says, 'silly boy.'
"I totally solved it."
"How could you solve it? It's taken Beckett and Castle a week and a half to get to where we are now - you're telling me you solved it after sitting there for half an hour?"
"Yep."
"Coffee, coffee, and a hot chocolate," Espositio has a couple of Styrofoam cups from the Starbucks knock-off at the corner, which somehow manages to be both crappier coffee and more expensive, but he goes there anyway because he's got a punch card. He's so close to that free mocha frappachino he can taste it.
Esposito parks himself on Ryan's desk and takes a sip of his crappy coffee.
"So what'd I miss?" Ryan folds his newspaper, and waves it in Alexis' direction.
"She says she solved it."
"You didn't solve it."
"I totally solved it." It's another Park Avenue robbery - almost a quarter of a million dollars in diamonds and antique jewelry stolen right out of the wall safe of some fancy pants real estate baron. Castle is almost positive it's insurance fraud, and Beckett almost agrees with him, but they're stuck on who actually stole the goods. Apparently, Alexis has a teflon brain.
"You know it's taken Beckett and your Dad-"
"I know, I know. A week and a half. I can't help it if it's staring right in front of me." Ryan and Esposito pass a look between them. Esposito shrugs, like there's no way he's going to get shone up by a little girl, so what can it hurt. Ryan thinks he might know better than to tangle with a child of Castle's, but he gives in anyway.
"Alright. So, what did we miss." Alexis squeals, honest to God squeals, and wheels Beckett's chair around her desk to get closer to the two men. She can barely contain her excitement when she says:
"It's not the husband. It's the cousin."
"The lawyer guy? But we have witnesses who saw all three of them at dinner, and a doorman who says that, at eleven thirty, they all came back together."
"But who saw them leave together?" There's a long, uncomfortable pause, after which Esposito coughs into his hand, and starts thumbing through his notes on the case, while Ryan stares at her like he's thinking really, really hard. Alexis smiles brightly, and does a patented Rick Castle “Put-My-Hands-Behind-My-Head-Because-I-Just-Solved-This-Case-For-You” move.
Ryan sighs, because it turns out he really did know better, and dials Beckett's cell phone.
"Russian Brides R' Us. Yes, we do deliver." Not too far in the distance, Ryan hears a slightly muffled but fully annoyed "Castle! Give me back my phone!"
"Hey, it's Ryan. Listen. Your daughter just solved this case for you."
"She didn't solve it." Ryan tries so hard to avoid looking at Alexis' cheerfully accomplished smile.
"No, dude. She totally solved it."