The Jaguar and Snow Leopardess Affair

by degunther

An 'Old Friend' has asked Karl to look into the murder of five oriental women. This is primarily a Kate and Karl Castleton only story. Time-wise, it immediately follows the Hide-and-Seek Affair. Author's Notes: I thought I would try something different and give Beckett and Castle most of the story off. They will return in the next installment in this Castle-verse.

The Jaguar and Snow Leopardess Affair

Introduction

So far Detectives Beckett, Esposito, and Ryan were enjoying a banner year as homicide detectives. This year's caseload was slightly lower than last year, but what was significant was the fact that they had no unsolved cases and all of their cases that had gone to trial had resulted in a conviction. The Team enjoyed the limelight the Chief of Detectives had placed them in and rejoiced when the Chief of Detectives give them the one thing that all hard working people cherish, paid time off.

When Castle offered the house in the Hamptons as the Team getaway 'chill' location everyone jumped on the bandwagon. As the start date for the Russian Mafia, and the date for the planned getaway, kept slipping, the Team started to get nervous. But the Indian summer held and the Team decided to stick with the plan.

When the trail finally ended successfully, guilty on all counts for all those charged, they were looking forward to their well-deserved weekend off.

Chapter 1 I didn't know my Dad could sing!

The plan for the weekend was simple. Castle would host a dinner Friday night at one of the restaurants in the village, kind of a thank-you for all accepting him into their ranks, even after he married Beckett. On Saturday everyone was free to do what they liked, sit by the pool, enjoy the sea, watch football, drive through the state park and see the trees still wearing their beautiful fall colors, bike, shop in the village, or do absolutely nothing. The Castles would cook breakfast for their guests around eight. Lunch was on your own, either from the crock pots in the kitchen, the cold cuts in the fridge or on the community if you were out and about. Dinner would be buffet style around five-thirty featuring barbeque beef, pulled pork, chicken and sides from one of the local restaurants. The entertainment for Saturday night was 'Story-time' and Castle's stories were famous for their original content and his manner of presentation.

This weekend the house in the Hamptons would be relatively full. In addition to Rick and Kate, Kevin and Jenny Ryan, Lennie, Esposito, Martha, Beckett's Dad Jim, Alexis and her new boyfriend Scott would be sharing in the fun.

Dinner went off without a hitch. As they headed back toward the parking lot Esposito spotted a karaoke bar. Words were spoken. The challenge was issued, accepted, rules defined, and the game was on!

To say the 'Sand Castle' was dead would have been an understatement. The party of celebrating NYPD Detectives easily outnumbered the wait staff and the patrons present combined. The bar was set-up in the usual fashion with the karaoke equipment upfront on a slightly raised stage. A small clear space for people to dance if they wanted too separated the stage from the patron's tables. The bar proper was to the patrons left as they faced the stage. As the name suggested, the decoration motif was items found on the beach, shells, starfish, nets, small plastic pails and shovels, etc. adorned the walls. Right next to the bar, and the first thing seen by the guests when they entered the bar was a small sandbox and in it was a rather large and intricately designed sand castle.

Kate saw the look of concern on her husband's face as he helped her into her seat. "I'll be alright Babe. I'm not going to have a case of stage fright in front of my friends," she smiled.

"You sure?"

"Yeah I am," she confirmed. Kate nodded to her right. She and Castle couldn't help but overhear the desperate conversation going on between Scott and Alexis.

"…I can't believe they expect everyone to sing," loudly whispered a desperate Scott.

"Why not? It'll be fun."

"But I can't sing and I get nervous in front of people."

"So what? No one is going to really care how well you or I do, just that we did. Believe me you have nothing to worry about, the real competition is between them," Alexis said as she waved in the general direction of the rest of the party. "We're just a diversion."

"I don't know. I don't want to screw-up."

"The only way you can screw-up is not to sing. Look there really is no shame in trying and failing. The real failure and shame is not trying. Years from now we may look back on this and laugh, but only if we participate and have something to laugh about."

"You taught her well buster," Kate whispered in Castle's ear.

"How serious," asked Castle with a nod toward Alexis and Scott?

"Serious enough that you will let it run its course." She understood the look of concern and love on her life-mate's face. "If she gets hurt, we pick her up. Dust her off. Pat her on the rump and send her back into the game. From the hints that Alexis has dropped, I got a hunch that this one is more special than her others."

"Her others," sputtered Castle.

"Some causal dates. You DO remember what it was like to go on a date don't you Old Man?"

Castle turned his gaze from his daughter to his wife. He heard the truth, tease, and the steel in her voice. He saw the look of determination and love in her eyes." Damn straight Skippy," he whispered as he kissed her on the cheek and turned his attention to the stage where Esposito was starting the night's competition.

"Dad I didn't know you could sing," blurted Alexis to the amusement of all after Castle had finished his song at the end of the solo completion.

"Me either Dad," said Kate as she grabbed her Dad's hand.

"Well your Mother wasn't the only one who sang you to sleep when you were little Katy," he said with a tear forming in his eye. "Yeah, I think she's here with us tonight and we'd give you and Rick a run in the doubles."

"I miss her too," whispered Kate.

It was the opinion of the house that Lanie won the solo completion, with Martha a close second. Kate and Rick dominated the couples competition and 'The Boys' ended karaoke night by bringing down the house.

Chapter 2 Kate Stills the Show

Saturday's perfect weather persuaded Castle to move the venue for 'Story-Time' from the area around the fireplace to outside around the fire pit. During the afternoon Castle started the fire and then began arranging the furniture. He was sure that he could stop feeding the fire around dinner time and the pit would still radiate enough heat to keep them all warm as the temperature dropped with the setting of the sun. Kate brought out blankets and quilts large enough for the couples to cuddle under. To be on the safe side, Castle placed one of the bug repellant torches at end of the patio. Leaving room for a couple of stocked coolers, Castle finished his preparations and went in search of his wife and son. He hoped he could persuade them to take one more walk on the beach before dinner.

The sun had set an hour ago and a crescent moon was just beginning to grace the eastern sky when the party gathered around the fire pit for 'Story-Time.' Both Jenny and Kate had decided to bring their little ones to the event and because of the fire-pit both of them only needed to be lightly wrapped against the evening chill. The solar powered sidewalk edge markers provided just enough illumination for the party to move around comfortably, but weren't bright enough to dampen the atmosphere. The air was still and the wind chime would provide no accompaniment for the storytellers.

"The story takes place in San Francisco," started Castle. "Our two principle characters are Kate, an heiress to a food empire and Karl Castleton. He was a Marine who was working as a private detective in New York. On an assignment he served as her body guard. He prevented her kidnapping. They fell in love got married and moved to California when Kate's father had a heart attack and Kate had to run the family business for a while."

"Sort of like the 'Thin Man,'" said Alexis.

"Sort of yes, and how would you know about the 'Thin Man'?

"Dah, how many times have we watched the movies together Dad?"

"Enough that you remember the characters I guess."

"The story begins…."

"Kate Castleton was spotted and marked as soon as she stepped off the trolley at the entrance to Chinatown," said Kate to the astonishment of all, especially her husband.

The young Tong solider was strategically placed to watch this entrance to Chinatown. His mission simple, prevent trouble from happening if he could, provide warning of situations that could spiral out of his control, like the presence of a lot of police cars heading his way, or a disturbance involving the street people and the tourists, and lastly notify higher ups if an important person showed up, like the Mayor or a movie star. The soldier didn't know why, but for some reason this beautiful woman was on the list. Summing a street kid the Triad typically uses as runners, he sent him to the sub-Lieutenant with the message that the 'Snow Leopardess' had arrived.

The runner easily moved through the Chinatown crowds and streets with the practiced ease of a native only to find the sub-lieutenant missing from his assigned post at the outdoor tea shop on Spofford Lane. The runner looked around. All was quiet. He spotted neither the sub-lieutenant nor any of his men. Surely not, the runner thought as he hurried toward the club where the sub-lieutenant's current girlfriend was rehearsing for tonight's show. The runner found the sub-lieutenant backstage at the Jade Panda Club, and delivered the message. Next he ran to deliver the same message to the Lieutenant.

'A pox on this woman,' the sub-lieutenant silently cursed. 'Why does she have to show up now? Why must I protect her and abandon watching my May-May?' "Hurry up fools," he shouted. "We've got work to do."

"Where too," asked his number two?

"Sun's Stationary on Clay. That's where the Snow Leopardess always goes first."

"Snow Leopardess," squeaked his number two. "Our Lord has personally vouched for her safety," he whispered. "If anything happens to her…."

The sub-lieutenant's face went pale as the name finally struck home. "Run you fools," he commanded. 'Oh celestial one, guide this ladies feet to the safety of Sun's place and extend your blessing over her until we arrive. This unworthy one promises to light one no two extra joss sticks during prayers tonight.' "Move it," he urged.

The Lieutenant thanked the runner for the message. Told him to rest for a minute, drink some tea and then take the message to their Lord's Gatekeeper. With a hand signal his people were up and moving and heading toward the Stationary store.

'You're late,' Kate thought to herself as she watched the Lieutenant's men silently move in position around her as she left the Stationary store. Kate had been aware of her 'Chinatown shadows' for many years now, and their origin still amazed, delighted and sometimes saddened her.

Years ago the Castleton's and the leader of one of the Triads had had a difference of opinion. They worked it out. Karl and Kate had convinced the Tirade Lord that they working for the same thing, justice for a murdered young woman. The Castleton's had solved the murder with the help of a couple of SFPD Detectives. They had traced the killer and motive for the murder to influence peddling by a chief aide in the Mayor's office and a greedy businessman. Unfortunately the man behind the scheme, and ultimately responsible for the young woman's death was beyond the reach of the American justice system. Kate knew that when Karl went to the Triad lord with the story, he was issuing a death warrant.

'There's Justice and then there's justice,' Kate remembered Karl saying when they read about the death of the businessman in the newspaper. That was the last time they talked about it.

So impressed was the Triad Lord that he granted Karl a favor, remembered Kate as she walked toward her next destination. He could have chosen wealth enough to be independent from me, easy. If he wanted to work again, he could have asked for the exclusive PI franchise in Chinatown, and it would have been granted. 'Or,' thought Kate as her head dipped momentary, 'he could have asked for a new mistress a year for life and a place to stash them. Just as easy as the money,' giggled Kate softly. 'Instead,' she thought, her chin rising high again, 'he asked the Triad Lord to protect her anytime she came into Chinatown. He made him give his promise, 'that no harm, no matter how small, shall be inflicted on his wife whenever she came to Chinatown,' hence her 'Chinatown shadows'.' You were late today,' she thought as she exited the store and casually scanned for her shadows. Satisfied that they were there she turned and continued toward her next stop.

The Triad soldier wasn't the only person who marked Kate when she got of the trolley and entered Chinatown. A medium height, nondescript oriental man in his mid-twenties was lounging on a park bench. The bench provided him a clear view of those people who got of the trolley or the bus and headed into Chinatown. With a practiced eye Lynn Wu scanned the crowd of tourists. He was the chief earner for the Wu Clan. His clan held the exclusive rights for pickpocketing in Chinatown.

Anyone looking at him would have dismissed him from their thoughts in a second. He leaned forward and appeared to be studying the 'Racing Forum' religiously. While in fact he was searching for a big fat mark to end his day. 'Today had been profitable,' he thought. 'One more good score then I can go home to my family. At least to the Clubs open and the drunken fools stumble out of the clubs and try to find a cab.' The club work was the most profitable, but often the most dangerous because drunks were so unpredictable. Daytime was less profitable, but a lot safer.

Her beauty attracted his attention immediately. With a practiced eye he priced Kate's haircut, and the fit and material of her clothes. Quickly he concluded that there was money in her purse. The shoulder bag made the lift a little more difficult, but not much he scoffed. He looked down and frowned at Kate's sensible shoes. 'Women in high heels are much easier targets,' he thought. He folded his 'Racing Forum' and followed in pursuit. For a while he just enjoyed watching Kate walk, but after twenty yards or so he got his head back in the game and started to look for the acceptable location and moment, where he could bump into Kate and lift her purse with confidence. Lynn was puzzled. His mark wasn't acting like a tourist. She didn't stop to gawk at the street vendors and flutter aimlessly from cart to cart. No. She was setting a pace that he had to hustle to maintain his interval and she seemed to have a destination in mind.

He stopped short when Kate entered Sun's Stationary on Clay. He cursed and rejoiced simultaneously. He cursed the fact that if the woman bought something in the store there would be less money in her purse and rejoiced that the bag with her purchase would encumber her and make his job easier. He found an out-of-the-way bench with a view of the door, sat down and began 'studying' the Racing Forum again. He looked at the door and sighed. Nothing prevented him from trying to do the lift in the store. The code required that he gave a percentage of the lift to the store owner as compensation for a lost sale. Also if any merchandise was damaged the owner could claim and be awarded fair value for the items. Lynn remembered the time as a young teenager he did the lift in the department store and almost got caught. Between the compensation and the damages his clan had lost money. Oh the beating he received that night. 'And only fools never learn from their mistakes.' He would wait and take his prey on her way to her next stop.

"Where's Ye Wang and his crew," growled the Lieutenant when he arrived outside of the stationery store? "He knew that I would be coming here and if she deviated from her pattern his instructions were to leave a man here with directions."

"More importantly where is the Snow Leopardess," said the ancient soldier that was his number two?

"I'll check inside," said the Team's junior man without prompting.

"Positions," growled the Lieutenant, as he thought about killing his sub-lieutenant with his bare hands. He signed with relief when his number four exited the store and walked toward his normal position.

A couple of minutes later Kate exited the store and causally looked around. The Lieutenant saw a small smile touch her beautiful face as her eyes washed over him and his Team. As always he was struck by her beauty. Athletic body with incredibly long legs, not overly endowed in the breast department, but there was no mistaking the fact that she was a woman. Taller than average, she was a giant in Chinatown and her over-the shoulder length light brown hair looked windblown. 'Like she spent this morning walking her fields,' surmised the Lieutenant. But her most striking feature, and the one that earned her the nickname as the Snow Leopardess, was her piercing green eyes. They were set in an angular face that all cultures would accept as beautiful.

'You've aged well,' he thought as he saw her turn and walk away. 'The young woman I first meet has matured into a beautiful woman in the prime of her life.' He continued to watch Kate walk away until a movement caught his eye. 'No' he silently wailed as he recognized the man stalking Kate and rushed to intercept him. The ancient warrior watched his boss watch the woman. He spied the threat to the woman at about the same time as his boss and hurried to put himself in a support position.

Lynn Wu was so engrossed with the thought of taking a fat mark that he failed to notice the arrival of the Lieutenant and his men. When Kate exited the store and walked down the street toward her next stop he moved into trail position without checking his surroundings. Kate' pace was moderate and he had to hustle to keep her in sight. She had her purse on her shoulder and was carrying the bag in her hand on the same side as her purse. Within seconds he had a plan and spotted the idea location to execute it.

'I'll just use my hook knife to cut those worthless straps,' he thought as the knife slipped easily down into his right hand. 'The gap caused by her swinging the bag will let the purse drop unnoticed. I'll catch it and be on my way. I'll do it at the intersection, like I've done hundreds of time in the past. Whichever way she turns I'll just head in the other direction,' he thought as he sped up to close the distance.

"I wouldn't do that," said an elderly sounding voice to Lynn's left.

'Steady now,' he thought, just ten more steps as he started to raise his hand.

"If you touch her, your clan won't find even a breath to bury."

Lynn hesitated and looked to his right. He knew that voice. It belonged to… THE BULL, THE ENFORCER for THE Triad Lord, and he's staring right at me. Lynn stopped dead in his track and abruptly reversed direction. The ancient soldier turned to follow until he saw his lord make a cutting motion with his hand. 'He's right,' the old one thought. 'Protecting the Lady is our priority. We know where that insignificant one lives. The beating won't be too bad. He still needs to earn. Ye Wang my not survive his beating.'

Unaware of the drama behind her, Kate turned the corner and continued towards the next stop.

Lynn Wu easily escaped and circled back to observe the Lieutenant and his troops protect the lady. "Eh," he whispered out loud. "I was almost famous." Think of the fame and the prestige. My Clan would have been famous for centuries. Imagine the fame I could have had if I had successfully stolen the purse from a woman who was under the personal protection of THE Enforcer of the most powerfully Triad Lord in Chinatown's history. They would have come and killed me. So what, the story would be told and retold and my fame and that of my Clan would be remembered forever.'

As the pickpocket watched Kate and the Lieutenants men move down the street and out of his sight, he spotted a man and a woman leisurely heading the other direction. The man had his wallet halfway sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. It was attached to his belt by a rather long chain. 'As if that's going to help,' Lynn smirked as he cruised into attack position. 'I'm Lynn Wu. I'm the best pickpocket in Chinatown. It's time for me to earn my keep.'

A few moments later Kate entered one of her favorite stores, the Silk Emporium on Waverly Place. As the name suggested the store was all about silk, from silk flowers to walk hangings, silk under garments to bed sheets. Kate's first stop was ties for her Dad. 'My Dad is one of the few men who really understand the statement a tie makes,' thought Kate. Her Dad kept a large assortment of ties at home and in the office. It was a common practice of his to change his tie to be pleasing to the people he was meeting with, a conservative rep tie for the financial people, a tie reflecting a political party's color when he visited the lawmakers and their staffs, or a club tie when he went to his club for lunch. Kate knew that her Dad used ties as a tool and appreciated his daughter adding to his tool box.

After picking up a half slip and a nightshirt for herself, Kate drifted to the fabric section. In the past Kate fell in love with the look of two of the bolts of silk, a floral pattern and one that featured cranes. "I wish I knew a good seamstress," she had said out loud. Minutes later with the bolts of material in hand a sales woman led her behind a wall hanging, through a door and into the adjacent Tailor shop. With the sales woman acting as an interpreter and using sketches the tailor had on hand they matched the material to the sketch. After haggling over the price, Kate was measured and the dresses were made. Kate had worn the floral print cheongsam to a wine tasting garden party in Napa and again to the races at the State Fair. The crane pattern cheongsam she wore to the New Year's Eve Ball hosted by the Governor. In all cases the dresses had been a hit.

Remembering a pattern she had seen on a previous trip, Kate searched the tables containing the silk bolts with her eyes searching for a specific color. Finding two she liked she looked up and immediately spotted the saleswoman that was shadowing her. "Do you think he'll….?"

"For you absolutely," she replied with a smile. "He saw your picture in the paper wearing his dress you know, and for the next month he was impossible to live with."

"Let's hope it happens again," said Kate with a huge smile.

"Let's," agreed the saleswoman with a huge smile of her own.

While standing watch at the Emporium the Lieutenant summoned two of the street kids. One he sent back to the Stationery store with a message for his sub-lieutenant. The other he sent to his Lord requesting a meeting to discuss a personnel issue.

Kate's last stop before lunch was at a men's store where she picked up shirt studs and a pair of dragon motif cufflinks that caught her eye. "I don't know he manages to lose so many shirt studs," Kate complained to the salesclerk, "But he does."

On her way to her favorite Chinatown restaurant for lunch Kate laughed and shook her head. "After almost eight years of marriage, my biggest complaint is that my husband losses shirt studs," she verbalized, "I need to thank my lucky stars." 'And kiss and hug my husband. I'll do that after dancing,' she promised herself.

After a short wait at the restaurant, Kate was shown to a choice street-side table. After ordering her usual, chicken and shrimp in a light cream sauce with peapods, bamboo sprouts, and water chestnuts. Kate said a silent prayer, took a sip of her hot tea, settled back in her chair and started to daydream about her blessings.

Seven years ago they had come to California to run the family business when her Father suffered a heart attack. It had taken him several years to recover and change his life-style. To his credit he did and was back running the day-to-day operation of the company. He had limited his smoking to just cigars, and that just to one after supper. The same could be said about his drinking. She was proud of her Father when he started exercising and lost the fifty pounds. She liked to like that she and Karl was the reason for him making the effort to lose the weigh, but she knew better. The real reason was their son, Alex. In her heart she knew that her Father wanted to treat his Grandson like the son he never had. In order to do so he had to be healthy and physically fit enough to take him horseback riding, camping, hunting and fishing. She didn't really care why her Father got on the health kick, she was glad he did.

He had kept his daughter on as VP of Special Projects and together they had worked to make the company, modern, efficient, environment and people conscious and of course very profitable. Their innovations had increased the productivity of their operations and had set the standard for food production and processing in California. Their success had attracted national attention.

Being 'demoted' to VP gave Kate the time she needed to do what she loved, write mystery novels. The last two books written under her Darius Sutter pseudonym had stayed on the New York Times best sellers list for over thirty weeks each. She had just finished the proofs on her latest effort and was waiting to hear back from her editor. Kate remembered the hundred or so rejection notices she collected on her way to selling he first story. A lot of the notices noted that they liked Kate's style, but her idea of a woman leading a team of homicide detectives in New York City was just too far-fetched to sell in today's market. A small publishing house had taken the risk, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Kate looked at her wedding band and the tiny diamond that was her engagement ring and couldn't suppress the smile that engulfed her face. Over the years Kate had taken a lot of grief over the size of the ring from her rich and affluent friends. She ignored it. She knew that the ring represented all of the money Karl had at the time, and to her knowledge none of her friends' spouses had offered them everything they had. And Karl had lived up to his promise. When they first arrived in California Karl was out of his depth, and definitely out of his comfort zone. But he had adapted and was thriving. 'Speaking of thriving,' thought Kate. Alex was already in first grade and number two son, Martin, would start preschool in the fall. Her right hand casually dropped down and gently touched her abdomen. 'Grow' she thought. Kate promised herself that she would tell Karl that number three was on her way when they got home.

With Kate in the restaurant the Lieutenant took the opportunity to dismiss his men to eat and return within forty-five minutes and to confront his sub-lieutenant. The conversation was brief and brutal. The Lieutenant wasn't surprised when a messenger found him. He was surprised that the message ordered him to conduct the Snow Leopardess to his Lord's presence.

When Kate looked up from finishing her lunch she noticed that the tables around her were empty. Empty except for one where a western dressed Chinese man sat drinking his tea. He was tall for a Chinese, strongly built, and had the eyes of a killer. Kate recognized him immediately. He was the Triad Lords chief lieutenant and the man that had met in that first meeting so long ago. Kate looked up and tried to catch the waiter's attention.

"There won't be a check," the Lieutenant said in good but lightly accented English. "Your lunch is the owner's gift to my Lord. Come we have an appointment. My Lord wishes to speak to you."

Kate left a generous tip, gathered up her packages, stood up and accepted the offered arm. After they left the restaurant they were met be a taller, leaner version of the Lieutenant. "I'll take your packages Ma'am," he said in excellent English. "They'll be safe with me. I'll make sure they'll get to your hotel."

"Thanks," Kate replied after seeing the Lieutenant nod.

"What would your husband think if your husband saw you on my arm like this," asked the Lieutenant as they headed toward the meeting with the Triad Lord.

"Nothing," immediately replied Kate. "If anything he would appreciate your manners for escorting me." Kate paused before continuing so that she could drive home the point. "He trusts me to be his WIFE at all times and under all circumstances. I trust HIM to be my husband. No matter where's he's at." The Lieutenant wasn't used to hearing a western woman speak to him in that tone of voice. He understood Kate clear enough. Her love and commitment to her husband was absolute and reflected in the steel of her voice.

As they walked they left the glitz and glamor of mercantile Chinatown behind and entered the crowded residential neighborhoods where the merchants and workers lived. Beyond the neighborhood lay their destination. The Triad Lord kept his office in the warehouse district. The party entered through the loading dock of a nondescript warehouse and turned right. They stopped at a door which was immediately opened from the other side and Kate was bowed through by a beautiful young woman dressed in traditional oriental clothing.

Making the universal 'follow-me' gesture she gracefully led Kate down a small dimly light corridor and outside to a green oasis of such beauty that Kate literally stopped in her tracks to admire it. There was the sound of running water and a small pond. The bushes were in flower and there were flowers of all types and colors everywhere. She watched the butterflies play among the flowers and the dragonflies skim across the pond. In the air she could detect the fragrance of honeysuckle, lilac and perhaps spearmint. The woman led Kate down the path and across a small bridge to a pavilion on the other side. She pointed to a low table, "My Lord will join you shorty." She smiled as she continued "His next appointment will surely wail as he's waiting my Lord's pleasure."

Kate returned her guides bow and easily said down on the cushion behind the table. She smiled as she thought of Tom Lei, her manager for the Strawberry Fields project. His wife kept a traditional Japanese household. She and Karl had been their guest at dinner often enough that even her long legged husband felt comfortable eating dinner at the low table.

Kate took the time to access her surroundings. On her side of the table was a folder. She reached for it and stopped. I'll wait, she thought. Beside the table was a teapot on a burner and teacups. If I were a man I bet that would be sake. Looking around the pavilion she noticed the placement of the pillows for sitting and the fine wall and floor coverings. Ironwood and jade screens divided the space into two distinct areas. The area she was in was the biggest and probably setup for common use. In the gap between the screens she could she a shrine to Buddha. She thought that was a private meditation area. The dual tracks in the floor and the guides on the ceiling convinced Kate that the pavilion could be screened or glassed off from the weather.

This must be his private retreat. The place he comes to think or discuss a delicate matter, she concluded. Kate glanced at the canaries signing in two huge birdcages and thought their voices were a perfect accompaniment to the gentle sound of the flowing water. Kate was so engrossed in the sights, sounds, and smells of this unexpected haven of tranquility that she almost didn't notice the flutter of a wall hanging that heralded the arrival of the Triad Lord.

"Thank you for permitting me to share this place with you," said Kate as she gave the Triad Lord a respectful bow when he came into view. "And for such lovely music," continued Kate gesturing toward the canary cages.

The Triad leader returned the bow, "Yes," he said in perfect but accented English, as he continued toward the table. "My seven golden dragons always sing sweetly when they see such a beautiful guest." He watched Kate's facial expression. When she didn't react, the lord thought 'So you don't know the story about the monk and the seven canaries. Too bad it's a great story.'

Kate felt her cheeks flush at the complement and bowed again when her host gracefully sat down at the table.

"Tea," he asked after he had returned Kate's bow?

"Yes, please." As he was pouring their tea Kate observed her host. 'He has aged well,' she thought. 'A few more care lines around the eyes, but outside of that he still looks fit. The suit doesn't hide that fact he's built like a bull,' observed Kate. 'My Dad could teach him a thing or two about ties though.' Since her last visit years ago, the Triad Lord had adopted a shaved head look. That combined with a Fu-Manchu style mustache and goatee gave his face the element of ferocity he was trying to cultivate, and left no doubt as to his heritage. The feature the caught Kate's attention was his eyes. They were intelligent of course. They also spoke of cruelty, strength, control, and surprisingly compassion.

Kate took a small sip of the tea and waited. The fact that her host had served her himself was not lost on her.

"I'm in need of a small favor," the Lord began in perfect by slightly accented English. "That man,' he said as he gestured at the folder on the table, "is interviewing with your company next week. It would please me if your company hired him."

Kate opened the folder, noted the name and hoped her poker face didn't slip when she noted the family resemblance in the photo. "Yes he is, Wednesday in fact. He's being interviewed by Smith, Davis, Gonzales, and McDonnell. They are my top people. These credentials got him the interview. Graduating Cum Laude from Northwestern and number one from Kellogg are great achievements, but we hire people not paper," Kate said as she closed the folder and put it down.

"To us the interview means more than all of the credentials in the world. If my managers think he is worthy we will make him an offer. If not we won't. AND I WILL NOT OVERRIDE THEM." Kate threw up her hand to stop the expected protest.

"If my people accept him, he will be brought in and placed in a position where he will be taught how we do business and offered the opportunity to demonstrate his capability and to grow. If he is brought in over the objections of my people everyone will know it. He will be tolerated and not taught, and when he finally returns to you he will be unsuitable for your use. I'd rather face your wraith now, not then."

'How dare she defy me,' thought the Triad Lord. 'I'll…' He bit back his comments when he saw Kate's upturned hand and waited for her to explain. …She understands my intent. That's … he blinked and regarded Kate with new found respect. He was expert at interpreting body language and what he saw as he examined Kate through his half-closed eyes both shocked and comforted him. The woman was not afraid of him in the least. She was intelligent, strong willed and confident in herself. When combined with loyalty, these were the characteristics he prized the most, and he had no doubt that she was absolutely loyal to her husband.

Kate watched various emotions flow across her host's face. Evidentially she saw one that looked like acceptance. "What I can do," she continued, "Is monitor how well he's doing. Kick him in the ass if he needs it, pat him on the back if he deserves it, and offer him an opportunity to learn in a variety of different situations. That way when he finally returns to you he is fully trained and has been exposed to a wide variety of business situations."

"That…That will be acceptable."

Kate nodded. "If he is as good as those credentials indicate and he works hard for us, then not even the smallest favor is owed," said Kate as she locked eyes with her host. When he nodded, she turned her head to look at the beautiful garden.

"Do you have any more shopping to do?"

"Yes. Two stops in fact," answered Kate, turning back to look at the Triad Lord and clearly aware that their business had been concluded. "One at the toy store on Clay. Another bag of blocks is needed so that number one and number two son can build things together. The second stop will be at the Sweets cart near the trolley stop. My husband loves the candied cherries and the mixed nut mix."

"No need. I'll have those delivered along with your previous purchases delivered to your hotel. Oh, there is one other thing. Your husband will be late for dinner."

"How late," said a suddenly anxious Kate? "Should I plan on dining alone?"

"Heavens no," replied the Triad Lord with a laugh. "Or business is important yes, but the discussion shouldn't take long. I'd imagine he'll be back in time to shower, change and make a seven-thirty dinner reservation at the Top-of-the-Mark. Eight if you are going elsewhere."

"Thanks for telling me," said a relieved Kate. "And once again thanks for sharing this."

"You're welcome," the Triad Lord said as he rose to his feet. He clapped his hands and gave Kate a bow in parting. "Please excuse me I do have another pressing matter to attend to."

"Of course," replied Kate as she returned his bow.

A moment later the young woman reappeared and led Kate back out to the warehouse. On the other side of the door she was met by her escort. This time lead by an ancient looking man.

"We go trolley Yes? He with you hotel yes," the ancient man continued pointing at the man who had taken Kate's packages earlier.

"Trolley yes," said Kate with a smile. "Hotel no need," Kate continued shaking her head no.

"It's our Lord's command," said the young man in perfect English.

"In that case I kindly accept." Kate took a step forward and the detail burst into action.

Kate entered the lobby and went straight to the Concierges desk. After a few minutes she headed toward the elevators, disappointed that there wasn't a band playing in San Francisco tonight worth dancing to. 'Oh well,' she thought. 'The 'Swift Note' will have to do.

Kate entered their hotel suite, dully noted the packages had been delivered and immediately headed to the telephone to call home and check on her boys. That done, Kate took a shower and repaired the damage caused to her hair by this morning's expedition to her Strawberry Fields project. After dressing in sweat clothes, she hung out her dancing dress and made sure Karl's tuxedo with the long tails was clean and the creases in his pants sharp. Grinning she went back out to the front room and extracted the midnight blue bowtie she had just bought at the Silk Emporium and returned.

"Of course I'm going to have to tie it," she said out loud to no one. It was a game they played. Karl always pretends he doesn't know how to tie the bowtie and I of course tie it for him. While she tied it, Karl would hold her close. When she finished he would grab her ass and steal a kiss. It was a game she hoped they never stopped playing. Kate flicked an invisible piece of dust off of Karl's jacket, frowned and hurried back into the front room. She quickly returned with the shirt studs and the cuff links she had just purchased. After placing them on the dresser she surveyed her preparations. Satisfied, she once again went to the living room and extracted a journal from the stationery store bag.

She also extracted another book, her son's first journal. Kate remembered her Mom handing her, her first diary on her seventh birthday. From that she developed a love for writing and decided to become a writer. Kate didn't know what the future held for Alex. All she hoped is that her son would practice observing his surroundings, formulate his only opinions and develop the skill to clearly and succinctly document his observations and forcefully articulate his opinions. If he could do those things, Kate was confident that he would grow intellectually and become an independent thinker. Of course that may lead to some authority issues later, but she was confident she could handle him the same way her Mother handled her.

Karl was also teaching Alex to be aware of his surroundings, but for an entirely different reason. Kate objected strenuously when Karl included Alex in their morning exercise routine. Not because of what Karl was teaching, but because up to this time their morning routine had been THEIR time together. She resented its loss. Karl insisted. And over time Kate had seen her Alex grow stronger and more confident, almost on a daily basis, and that had brought tears of joy to her eyes.

After putting her son's book back in the bag, she took her book in the sitting room. After repositioning the chair to give her a view of the bay, as well as to take advantage of the natural light, Kate selected a radio station she liked she sat down and began to outline, then to write.

Present day

Kate looked around the fire pit. All eyes were on her. Even those of her son who appeared to be holding on to his Dads finger with his left hand for dear life. "You're up Babe," she announced in a slightly raspy voice. "I need to rest my voice for a bit. Come here tiger," she cooed to James. "It's our turn to listen to Daddy."

Castle waited for everyone to freshen up their drinks and settle down before beginning his contribution to 'Story Time.' The night had grown chiller, but the fire pit was doing its thing and Castle felt no need for a blanket. The dark had deepened. The crescent moon lingered as if eavesdropping and offered its pale light as recompense. The wind remained silent, as if it too was listening. Castle took a deep breath gathered his thoughts and began.

Chapter 3 No Good Deed

Karl Castleton fidgeted in his chair on the podium. He looked at his watch, back at the speaker and shifted again trying to find a comfortable sitting position. His presence at these proceedings wasn't really necessary, but the Japanese-American League had chosen to include him in the announcement and out of politeness he had accepted their invitation. Now he was paying the price. Karl silently cheered as the current speaker ended his speech and the Chairman of the League took the podium to close the proceedings. 'At least he did something,' thought Karl. 'If I have to listen to another self-congratulatory speech given by another non-participant I'll…'

Karl zoned out and remembered how it began. He had promised Tom Lei, Kate's manager for the very successful and innovative Strawberry Fields project that he would look into it. The 'it' was the fact that a cousin of his Japanese-American wife had had his home and property confiscated in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor when they were interned in a Camp in Utah. Despite all of his efforts stretching over several years the prospect of him ever recovering what was rightly his seemed dim.

Growing up poor in one of the boroughs of New York City he understood hate, pride, fear, and most of all prejudice. His experience as a Marine in the Pacific during WWII drove home the point that despite their differences they were all American's. As a Marine he had sworn an oath 'To support and defend the Constitution…' To Karl the idea that his fellow Americans could be so systematically dehumanized, have their property stolen from them without due process and forced to relocate was a blot on his nation's honor that he wanted to remove. What was ironic was the fact that some of the Japanese families had been in America longer than the 'true Americans' that wanted them relocated.

It had taken two years, but in the end he was able to help Tom Lei's wife's cousin. Not because of any feeling of remorse or sense of justice by the general public, but because of an administrative over site by a County Clerk. After paying the back taxes the deed was issued and the fight over ownership of the property went into the California courts.

Karl's initial success prompted hundreds of calls for help. With Kate's wholehearted support Karl did his best to help them. What had started as a favor for a friend had turned into a full time endeavor and then a crusade. He was able to help a lot of people, but there were a lot more he could do nothing for. Somewhere along the way Karl and the Japanese-American League had become aware of each other and joined forces. The League used its political and financial clout and turned all of the cases into one class action suit. This saved money, offered additional hope for the people, and helped sped up the process.

Today they were celebrating the fact that the California Supreme Court had ruled in their favor of their position and the United States Supreme Court had declined to hear the appeal. They had declared it to be 'an issue internal to the Great State of California.' The check they gave him for 'services rendered 'was very generous. It represented four years of billing and a finder's fee for all of the property recovered and restored to the rightful owner.

The applause signifying the end of the Chairman's speech brought Karl back to the present. He checked his watch. Unless he hustled he would be late. Kate worried when he was late, and he didn't like coming home to a worried Kate. After congratulating the Chairman, Karl left the podium and tried to sneak down a side isle toward the exit and his wife. At the foot of the stairs of the podium was a group of reporters. They were led by a rather loud and slightly obnoxious young woman. "Mr. Castleton," she half yelled, "Could you describe your role in all of this."

"No role really," shrugged Karl. "I just helped a couple of people reclaim their homes that's all."

"But what about the people who are currently living there? Some of them are going to have to move. That's not fair."

"There is that," admitted Karl. "I'm no expert but I think their Title Insurance covers this contingency."

"It's still not fair," said another reporter.

"Let me try to explain the situation another way. You have a place right?"

"Yeah, in the Panhandle."

"Suppose you go away on vacation for a month and when you come back the locks on your place have been changed and a family is living there. They say they been there for a couple of weeks and have a valid lease agreement that gives them the place for a year."

"That's not right that's my place," she said indignantly.

"Right, you take them to court, win the case, and force them to move out. To you its justice, to them it's unfair."

"I still don't…"

"Sue," said another reporter. "What he say's makes sense."

"But the government moved them because they were a threat to our nation," continued the loud reporter.

"Really," remarked Karl dryly? "How many of them were every convicted of performing acts of sabotage or espionage against the United States?...Let me answer that for you None, Zip, Zero. And how threatening were the Japanese-American Army units that performed with distinction and bravery in Europe?...Not very," said Karl with some heat and anger in his voice.

"Have you guys actually read the Executive Order which allowed the internment of the Japanese? ….No. Well I suggest you do before you start writing pieces on this topic. FDR will go down as one of the greatest American Presidents of all time, but this Executive Order… We can all understand why he wrote it. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor Americans were both pissed and scared. He wrote it to give his Commanders a tool they could use to safeguard American's but how it was implemented, especially here in California was wrong….I wonder if Eisenhower revoked it," Karl wondered out loud?

"What makes you say that the California did it wrong?"

"California, like most of the western states, applied it to all people of Japanese ancestry. On the East Coast it was selectively applied to people of German and Italian descent. Another thing, the wording is so loose that an appropriate Military Commander could declare that reporters in the San Francisco Bay area pose a risk to the Nation's security and ask the Secretary of War to relocate all of you."

"They couldn't do that," half shouted the young female reporter. "The First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press and free speech."

"The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee s that 'no State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.' All it took was a little fear and paranoia to trample that right into the dust. I for one DO NOT want to see it happen again."

Karl looked at the faces of the reporters and of the crowd that had been drawn to the conversation. On some faces he saw understanding, some concern, others nothing, and on still others contempt and hatred.

"Look," he said softly but loud enough for all to her. "Freedom is a tough thing to practice and to preserve. It takes hard work and effort on all of our parts. Our leaders are responsible for putting measures in place to provide for our safety. These measures include detecting and neutralizing the threats BEFORE they can damage our nation and our people. However; and this is the real tricky part, these measures should not adversely affect our freedom or our quality of life. We as citizens must fight to preserve our freedom, because that is what makes America great and the envy of the world. If we allow our Freedoms to slip away bit by bit, we may never get them back. Also we all must help our leaders devise the tools they need and help them any way we can to preserve our freedom. I for one don't want to have to answer the question of 'How free is a dead man.' "

"I get it, Freedom is an ongoing struggle," said the loud female report. "But I don't understand how you could help these people. You fought in the war right, as a Maine in the Pacific, against the Japanese?"

"Yes I fought in the Pacific against the Japanese, but these people," he continued with a hand gesture that took in the whole room, "are Americans." Karl made a show out of looking at his watch. "Please excuse me. I'm late and my wife worries when I'm late. It's been nice talking with you," Karl said as he gently pushed through the knot of people around him and headed for the exit. The reporters watched Karl walk away; when they saw that the Chairman was free they all rushed to interview him.

Karl hurried out of the auditorium and out of the building. He bypassed the cab stand and headed toward the trolley stop that would take him to his hotel. Karl set a brisk pace. Between sitting all afternoon and the interview he felt the need to stretch his legs and regain his composure. The morning's fog had been replaced with low dark gray clouds and a light drizzle. The gloominess reflected Karl's mood.

"Don't hurry so, or I'll never be able to catch up," said a familiar voice in accented English. "Besides an 'Old Friend' has asked to see you.'

Karl slowed down, but did not look back. He knew that voice. It belonged to his hard won friend, the chief enforcer for the Triad lord. When the Lieutenant drew up to him Karl turned his head and nodded a greeting. He saw the pained expression on his friend's face and decided that silence was the best policy. Side-by-side they walked the ten blocks toward the entrance to Chinatown. About two blocks away from the entrance the body language of both men began to change. The sadness on the Lieutenant's face was replaced with his usual iron visage and continual vigilance. For Karl the change was just as dramatic. Gone was posture of an introspective man. He was more upright, his face a mask and his eyes darted everywhere. The streetwise of Chinatown noted that two predators had just entered their midst and tried not to attract their attention as they scurried away.

Karl's and the Lieutenant's entrance into Chinatown was noted by three men and a boy. The boy had been posted there by the Triad Lord and scampered to report to his Master that the Lieutenant and the foreigner were on their way. The three men were members of the Wu clan and were meeting to discuss tonight's territorial assignments.

"Eh," said the youngest man, "I would pay good money to watch a fight between those two."

"They almost fought three times," said Lynn, the elder of the group and the pickpocket from this morning.

"Almost," asked the third?

"The first time was when they first meet. The foreigner had put two of the Enforcers men down. They stopped when that one's wife fired a gun. The second time they almost fought over an insult. It was stopped when that one's wife told him to apologize and to ignore what had been said."

"A woman, really? He must be weaker than we thought if he hides behind a woman."

"This woman," said Lynn, "the Lord himself has vowed to keep safe. She is a dragon in her own right. Obeying her will is no weakness."

"And the third?"

"I almost got to watch it. They were about to go at it when the people they were waiting for showed up. It was beautiful to watch the raging Bull and the…" Lynn stopped to think for a moment. Bull was the nickname that the Lieutenant had earned. He was strong, broadly built, and charged headlong into danger. The white man was taller and moved more like a cat… a great hunting cat. He wasn't overly big like a Siberian tiger, or regal looking like a lion, but there was something…. He is an American. What is the name of the biggest cat in America….Jaguar that's it. "Jaguar" added Lynn.

"They rushed them before they were ready, and before the Bulls men arrived to help all ten of the bad guys were on the ground and out of the fight. What's more those two started to argue as to who took down more of the opposition. Finally the ancient one said something. They both started to laugh, and then they bowed and shook hands. Now only someone with a death wish gets in their way," said Lynn as they watched the Bull and the Jaguar walk out of sight. "… Now then I'll take the …."

"I promised your beautiful wife that that I would not keep you long," announced the Triad Lord as the meeting began. The meeting was short, to the point and Karl promised to look into the matter for his friend. Gathering up the material he placed it his jacket pocket and left. At the edge of the warehouse district Karl's way was blocked by a gang of toughs. He knew that if he tried another street the story would be the same. He also knew that if tried to barge through a fight would erupt and he didn't want that. He also knew that he was in Chinatown and he was being watched. So he stopped and waited. In less than a minute he heard a piercing whistle and orders being barked. The toughs vanished like a curtain of fog before a strong wind. Later, Karl arrived at the hotel without incident.

"Your home later than I thought," said Kate as she rose out of her chair, placed her book on the desk and hurried to her husband's arms, "but we still have time."

"The boys," Karl asked after a kiss and a hug "and time for what?"

"The boys are fine. When I called, they were in a hurry to get back outside and play before dinner. Dinner upstairs at seven-thirty and dancing at the Sweet Note, that is if agree kind Sir."

"Most definitely," said Karl "I'd better get a move on then." When they broke the hug, the sound of crinkled paper came from Karl's jacket pocket. 'What's that,' she wondered?

While Karl showered Kate dressed simply and efficiently. Her makeup consisted entirely of her lipstick, and her jewelry, simple studs for her ears and a single, long gold chain made of extremely small links. Karl was just stepping out of the shower when Kate removed the paper from his jacket pocket and returned to the desk. There were five pieces of paper. Each piece of paper had a picture of a beautiful young woman of mixed Oriental and Caucasian lineage paper clipped to it. The sheet contained biographic and personal information.

"They're all dead you know," offered Karl as he lightly touched Kate's shoulder.

Kate bit back a scream and almost jumped out of her chair. "You," she exclaimed. "You need to learn to make more noise or cough or something. Sometimes I think you're trying to scare me to death." Kate looked back over her shoulder at her husband. The expression on his face of remorse, laughter, and love was priceless. He stood motionless as if afraid to move, and the new bowtie was waiting to be tied.

"I forgive you, you know," said Kate as she got up out and moved into her husband's arms to play the 'bowtie' game. 'After almost ten years of marriage,' thought Kate as she finished tying Karl's tie, "my second biggest complaint is that he moves to quietly. He's most definitely a keeper.' After the kiss, Kate settled herself on Karl's arm and they headed toward dinner.

With the knowledge that they were going dancing, the Castleton's ate light, just soup, salad and strawberry shortcake for desert. "You mind love," asked Karl when the waiter poured the wine for Karl to taste. "My taste buds are on ..ah… holiday."

Unladylike Kate reached across the table grabbed Karl's glass, tasted it and declared it adequate. Kate knew that the real reason why Karl asked her to taste the wine. Karl lacked the protein, enzyme, or whatever to fully metabolize alcohol. As a consequence a couple of drinks could literally kill him. Three beers at his 'Boot Camp' graduation party had put him in the hospital. Since then he had been extra careful. The teasing didn't last too long, after all who ever heard of a Marine who couldn't drink. The other thing his squad mates knew about Karl was that he could fight!

Kate always found it ironic that Karl had married into a family that owned some of the best vineyards in California, and he couldn't drink a drop of wine.

The drizzle had matured into real rain and as a consequence Kate and Karl opted to take a cab for the short trip to the Sweet Note. Kate settled back in the cab, looked at her husband and remembered when they first discovered that they liked to dance. It was literally their wedding dance. It was during that dance when they moved gracefully as one that all fears about being together died.

Their courtship had been unusual in the extreme. It consisted of Kate fighting by Karl's side to prevent her kidnapping, Kate nursing Karl back to health after the gunfight and waiting for the big dope to realize that she loved him as much as he loved her. 'It hasn't been happily ever after,' thought Kate, 'but I would change a second of the time we've been together.'

After the short trip Kate and Karl skipped across the puddles on the sidewalk and into the atrium of the Sweet Note. The line for tickets was small, but the noise coming from inside the hall was immense.

"Two please," said Karl placing the money on the counter.

"The ticket," began the young woman behind the counter reciting the speech she gives hundreds of times a night, "represents the cover and does not include a two drink minimum…."

"We understand," said Karl.

The young woman looked up at the sound of Karl's voice, noticed their evening dress and then their faces. "Hi guys," she said her face breaking into a huge smile only to turn into a frown. "I... ah…. we… ah… we have a movie crew in the house today. The producer, director, the stars everybody and ah… the boss gave them your table."

"That's alright," said Kate. "We don't feel much like sitting tonight anyway. As long as we can get our normal waitress."

"Just walk toward your normal table I'm sure Sue will collect you in a flash."

The Castleton's ignored the young man with the seating chart and headed straight for the center section. They had made it ten steps on the dance floor, and by the young man's voice they could tell that he was becoming irritated. A step later their usual waitress broke free and rushed to their defense. "Their mine Tim," she yelled with a huge smile on her face. "There a couple of my regulars." She turned to face the Castleton's. The smile disappeared and in a solemn tone of voice announced. "As you can see, we have a problem."

"If you have a table for us then we don't," said Karl.

"Fourth tier and it's not very good."

"That's okay," said Kate. "We came to dance, not listen."

"Great," she said as her sunny smile reappeared.

"Eyes front buster," whispered Kate after she had caught Karl checking out the female movie star. "And don't tell me it's a genetic thing."

"Well it is," whispered Karl in return. "And no matter how many women I look at from AFAR I have and always will return to the most remarkable and beautiful woman in the world. I will always come back to the woman who has captured my heart, my imagination and my soul." Karl responded to Kate's gentle squeeze of his hand by adding, "Who, I might add, was crazy enough to say yes when I asked her to marry me. ….Besides," he said in a voice loud enough for Sue to hear, "I don't think I could afford that woman's makeup bill."

Kate started laugh, stumbled and found herself falling. Suddenly she was caught, lifted up and gently deposited on the step above Karl. Safely in her husband's arms, she locked eyes with him, "You know words like that could make you lucky tonight," she husked as she leaned in to give Karl a gentle kiss.

"Guys," laughed Sue. "Your table is this way." Her musical laughter caused the Castleton's to break the kiss and grin like teenagers. Kate thought that the touch of pink on Sue's cheeks made her look downright adorable.

"As I said the table is lousy."

'She's right' thought Kate. 'We can't see the dance floor or the band and calling the acoustics horrible would be extremely politely. ' "It'll do," said Kate. "Just don't make it a habit."

"The usual," said Karl handing Sue the money for the drinks and a sizeable tip.

"Before I take care of this," Sue said holding up the money. "Does the band know you're here?"

"I don't think so," said Kate. "Karl?"

"Clueless"

"Okay, I'll tell them first. They really enjoy playing for you guys. Ray, he's the leader said that watching you guys dance to their music inspired them to become better musicians. I'd better hurry," she said as she headed down the steps.

Karl reached out and grabbed Kate's hand returned her smile and together they waited for the music to start. Normally the Castleton's sat out the first two songs, but tonight something was different. Maybe it was the fact that they had been in San Francisco all week and this was their first opportunity, or maybe it was the fact that someone else had their normal table, or… It didn't matter. Almost as soon as the first song started Karl looked at Kate and gently squeezed her hand.

"Yes lets," proclaimed Kate as she almost leaped out of her chair.

When they got to the edge of the dance floor they waited politely for the song to end. Kate moved in front of Karl and was immediately engulfed in his arms. Leaning back against Karl, Kate closed her eyes and tried to think why they liked to dance to jazz so much. At the balls and receptions they waltzed and tangoed. It was fun. The music was superb, dresses fantastic, and the company extraordinary, but the dancing was maybe choreographed too much. Living in Sacramento, they had ample opportunity to square dance, and they did. The fast paced hopping and stepping, along with the inherent enthusiasm of the caller and the other dancers made almost every night fun. But dancing to jazz and swing was just special. Kate didn't know why. It just was. Maybe it's because when we dance we dance instead of doing a dance.

Kate opened her eyes when the first song ended and lead Karl onto the crowded dance floor. The tempo for the second song was moderate, and dancing room was at a premium. Despite the lack of room Kate and Karl still managed to convince those around them that they knew how to dance. The third song was at a fast tempo and the fourth at a slow and cuddly pace, which both the young and old lovers loved.

Having a fast paced song right before a slow song, and making every fourth song a slow song was the houses formula for driving people to their seats where they would rest for a song or two and most importantly drink. This normally meant that from song five until the last two songs of the night the Castleton's had all of the space they needed.

The fifth song ended with a smattering of applause. The Castleton's were amused when the movie star and her partner took the bow. The sixth song started with the Castleton's spinning gracefully to the right edge of the dance floor nearest the tables. There they separated with Kate holding Karl's right hand. Together and in perfect synchronization they stepped, slide, spun, tap danced, and crossed over with such precision that most people thought they were watching a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers dance routine. Finally they came together and swirled their way to the center section and performed a similar routine, but this time with Kate holding Karl's left hand. Again they came together and swirled their way to the leftmost section and danced with Kate again on Karl's right hand. Their last stop was in front of the band where they danced at arm's length facing each other. Some thought it was a variant of a Celtic line dance, others a variant of a Western Couples line dance, all agreed it was spectacular. This time there was no doubt for who the applause was for.

The loud and long blare of the trumpet was the only warning that the dancers had that the tempo for the seventh song would be … frantic. The Castleton's were up to the task and it seemed that they were challenging the musicians to keep up with them. The applause was short-lived as the band immediately went into a slowed down version of Louis Armstrong's classic 'We Have All the Time in the World.'

After this song the floor became increasingly crowded and the Castleton's throttled back their dancing, but still delighting all who watched. The band leader played the first four bars of the last song of the set and paused. Looking back over his shoulder he saw Karl step away from Kate as he had done many times in the past, bowed low and in a normal voice that was still clearly heard by everyone in the hall he asked. "My Lady, may I have the honor of this dance?"

Kate dropped a curtsy that would have done an old world courtier proud. "My honor my Lord." When they came together "Stardust" began in earnest. The band held the last note until the Castleton's broke form 'the kiss to dream on.' The applause was tremendous. The crowd successfully persuaded the band to come out for a four song encore. Their get of the stage for real song was 'Auld lang syne .'

After the last song Kate and Karl headed back to their table to drink the ice water Sue had waiting for them and rest a bit to let the crowd thin out before heading back to their hotel. Kate was on her second glass of water when two men and a woman approached the table. The man introduced himself as an 'associate producer' for the movie and invited them to a party they were having at their hotel. Kate gently kicked Karl to keep him quiet. From their speech, body language, and attempts to make eye contact, it was obvious to Kate that the men were inviting her to the party and that Karl was baggage. Kate had also noticed that the woman's eyes had not left Karl's face.

"Sorry, some other time perhaps" said Kate as she made a show of taking off her gloves to reveal her wedding and engagement rings. "My HUSBAND and I have more …ah … intimate plans for the remainder of this evening. I do wish you success on your movie venture." He doesn't take rejection well thought Kate as she watched a lot emotions play out on his face. He started to speak but stopped when he glanced at Karl's face.

"Your loss," he temporized. "It's going to be a party to remember….You sure you don't want to come?"

"I'm sure," said Kate as she reached out and grabbed Karl's hand. "Have a nice night."

"The nerve," complained Karl under his breath as he watched the party walk back down the stairs. I ought to…"

"Buy my wife a late night snack and then take her to bed," said Kate with a touch of laughter. "I am hungry."

"Did they mention the name of the movie," asked Karl?

"No why."

"I want to make sure I don't watch it."

"Come on Karl let's go. I meant it when I said I was hungry. "

When they exited the dance hall Kate shrived. Karl immediately draped his tuxedo jacket over her shoulders and steered Kate toward the cab stand at the end of the block. The rain had ended and been replaced by patches of cold wet fog. "It's not that cold," said Kate as she put her arm around Karl's hip. "It's only four blocks or so to the hotel and I absolutely would love to take a late night stroll with my husband." Karl hugged Kate, kissed the top of her head and together they headed back to the hotel.

"Look a reception committee," chirped Kate as they rounded the last turn and headed up the sidewalk towards the main entrance of their hotel.

"I wonder what two of San Francisco's finest are doing here at this time of night," asked Karl? "Did you shoplift something?"

"Me," croaked Kate with laughter. "Why you," she continued giving Karl a soft jam in the arm. She too wondered what had brought Detectives Sanchez and O'Riley out this late at night.

Detectives Jose Sanchez and Thomas O'Riley straightened up as the Castleton's approached, and started to head towards them, and Sanchez was smiling. 'That doesn't happen often' thought Karl as a movement from the bench near the taxi drop off point caught his eye. He's got a "...GUN," yelled Karl as he grabbed Kate and shielded her as they dropped to the ground.

"Die Jap Lover," yelled the man as he started to fire at Karl. Karl counted the six shots. "Stay down," Karl yelled at Kate as he rose and charged his attacker. The distance was short, only twenty yards or so, but long to be accurate with a short barrel twenty-two. Karl screamed as he neared his target. The scream rattled the man enough that he dropped two bullets as he tried to reload. In the background he could hear the Detectives shout 'San Francisco PD drop your weapon, San Francisco PD drop your weapon.' Karl's tackle sent the gun and the bullets the man was holding flying. "Don't hurt be," the-would be assassin blubbered. "Don't hurt me."

Kate very seldom disobeyed her husband in a tactical situation, but this night she did. When Karl stood up to charge their attacker Kate sprinted toward the house phone at the entrance to the hotel. She knew that someone would need an ambulance tonight. Either her husband if he got shot or the other guy if Karl made it to him before he reloaded. Either way time was critical for someone and Kate didn't want to waste it.

Karl couldn't believe his ears. "Don't hurt me," the man pleaded for the third time.

"We got him Karl," said a familiar voice. Karl looked up and nodded. He moved over and let Detective O'Riley handcuff the man who just tried to kill him.

"I was just about to ask what you guys are doing here," said Karl.

"We came here to warn you," said Sanchez. "Some of our guys in Blue broke up a bar fight earlier this evening and the reason for the bar fight was the Supreme Court decision and the coverage from the Press Conference this afternoon. I guess some people are pissed at you."

Karl nodded his understanding. "I expected hate mail."

"You'll get that," O'Riley confirmed. "If you live long enough."

"Don't' tell me you need a statement," Karl asked. "You saw the whole thing right?"

"Yeah we did, but we do," said Sanchez.

"Okay, we'll be in our suite."

"At the bar," corrected Kate. "I'm hungry and I don't want the smell of food lingering in the room overnight. Oh and I asked the Doorman to call for an ambulance and prisoner transport."

"Thanks, the bump on his head from hitting the payment probably needs to be looked at," said O'Riley.

"Like I said we'll be in the bar," said Castleton. "Can I get you guys something?"

"We are technically off duty."

"A large draft when you join us," offered Karl?

"Yeah, that sounds good. Your tab right," said O'Riley

"My tab," agreed Karl continuing a game those two had played for years and whose origin was lost on Kate.

"Order for me," said Karl as he rose after the waitress had seated them.

"Where you going?"

"Front desk to ask for pens and paper. I thought we could write our statements. I really don't want to play twenty questions tonight."

Kate reached and grabbed Karl's hand and wouldn't let go. She wasn't about to ask the asinine 'Are you alright' question. She would judge her husband by looking him in the eye.

"I'm okay love," he replied to her unanswered question. "I'm just a little upset about what the attack represents, and I really do want to be alone with my wife."

Kate gifted her husband with a smile, let go of his hand and pretended to look at the menu. So already knew what she wanted. Then it hit her. Karl's shirt. He had lost three studs. 'Well at least he has a good excuse,' she laughed. She was still laughing when she beckoned the waitress over to take her order.

Kate and Rick had almost finished eating when the Detectives arrived at the table. The Detectives read the statements as the dishes were cleared, the beers served, and the Castleton's ice tea glasses were topped off. The Detectives were well aware of Karl's problem with alcohol and were quite used to seeing the pair of them drink tea while their guests drank beer or wine.

"These look okay," said Sanchez. "I do have one question though. Do you think the attack could be the result of another case?"

"No I think the 'Die Jap Lover' clinches it," said Karl dryly. "Speaking of other cases, do you guys have time to talk to us tomorrow?"

"We're tied up to around two," said O'Riley. "What's the topic?"

"I think they're called the 'China Rose' killings," said Karl.

Kate watched the Detectives exchange meaningful glances. "In that case you better show up around one," said Sanchez.

"Only one of those was ours," offered O'Riley.

"Was," observed Kate?

"Yeah when the number of killings reached five, all the cases all went to Lieutenant David McGregor," said Sanchez.

"And he's been breathing fire like a dragon ever since."

Karl looked at the two Detectives and started to chuckle. "Sorry guys," his chuckle breaking into a laugh. "McGregor sounds Scottish and I just had a vision of a fire-breathing dragon wearing a kilt in the colors of some clan."

The others at the table shook their heads and laughed. "You know," said Kate. "I've always wondered what they wear under the kilt."

"A dragon love, anything he wants, "supplied a laughing Karl. "I know I'm not going to check. What's got McGregor so steamed up?"

"He can't get people or resources to work the case," said Sanchez. "We have a potential serial killer and no one seems to care. That's why I said show up tomorrow at one instead of two. We've volunteered to help the Lieutenant with the cases and we find out if they will let us tomorrow at one."

"Karl I got to ask," said O'Riley.

"Who's my client? You know I'm not going to answer that. I will say that I sure he's not responsible for any of the deaths. In fact his stated reason for asking me to look into it is that he's convinced that there aren't enough beautiful young women in the world, and anyone who makes it practice of killing them deserves to be killed with prejudice."

"That's not his real reason is it," asked Sanchez?

"While I think he has expounded a noble sentiment…."

"You would," remarked Kate in a tone of voice that caused Karl to wince.

"I don't think that's his motivation."

"What is," asked O'Riley?

"I don't know. I have an idea or two, but I really don't know. Besides I'm more interested in discovering the killer's motivation."

"Me too," echoed Kate.

The Detectives nodded and drank some more of their beer.

"I really want to thank you guys for trying to warn us," said Kate after a long moment of silence. "It means a lot to us."

"It does," echoed Karl. "You guys want another beer? I think Kate and I will be heading up to our room now."

After ordering another round and settling the bill, they left the bar hand-in-hand.

"A class act," observed Sanchez.

"Yeah," agreed O'Riley. "You know their statements. Karl's read like something a cop would write, Kate's was a literary gem."

"Yeah I especially liked the part Kate wrote about 'rushing toward the safety provided by two of San Francisco's finest'."

"Yeah somehow we got to get that into our official report."

Present day

Rick paused to look at his audience. By their eyes he knew that they knew the preliminaries were over and the case work was about to start.

"Were we going to next," asked Kate? "The Library?"

"No I was going to do the bedroom scene next."

"I don't think this crowd needs you to describe a bedroom scene. Besides we haven't rehearsed it yet."

"I might want to hear it," chipped in Alexis.

"You rehearse them," snorted a laughing Lanie?

"We'll talk sweetie," Kate said to Alexis. "Yeah Lanie, what better way is there to make them read like the real thing? Of course not all of the details are included," said Kate with a huge grin engulfing her face. It was too dark for anyone to see the tiny points of crimson on her cheeks. Kate took a sip of her water and waited for the laughter to die down. Looking down at James she saw that he was losing the fight with the sandman.

"Tiger," she cooed "you sticking with me or do want to go to your Dad?"

"Good choice son," said Castle as he watched his son lay his head back down on Kate's chest. "I would choose to snuggle with your Mom too."

Kate looked up and smiled at her husband. She reached out with her free hand, which was caught, kissed and held tightly, just like Karl held Kate's hand.

"Now then," she began.

Chapter 4 Are we too late?

Kate and Karl walked through the doors of the main library no more than a minute after the employees had unlocked them. Karl was well versed in the art of extracting information from library sources, but he was an amateur compared to Kate. Within thirty minutes she had three microfilm readers in use, one for each of the murders and hard copies of the newspapers for the other two murders that were more recent.

The problem was that the information in the newspapers was virtually nonexistent. It had the basic information, name, age, address, occupation for most, sometimes the place of employment, and the cause of death, strangulation. What was disappointing was that there was no follow-up coverage. After the initial announcement in the metro section there was no other mention of the murders. Even after the fifth murder, there was nothing even hinting that these cases were related.

The death of a school teacher in the Mission District made the front page, and stayed in the limelight for almost two weeks. The coverage ended with the arrest of a suspect. "No one seems to care," huffed Kate disgustedly.

"Yeah," admitted Karl. "Is it because of their mixed heritage, or is there some other factor in play? Either way it's unacceptable. The most recent case is a month old now, so getting good witness information is going to be almost impossible."

"How's your Japanese," asked Kate?

"Basic, maybe good enough, we could always ask for help with the Chinese witnesses."

"Do you think he'll give us someone?"

"Don't know, but it's worth a shot. We seem to be crossing the language barrier. The younger generation will be able to speak English, the older generation, no."

"Do you think anybody will talk with us?"

"Don't know," Karl shrugged.

"None of the newspapers listed next of kin."

"You're right," agreed Karl. "Hall of Records?"

"Right, DMV?"

"I don't think they owned a car or drove. It will only take a phone call to check."

"I'll cleanup here, you make the call."

As expected, none of the women had a driver's license.

Once they were settled in the cab for the short ride to the Hall of Records, Kate handed Karl a tablet. "Here, this is everything I was able to glean from the newspapers. You know there has to be better ways to organize the information."

Karl scanned the list of bullets Kate had made.

Five woman of mixed Caucasian-Oriental heritage had been murdered.

All were lovely

First six months ago, last 1 month ago

All were either twenty-two or twenty-three years old.

All had been strangled.

Some lived in different districts.

All had green or hazel eyes

One had a Japanese surname, another had a Chinese surname, and the rest had more traditional 'American' last names.

Only one had a pet (canaries)

All were employed, none as menial labor

All were single

Dating Status – UNKNOWN

Close friends – UNKNOWN

Connection between the women - UNKNOWN

"Hell Kate we don't know what we don't know."

"We have five dead women and no one seems to care, so that's where we start."

Karl looked at the grim expression on his wife's face and exhaled. Her tone of voice was a challenge to the world. Five innocents had been killed for no apparent reason, and Kate was determined to find out who killed them and why. 'Heaven help you Buddy. I don't know who you are, but you've pissed off my wife. And when she's pissed off, she is without equal in the world. She will find you. I only hope I can keep up.'

For the Castleton's, the Hall of Records had turned into a Fortress of Pain and Despair. None of Karl's contacts was willing to help, and the bureaucrats manning the windows, for once, were unaffected by Kate's charms. The most telling stop was their last one, birth records. The clerk was an old friend of Karl's and had helped him out numerous times in the past. Even with Kate's gentle and suggestive support, nothing.

"Why is everyone being so difficult," asked Kate in low voce as they headed toward the steps that would take them down to the main floor and out of the building. "They're treating us like we're the criminals. Don't they know we just want to find and stop the killer?"

"They're right," said Karl with a sigh. "We aren't the Police, and even the dead have a right to some privacy. Maybe the Lieutenant has the information we need. If he doesn't then perhaps we can persuade him to get a Warrant for the information."

"Wait," hissed an oriental looking janitor as his mop slid across the floor in his hand. "Park bench, a friend will come," he continued in a voice only the Castleton's could hear.

Karl nodded his understanding and herded Kate to seat on a sun kissed park bench. Today, San Francisco was playing nicely with its residents and guests alike, but it was early yet. The rain and fog from last night had stopped. The low clouds had risen and were scattered by the wind. The sun was shining through a high thin layer of clouds and providing just enough warmth to make this mid-summers day tolerable.

As the wait stretched from five to ten minutes Kate began to fidget. Karl reached out and gently grabbed her hand. Kate smiled at her husband. "How can you be so calm at a time like this?"

"Foxholes."

Kate gulped. For a moment she was the marine lying down in a slit-trench. It was night. The Lieutenant had warned the Company that a night attack was imminent. The bugs were eating her alive. She was fighting hard to stay awake, for she knew if she fell asleep she would die. She tried not to shift around because the movement and the noise might give her position away. A sound, a shape appears. A thrust with the bayoneted rifle and the shape groans and slides away. A bugle, starbursts … and the bell of a present day trolley broke the spell.

Kate blinked and looked around as if seeing her surroundings for the first time. The park was lovely and well-tended. The dark green of the grass contrasted nicely with the light green of the leaves dancing on the gentle breeze. The freshly mulched flower beds were alive with the reds, yellows, whites, and pale blue flowers. Kate breathed and noticed the butterflies and bees darting among the flowers and the grounded seagulls on the sidewalk, with their silly smiling faces and bleat that sounded like 'more'.

Kate took another deep breath, blinked, and looked at her husband. 'Did facing death on a daily basis give you the gift of enjoying nature or where you born that way? It doesn't matter love. For as long as I can see the beauty of this world through your eyes, I will be truly happy. I think I finally understand what you meant in one of the poems you wrote last year.'

To Know

Eyes, mind, heart, and soul

Are truly needed to know

This beautiful World

Kate squeezed her husband's hand and then went back to enjoying nature's show. The intricate dance of the bees and butterflies among the flowers to the orchestration provided by the wind, bird calls, Karl's gentle breathing and the background babble that was San Francisco herself.

As the wait lengthened, Kate's attention drifted from the beautiful piece of nature around her to the problem of the five dead women, and she began to fidget again. When she tried to withdraw her hand from Karl's he wouldn't let go.

"Karl," Kate whispered. When he still didn't let go she half turned toward him. "Love I need my hand."

"Why," asked Karl with a bit of grin touching the corners of his mouth. "You aren't going to run away are you?"

"No, I…"

"You aren't going to hit me are you?"
"No, my noise itches."

"You have another hand, and I've grown quite attached to this one," said Karl as he raised Kate's hand to be kissed.

"It's on this side of my nose," plead a smiling Kate.

"And such a beautiful nose it is," replied Karl releasing Kate's hand.

Kate peeled off her glove, scratched her nose, and gently slapped her husband. "That's for being such a dick," said declared as she returned her hand to her husband's safe keeping.

A moment later their attention was caught by a young oriental looking woman walking in their direction. Kate immediately recognized her as the clerk that was working at the position besides Karl's friend when they tried to get the birth certificates. As she neared Karl stood-up. This caused the young woman to stop and look around in panic. Seeing this Karl quickly moved to stand behind Kate and gently put his hands on Kate's shoulders. "Good morning Miss," he called out.

"Did you come to help us," asked Kate gently. "I saw you working in the Records Section earlier today. Don't worry about my husband Karl. He's ninety-nine percent pussy cat and one per cent the greatest hunting cat on the planet. This is not a fighting moment."

"I…You help people right?" she asked quickly in lightly accented but beautifully sounding English. "You will find the killer right?"

"We TRY to help people," said Karl softly.

"We don't always succeed," agreed Kate. "But we do try. We ARE going to try to find the killer of these young women," confirmed Kate, the steel and commitment obvious to anyone who heard her. "We have an appointment with the Police lead investigator later today."

"Why go there? The Police have done nothing."

"It's been our experience that if we tell the Police what we are doing, then they either help us or let us investigate the case. We run into problems only when we don't talk to them, "said Karl in a soft but firm tone." And you're right. It doesn't appear that the Police have done anything to find the killer."

The young woman nodded her acceptance of Karl's words and edged closer. Finally she got close enough and reached out to hand an envelope to Kate. "In it are the five Birth Certificates you requested plus mine. I'm just like them," she continued in a wavering voice.

"I see," said Kate taking the envelope.

"Have you noticed anybody taking interest in you," asked Karl gently. "From what we've been able to learn is that the death's occurred in the woman's apartment and there was no sign of forced entry."

"That means that the woman knew her killer," said Kate.

"No and the fear makes it hard to … you know."

"Go out on a first date," offered Kate?

"Don't give into the fear," said Karl sharply. "Life was meant to be lived, not wasted by hiding."

"But the killer…."

"If you hide, you will die a different type of death," said Karl calmly and firmly. "Never let your fears rule you. Acknowledge them yes rule you no. "

"That sounds like something the Buddha or Confucius would say."

"Believe me I'm not the 'Enlightened One', said Karl with a chuckle, "or as wise as Confucius."

The woman nodded, turned and headed back toward the Hall of Records.

"We have time for lunch before we head to the precinct," said Kate. "I fell like a tourist today."

"Market or Wharf," asked Karl as they headed toward the street.

"Wharf," replied Kate. "The Market is a work place for me. I'd be tempted to pop into the Market and check-on the spot prices of the produce and see how our people are doing."

Kate watched Karl's expression sour as he hailed a cab for their ride to lunch. It was one of the new cabs. Last year when the new cabs were introduced she heard both her Dad and Karl complain bitterly. 'The roof is too low Katie,' her Dad had railed. 'I had to take off my hat. That's not right. Mark my words the automobile industry will continue to lower the roofs of the cars and you won't be able to wear a hat in them at all. When that happens, men will stop wearing hats all together. If men stop wearing hats, will woman be far behind?"

Kate thought that both her men were nuts and the hat industry would prosper forever. She was very surprised when Karl traded in his beloved fedora for an English style driving hat. He'll switch back she thought, but sitting beside him in the cab she was beginning to have second thoughts.

After lunch at the Wharf, the Castleton's arrived at the Central District Precinct House a couple of minutes prior to their appointment only to find a lot more chaos and confusion than normal. Normally the time immediately after lunch was a quiet period. All of the crimes that had been committed last night, break-ins, domestics, etc., had been handled and the crimes unique to this day had yet to make it to the forefront. But today was different. Today the public spaces of the precinct house were crowded, and filled with loud and boisterous women. The precinct house looked like Hookerville.

"What gives Ted," Karl asked the Desk Sargent. " I must have missed the Mayor's speech in the paper this morning."

"It wasn't the Mayor," the Sargent offered with a grin. "Two Councilmen who are running for re-election are behind in the pools."

"So they want to appear to be tough on crime," said Kate. "So this. But it's early yet. I mean it's barely the first week in August and the election is three months away. "

"Publicity is publicity," replied the Desk Sargent over the complaints of the 'working girls' to hurry it up. The 'working girls' knew that the sooner they appeared before the Judge, the sooner they would pay their fine and be back out on the streets earning again.

"We're here to see..."

"I know. The Lieutenant's office is on the second floor. Once you go through the last set of double doors turn left. His is the third office on the right."

"Thanks," mumbled Karl.

"Hey Karl you carrying?"

"No why. If I carried then I probably would have used it last night."

"Glad you weren't. No it's not about that. We both know that that was a one and done. The pros will be spending their money on damage control or opportunity snapping, not to pay for a hit on a PI who's already created havoc and moved on. I mean this 'China Rose' thing. My gut tells me that there is something big behind it and squashing you before you dig your way in is the smart play. Eh sorry Kate," he said finally making eye contact with Missus Castleton.

"As long as it's not around the children, I'm okay when Karl carries," confirmed Kate, 'and as long as I'm around no one is squashing my husband,' thought Kate as a determined but concerned look washed across her face.

The Desk Sargent nodded. "Karl there is one other thing that you need to know. The Lieutenant is assigned to Special Projects and has never worked a homicide."

"Thanks Ted, I think," said Karl as he and Kate headed toward the Lieutenants office. The first set of double doors knocked the din of 'Hookerville' down to a slight buzz that continued to recede as they walked towards the Lieutenant's office.

"Nice place," commented Karl as they looked into the Lieutenant's empty office.

"Yeah," remarked Kate. "They must think highly of him."

Space-wise, the Lieutenant's office was on par with a Precinct Captain's or Task Force Leaders. The office was configured pretty much on standard lines. A desk with a side-table forming an 'L' pattern was the centerpiece of the room. A small sofa, that probably doubled as the occasional bed was across from the desk. A pair of bookcases, one tall one short, an American flag displayed in a stand, and a good desk chair completed the inventory. The only thing on his desk appeared to be pictures of his family.

The office had one other unique feature. On the wall over the sofa was a large street-map of San Francisco. The map appeared to be on a cork board because on the right and left edges of the map maybe six inches of cork was visible. More than enough to pen up a three-by-five note card. The only visible reminder of his junior rank was the fact all of his furnishings were still of the gun-metal gray variety found in all of the squad rooms. Command staff's furnishings were made of wood.

"Yo, we're down here," said the familiar voice of Detective Sanchez. "The Lieutenant wants to run the investigation out of this room."

Three doors down on the left they entered what was essentially a medium sized squad room. A metal desk and three tables had been pushed together to form a square in the center of the room. To the left of the door as you entered were several filing cabinets. Beside the filing cabinets was a sideboard with a small coffee maker on top. The left and back walls were blackboards and the right wall was a giant cork board. O'Riley was at the back wall writing and Sanchez was hanging the photos of the victims on the cork board.

"Welcome," boomed a crisp baritone voice. "I'm Lieutenant McGregor," he continued as he rose from the desk and headed in their direction with his hand extended. "Jose and Thomas here have told me a lot about the two of you." The Lieutenant was six-two maybe six-three and a fit two-hundred and twenty pounds. His strawberry-blond hair was buzz cut on top, but ended in extremely long and thick sideburns. 'Handsome enough,' thought Kate as she noticed the absence wedding band, 'but I'll stick with the one I love.'

"Please me seated," he said waving to a couple of chairs after the handshakes had been exchanged. "Tell me what you know about the case," he continued as he attacked a couple of forms.

Kate started and regurgitated the points she had written down earlier.

"All true," said the Lieutenant. "Except that there is now a sixth. It was called in twenty minutes ago. I've delayed going to the crime scene so that I could bring you two on board. Before we head out I need you two to complete these forms," said the Lieutenant as he handed the forms he had been working on to Kate and Karl.

"Police Consultants," exclaimed Karl.

"Unpaid Police Consultants," corrected the Lieutenant. "Yes. I can't get any resources from neither the Captain nor the Chief so why not. I've heard that you're good," he said looking at Karl, "and a solid citizen to boot. I've hear that your wife on the other hand can outshoot ninety-eight per cent of the force and outthink the other ninety-eight percent. Since she's always going to be by your side it just made since. This way I can grant you access to all of the information we uncover and I hope you share with me what you dig up."

The Lieutenant watched Karl's eyes shift from him to O'Riley then Sanchez and finally back to him. "These guys are here on a non-interference basis only. If they catch a case, they're gone."

"Here," said Kate after she removed the birth certificate of the clerk, "are the birth certificates of the five victims. We noticed that the next of kin was not listed in the newspapers and we thought, because these cases are cold now, that talking with the victim's parents would be a place to start."

"Thanks I ah don't have these. How did you get them without a warrant?"

"People are scared," was all that Karl said as he went back to filling out the form.

The Lieutenant looked from Karl to Kate then back to Karl. "Okay," he said as when he figured out that that was all they were going to say. He leaned back in the chair and watched the two of them fill out the paperwork.

For a moment his vision seemed to blur and refocus. Karl had changed into another man, taller, and broader, ruggedly handsome to be sure but less physically intimidating. The Lieutenant had a feeling that this man's skills lay in other areas. Even so there was still a feeling that you pushed or threated this man at your own risk and only fools underestimated him.

Kate had grown taller, thinner, and more athletic looking. Her hair was slightly darker and less curly. The face had changed subtlety. She was still beautiful, but in a slightly different way. The main difference was in her posture and the aura he sensed emanating from her. This Kate had presence enough to spare and her aura radiated confidence and competence. It was like she had been hunting and capturing bad guys all her life and this case was just another day at the beach.

'I wish we had a beach,' thought the Lieutenant as he reached for and took a sip of the lukewarm coffee. 'They say one of my ancestors was a Druidess and she could the truth in any situation. I wonder what she would make from this.' When he looked back the present day version of Kate and Karl were just finishing up the paperwork.

"We'll file these before we leave and will pick up your credentials when we get back from the crime scene. You two can ride with me. Sanchez, O'Riley let's go earn our pay."

"What have you heard about me," asked the Lieutenant as soon as they had pulled into traffic?

"You've either aged well or made Lieutenant at a young age," offered Kate.

"You've never worked a homicide," added Karl. "However Sanchez and O'Riley volunteered to work for you, and they don't suffer fools willingly."

"THAT means more to us than anything else," agreed Kate. "People are more important than their credentials."

"Sanchez and O'Riley say the same thing about you, suffering fools that is. My story is simple. Ex-Army. When I came back I joined the force. I'm a third generation cop. My Dad died on duty while I was in the service. So I have some departmental top cover."

"I started out as a patrolman working the area around the docks for five years. My partner and I uncovered a smuggling scheme. We took it to Robbery, nothing. The next time we took it to Major Crimes. In the raid my partner got hurt bad. He had to take a medical retirement. He's done okay. He's working as security chief for one of the importers."

"Me. The commendation and medal provided just enough of a kick to get me on the Sargent's List during the next cycle. I transferred to the Twin Peaks District. During my four years there we broke a major Bookie operation that had ties to Vegas and a counterfeiting operation that had been in operation for several years."

"I remember those," said Karl. "Nice work."

"Yeah, thanks. Those things boosted me above the line and now I'm a newly minted Lieutenant without a home."

"How did you get this job? I mean the 'China Rose' cases," asked Kate.

"Clueless. I've been in my office less than a week with nothing to do. I go to the Deputy Chief and ask for an assignment and voilà the next day I get this."

"I don't mean to poke at a sore spot, but it doesn't appear that anybody has put any serious time on these cases. Any idea as to why?"

"No, and I'm not going to ask either. We have a fresh case so let's attack that. If they're related then we'll get the guy."

Kate turned and locked eyes with her partner. "Works for us," she confirmed.

The scene of the crime was a third floor walk-up in the Sunset District. As they approached the building, the Medical Examiner's and Crime Scene Unit's vehicles were readily apparent. What was somewhat disturbing was the lack of uniformed support. All that Karl could see was a single black and white unit. Typically there were several units under the control of a supervising sergeant. This was not the case here. 'Curious,' thought Karl.

As they exited the Lieutenant'scar and headed toward the entrance of the building Karl noticed a Uniform Officer standing near an oriental looking young woman sitting on a park bench. On a hunch he headed in that direction and nearly knocked Kate off-stride in doing so.

After regaining her balance, Kate looked up and followed her husband's gaze. "People before places," she whispered as she took her place on his arm.

The Castleton's change in path was not lost on Detectives Sanchez and O'Riley. "Hey Lieutenant," Sanchez called out as O'Riley scurried to catch the Castleton's.

"What do we have ah, Officer Williams," asked Detective Ryan. "I'm Detective Ryan and these are the Castleton's. They are Police Consultants so you can talk freely."

"Miss Krystal Sato here discovered the victim and called it in."

"You mind giving your report to Lieutenant McGregor. He's over there with my partner. Hey 'Jose'," O'Riley shouted and waved.

"Sure thing," the Officer replied and moved off. The Detective moved off a bit, but still close enough to eavesdrop and let the two best friendly interrogators he had ever seen have access to the witness.

"May I share your bench," asked Kate gently?

"Sure, sorry," replied the woman as she scooted to her left to allow Kate to sit down.

"Excuse my bad manners," said Karl gently, "but I don't k now the name of your friend."

"Rose… I mean Rosemary Baldwin. We work at the same company. That's why I'm here. When she didn't come to work or call I…. I got worried. So I came home, and asked the super to unlock Rose's door. That's when I saw her and had the super call the cops."

"I'm sorry for your loss," gentled Kate. "How long have you known Rose?"

"For almost three years, we started at McCormack's on the same day. I know you guys," Krystal blurted out. "Your picture doesn't do you justice Sir," she continued looking at Karl, "and our in house Flash Sheet gave you a whole paragraph this morning. They liked the way you tried to teach history to those arrogant reporters."

"McCormack's, Flash Sheet," mumbled a bewildered Karl.

"McCormack's is a very large, very reputable investment brokerage house. Among other things they buy and sell business," supplied Kate. "They helped us find the cannery we bought a while back. The fact that both of you work there says a lot about you," said Kate addressing Krystal. "They have a reputation for only hiring the best. I'm surprised they had people at Karl's press conference."

"Contacts and potential customers," offered Krystal. "I wasn't there, but as I said Karl impressed the person we had there so much that he gave him a whole paragraph in our Flash Sheet. Our Flash Sheet is nothing more than a summary of the newsmakers and events that could affect the business environment, and the rebirth so-to-speak of Japanese commerce in San Francisco is a newsworthy event. "

"You said you knew Kate," said Karl.

"Sure," said Krystal brightly. "Her interviews about women in business were mandatory readings in school. It really is an honor to meet you Ma'am."

"Kate. I'm Kate, and Krystal can you help us find Rose's killer?"

"I don't know if I can help, but I'll certainly try," she said with conviction.

"It sounds like you two are close. How do you know where Rose lived," asked Karl.

"We live in the same building. My apartment is on the second floor. Normally we ride the Trolley together to and from work. This morning I had to be in the office before the New York Stock Exchange opened, so I had to take a cab. Oh, they're so expensive."

"Did you and Rose ride the trolley home last night," asked Karl?

"Yes, she got off a stop early so she stop at the market and pick up some things for dinner."

Kate saw a little bit of pink touch Krystal's cheeks. "Was it a special dinner," she asked sweetly?

"Yes," she nodded.

"Somebody from work," pressed Karl gently.

"Look I don't want to get Rose in trouble."

"Rose is dead lass,' Karl said gently. "You can do her or her memory no harm. The gentleman she prepared dinner for must have been special to Rose. We need to find out when he left Rose's place so we can put together an accurate time-line."

"She shouldn't have, but she did," continued Krystal hesitantly. Kate and Karl let the silence lengthen. "He was a client. Socialization between clients and staff is limited to business only. Dinners on the town yes, but never in a home."

"Did you meet him," asked Kate? "He must have been handsome and charming if Rose invited him to dinner at her place."

"Yes on both counts," gushed Krystal. "He's as tall as your husband, but stockier built, like he had a job that requires a lot of physical labor and yet he spoke like an educated and knowledgeable man. Jet black hair of course and he parted it on the left side. Sometimes a few strands would fall over his right eye and give him a boyish look. Sometimes when he talked I would swear his eyes twinkled, and he prided himself on being a third generation Japanese-American."

"It sounds like you had a bit of a crush on him too," said Karl lightly. "How did they meet?"

"Perhaps a little," laughed Krystal. "Rose first met Aki Tanaka about six weeks ago. It's my understanding that he came into the firm and asked for her directly."

"Do you know what he was looking for," asked Karl?

Kate looked up at her husband and frowned, and then nodded her understanding. 'Sometimes cover stories reveal gems of truth,' she thought.

"Construction companies with home or apartment building expertise I think. I do remember him saying that San Francisco was getting crowded and more houses and apartments would be needed soon."

'Legitimate thought,' thought Karl. 'Who owns the construction trade in this town?' "Tell me," Karl said is a soft tone. "Is there a busy-body in your building? You know what I mean, someone who makes it her business to know everyone else's?"

"That would be Missus Chen," laughed Krystal. "She lives on the same floor as Rose. Almost right across the hall in fact."

"Do you think she would talk to us if you introduced us," asked Karl?

"Ah … no… you see she's Chinese and she never liked the idea of Rose and me becoming friends."

'I don't know how they do that,' thought Detective O'Riley. 'I'm sure if I questioned her she would have been just as polite but less helpful but nowhere near this level of detail.'

Kate looked up at Karl who shook his head. "Again I'm sorry that you lost a friend," said Kate gently. "I do thank you for your time and I promise Karl and I will find this guy before he can kill again."

"Did you get all that," whispered Karl to O'Riley as they headed toward the entrance of the building and the third floor crime scene?

"We have a name and a description."

"Good luck with that. The name is like asking for John Smith, and the description is so generic that it's almost worthless. Now what was interesting was that he asked for her my name."

"You're right. So this was a targeted hit," said O'Riley.

"Looks like it," confirmed Kate. "I wonder about the others?" The walk up the steps to the crime scene was done in silence. Each one was wondering what was so special about Rosemary Baldwin that an assassin would seek out and kill her.

"…..We have nothing on the canvass Sir," said another Uniformed Officer. "A lot of none answers. Which the building super says make sense because this building is mostly working class singles with very few families and fewer yet retired people. We had some language issues. But those we did talk to knew the victim and thought highly of her. No one remembered seeing her after five-thirty last night. Nor do they remember any strangers coming into the building."

"As usual," commented O'Riley.

"Did her friend give us anything," asked Sanchez?

"A name and a description of her boyfriend. "

"That's great," said the Lieutenant.

"Probably worthless," said O'Riley shaking his head. "Karl said the name is the American equivalent of John Smith. The description is way too generic to be useful. I didn't see the utility of asking the lady to sit with a sketch artist. What do we have here?"

"Just the run of the mill crime scene," replied Sanchez.

The victims place was a rather large two-bedroom apartment on the third floor. The southwest looking windows and the tasteful grouping of furniture in the large dining-living room area gave the place a light, airy and peaceful feel. Rose had taken advantage of the windows by adding floor boxes. Instead of flowers she was growing spices. Kate easily recognized the thyme and sage. In another box was green onions and leaf lettuce. On the small balcony was a tomato plant. The great room was done primarily in the western style with only the privacy screens, wall hangings and art showing her oriental heritage.

Karl borrowed a pair of gloves and went into the kitchen area. Soaking in the sink were last night's dinner dishes. It was easy to see the pair of plates, salad bows, desert plates and silver ware. 'So it was an intimate dinner for two,' thought Karl. On a whim he opened the cabinet under the sink and looked in the trash. 'Saki, something you would definitely serve to a Japanese gentleman,' smiled Karl when he saw the empty bottles.

'So what does a lady of mixed Oriental-Caucasian heritage serve her Japanese paramour? Italian of course,' concluded Karl as he noted the almost empty tray of tightly covered lasagna, the half full bowl of salad in the refrigerator and the remains of a loaf of French bread on the counter. On the bottom shelf in the refrigerator were strawberries and whipped cream. For a moment Karl lost it. He had a vision of Kate wearing nothing but whipped cream in strategic places that just begged to be….

Karl quickly closed the refrigerator door and moved to the small kitchen table and desperately tried to think of something else. Giving up he turned and headed toward the great room, and his wife.

While Karl examined the kitchen, Kate strolled through the great room. The radio was set to a San Francisco station that Kate liked. The station featured news and classical music from six AM to eight PM. From eight pm to midnight they played American Jazz and Big Band music, and from midnight to six AM nothing but classical music only interrupted by the mandatory station identification announcements. On the phonograph was a Frank Sinatra record. 'Good choice,' thought Kate as read the label's list of the songs.

Husband and wife met at the entrance to the second bedroom. Karl backed out of the way to let Kate enter first. The room was small and the absence of a western style bed didn't bother Karl. He turned to look in the closet as Kate headed toward the desk. In addition to the desk with an attacked typing table the room contained a small chest of drawers and two bookcases, one tall and one short. On the south wall next to the window was a small shrine. Karl easily recognized the statute of 'The Traveling Buddha', the placement of the candles, and the well groomed sand tray that still held the remnants of a joss stick. A crucifix hung above the shrine.

Behind the right side closet does was the expected sleeping mat and pillow. Karl suspected that a covering for the mat and a quilt would be in the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers. Behind the left door was a three tier shoe corral and on the top shelf nothing but hat boxes. Karl looked at the shoe corral then back up at the hat boxes. 'What is it about hats and shoes that affect women so much? I wonder what the closet in her bedroom looks like?' Karl looked done at the shoe corral and stared. "Damn' he muttered loud enough for Kate to look at him in surprise. He rushed out on the room only to return a few seconds later.

"Babe what is it? What's wrong?"

"Eastern house, Western feet."

"Is there," Kate asked?

"Just looked, yes."

Kate nodded, "Rose, please accept our apology. We mean you mean no disrespect for your traditions. We've behaved improperly, and if you can, please help us find your killer."

"Anything," asked Karl soberly.

"That is interesting," said Kate pointing to a picture frame in the trash can.

"A picture might have made this too easy," joked Karl. "Did she keep any kind of diary or planner?"

"The calendar was her planner," replied Kate. "See here, she had dinner for A circled for last night. I haven't found her diary yet. You?"

"Just hats and shoes."

Kate looked up and gave Karl a smile. She recognized 'that' tone of voice. "Then she has become a properly Americanized woman."

Wisely Karl said nothing and pretended to study the shrine. 'Hats and shoes had been one of their first big arguments,' he remembered. A wiser Karl knew better to step into that minefield again.

"Got it," exclaimed Kate. "And we have a picture."

"Is it him?"

"The annotations would say so, and he is kind of cute. Let's bag this for later, maybe the crowd in the bedroom has thinned by now."

Rose's bedroom was quite large, but the crowd of people in it made it seem a lot smaller. The sleeping style was traditional oriental, so the absence of a bed added to the room's openness. The furniture in the room consisted of a good quality double wide chest of drawers made from oak and a matching vanity. The nightstand was next to the wall and on the right side of the sleeping mat. There was a wind-up alarm clock and an ash tray on its top.

When they entered the room Kate wrinkled her nose. "What is..?"

"Japanese cigarette," offered Karl immediately. "It has a distinctive odor and the smell clings."

"How?" mouthed Kate.

"The caves and bunkers we searched just reeked of this," said Karl flatly. "Also their sentries… Well it made it easier too… "

"I'm here Babe," Kate said softly as she reached out to touch Karl on the cheek. She knew that very few of Karl's memories about the war were pleasant and today they had resurfaced twice.

"Hey Max," said Karl addressing the Medical Examiner, "Is there enough there to determine a brand?"

"Maybe, but why?"

"Well they are obviously imported. If we knew the brand we could narrow down our search a bit."

"If you can, then do it," said the Lieutenant. "What makes you think he's the smoker?"

"That's the only ashtray in the house," offered Kate. "Smokers tend to place ashtrays in the areas where they spend their time. There were none in the kitchen, or on the end table in the front room or on her desk. That one is the only one in the place. What about it Doc."

"From her fingers and teeth, I would have to agree with Kate," the ME added .

"The real question is which 'after' did he smoke it after. The traditional after I'm okay with. The other after, scares me."

"What in the hell are you babbling about," said a frustrated Sanchez.

"Max," asked Kate. "Did she have sex last night?"

"Kate I don't think I can give you the answer to that question."

"Doc, I made them Police Consultants, but only for the China Rose cases. You can answer their questions, but they can't tell you do anything that costs money, like testing."

"Okay, got it. Yeah Kate they had sex and I would say it was of a consensual nature."

"So if he lit-up after sex he's a normal kind of guy, but if he waited to after the thrill of the kill….," began Karl.

"Then he's extremely dangerous," finished Kate. "And someone we need to worry about."

That pronouncement silenced the room for a moment. "Do you have a time of death," asked the Lieutenant?
"I would say sometime before ten," said Karl quickly.

"What do you base that on Doctor Castleton," said Max the Medical Examiner with more than a touch of sarcasm in his voice?

"The convergence of two timelines," replied Karl immediately, "the get-away timeline and the date night timeline."

"Get-away timeline," asked the Lieutenant?

"Sure," said Sanchez. "The best time to leave an apartment building like this is when the local news starts at ten o'clock. All the busy-bodies with TV sets are camped in front of it worrying about what happened cross town and won't notice someone slipping out of an apartment or out of the building."

"And once he makes it to the street he's invisible," added O'Riley. "But if he waits too long, say to midnight then he might be noticed leaving the apartment and the building by the night owls and on the street by any Uniform patrol that just happens to be in the neighborhood. Ten o'clock is early enough not to draw suspicion, around midnight and later always draws a second look."

"As an old Uniform Guy, I agree with that. Okay, got it. But you've got to explain the date-night timeline," said the Lieutenant.

"Yeah buster," echoed Kate, "I want to hear this too."

Karl nodded toward the Uniform Officer present, "From her friend we know that she got off a stop early to go to the market, and from the canvass we know that she arrived at the apartment house at around five-thirty to five-forty. Ten minutes to collect the mail, get up the stairs put away the groceries etc. The skillet in the dish rack tells me that she precooked the meat to get rid of the grease and fat. There are no dishes to indicate that she made the noodles and the sauce today, so I'm guessing she did it the night before."

"That's what my Mom always did," added O'Riley. "She always said that letting the sauce age overnight added a little extra kick to the flavor….eh sorry… go ahead Karl."

"She continues the food prep work, snow peas, salad, and desert. Since it takes somewhere between forty-five minutes and an hour to cook the lasagna, I'm guessing that she put it in the oven around six-twenty and dialed back the temperature ten to twenty degrees. Next she prepped the Saki and the table. That left her forty minutes or so to prep herself, being a young woman that was plenty of time."

"Hold it buster," challenged Kate. "Are you implying that older women need more time to make themselves beautiful."

"Known fact love," Karl replied with a grin. "It applies to all except the exceptional few whose basic beauty is untouched by the passage of time…. Like a certain wife of mine."

Kate's smile lite up the room, "Good answer," she hushed. "Wait, are you saying you have more than one wife?"

"Anyway in the oven at six-twenty, that tells me that dinner was planned for seven-thirty. Let's say forty-five minutes to eat that makes it eight-fifteen. A couple of minutes of small talk then…"

"Then dancing to the radio," added Kate. "Then some serious necking on the couch to a Frank Sinatra record which puts them in the bedroom at around nine."

"An hour to do the dead, kill the victim, dress and leave a little after ten," concluded Karl.

"Well Doctor," asked the Lieutenant into the silence.

"Plausible. All I can say for certain is that she died before midnight."

"Hey Kate," chided Sanchez, "How do you know about the dancing and stuff."

"Reminds me of a date I had once a long time ago in New York City."

"How'd it go?"

"It hasn't ended yet," she said with another huge smile engulfing her face.

"Yeah, right, back on point people," said the Lieutenant. "Anything else Doctor?"

"She wasn't strangled. Her neck was snapped."

"A god-damned copy-cat," hissed the Lieutenant.

The Castleton's locked eyes but didn't speak. The ride back to the precinct house and the walk up the stairs to the Task Force's room was accomplished in relative silence.

"Look it's almost the end of shift," said the Lieutenant, "why don't we…" he stopped when it was obvious that no one was listening to him.

"Notes or action items," whispered Karl as he and Kate headed toward the blackboard.

"Action items of course," said Kate with a slight laugh.

"Guys," said Karl, 'let me know if I leave anything out," asked Karl as he started to write on the blackboard.

"Lt," whispered Sanchez in a quiet moment, "it's essential that we get the facts of the case written down before we sleep. If we don't we might forget or overlook some essential detail."

"We don't have to agree on their interpretation," said O'Riley. "But we must agree that each one of these things is true. We can always argue importance or interpretation later, but it's vitally important that we agree on the facts. "

Eventually Karl put the chalk down and stepped back from the board. As he read the items to the team, he made the small corrections that the others pointed out. When he was done the LT was impressed with the amount of data they had extracted from the crime scene.

"What do the letters to the left of the action item mean," asked the Lieutenant.

"W is for warrant, I is for interview, C is for canvass, etc." said Kate.

"I suggest we call for the warrants right now. The writing ADA is still there and can still get the Warrants in front of a judge tonight. This means we don't have to wait for them to drink their morning coffee tomorrow."

"I can see the need for her client list from the firm, but why do we want her birth certificate. "

"Next of kin," offered Sanchez. "Right now we don't know."

"Okay, I'll handle getting the warrants. We can parcel out the other assignments tomorrow morning."

"Works for me," chirped Sanchez and O'Riley.

"See you guys tomorrow then," said Karl.

"You guys got plans," asked O'Riley?

"Giants are in town," responded Kate immediately.

"But it's a night game," whined Karl. The 'so what' expression on Kate's face said it all. "I guess I'm adding to my Guinness Book of World Records collection of Giant's sweat shirts," he mumbled out loud to the polite laughter of Sanchez and O'Riley. Karl shook his head and accepted his fate. Tonight he would be accompanying his wife to a baseball game and probably shivering his ass off. It didn't matter what time of year it was, Candlestick at night was always cold. On the other hand, he thought as his mood brightened. When we get back to the hotel I most definitely will want to defrost by taking a nice long hot shower, and if history repeats itself, I will be joined by a most heavenly body.

"Are we stopping for food on the way?"

"What, and miss the exquisitely prepared gourmet ball park hot dogs and pretzels, "asked a suddenly raspy voice?

Present day

"Sounds like a certain Yankees fan I know," commented Castle.

"Please," rasped Kate holding up an empty water bottle, "and a quilt too. I think I'm done for tonight."

Castle distributed drinks and quilts to his quests as questions and comments flew by.

"The whipped cream things please tell me you practiced that," husked a breathless Lanie.

"Yes," whispered a laughing Kate.

"You know some' afters' are better than others," noted Martha.

"Grand," blushed Alexis.

"We'll talk sweetie," said Kate.

"Yeah," exclaimed Alexis. "Kate, did you and Dad ever have any dinner dates like you know?"

"Yeah we did. And like the other Kate I'm going to say I'm still on the longest and best date of my life." She reached out and grabbed Castle's hand as he was settling in.

Castle bent down and kissed Kate's hand. Her looked from her smiling face to James, comfortably asleep on his mother's lap to the smiling faces of his friends all gathered around the fire pit waiting for 'Story-time' to continue.

The crescent moon had moved on, but still was in a position to listen. When Castle looked at it, the man in the moon seemed to beg him to start again so he could hear the end before he had the go. High-thin clouds drifted by the moons face and seemed to pile up over the house to listen. The wind made sure none of the pesky clouds prevented his friend, the moon, from listening. Castle took a deep breath and …

Chapter 5 A long Day, and help from strange places

The Castleton's arrived at the precinct house a half-hour after the normal start of the shift only to find Hookerville II in progress. As they were waiting to approach his eminence, the desk sergeant, a Uniformed Officer intercepted them.

"The Sarge said to give you guys this," he said as he handed each one a sealed envelope. "It contains your credentials as police consultants. He also said to go on up."

"Thank him for us," said Kate as she extracted her credential from the envelope and slipped the chain over her head and hat. They waved as they passed by his desk and up the steps toward the China Rose Task Force situation room. They thought nothing amiss when they passed the Lieutenant's empty office, but the scotch taped note to the front of the door from Sanchez and O'Riley stating that they had caught a case surprised them.

"Now what," asked Kate when they were confronted by an empty Task Force room?

"We investigate," said Karl automatically. "Kate you mind typing the board while I make some phone calls?"

"Sure, who you calling?"

"The first one is to a mutual friend for some translation support when we go talk to Miss Chen."

Kate smiled and nodded, 'It's good to have friends.' "And the other?"

"There was one Japanese League attorney I worked with last year. He smoked Japanese cigarettes. I'll ask him where he bought them."

"Makes sense. Move the typewriter for me? Oh and check the ribbon."

It took Karl longer to change the ribbon and find the typing and carbon paper then it did for Kate to type two originals with a single carbon copy each.

Karl's first call was fruitful. A translator known to them would meet them at Rosemary's apartment building at ten. The second call was a bust, the lawyer was in court. So Karl resorted to the detective's best friend, the yellow pages. When he finished he had seven locations. Four were in San Francisco and the other three were on the other side of the bay in Oakland.

"What do we do now," asked Kate when Karl was finally through with the phone?

"We wait I guess for either the Detectives or the Lieutenant to show up. If they don't show then we leave a note and go to the interview and start canvasing the tobacco stores. Where's the picture you took from the apartment? "

"In the file cabinet along with the birth certificates."

"I guess I could hang those under the pictures of the victims."

"Yeah, makes sense."

"Did Jose hang these in the right order," asked Karl after he had retrieved the birth certificates?
"No, two and three need to be reversed."

"Okay, I just remembered that the Triad Lord said you had seen him earlier in the day then me. What was it about?"

"A new hire that's interviewing with the company next week, he asked me to be sure that he gets hired. I think it's his son, I mean the family resemblance was apparent even to me."

"I thought his sons were part of the company."

"This son was not born of an oriental wife."

"Ah,… I get it. He can't formally acknowledge him, but he is still his son.

"That's what I think."

"Son of a bitch," exclaimed Karl. "Kate how many hospitals are there in San Francisco?"

"I don't know. Double digits at least."

"Then what do you think the odds are of all of the victims being San Francisco natives, born in the same year and in the same hospital?"

"Nonexistent. They're looking for someone. We need to find out who are they looking for and why.

The Castleton's locked eyes. "If he had a son…"

"Then he might have a daughter," concluded Kate. "Why?"

"Leverage, but which business rival? I can't see anyone in Chinatown challenging him."

"But he's been expanding his grasp to things outside of Chinatown. Who did he piss-off?"

"I guess we need to spend some time with the gang…."

"I have two warrants for the China Rose Task Force," announced a young woman who burst through the door and into the room.

"That be us," replied Karl.

"But you're not cops," continued the smallish brunette dressed in a conservative business woman's light gray jacket and skirt with a cream colored blouse.

"That's right we're just police consultants. I'm Karl and this is my wife Kate Castleton, and you are?"

"ADA Susan Evans, you guys can't serve these."

"We know, if the Detectives or the Lieutenant don't show up then I thought we'd ask the desk Sargent for some Uniformed Officer support."

"Where are they?"

"The Detectives caught another case," said Kate, "and we haven't seen the Lieutenant this morning."

"But this is the sixth homicide of this type in the last five months. Where are all of the other people?"

"We're it," said Karl calmly, trying to calm the ADA whose voice had started to sound hysterical. "That's why the Lieutenant took us on as Police Consultant's. I'm a PI and my client wants the murders stopped, so to the Department we're free labor that can't be reassigned."

"You still can't serve these," she said as she glanced around the room. "But I can, shall we?"

The Castleton's exchanged glances. "Why not," said Kate. "None of the Warrants involve shadowy people or are in dangerous places. We can take care of the Hall of Records on our way to the ten o'clock interview and hit McCormack's before lunch and canvass the tobacco stores in the afternoon."

"Okay I'll write out our route of flight, you explain about the other warrant we think we need?"

"Route of flight?"

"We need to let the rest of the team know where we are so we don't duplicate ourselves and look like a fool, and where we are incase trouble breaks out," said Karl.

"Oh, …other warrant?"

"Yeah," said Kate. "We think they are targeting mixed heritage woman, born in 1932 from a specific hospital here in San Francisco. It's too big a coincidence to think otherwise."

"Why? What makes woman born in that year from that hospital so special?"

"If we knew that would give us a motive for the murders and a solid place to start to look for the killers."

"But why kill them?"

"I think they are looking for someone special and haven't found her yet."

"By killing the women they are sending a message and applying pressure to the woman's relatives, 'We are coming for your daughter.' Perhaps they're waiting for an offer to stop. Maybe they'll get more than one."

"Blind extortion, now that's a neat trick," said the ADA. "Let's hold off on the other warrant until we see the birth certificate for the latest victim."

On the short ride from the precinct house to the Hall of Records Kate could tell that the presence of Susan Evans was bothering Karl.

"Ah, "asked Karl, "…Susan. How long have you worked at the District Attorney's office?"

"Just started. This is the end of my first week."

"I hope I don't appear to be too forward, but a bit of advice. You need to use more moderation in the application of ah your cologne. It's a nice scent, but it's too much of a good thing."

"Thanks, I appreciate the advice…Truth be known that's why I volunteered to deliver the warrants today. I wanted to get out of the office. You see I had an accident this morning and spilled cologne on this blouse, and it's my last clean one."

"So you decided to look a little foolish to strangers instead of your peers," said Kate with a smile. "I completely understand. You're still building your relationship in the office and too much cologne would definitely send the wrong message. As I said we completely understand. "

"Susan wait," said Karl as soon as they got out of the cab in front of the Hall of Records. He reached into his wallet and pulled out twenty bucks. "Here, take this. I want you to buy an emergency blouse, have it cleaned and put into a box like they do for men's shirts and put that box in one of your desk drawers at work. That way you can recover from any other accidents."

"I can't accept. An ADA can't accept gifts from PI's. It could appear like you're buying a favor."

"You can accept gifts from other friends of the court right," countered Kate. "And Karl is a Sacramento County Volunteer Deputy Sherriff. He saw a fellow friend of the court in a bit of a spot and helped her out. No favors now or in the future involved."

"I guess that works. Listen give me your address and I will pay you back."

"No," said Karl softly but firmly. "You repay kindness by playing it forward. Who knows someday in the future you may have to bail out a male college who has a gravy spot on his tie or the mustard from a hot dog got him at lunch."

"Thanks guys I really do appreciate this."

"You know," said Kate as she latched onto Karl's arm. "I normally would be furious if I found out that my husband had bought clothes for another woman, but today I think I can forgive him," the grin on her face breaking into a huge smile.
"Misses Castleton I think you should look the other way. I think I'm going to kiss your husband."

"On the cheek is find dear, anyplace else and we'll have words."

"Understood," she said as she went up on her tip toes to kiss Karl's cheek.

When the birth certificate showed the same hospital as the other victims the ADA literally ran to the phones. "I explained the situation to the Hospital Administrator. The information you need will be delivered to the precinct house around noon tomorrow. You said something about an interview?"

When they arrived at the apartment building a familiar face was lounging in the shade on a park bench near the side entrance. As he exited the cab Karl looked at his watch and grimaced. They were late. True it was only two minutes, but he absolutely hated being late. As the party approached, the man stood up and offered a polite bow which Karl returned.

Kate recognized him immediately. It was the man, who had taken her packages coming out of the restaurant and had accompanied her on the trolley to her hotel stop. "Mister Castleton my name is Wen Sun and I have been sent my, ah, employer in response to your request for an interpreter. "

Karl offered his hand and frowned when he saw that Wen was holding a bouquet of flowers. "It seems like I've failed in the manners department."

"That's why I'm here," Wen said with a touch of a smile on his lips.

"Okay, thanks for coming. My I present my wife Kate and ADA Susan Evans. She asked to accompany us this morning." Karl saw Wen suppress a look of irritation and look in Karl's direction when he mentioned Susan's title. 'Could be helped Karl tried to sat with a shrug.'

"Listen," said Karl as the party entered the building and started up the stairs. "We are going to visit an elderly Chinese woman that kind of acts as the matron for the single women living in the building. She lives across the hall from the victim. What we are trying to find out is what type of relationship the victim had with the man in the photograph. Specifically we want to know when he left the apartment and did the victim have another visitor that night. Above all we need to be respectful of the woman and the victim."

"Well Mister Sun can introduce me and we can impress upon her the importance of her co-operation," said Susan.

"She will not be impressed," said Karl firmly. "Names and titles mean nothing to her. What she values most is family and relationships. I'm hoping that Mister Sun can establish some sort of common ground with her. Frankly we three have no chance in hell of getting her to co-operate unless she wants to. So let's be attentive, respectful, and quiet. Mister Sun knows what we need, let him lead the conversation so be patient and don't interrupt."

'No wonder my Lord trusts him,' thought Wen. 'He understands us and he knows his limitations. He has a job to do but didn't hesitate to ask for help when he saw something he couldn't handle. He didn't let pride get in the way, a lot of good lessons to be learned and practiced.'

Wen knocked on the door, "Elder Mother," he said in a dialect that neither Kate, Karl, nor Susan understood. "I've come to ask for your help. Our sister has died and we seek the man who killed her." Wen waited a long moment, knocked and repeated his ask for help.

Eventually the door opened to the width of a restraining chain. "What help can you bring to the dead," the old woman on the other side of the door asked in the same dialect?

"None for our sisters who have died," he responded Wen. "But I can strive to prevent this man from killing anymore of our sisters."

Wen saw the woman nod her approval. "What are these foreigners doing here," she asked nodding in the direction of the rest of the party.

"The man is an 'Old Friend' of my Lord, and my Lord personally asked him to look into the deaths of our sister." Wen saw that naming Karl an 'Old Friend' of the Triad Lord had impressed the woman. "The Snow Leopardess on his arm is his wife and has a well earned a reputation for fierceness and kindness. Her ferocity would make her namesake proud. The other woman is a babe. The man and woman are protecting and teaching her."

"It is their duty," agreed the old woman. "Come in and I will make some tea," she said as she closed the door, unhooked the chain and opened the door wide. Wen stood aside to let the ladies enter the apartment first.

"Susan stop," hissed Kate! When Susan turned around and looked. Kate deftly removed her shoes, put them on top of the shoe corral and put on a pair of house slippers. Susan, with a slight touch of pink touching her cheeks, mirrored Kate's actions. Wen followed suit and then Karl. Karl looked at the remaining selection of house slippers and sighed. He wore a size thirteen shoe, and he had never found a pair of oriental house slippers that size so he did what he always did. He walked to the table in his socks covered feet.

As he walked to the table Karl noted that the woman's apartment, despite being on the north side of the building was still light and airy. The apartment was considerably smaller than the victim's, and had an aura of comfort and safety. It was done mostly in the oriental tradition with several major exceptions, the TV set, the radio and a pair of chairs. In front of the TV were two western style chairs. One was a wingback with a matching ottoman and the other was a very study and very comfortable looking rocker.

As Karl took his place at the table by Kate's side he and immediately felt sorry for Susan. She was sitting awkwardly and uncomfortably. He concluded that she might have difficulty standing up if the conversation lasted a long time. It wasn't long before the woman of the house returned to the table with a tray bearing a teapot, five cups and a vase containing the flowers that Wen had given her. As the woman poured and served the tea Karl couldn't miss the frown on her face when she saw his stocking feet.

"Please apologize to our host," said Karl as he gave a short bow in her direction, "but my feet are my feet. I've grown accustomed to them and if I had a smaller pair I would probably trip over them and fall flat on my face." Karl saw the woman's eyes sparkle and the tips of her lips quiver upward toward a grin. "I know it's rude to sit at the table in only my socks but it is the best I can do."

"Apology accepted," translated Wen. "She also says your funny and wishes she was thirty years younger."

Karl bowed and waited for Wen to begin. The conversation had been going on for several minutes. From a body language perspective Karl thought that the woman had started out apprehensive but was now perfectly at ease with Wen. Karl didn't have the slightest idea what they were talking about, but he trusted that the Triad Lord's man knew what he wanted and was working to get it. After all if he failed, pissing-off Karl was the least of his worries. Karl knew that Wen served his Lord and not him. Karl's biggest worry was would Wen Sun tell him everything the woman said or just what Karl wanted to hear.

Karl watched Wen ask a question and the matron's eyes flash with anger. He didn't know what she was saying, but she sounded angry. "….Yakuza scum," was spoken in English and needed no translation. Kate's hand flew to Karl's and she squeezed ...hard. 'It looks like our speculation was correct,' she thought. 'The Yakuza are looking for the Triad Lord's daughter. But we still don't know why. The big question is what he's going to do about it.'

"Yakuza," screeched Susan. "Did she just say that the killer was a member of the Japanese mafia?"

The matron looked at Susan and shook her head from side to side and subtlety backed away from the table.

Sun bowed from the waist and started to stand up. "We're done here," he announced unnecessarily. After saying their goodbyes, the group retrieved their shoes and walked down the stairs and to the park bench where they first met Wen in silence.

"Yakuza," mumbled Susan out loud.

Kate glared at the younger woman for a second. "Did she tell you why she thinks he's Yakuza," asked Kate in a conversational tone.

Wen looked at Kate for a second, shrugged his shoulders and began. His instructions from his Lord were clear 'Tell the Jaguar and his Snow Leopardess everything.' "She suspected a couple of weeks ago when he left the apartment with his jacket over his arm and his sleeves rolled up. She saw the tattoos."

"Body art doesn't automatically make him a Yakuza soldier," said Karl.

"True, she also said that Rose confronted him about it late last week. At first he denied it then later confirmed it, and then there is the fact that he is missing a piece of his small finger on his left hand."

"Was this the first time they had gotten together since he admitted to being Yakuza?"

"She didn't tell me that. She did say," said Wen looking at the ADA, "that she saw him leave around ten after ten and she didn't hear Rose say goodbye like she usually does or hear her lock the door."

"Then we got him," exclaimed Sue.

"We've got nothing," said Kate. "Who's to say Rose wasn't in the bathroom or asleep in the bedroom when Aki left and she wasn't there to say goodbye or secure the door. Maybe a little bit later someone else walked in, Rose didn't react because she that it was her lover returning and …."

"But the elder mother would have heard it," said Susan.

"Really," said Karl. "She hears and sees all? A rookie defense lawyer will make mincemeat of that statement."

"But the fingerprints."

"Belong there," said Kate. "From the Elder Mother's testimony, he is a frequent quest to his 'girlfriends' place and of course his fingerprints will be found there."

"Hell," said Karl, "on the stand he'll profess to love her; tell the jury he intended to marry her and probably produce an engagement ring with the appropriate date on the receipt. He'll finish his testimony by begging the Police to stop persecuting him and find the real killer so his Rose can find peace."

"The jury will eat it up," said Kate. "No, in order to make it stick we need to find a motive."

"Timing," interjected Karl. "I'm curious why he decided to kill her on that night."

"So you think he's guilty," said an exasperated Susan.

"We know he did it," said Kate. "What's frustrating is that we can't prove it yet."

As the conversation progressed Wen Sun was becoming more and more agitated. "Mister Castleton you must accompany me and tell my L…eh… your patron of these events. "

"Too soon," said Karl quickly and politely.

"I must insist."

Karl saw the look on the Triad soldier's face and understood his predicament. "Ladies, please excuse us. Wen Sun walk with me please," said Karl with his arm extended and pointing in the direction of the small empty playground at the end of the block. Karl paused for a split second and then headed out in that direction.

Wen mumbled under his breath and hurried after Karl whose easy going but long legged stride ate up the distance. As he walked he remembered not only the orders from his Lord but also the advice from his mentor. 'Remember that the Jaguar is not sworn to our Lord as we are. Simply telling him that our Lord requires him to do something won't work. He helps our Lord for his own reasons and in ways that are sometimes strange to me. Sometimes it is hard to remember that we are on the same side, but we are. He has proven that many times in the past. Also remember that our Lord has declared him to be an 'Old Friend.' If he suggests a different course of action, then let him proceed. Ultimately he too will answer for his actions to our Lord.'

Halfway to the playground Karl slowed his pace to a crawl and Wen Sun easily caught up to him. "Let me guess," said Karl. "Your Lord wants me to come to Chinatown and explain what we heard from the Elder Mother if it's important?"

"Yes, you understand."

"It's too soon. All we have is the word of the Elder Mother and nothing else. It's not enough."

"But…"

"Too accuse the Yakuza of this we need more than the word of just one old woman. If your Lord acts on this information and it's not entirely true then the consequences could be catastrophic."

Wen Sun paused for a moment and then nodded his understanding. "How are you going to prove it?"

"We have two stops left. One is the place where Rose worked. We are going to ask for Aki Tanaka's contact information."

"Waste of time," Wen Sun said as shook his head. "He will have used a false name and address. You'll learn nothing there."

"Agree on the name and address, but I'm betting the phone number is correct. Remember her wanted her to call him to set-up an appointment. We'll have the phone company give us the physical address of the phone. We also have the phone number that Rose had in her personal book for him. We'll trace that one too. Our other clue is that he smokes Japanese cigarettes. We plan on showing his picture at all of the stores."

"Still by Lord will want to know the …."

"Look," said Karl cutting him off. "Make a reservation for us at the Great Wall tonight for seven-thirty. We'll show-up around seven-fifteen and leave right after the show starts. Your Lord can talk to us before, during or after dinner. This gives us the time we need to learn more about Aki Tanaka and determine if he really is Yakuza."

Wen Sun nodded his agreement and the pair turned and headed back toward the ladies.

"What's that all about," asked Susan as she watched Kat and Wan Sun walk off?

"The client is rich, powerful, and a micromanager. Trust me on this one, no one manages Karl. Not even me. Ajax is probably the only one who might get away with it."

"Ajax?"

"Our dog," said Kate. "Karl takes him with him when he volunteers as a Deputy Sheriff. I remember the story Karl told me the first time he took Ajax into a bar," laughed Kate.

"The bartender called out, 'I serve food here. You can't bring that dog in. I could lose my license.'"

Karl replied 'Working dogs are always allowed.'

"Yes but he's still a dog."

"'And he's underage too, so don't sell him any booze.' The whole bar cracked up laughing and Karl was easily able to identify the two guys who had walked into the bar with weapons as visiting FBI agents."

"McCormack's occupied the top five floors in one of the high rise buildings on Sansome near the corner of Sansome and Pine. After identifying themselves and their business, the party was rushed up and into the office of Albert Drake, the house counsel for the company. Mister Drake was slightly below medium height and his jovial face did nothing to conceal a set of eyes that saw and evaluated everything. He quickly explained that his principle function was to evaluate the legal needs of the company and push that work to the best law firms in the city.

"I must confess," admitted the counselor, "I did expect the police to come by with a warrant, but I never expected an ADA. I hope you realize that the information you asked for is very sensitive."

"The DA's office understands that," said Susan, "and we will do our best to protect the information. What we are after and desperately need is the contact information for Rose's clients for the last two months only. We don't need to know the reason why they came to see you, just who they are and how we can reach them."

"Still the names are important."

"Yes, we understand that, but asking for them is necessary for the investigation," replied Susan.

"Do you have someone specific in mind?"

"Yes," confirmed Karl. "But to only ask for that person's contact information would put that person under the microscope, perhaps unnecessarily so. Also we might be mistaken and it could be another person that Rose made contact with. That's why we need the information."

"Amy," said the counselor into the intercom. "Have Tim Smith bring Rose's schedule and roller deck up please. When he comes up, accompany him in please."

"You've got a great view," commented Kate.

"It is lovely," said Albert and for the next several minutes he pointed out the significant landmarks and talked about how he loved to watch the boats on the bay. Eventually the discussion was interrupted by a knock on the door.

After the introductions Mister Drake set the stage. "Susan Evans her is an ADA and she is looking into the death of Rose. She has given me a warrant specifying that we turn over Rose's work calendar or ledger detailing her appointments for the last two months and the contact information for those people she met. We have to turn over her monthly schedule books, but I don't want to turn over her roller-deck. Any suggestions?"

"May I look at the book," asked Amy?

"Sure," said Albert handing her one of the calendars.

"There are maybe forty names here, if the other book is like this maybe forty more. I suggest we pull the cards from the deck and retype the information for the ADA. When we reassemble the deck we'll annotate the cards. In the absence of Rose's calendar that will let Mister Smith know which client files he needs to review. How soon do you need this," she asked looking at her watch?

"As soon as you can, look this is the number one priority. Take whomever you need out of the typing pool and get this done. Have them work through the start of lunch and when they're done they are to take their full lunch hour. If any supervisor squawks they can talk to me. I'm hoping to persuade the ADA and the Castleton's to join me for lunch in the cafeteria and I would like to hand them what they asked for after lunch."

"Wait," said Tim Smith. "Kate Castleton of Golden Bear Foods?"

"Yes," nodded Kate.

"I'm sorry," said Susan, "I don't think it would be appropriate for an ADA to …."

"Relax Sue," said Karl. "Somehow I don't think you or the Office of the District Attorney will be a lunchtime topic."

"I think Karl's right Sue. I've ah…my Dad's company has done business with this company in the past. I'm sure they've heard some rumors about our plans and they want to take the opportunity to see if I will 'spill the beans.' I'm going to disappoint them of course. The only thing they will get out of me is confirmation that they need to make an appointment to meet with my Dad."

"The mahogany row crowd will be disappointed, but glad to hear that perhaps some of the rumors are true," said Tim. "Me. I just want to know if you, now that you completed your final terrace farm will you be expanding your cannery operations?"

"Not immediately," said Kate. "We need to see the yields of course and we're still tweaking the product mix. One thing I can say for sure is that we will be reducing the amount of rhubarb we plant, and increasing the amount of eggplant. "

"Tim, could you take them up to the cafeteria? I want to swing by a couple of offices."

"I appreciate the gesture, but I don't know if I can accept a free lunch," said Susan.

"I appreciate your position," said Counselor Drake. "You must shy away from even the appearance of compromise."

"Right"

"Two things should help. I assume you have a logbook or journal where you keep track of what cases you are working on?"

"Yes of course."

"Then log this lunch in the book. You can also log in your book that we charged you the exact same price that we charge our employees and the' quest' portion was only the fact that you ate in our facility. You should also state that the rationale for accepting our hospitality was that it allowed you to pick up the material requested by the warrant earlier."

"That…that would be sufficient. I think."

"Kate, Karl do you have a problem with lunch."

"I don't think there is an instance in recorded history where a PI turned down a free lunch," offered Karl.

"Good," laughed Tim. "I'll take them up, ladies, Mister Castleton if you will follow me please."

It was interesting to hear one of the VPs talk about the cafeteria. He stated that world finance had become a twenty-four hour a day business and in order to compete he needed people to work the desks on a twenty-four hour basis. Since there were no places open at two in the morning providing the employees with a place and food to eat just made since. The company fully subsidized the cafeteria and was glad to do so. It was one of the perks that kept their turnover in personnel low.

The cafeteria was one floor down and it offered a better view of the bay and downtown San Francisco than Mister Drake's office. Lunchtime for Karl was a treat. He chose a small fruit salad, a bowl of real good creamy tomato bisque and a couple of tuna sandwiches on toast. As far as comfort food goes, not bad, and the floor show was excellent.

The expression on Susan's face when she squeaked "You're a VP for Golden Bear Foods," after the introductions had been made was indescribable, "but you're…"

"Helping my husband work with the Police to catch a murder," offered Kate. "Yes of course I am. Karl is a PI and I help him when I can. Why wouldn't I. He helps me and my Dad. I can't tell you the number of times that Karl has offered suggestions that led to changes in how we do business."

"Yes, but still,…" said Susan as she looked wide-eyed from Kate to Karl and back to Kate.

"He's my husband," Kate said softly.

The real treat was watching Kate dodge and weave her way through the questions that the seniors of the firm were asking about her Dad's plans to expand the company. Like most good companies, the senior people at McCormack's recognized a ground floor opportunity and wanted a piece of the action and Kate was giving them nothing.

"What about it Karl" asked one of the VPs. "Surely you can help us out here."

"You're kidding right," laughed Karl. "If I so much as whisper a word, by sweet, smiling, innocent wife will clobber me….I will suggest one thing," offered Karl after the laughter had died down. "When you go and talk to Henry take a Draft Non-Disclosure Agreement with you. Not just your stock one, but one tailored to this problem. Also take a Draft Plan on how your firm is going to protect Henry's plan. The documents will have to reviewed and probably revised of course, but I'm certain that Henry, Kate's Dad, will appreciate the effort."

"But we don't know the details."

"Then write a generic plan that the details can be feathered into when they are revealed to you," countered Karl. "The object of the exercise is to convince Henry that you can do the job AND cover his back until it's time to go public."

"Let me take a crack at that," said Albert. "If we get the job then the effort won't be wasted."

"It's also hi-time we started thinking about better protecting our client's privacy."

Back at Mister Drake's office two portfolios with the requested information were waiting for them. Karl did a quick check to be sure that Aki Tanaka's name was on the list, it was. "Is there anything else I can do for you," Counselor Drake asked?
"Is there a place where I can make a couple of local calls?"

"Use my phone. I need to talk to some people to start the Non-Disclosure document rolling."

"Thanks," said Karl, "for the phone and the timely preparation of the material."

"Thanks," repeated Susan.

"No thanks needed. The lunchtime chat made everything worthwhile. I do have one request….Catch the Bastard before he kills again."

Karl's grim expression and short nod was all of the affirmation that Albert needed.

"Who we calling," asked Susan?
"The first call is to the phone company. We'll ask the operator to reverse phone book a couple of numbers."

"Don't you need a warrant?"

"No, the phone company does it all of the time."

"Why?"

"A girl gives a guy her number. He wants to impress her before he calls by sending her flowers. Not even the phone company gets in the way of romance," said Karl with a grin. "But the first number I'm going to call is the number Aki Tanaka put down as his daytime contact number.

"Bayside Limited," said a female voice with just a touch of an oriental accent.

"Please connect me with Aki Tanaka. I'm Jay Robinson. I work for McCormack's and I'm taking over his account for a co-worker who has had an accident. "

"Sorry Sir," said the woman with only the slightest bit of hesitation, "I don't recognize that name. Are you sure you have the right number?"

"Pretty sure," said Karl as he repeated the number.

"Well that's us alright," she said, "but we don't have an Aki Tanaka working here. We're a rather small company and I know everyone who works here, sorry."

"Thank you for your time," said Karl.

"Now that was interesting," said Kate who had been sharing the telephone receiver with Karl.

"You mean the hesitation and denial?"

"Yeah."

"Where is the place?"

"In Oakland," said Karl after calling the phone company, "corner of 10th and Willow. He lives on 16th across from De Fremery Park. I think that's how you say it."

"Cigarette shops," asked Susan?

"One on Willow about a half a block away from Bayside Limited and another sort of near his house on 18th."

"Let's try the one near work first," suggested Kate.

Karl shrugged as he tried to call the Lieutenant. When the Lieutenant didn't answer he called Sanchez's phone and left a message with the Officer that answered.

The cab drove by Bayside Limited on their way to the pharmacy that sold the Japanese brand cigarettes. Bayside Limited was a fairly large building that sat on the corner of Willow and 1oth. The Willow Street side was two stories tall and appeared to be configured as offices. The 10th street side had a loading dock with spaces for three trucks. Behind it was a large one-and-a-half story structure that could be used for light manufacturing or warehousing. Karl wished he had more time to research the company before acting. Today he was just content nothing where Bayside Limited was.

The neighborhood between Bayside Limited and the pharmacy was light commercial. With the exception of a rather small F. W. Woolworth store, the store names were representative of 'Mom and Pop' stories or family owned business.

"New meter," said Karl after he had paid the fair. "Wait for us please," he continued showing a twenty.

"In this neighborhood," responded the cab driver?
"I said please," said Karl showing another twenty.

"Okay, but at the first sign of trouble I'm gone."

"Fine," replied a disgusted Karl as he dropped the bills on the passenger seat, closed the door and hurried after Susan and Kate.

When Kate and Karl entered the store they thought they had stepped back in time to the turn of the century. The layout, the smell, and the creaky floors made the Castleton's think of the 'General Merchandise' store that had been 'preserved' as part of Sacramento's western heritage. Seeing a small line at the checkout register, the Castleton's strolled to the pharmacy area in the back of the store. There they watched the pharmacist fill several prescriptions. Some were for modern drugs, and others were for herbs and other organic materials for natural or holistic cures.

"Powdered deer horn," questioned Kate softly as she and Karl made their way to the front of the store?

With the customer line gone, Susan, with Kate and Karl in tow approached the old woman at the cash register.

"Hi, I'm ADA Susan Evans, and I hope you have a moment to help us out." When the old woman didn't respond she continued. "This man buys Japanese cigarettes. Does he buy them here? It's important that we talk to him."

Karl saw her eyes widen and her nostrils flare when Susan showed her the picture.

"He no come here," she said in accented English.

"Your words say one thing and your eyes something else," said Karl in slow but perfectly understandable Japanese.

Startled the woman took a step back. "He no come here," she repeated.

"This man kills young woman," Karl said gently. "We want to stop him. Can you help us?"

The woman shuffled slowly forward then stepped back away as three young Japanese men in their early twenties wearing ill-fitting suits entered the store. "He no come here," she repeated her eyes wide from terror.

"Thank you," said Karl as he dropped a copy of singles on the counter and picked up a couple of all day suckers.

"You and your sweet tooth" chided Kate as soon as they exited the store.

"There for the boys…" Karl stopped and followed Susan's gaze.

Kate followed suit. "It's him," squawked Susan unnecessarily.

"Son of a Bitch," Karl muttered under his breath. The party had spotted Aki Tanka sitting behind the wheel of a new Ford as it was stopped at the stoplight. The party started toward the car and was quickly disappointed as the light changed and they watched Mister Tanaka make the turn on 10th, drive past the loading docks and park in Bayside Limited's employee parking lot.

"That answers that," said Karl as he grabbed Kate's elbow and started to steer her toward the cab. They had to stop and scurry after Susan as she crossed the street and headed toward the Bayside Limited facility.

"Susan what are you planning to do?"

"Talk to him of course."

"Bad idea," said Kate.

"I've got to do my duty."

"Let me remind you," said Karl. "We are in Oakland, not San Francisco and we are not cops."

"Your duty should be to call back to your office, get a name of an ADA that can help us here in Oakland, get a warrant and some cops and then hit the place. If we try to this right now, we won't make it past the receptionist.

"Nonsense. Look, this needs to be done. You can stay here if you like." Susan pushed past Karl and Kate and headed toward the entrance to the company.

"I hope we live to laugh about this," whispered Kate as they rushed forward to cover Susan's back.

To call the reception area of Bayside Limited 'Spartan' would be a gross over embellishment. The receptionist sat behind a raised circular counter. She was fairly young and pretty, but had the eyes of one that had seen death. The room's other features include two chairs, a water fountain and the entrance to the main building.

"May I help you," the receptionist asked sweetly.

"I'm ADA Susan Evans and I'm here to see Aki Tanaka please," said Susan as she displayed her credentials.

"I'm sorry Miss but no one by the name of Tanaka works here."

"Ridiculous, I just saw him drive and park his new ford in your employee parking lot."

"Not possible."

"Please call your manager, I need co-operation not obstruction."

'Silly people,' thought Karl as he tried not to show he understood what the receptionist was saying when she called her manager and described the situation.

'Shit' thought Kate and Karl simultaneous when two Japanese men in their early thirties with suspicious bulges in their jackets entered the room and took up strategic positions. A minute later a distinguished looking, well groom Japanese man in his early fifties entered.

"Miss Evans you're not part of the Oakland DA's office are you."

"No Sir, I'm from San Francisco."

"You are out of your jurisdiction. You have no authority here. I suggest you stop bothering my employees before I call the authorities and file a complaint."

"But we need to talk to Aki Tanaka."

"How many times must you be told that I have no employee by that name? Now be gone."

"But…" Susan stopped talking as Karl grabbed her elbow and forcefully guided her toward the street exit.

"Sorry for intrusion," Karl said as they exited. "Now hurry," he urged.

"Why," asked Susan?

"Let's not give them the opportunity to do what they've already decided.

"Which is?"

"Kill us before we make it back to San Francisco."

"They wouldn't dare," exclaimed Susan.

"It ties up all of the loose ends, especially if…," said Kate.

"And they will," affirmed Karl. "They will kill Aki Tanaka and make it look like one of their rivals did it."

"You're crazy," exclaimed the ADA.

"Maybe, but I prefer being a live crazy than a dead rationale man, now HURRY!"

"Central District Police Station," shouted Karl as he opened the door for the ladies, "and step on it."

The cabdriver acknowledged the instructions, sped away from the curb, turned right and came to a screeching halt. Bayside Limited was located near the docks and the rail yard. The main street from this area to the on ramp for the Bay Bridge was always clogged with trucks of all sizes, from eighteen-wheelers moving goods across country to town trucks ferrying goods to local distribution points. The only thing that mattered was that they stuck and forced to move at the pace of the traffic.

The cab surged forward a couple of car lengths and stopped again. Karl shook his head. 'At this rate a turtle walking backwards will beat us back to San Francisco. Can turtles walk backward? Can rabbits? It doesn't matter,' he concluded.

"When we finally make it to open road please step on it. We do have a San Francisco ADA in the back seat so a speeding ticket can probably be made to disappear."

"I will do no such thing," said an indigent ADA. "Mister Castleton is being overly paranoid."

"Do you know what they a call a selectively paranoid man," asked Karl?

"No"

"They call him Mister because his still alive," finished Kate. "Step on it and I'll pay the fine. For once having cops around would be a good thing."

"How deep is the shit," asked the cabdriver.

"Truthfully there may not be any shit, but if there is any crap, then I just don't won't to be touched by it."

"Truer words were never spoken," said the cabdriver as the cab gained three car lengths before stopping.

"Just out curiosity?"

"One San Francisco ADA and two Police Consultants," supplied Karl. "We're investigating a murder."

"The real cops are too busy," added Kate.

The cabdriver grunted his comment as the cab inched forward another three car lengths. Eventually the cab escaped the trap, surged up the on-ramp and dashed toward the city. The traffic on the bridge was moderate and soon the cab was making its way speedily toward the city and safety.

"Two cars coming up fast," warned the cabdriver.

All three passengers turned in their seats to look at the oncoming g cars. "Down," shouted Karl unnecessarily. Kate too, had spotted the new Ford and was busy shoving Susan to the floor of the cab.

"Amateurs," exclaimed Karl as the gunman's bullets sailed through the cabs rear windows. 'They have no sense of tradecraft at all,' he scoffed to himself. 'With two vehicles they could have easily captured the cab between them before they opened fire and tipped their hand. Now the cabdriver knows he's in trouble and will drive like the professional that he is.'

Karl laughed to himself again as the second wave of bullets sailed high through the car. 'No sense of tradecraft at all,' he repeated. 'Don't they know if they kill the car they can kill us at their leisure? Why are they shooting high? Don't they realize were on the floor?' Karl peaked up after the third wave of bullets had rattled through. 'A hundred yards to the exit, if he gets off and we stop at the light we're doomed.

Just at that moment one of the cars slammed into the rear of the cab. The hit was in the right rear quarter of the cab, and it was perfect. The cab started spinning out of control. Luckily the cab stayed upright, but as it was spinning it hit several other cars before slamming into the guard rail at an angle. The cab spun a couple of more times as it continued toward the exit before stopping with the hood of the driver's side just off of the guard rail and the body just past perpendicular to the rail.

Karl shook his head to clear the cobwebs. As he leveraged himself off of Kate and onto the back seat, he heard the screaming of the ADA and the groaning of the cab driver. His heart starting beating again when he say Kate start to stir. The footsteps and the Japanese voices drew Karl's attention outside. He smiled when he saw that the door had sprung open and was just resting against the latch. 'Let's hope they continue to be stupid.' They did.

As Aki Tanaka started to gaze into the backseat of the car, Karl kicked the door open with both feet. The window frame slammed the gun hand into the car causing the gun to elevate and go off. 'Hit a seagull,' Karl whispered as he kicked the door open again after the rebound, this time causing Aka Tanaka to drop the gun and groan in pain. Karl hopped out of the car and immediately batted the gun hand of Aka's partner to his left. Karl followed up with a kick to the groin. As the opponent was falling forward Karl kicked him in the abdomen and tried to slam his head into the guard rail. Spinning, he planted two kicks in the kidney area, hopefully breaking a rib, and turned to face Aki's charge.

Kate climbed up on the backseat aware of Susan's screams and the groans of the cabdriver. 'Susan isn't bleeding she's just scared,' thought Kate, "and the cabdriver has a nose bled, but is breathing normally.' The scuffle outside finally got her attention. "If I don't help Karl, then we're all dead," she verbalized.

As Kate hopped out of the cab her ears told her to look left, but her eyes spotted a man slow crawling toward a gun. 'Closest threat first,' her instincts demanded. Kate hopped over and stomped on the outstretched hand of the crawling man. After kicking the gun further away she stepped up and kicked the man in the ribs, twice. Kate hit almost the exact same spot as Karl. Next Kate retrieved the gun and hit the crawling man in the head until he stopped moving.

"Short barrel thirty-eight," vocalized Kate, "four shots left." Kate finished checking the weapon and started to walk toward Karl and Aki. The sound of slamming car doors and Japanese voices brought her up short. 'Damn, no place to hide.'

"Then hide in plain sight," said a female voice Kate had only heard in a dream.

"Yes," she laughed as she sprawled out on the ground with her back supported by the car. Ripping off her hat to cover her gun hand, Kate hoped she looked like she came crawled out of the cab and collapsed. Several long seconds later the pair from the other car came into view. 'Yes' thought Kate as they started towards her. 'No' she silently wailed as they started towards Karl. 'No' Kate wailed louder as Susan started to emerge from the cab. 'Yes' rejoiced Kate as they started the cab once again. 'Wait for it' she cautioned herself. These things only have moderate stopping power and are accurate over a relatively short range. 'Wait…Wait….Now' Kate shot just as the arms of the gunmen came up. The first two shots hit the lead man in the heart. The last two shots hit the trailing gunman heart high but to the right of the sternum.

Ignoring Susan's cry, Kate jumped up and run towards the two gunmen. Kate dropped the spent weapon and picked up the two fresh guns. One man was clearly dead, and the other would be unless he got attention son. Kate quickly checked over one of the weapons as she rushed toward Karl and Aki.

Karl had Aki locked up, but Aki was still giving Karl problems. Timing it perfectly, Kate kicked Aki in the abdomen.

"Stop struggling," she said as she placed the gun barrel next to Aki's knee. "All of your men are down and are out of the fight. Unless you stop struggling I will shoot. From this angle I will definitely destroy your knee and I have absolutely no chance of hurting my husband. If you think I won't shoot then ask yourself who killed your men and how is it I have their gun in my hand?"

The man stopped struggling and Kate backed out to a position where she could see all four men. In the distance she could hear sirens, and they sounded beautiful.

"Susan, you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess. More scared than hurt."
"You've earned it. Check on the cabdriver please?"

"I'm trapped and have a broken left arm, but otherwise I'm okay," came a voice from the cab.

"Sorry to get you into this," said Kate.

"You kidding? Now that it's over I won't have missed it for the world. I'm not going to be buying drinks for a month!"

Kate smiled to herself and stained her ears for the sound of slamming car doors and the cautious feet of policemen.

"Put down the weapon and kiss the ground," said a familiar voice filled with authority.

"She will do no such thing. I'm ADA Susan Evans and right now she is covering one of the men who tried to kill us and my chief suspect in another murder."

"Mike is that you," asked Karl?
"Karl?"

"That woman you've got a gun is Kate. I'd appreciate it if you didn't shoot her. I've grown quite fond of her over the years, so much so that I think she is irreplaceable."

"What have we got?"

"One dead, four wounded, two critical," said Kate.

"And one very bad ass," added Karl. "Mike when cuff this guy we take no chances. He's smart, fast, strong, and skilled. He came within an inch of kicking my ass. He's the most dangerous guy I've met in a long time. "

"Got it, Tim you're with me. Kate, keep him covered."

"Just mind my line of fire."

"That's not by the book Sargent."

"Listen Rook, how many times do I have to say it before it finally sinks in? The Procedures and Regulations are written for the 'Guidance' of the Commander. We need to know both the letter and intent of material so that we can apply it in a tactical situation. Sometimes by the book can get you killed."

"But a gun in the hands of a civilian…."

"We'll talk later; now just help me cuff this guy."

Kate kept her distance and maintained her site lines as the two Officers took control of the prisoner.

"He's charged with the murder of Rosemary Baldwin and the attempted murder of four people," Susan told the Officer as he walked the prisoner toward the police car, "and one of the people he tried to kill was an ADA."

"Got it."

Rescue worked to free the tapped cabdriver as the EMTs worked to stabilize; prepare the two Yakuza soldiers for transport and patch up Susan who had been grazed by a bullet. "From where I sit it looks like a good shoot," said Inspector Henry. "But I got an idea that it's not going to be my call."

'He was so right,' reflected Karl as he sat in the sun behind some of the bridge structure. The structure provided some protection from the wind. Karl had surrendered his jacket to Kate a long time ago. After all it was San Francisco and they were on the Bay Bridge with almost no protection from the wind. As the details of the incident became known, people of higher and higher rank began showing up and demanding to talk to the party. As a result Kate, Karl and Susan were forced to repeat and repeat their narratives. The first round of people made sense; it was the Lieutenant out of Central that ran the Detectives and the Executive ADA who was slated to be Susan's boss.

After that the 'guest' list got absurd. 'It can't get any higher unless the Governor flies over,' reflected Karl as he glanced at the Police Commissioner, Chief of Police and the Mayor's Chief of Staff talking with Kate and Sue.

'I wonder how the guys did,' thought Karl? Lieutenant McGregor and Detectives Sanchez and O'Riley came with the second wave and right after the session with the Lieutenant and the Executive ADA they had a chance to formulate their next steps. Karl chuckled as the conversation replayed in his mind.

"Let me get this straight," said the Executive ADA. "Not one of them had any kind of identification on them?"

"That's right Sir," said Mike. "No wallet, no driver's license. Nothing."

"I see. Without identification we can't tie them back to Bayside Limited."

"We need a reason to get in there," said Sanchez.

"Cars," muttered Kate. "Are the cars registered to people or the company?"

"Don't know," answered Mike. "We can check easy enough. Where are you going with this?"

"If people then we have names," said Karl.

"And if to the company then you got your in," finished Kate. "You have Bayside Limited company property used in the commission of a crime."

"If we assume that they are employees, then the Company is letting unlicensed and presumably untrained people drive their cars. That has to be a violation of some public safety ordnance. Even though I must admit, the hit that sent us spinning was executed by a pro," added Karl.

"They're just going to claim that the cars were stolen," offered Susan.

"Still they were used in the commission of a crime," offered Kate. "Then as a public service, we can review the procedures,physical location and protection of the cars to prevent another tragedy like this from occurring again."

The Executive ADA looked from Kate to Karl and back. "You guys are devious. I like it, and I can sell it to a Judge. Sargent, check on the vehicles please."

The last Karl had heard was that the cars were registered to the Company; the guys had a warrant and were off with plenty of backup.

The real conversation starter and stopper was Kate's shooting. The two bullets that had killed the one soldier had entered the heart within an inch of each other, and the EMTs had confirmed that the two bullets that had hit the other solider were just as tightly grouped. A lot of people dismissed the shots as luck. Those that recognized skill knew better.

Karl closed his eyes and tried to enjoy the warmth of the sun and wished he was home in warm Sacramento wrestling with his sons outside on the lawn. The sound of footsteps crunching gravel startled Karl awake. 'I must have dozed off,' he thought. 'What a dream,' he thought. 'I was sitting around a fire pit telling a story, and the woman I was sitting with looked like Kate but it wasn't her. '

"What's up," asked Karl when he recognized the face of the Inspector that had first questioned him.

"I've been sent by a very high authority to fetch you," he said offering his hand.

"Who might that be," asked Karl taking the hand up?
"A woman named Kate," he said with a smile.

"You're right that is a high authority. In my universe there's none higher."

"The powers that be decided to talk to the press and offered to provide moral support for your wife and the ADA."

"Kate can handle the press," Karl chuckled. "She's done numerous press conferences."

"Yeah I gathered. It took her a minute to take command of this one."

"Why so long?"

"The Commissioner wanted to say a few things to set the stage," chuckled the Inspector.

"Yeah I can see how that would slow her down some… Say do you think we can get a lift to the hotel? Or are we going to have to call a cab?"

Chapter 6 Of Clubs and Pickles

Karl had finished washing in the shower. The water temperature was perfect, and the shower head was set to the proper angle as Karl leaned against the front of the shower letting the welcome warmth of the water flow over his head and down his back. He winced as he took a deep breath. He knew from experience that he would be stiff and sore in the morning and in a couple of days he would have a nice set of bruises to show for this afternoon's work.

Inwardly Karl groaned as he felt the curtain open and heard Kate come into the shower. Normally he rejoiced when Kate joined him in the shower, but today was one of the exceptions. Karl reluctantly surrendered the water to Kate and reached for the wash cloth. After Karl had finished washing Kate's body he handed her the wash cloth. In all of the showers they had shared together he had only washed Kate's face and hair twice. And both times there were extenuating circumstances.

When Kate finished she turned sideways with respect to the shower with her back to Karl. This allowed both of them to share the warm water from the shower. After Karl had captured her in his arm she gently leaned back against him. Once she had done so too hard and they had lost their balance. No damage done but a lesson learned.
"We leaving tomorrow or Sunday," asked Karl?

"Sunday after Brunch," replied Kate immediately. "Tomorrow I thought we would hit the Precinct. I think we need to return our Id. I also want to know what they found at Bayside. Then lunch followed by the Giants game. Then I think a nap is in order and I would like to go dancing again after dinner."

"Let's not wait to Brunch. We can eat at the Treehouse on our way home."

"You just like the strawberry waffles."

"I do, but I'm anxious to be home again. It's been a long week."

"It has," Kate agreed.

"Dancing is always fun, as long as you don't try to pick-up another movie producer or whatever."

"Pick up," exclaimed Kate as she slowly turned around to face Karl! "What did you do today? Let me see. First you give money to a young woman to buy clothes, then you flirted with an older woman," Kate chided Karl with a grin spreading across her face. "And then you ogled the young women at lunch!"

"Mostly true," admitted Karl. "Except I noticed the woman, I didn't ogle them. There's a huge difference. And besides," he said in a low husky voice. "I came home with the one I love."

"That you did," said Kate as she went up on tip-toe to share a kiss with her husband. When they broke she saw his love for her in his brown eyes, and something else concern.

"Worried about me?"

"Did you talk with the boys?"

"Yes, tomorrow they're riding up on horseback to the fishing hole with Dad. They're kind of excited. Don't change the subject. Worried about me?"

"No….Yes…. Always, it's part of the job description."

"Don't …good…It's part of my job description too," Kate husked as she shared another kiss with Karl. She broke the kiss when she felt Karl start to respond. "We don't have time for that right now," she half teased, "but we will later," she continued as she left the shower. Karl reduced the temperature of the shower until it was freezing cold. The cold water had the anticipated effect.

Karl's grooming needs were few, just a towel for his short cropped hair and his toothbrush. He dressed quickly and efficiently. Partly because his clothing choices were limited, his only clean suit was the blue one and he always wore a white shirt. Tonight he wore his only club tie instead of his standard black or dark blue tie. Karl spent the majority of his dressing time repairing the damage done to the shine of his shoes by the fight this afternoon. As it was he had time to wait for Kate to finish dressing.

Stepping into the parlor of the suite he turned on the radio. Liking the music, he fixed himself a club soda from the bar and went over to the window to admire the view. Dusk was falling and the lights were just beginning to turn on. As each light winked on Karl tried to imagine the story the light would tell if it could talk. As he imagined the first story his mind took him to the dream he had this afternoon where stories were being told and he was sitting with a Kate who wasn't his Kate.

"Ready," asked the most beautiful voice in the world.

"Yeah," replied Karl. After finishing his club soda he turned from the window to look at Kate. After a step he stopped dead in his tracks.

"How…Kate… Kate you're beautiful."

Kate liked what she saw in the mirror. But to her, the mirror that really mattered was Karl's face, and tonight it glowed.

"Every time I see you in dressed like that I want to rip the dress right off of you and spend the rest of the night in bed with you."

"Why don't you," Kate teased.

"For one I can't afford to keep buying you dresses. Number two, if I did that we won't make it to where we were supposed to go. After a couple of no-shows they would stop inviting us and I won't have an opportunity to see you dressed up like you are."

"And," Kate prompted?

"I know that you will be coming home with me."

"Good answer," she smiled.

Tonight Kate wore the crane patterned cheongsam. The background brown made the gold and silver of the cranes in various poses stand out. In deed when Kate moved they almost seemed to come alive. Karl had seen Kate in this dress before, but he couldn't remember when she looked lovelier. Here earrings were simple silver loops, and the only other piece of jewelry she wore, beside her wedding and engagement rings, was a white gold and jade bead bracelet. The white gold provided the structure and the elegance while the different colors of the jade beads provided a shifting and simmering beauty. Kate wore her hair up and it was held in place by two ironwood hair sticks. Karl thought the ivory hair sticks would have been a better choice, but there was no way he was going to tell Kate how to accessorize. He whole heartily approved the sand colored shawl that Kate had chosen to wrap up in and the simple clutch purse.

After stopping at the concierge desk to order the baseball tickets, Kate and Karl caught a cab for the trip to the Great Wall. After the cab and turned into traffic Kate saw the cabdriver look in the rear view mirror and almost jump out of his seat.

"It's okay Rudy," Kate said reading the cabdrivers name from the registration. "I'm absolutely sure no one's following us tonight."

"You sure?"

"They were after the ADA. We were just in the same cab," said Karl smoothly.

"But you took care of business, right?
"Rudy, we always take care of business," confirmed Kate.

When they called out of the cab, the Castleton's were not surprised by the line waiting to check in with the matre'de or the fullness of the outdoor patio. In the spring through the early fall, the club moved the matre'de station outside and opened up an outside patio where prospective dinners could wait and hopefully drink in relative comfort. No sooner had they entered the line when a waiter approached. "Mister Castleton, please follow me, your table is waiting."

As they walked up the steps Karl ignored the jealous remarks of the people in line and the envious looks of the men. Karl had three certainties in life, death, taxes, and Kate's love.

There was no doubt that the Castleton's had the best table in the restaurant and the staff knew that they were coming. At the table a bottle of Kate's favorite red wine was opened and a glass had been poured for her. For Karl a glass of mineral water with no ice was waiting. The rest of the bottle of the miner water was sitting in a chiller.

The Castleton's ignored the menus and sampled their drinks. Eventually a waiter appeared.

"Order please," he asked in acceptable English.

"The Gentlemen will have," began Kate starting the game she and Karl liked to play.

"And the Lady," began Karl when Kate had finished.

"One correction to the Gentlemen's appetizer," said Kate.

"You had better make those a dozen and a half oysters on the half shell. Tonight he's going to need all of his strength," Kate delivered the change to the order with a straight face and only a touch of pink touching her cheeks.

Dinner was excellent, and after the second song of the show the Castleton's got up and left the area. As they tried to leave the club they encountered two familiar faces. The Lieutenant locked eyes with Karl and nodded. As hard as he tried he could shake the image of two hunting cats stalking toward him. One was a large and lethal jaguar and the other a smaller but just as deadly snow leopard. "This way please," he heard his man say, "My lord is waiting for you."

The Lieutenant knocked on the door, heard a response and opened the door to admit the Castleton's. Earlier he would have pleaded with his lord not to meet with them alone. But now after all of these years he was confident of them and he waited outside to protect his lord's privacy.

"I see you survived this afternoon's activities in one piece," said the Triad Lord as he met them at the door and offered Karl his hand. "Please," continued the Lord as he gestured toward some seats around a table. "Let me offer you some hot tea."

'A western greeting,' noted Karl. That means that he thinks our business is concluded. I hope he's right.

"Yes please," said Kate.

"We were lucky," said Karl making a show of slowly and deliberately pulling at his ear.

"Speak your mind," said the Triad Lord. "The walls do not have ears."

"What does the Yakuza want with your daughter," said Karl as he held Kate's chair.

"And do they know about your son," added Kate sweetly.

'How did they …how dare they….how could they…' fumed the stunned Triad Lord. 'How could they not,' he concluded.

"Leverage," said the Lord after exhaling. "And they don't know about my son. They would not have found my daughter anyway because…"

"Don't tell us," Kate and Karl growled together! "We can't say what we don't know," continued Kate.

And like his Lieutenant the Triad Lord had a vision of two hunting cats sitting at his table. He shuddered for a moment and when his vision cleared, it was just his 'Old Friend' Karl and his beautiful wife Kate.

"What do you intend to do about it? Just because a soldier got caught doesn't mean they will abandon the search. "

"I need do nothing. You have exposed them and they now know that I know they are looking for someone. They can't afford to start a war so they will back off. By the time things settle down enough for them to begin looking again, the situation between us will have been resolved. It's best that you don't know the particulars of the situation."

"Agreed."

"Are my people in Sacramento in danger?"

"I don't know why. I have no information to suggest that they know about my son. They won't hunt for something they don't know about. "

"Good," said Kate as she looked at her watch for the third time.

"You have another appointment," asked the Triad Lord irritably?

"I need to stop at Mister Wu's grocery on our way back to the hotel."

"Why," asked Karl?

"Pickles."

"Pickles," echoed a stunned Karl.

"Pickles," confirmed Kate.

Karl got out of his chair and knelt beside Kate. With one hand on her knee he gently touched her face. "Pickles?"

"Pickles," confirmed Kate her eyes moving from those of her husband to the Triad Lords. "I'm pregnant."

"And Pickles is one of her craving foods," added Karl.

"Pickles," shouted the Triad Lord as he stood up and bounded toward the door. He opened the door and shouted orders. Kate could literally hear the running feet. The Triad Lord turned back to his guests with a dopey smile on his face. His first wife, before she was killed in an assassination attempt, had given him four sons and a daughter. His second, and current wife, had given him two more sons and a daughter. He knew well the cravings of pregnant women.

"That stop you don't need to make," he said with a huge smile.

Postscript

The late night snacks had been eaten, the night caps drunk and the good nights said. The residents and guests of the Hampton's Castle were all settling in for a good night's sleep, except for two. Kate stood by her son's crib and watched him sleep. His sleepy boy face, which looked so much like his fathers, was beautiful and carefree. Kate felt more than heard Castle come up behind her.

When he encircled her with his arms she leaned back against him. Not hard, but hard enough to let him know that she appreciated his support. Kate leaned back and enjoyed the moment. Their beautiful son was safely asleep in his crib and her husband's arms were around her, from Kate's perspective this was the definition of happiness.

"Kate how did we….." whispered Castle.

Kate stopped him my putting a finger to his lips. After slowly spinning round to face him, she replaced her finger with her lips. The kiss was short, sweet and full of promise. "Not here," she husked. Kate was worried for a brief second when Castle didn't budge when she tried to lead him out of the room. Her puzzled expression turned into a gentle smile when she saw what he was looking at.

'You're forgiven my love,' she thought as she spun around and hugged Castle from behind. 'He is a beautiful baby and God willing our next one will be just as beautiful.' As she hugged her husband she started to chuckle softly.

"What's so funny," whispered Castle?

"The other Kate and her pickle fetish."

"Reminds me of the Kate I know and love."

"Come on," urged Kate. "We need to talk."

When they left the bedroom, Castle knew exactly where they were going. It was his answer to the question of 'What do you get a 'City Girl' for her birthday.' Castle's answer had been to add a sun room to the south end of the house, and his gift to Kate was sunrises, sunsets, rainstorms, deer munching the shrubs in the early evening, rabbits at play, eagles landing in the trees and hummingbirds. At first Kate had been indifferent. Over time this room had turned into her favorite spot in the house.

As they settled onto the love seat the moon was just touching the horizon and rumbling clouds with cloud-to-cloud lightning were invading the eastern sky from the north.

"You want to know how we did that," asked Kate?

"Yeah! I mean I never wrote anything like that, and for you and I to be so in synch….I know the others already think we rehearsed this, but we didn't. It didn't exist before tonight. "

"Shared dream or memory perhaps," Kate offered as she unfolded a quilt and settled it over them to ward off the slight chill of the room, "and I for one am not going to spend time analyzing it. It was a little creepy yes, but it was fun too. You know I don't think they solved the other five murders. I mean I'm sure the Yakuza soldier did his duty and confessed to the other five murders, and I'm also sure he didn't do them."

"Why", asked Castle as he nuzzled Kate's neck?

"Different methods of killing," husked Kate as she slowly untied the belt on Castle's bathrobe.

"Right," agreed Castle as his lips finally found Kate's.

"Pickles," laughed the Old Man in the Moon as his feet touched the horizon.

"Pickles," rumbled the clouds in agreement as the storm grew closer and stronger.

"How'd you like the story," whispered the wind as it gathered the raindrops in his hand?

Kate broke the kiss, saw the love in Castle's eyes, but her eyes was drawn outside. "Look," she whispered as she pointed toward the west "a pair of meteors."

"And another pair," said Castle pointing to the south.

They watched as both pairs of meteors leisurely streaked towards them. They all vanished at the same time directly overhead in a huge flash of light that was immediately followed by the sound of rain drops hitting the glass, the flash of lightning, and the boom of thunder.

"Four stars," whispered the wind as he gently released the rain, "Nice."

"I agree," boomed the clouds.

"Tomorrow guys," said the Old Man in the Moon in parting just before his head slid below the horizon. "I do love a good story."