Dream Time

by degunther

Can a dream safe a life? Kate and Rick are married and share a dream about a couple that solved a case in the 1950's.

Saturday Morning at the Loft.

It has been a great evening, thought Kate Castleton as she pulled her husband's head down into a kiss. We proved our friend was innocent and caught the bad guy. The music and dancing had been fantastic again. The kiss, full of love, passion and promise promised an even better end to the evening…What is that obnoxious noise.

Kate's consciousness recognized the sound of her alarm clock. A moment later she realized that she had fallen asleep on the couch with her husband. She could feel Castle's steady presence behind her, his arm, draped protectively across her made her feel warm, secure and loved; she just wanted to stay and snuggle like this for five more minutes. As she continued toward full consciousness that fact that the TV was off and she was covered with a quilt finally registered. Martha, I wonder what she thought this time. What a great dream she thought.

As Karl Castleton pulled his beautiful and extraordinary wife into a passionate kiss, he reflected on how lucky he was. The luncheon had revealed the murderer and now he and Kate could spend the rest of their vacation together. The last two nights of music and dancing had been special and now just as he was about to scoop Kate up and carry her into the bed room he heard an obnoxious noise….Drifting into consciousness, it must be Kate's alarm clock, Rick reasoned. We must have fallen asleep on the couch. Why is it I wake up before the good stuff happens, complained Castle to himself? What a great dream, he thought. Still waking up with a beautiful woman in your arms is a great way to start the day. Cherries, why does Kate always smell like cherries even in the morning? Freeing his hand Castle gently moved Kate's hair aside so that he could kiss her neck. As he was about to kiss her ear, Kate rolled over and pulled him into a kiss.

With a sigh, "I guess I need to turn that off and get ready for work. We do have a case to solve," said Kate. As Kate was leading them into the shower she heard Castle say, "I had the strangest dream."

"Me too," said Kate. "And it ended like this," as she turned and pulled Castle into a passionate kiss. "Now come on we do have a murderer to catch."

Chapter 1 –Death by Turkey

Thursday – Thanksgiving Day at the 12th

Castle had accepted the news that Kate had volunteered to work the Thanksgiving Day shift with style and grace. She was not surprised when he responded in typical Castle fashion. "Hey Espo," said Castle stepping of the elevator carrying a tray of food and his raincoat still damp from the rain. "There is food in the second floor Conference Room. When I left the vultures were starting to circle. Let me unload this and you can use it to bring your stuff back."

When Kate joined Rick in the Break Room, she was greeted with a plate with turkey, dressing, corn, cranberries, pie, a typical Thanksgiving meal. "What did you do," she smiled?

"I brought my wife lunch," he said, "and food for about fifty others. Besides I didn't want to eat alone." When Kate had announced her intention to work on Thanksgiving, Martha had accepted an invitation from several of her students to join them in a pot luck celebration, and Alexis had decided to join Max and his family for dinner leaving Castle effectively alone. Castle's solutions, simple join Kate for lunch. When Esposito returned the conversation expanded to include Ryan and Jenney, Lanie, and other members of their police family.

No one seems to notice that Castle spent the afternoon in the squad room. It was ten minutes before the end of shift when the phone rang. "You're kidding," said Esposito. ... "OK, Got it." "Kate we have a case. I'll call Ryan, he can meet us there."

Crime Scene – McCormick Place - Suite 312

Entering suite 312 Kate thought I've been here before. This place made Castle's Loft seem small by comparison. It stretched over two floors and occupied about a quarter of the side of the building. In the main room was the murder victim. She was being attended to by Doctor Parish. CSU was in the den, apparently something happened in there. To her left she could steps leading up to another level. Beside them was a kitchen dining area with two people sitting down and talking with two civilians and a pair of Uniform Officers.

Seeing them enter one of the Officers detached himself and headed toward Kate and her Team.

"Corporal Rodriguez, I'm Detective Becket, this is Detective Esposito and Mr. Castle. Detective Ryan should be joining us shortly. What do we have," asked Kate?

"Detective, apparently we have a murder in conjunction with a robbery. The victim is Cathy Brown. She works for McCormick Place as a member of the cleaning staff. One of the Suites that she cleans is this one. It is owned by the Collins," he said nodding toward the kitchen area. " It looks like she surprised the robbers when she came into clean and paid for it with her life."

"Excuse me Detective," said a medium height balding man, "Do you have any idea when you will be able to recover my wife's jewelry?"

"Detective this is Mr. Tim Collins. This is his Suite," said Corporal Rodriguez.

"Some of those pieces have been in the family for generations, and with the Christmas party season just starting…."

Reaching into his pocket Castle pulls out his Police Consultant Credential and slips it over his head. "Mr. Collins I'm Richard Castle I'm a consultant to the NYPD. They bring me in for cases just like this. Why don't we go over here and you can tell me about the pieces." Leading him back toward the dining area, "have you called your insurance company yet," asked Castel. "You need to notify them immediately."

'Thank you love,' thought Kate. "Continue Corporal, in a couple of minutes I'm going to have to rescue my partner before he does something stupid like swat the guy."

"Yes Ma'am. I know exactly how he feels….In the den is an open safe. The robbers were leaving she walked in to clean and that happened," with a head nod toward the victim. "The Collins' went to a friend's house for Thanksgiving Dinner. They left around ten o'clock and returned around a quarter after five. When they came in they saw the maid and the safe. I guess they checked other areas of the house before calling Security. Their Security called it in. My partner and I caught the call."

"It can't be that easy to get into the building," said Esposito. "Also it can't be that easy to get into the Suite."

"Detective, those two gentlemen talking with my partner need to answer those questions. One of them is Tom Lions; he is the Manger of this facility. The other one is Ernie Mendoza; he is the Chief of Security. Detective, they asked us not to do a canvass. They don't want us to disturb the residents."

"You know I'm going to ignore that. Corporal Rodriguez please leave a man at the door, extract your partner and start the canvas, be discrete. Javier you and Kevin go and talk to the Manage and the Chief of Security. You know the drill, camera footage, how to get in out of the building, key access, did anyone know the Collins plans etc."

"Inside job Detective," asked Rodriguez?

"I think it may have an inside component," said Kate. "But we won't know until we investigate."

With her Team initially deployed, Kate went over to talk to Lanie. "Will she be able to help us Lanie?"

"Don't know. There are some defensive wounds, so she tried to resist. I'll scrape under her fingernails just in case. The only thing that I have found is some dark blue threads. Looking around I don't see what they could be from. So for now I'm going to assume that they came from her assailant. Time of death is within the last four to five hours, so that is probably not much help. It looks like they came out, saw here, ran her down, and kept smashing her head against the side of the table until she was dead. "

"Any footprints, other fibers," asked Kate?

"Not that I can see. We have several sets of fingerprints. Our problem is going to be negation."

"Have CSU print the family. I'll ask the Security guy if he has fingerprints for the staff." When Lanie looked beyond Kate she did not have to turn around to know who was there. She could feel Castles' anger.

"Lanie, when CSU prints the family, please ask them to use a very slow, but painful poison please," said Castel in a low voice.

"Take a deep breath love," said Kate.

"No, all they have is the fast acting variety," smiled Lanie.

"Pity," mumbled Castle.

Castle knelt down next to the victim, pointer at her badge and said, "That's an expensive identification badge. It's got a RFID chip in it. She also has a separate key card and a single physical key. We need to ask how they are used."

"Got it," said Kate. "Anything else?"

"I don't think the killer expected her to be here. We probably need to ask about her normal time to clean this Suite and who else knew the Collins would be at dinner."

"Agreed. Let's look at the den first before we go over and talk to them."

When Castle entered the den he was impressed and had the feeling that he had been here before. Looking at the two leather chairs that set next to a floor lamp and positioned to watch the large screen TV, Castle had the image of a dead man lying on the floor and thought he smelt the hint of perfume. Pushing that image out of his mind Castle began to take another look at the den. The wood paneling was excellent, layout superb, excellent audio system and when he spotted both 'Derrick Storm' and 'Nikki Heat' in the bookcases he was happy. "Seriously," he remarked, "He hid the safe behind a copy of Coolidge's print of 'Dogs Playing Poker.' Doesn't he know that means look here first?"

"Anything else Castle," asked Kate? She always wanted to hear what Castle saw. His eyes were different than any other pair on her team. They weren't trained Detective eyes, but they didn't miss much and often saw more.

"I don't think anything else was touched. Role-play?"

"Where do you want me?" Kate started to blush when she read the look in Castle's eyes, 'Later' she mouthed.

"Ok, I'm by the safe, you open the door, I turn and charge, you run."

"Ok, now," said Kate.

"Miss," said Kate as she shrugged off Castle's first grab attempt.

"Tackle said Castle," two steps later as he reached out and swatted Kate on the rear.

"I start to crawl away; you flip me over then start bashing my head into the table. I can't get a good kick or punch in."

"That's how I see it," confirmed Lanie as she was packing up to leave.

"You made it all the way to here. Either you are a lot slower than Cathy or she hesitated because …"

"…she knew him," they both said together.

"What are they doing," asked an annoyed Tim Collins? "I sure hope they don't break anything."

"Re-enacting the crime," said Esposito. "By this way we learn more about the crime and the people we are hunting."

"What's to learn," countered Mr. Collins, "He ran her down and bashed her head against the table until she died. She should have escaped and called Security. Instead of dying and letting them walk out with my wife's jewelry. "

Both Esposito and Ryan remained speechless.

"How do you want to play it," asked Kate.

"I think we need to separate the McCormick people from the Collins's. From the Collins's who knew where they were, timing etc. From the McCormick people everything, how this operation works, security camera, and people tracking, and everything else."

"Mr. and Mrs. Collins I'm Detective Kate Beckett and this is Mr. Castle. We need to ask you a few questions."

"Can't this wait until tomorrow Detective," said Mr. Collins. "Your Detectives took our statements, and Cathy's death has really upset my wife."

"Sir, what we need to know is who knew about your dinner out. It seems that the robber knew and took advantage of it. Unless CSU can find something, we are going to have to explore the personal angle," replied Kate.

"If they left the building then we will have them on the video footage," offered Mr. Mendoza. "I'm sure he does not want to think about what it means if we don't see anything on the tape, thought Kate.

"We can talk tomorrow, yes. I will inform my secretary to break in whenever you come, and Lynda will be here. OK, Good night Detectives. … Mr. Lions we are going to need that cleaned up ASAP," said Mr. Collins.

"Mr. Mendoza is all of the exits covered by cameras," asked Ryan?

"Yes, let's hold this conversation in my office. I can also get you a copy of the logs and a copy of the camera footage."

Kate was perplexed when Castle walked by the elevator and headed for the window down the hallway. "Mr. Mendoza you said all of the exits covered by your cameras?"

"Yes all of them."

"Including the fire escapes?" When Castle received no answer he parted the curtain and pointed out something to Kevin. "What happens if a window opening up on a fire escape is opened," asked Castle.

"We get an alarm in the security monitoring station."

"Have you gotten an alarm today?"

"No, why?"

"Let's do an experiment shall we," asked Castel as he leaned in an opened the window?

Kate cringed then grinned as she heard Mr. Mendoza say, "Mr. Castle don't….." and she saw her husband open the window.

After a long moment, "Well Mr. Mendoza please tell me that you have an alarm," asked Castle.

After a long moment after the radio check, "No"

"Meet you downstairs," and with that Scooby Doo (Castle) and Shaggy (Ryan) left the building and went down the fire escape.

"Castle," asked Kate as they approached Mr. Mendoza's office, "How did you know the fire escape was behind that window?"

Rick looked puzzled for a moment, "You may call be silly, but I think I've been here before."

"Me too," confided Kate.

The meeting in Mr. Mendoza's office was tense. No Security Chief likes to have deficiencies demonstrated, especially in front of their boss. "Mr. Mendoza we are going to need to know how your two badge and key system works, who can program it, everything."

"We pride ourselves on providing security and service for our clients," said Mr. Mendoza. "Each employee badge has an RFID tag in it. That lets us keep track of them in the building. We also use it a one of the electronic keys for the locks. The RFID tag lets the lock know that an authorized person is there. The key card is loaded each day with the codes for the suites that employee can visit. The physical key is also checked out. This gives us three point control, an authorized person, a swipe card loaded for that day's activity and the physical key."

"It is also helpful for billing," said Mr. Lions. "We know when the cleaning or janitorial staff visited a suite etc."

"What about the client's cards," asked Ryan?

"The RFID chip is built in and we program the card. On a quarterly basis we collect and distribute new cards. Just another thing we do to prevent compromise of the electronic keys," said Mr. Mendoza.

"How do you think they got the cards," asked Kate.

"Don't know."

"Who in town is capable of making cards like these," asked Castle.

"We will provide the name of our supplier."

"Mr. Mendoza, I think we are going to need the video footage, the logs, and a list of your employees and their responsibilities," said Kate.

"Unfortunately I agree. Can I messenger them first thing tomorrow?"

"I need Cathy's now so that I can notify the next of kin. For the others that won't me necessary. Someone from the Team will be over here early tomorrow to talk to Mrs. Collins. We will pick them up then."

"I'll get it for you and the others will be ready, and Detective when you find out how it was done please tell us."

"Certainly."

Back at the 12th

"Guys," said Kate, "Let's start the paper chase on both of the victims."

"Both," asked Esposito.

"There is an inside connection," said Castel. "The question is how much inside."

"I'll notify the next of kin tonight. Tomorrow we hit Cathy's apartment first thing. We'll talk to her neighbors and friends in the area. Then you guys go talk to Mr. Collins and we will take to Mrs. Collins as well as Mr. Mendoza and Mr. Lions. I'll put a call into Robbery to see if there is something going on we need to know about."

"Could you ask Tech to look into the badges," asked Castle. "I've got a hunch that it's going to come back to finding the guy who made the access key."

"OK, I'll ask Tech to come up."

The murder board at the precinct looked like this

Victim: Cathy Brown – Age24 – Staff at McCormick Place

COD: Blunt force trauma

TOD: Between one and three PM

TOX screen: TBD

Notes:

Forensics: Blue Fibers (?)

Speculation: Wrong place, Robbery was the motive

Follow up: Paper chase both victims, Robbery Detail, Interviews , Tech , Video analysis

Chapter 2 – Black Friday Indeed

Friday Morning at the 12th

As usual Captain Gates was listening in as Kate and her Team discussed their current case.

"I did a quick look at the murder victim's financials and work records," offered Ryan. "Nothing spectacular, she was living paycheck to paycheck and just starting to save a little each paycheck and attend night school at NYU. She has been with the McCormick Group Limited for the past five years. No complaints filed against her. She has a good work record and she had just moved into the suite cleaning position. McCormick pays better than scale and has a good benefits package. There is nothing here to indicate that she was under any kind of financial duress," concluded Ryan.

"Okay," said Castle. "I don't want to cross her off our working theory list just yet, but I agree I don't think she is our inside person. Maybe when we toss her apartment we will find something that will cause us to reconsider."

"You think it's an inside job Mr. Castle," asked Captain Gates.

"Yes Sir," responded Kate. "They have a pretty good security system in place. To enter the suite it requires a key card programmed for that suite, a digital pin, and a physical key. For the staff, it also requires your work badge. Obtaining all of these will require specific insider knowledge."

"It appears that the robbers came in and left via the fire escape," added Esposito. "The fire escape is out of view of all the cameras, again an example of insider knowledge Sir.".

"Castle and I walked the fire escape yesterday. It comes down just outside the vehicle entry point. It is out of the view of the camera. They could have parked a van or something in the loading zone, walked up gotten in and out within ten minutes," offered Ryan.

"Assuming they have the right lock picking tool for the safe," added Castle.

"Or had the combination," added Kate.

"Or had the combination," echoed Castle.

"Have you looked at the employees yet?"

"Not yet Sir," said Kate." We are going back to talk with the Collins' today and will pick up the material then. We also are going to the victim's apartment and work that angle first."

"Keep me posted,"

With a nod of agreement Kate asks, "Anything on the Collins' financials?"

"Haven't started," said Ryan. "The file is large, I'm going to need some help looking at it. "

"If you can partition a piece for me to look at I'll help," said Castle. When Castle saw the startled looks on his friend's faces he continued. "He pissed me off ok? He treated our victim like she was an inconvenience, like it was her fault that they stole the jewelry. ," said Castle in a very angry tone of voice.

"Castle," cautioned Kate.

"I admire you passion Mr. Castle," said the Captain, "but you must remain impartial."

"Yes Sir," he said.

"I did a quick look at the phones," said Esposito. "There is absolutely nothing on the victim's phone on Wednesday or Thursday. The Collin's only made one phone call Thursday morning. It was to their host, and the duration suggests that it was of the 'We are just leaving variety."

"Let's add the host to the people we need to talk to," said Kate.

The first stop for the Team was the victim, Cathy Brown's, apartment. She had a one bedroom efficiency apartment. The apartment was well kept. 'It has a homey feel,' thought Castle. The furnishings were simple, functional, and tasteful. There was no evidence of a steady male presence. A first look at her emails showed that the personal ones were from her family and friends.

The canvass of the building revealed that few people interacted with her, but those that did thought she was friendly and nice. Before the Team split to conduct their separate interviews it was the consensus opinion that Cathy was not the insider. She was a victim.

Kevin and Javier

Tim Collins was a Senior Partner in an Advertising firm that had its offices on Park Avenue. As Espositio and Ryan were being escorted to Mr. Collins office they noticed a lot of the products and advertising campaigns. No wonder he can afford to live there, thought Ryan.

"Good morning Detectives. Any news on finding my wife's jewelry?"

"Nothing solid yet Sir," said Esposito "We have started our review of the information we have and have gathered some additional this morning."

"From where?"

"I'm afraid we have to decline to answer," said Ryan. "We can't feed the rumor mill you understand. We can only confirm when we arrest someone. Till then anything we say can be misconstrued, so we don't."

"I understand. What can I do for you?"

"Are theory right now is that the murderer knew you would be out of the apartment. What we need to know is how he knew. So if you can, please tell us who knew you would out of suite yesterday."

"Surely you don't think it's one of my friends?"

"Right now we don't know who. Forensics has come up with nothing. There are no unexplained fingerprints, footprints or video images. All we have is some blue threads, which we are running down. This leaves us with trying to find a personal connection. "

"My host was Tom Grainger. He can give you the guest list. Miss Martin my secretary knew. Outside of them I'm not really sure if I told anyone else. Are you looking into the staff at McCormick Place?"

"Yes. Any idea on how they got access to a key card and a physical key?"

"None, those are controlled by the on-site Security Team."

"Thank you for your time Sir. We will be sure to keep you informed as to the progress of our investigation."

"Any time Detective."

Checking with Miss Martin they learned that the dinner appointment was logged in the open portion of Mr. Collins's calendar. That portion of his calendar was accessible by every Partner, Partner's assistant, and those associates working directly for Mr. Collins. After collecting the names and making an appoint to talk with Mr. Grainger immediately after lunch, Ryan remarked that the suspect pool was beginning to look like the NYC phone book. A nodding frown was Esposito's response.

The meeting with Mr. Grainger was cordial. He confessed that the only people he really knew he told that the Collins's were joining them were the other guests. After getting their names they returned to the 12th. So far they have a lot of homework to do, but they also have no real leads.

Kate and Rick

Kate and Rick were met at the door of the McCormick Place by Mr. Mendoza. "Good morning Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle; we have the information you requested."

"Great," said Kate. "We are going up to talk to Mrs. Collins we will stop by on our way out. There are some other things we need to talk about. I'd like to talk with some of Cathy's friends and co-workers."

"We anticipated that. We have set aside a conference room for you to use. We will page them when you are ready for them. "

"Thank you,"

"Mr. Castle, I know this does not bring Cathy back, but that was the only window gimmicked to prevent an alarm signal. I have also ordered camera's to cover those points. "

Kate watched Castle nod and with a genuine huskiness in his voice responded, "Thanks, I'm sure Cathy appreciates the gesture and knows that everyone in the building is a little safer." She saw Castle's words bolster Mr. Mendoza's sprit. How does he always know what to say? 'The heart', whispered the voice in her mind. 'He speaks with his heart.' In the elevator Kate stood on her tiptoes and gently gave Castle a kiss on the check. 'I love you' she thought. 'Ditto' was the whisper in her mind.

"Mrs. Collins I'm Detective Beckett and this is Mr. Castle. Thank you for taking the time to see us."

"Sit, please and I'm Lynda. Can I get you something to drink?"

"No thank you. I'm Kate and this is Rick," responded Kate.

"Any idea on how they got in," asked Lynda.

"No, we were hoping you could help with that. Who knew that you would be gone from your Suite yesterday?"

"I'm not sure I follow you," said Lynda."

"The burglar broke in while you were away," said Kate. "Our theory is that he knew you would be out and timed his break-in accordingly. We don't need to know about your host or the other guests; the other Detectives on the Team are tracking them down. Did you schedule a car service, mention something during a workout that kind of thing."

"We drove ourselves, so no car service. I think I might have mentioned to my hair dresser, and maybe to my trainer. Oh and we told the Dinning Concierge that we would be dinning out. They wanted a count of those people who wanted special Thanksgiving meals," said Lynda.

"We are going to need their names. That helps, anybody, any place else?"

"I don't think so….Is there any news about …."

"We have circulated pictures of the pieces to all of the jewelry stores. We have put the individual stone identification numbers on the hot sheet. Some members of the Robbery Division are approaching known fences and suggesting that because someone was killed in stealing the items they would be too hot to move. Right now we think the murder and the thief is the same person. We are concentrating on how he got access to your Suite. Once we figure that out we can track him down. "

"Poor Cathy? Have you checked with Mr. Mendoza?"

"He is our next stop. Did you know Cathy well?"

"No, not really. We chat about trivial things occasionally. She seems like such a likeable girl."

"We thank you again and thank you for your time."

"You're welcome Detective. Please let us know how the case is progressing."

While they were waiting for the elevator Kate remarked, "You were quiet in there."

"She is way too artificial," said Castle.

"Trophy wife," offered Beckett?

"No thanks I already have one. Or I would have one if she didn't keep playing Cops and Robbers all the time. The problem is she is great at it, and I love her for that," said Castle with a smile.

"Trophy wife unh," said Kate with a smile that completely negated the anger in her voice.

"Yep," said Castle. "The best one ever, she's smart, beautiful, sexy as anything, extraordinary, and great in bed and the best part is that I really love her."

As they walked in the elevator Kate whispers "She loves you too," and in a stronger voice, "Now if only I had a trophy husband."

The next step for Beckett and Castle was the Conference Room that Mr. Mendoza has reserved for them so that they could talk with Cathy's co-workers. The first people they met with were Sue Ito, the Deputy General Manager for McCormick Place and Mr. Mendoza.

"Good morning Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle, before we start I have a small personal favor to ask. Mr. Castle, could you sign my copy of 'Heat Wave', "asked Sue with a tentative smile?

"Sure," said Castle.

"I'll meet you at the Concierge Desk on the way out. Thank You. Now then. One of my duties as the Deputy GM is Personnel Management, including day-to-day scheduling. On the CD are all of the personnel records for all of the people on staff, including the background checks. We pay better than scale and we hire good people. We've had no staff turnover in the last eighteen months." With a side glance at Mr. Mendoza she continued, "Although it's painful, like you we are speculating that this is an inside job. I have flagged those individuals involved with the day-today operation of our badgeing and swipe card system. "

"Thank you, this will be helpful," said Kate. "Right now we are pegging the time of death at sometime between one and three o'clock. Is that her normal time for cleaning that Suite."

"Yes Detective it is," said Mr. Mendoza.

"Are Suite cleaning times posted," asked Castle?

"No, Mr. Castle they are not. What we have is their work pattern. The RFID chip lets us know where in the building they are at any given time. Over time they develop a work flow pattern."

"What is Cathy's normal time for the Collins Suite," asked Kate.

"One o'clock," said Mr. Mendoza. "Yesterday she opened the door at two after one. We also know when she normally leaves. She is always out by three-forty."

"Who would know her pattern," asked Kate.

"Detective everyone who can program her swipe card would have access to that information. They use the information to program her card for access. They use her recurring schedule and any new requests."

"It helps us provide security and service," add Mrs. Ito.

"You're suggesting," said Castle. "That your people would know her pattern and tell a collaborator to show up before one or after three-forty five."

"We try not to hire stupid people Mr. Castle."

"How well do you know Cathy," asked Kate.

"She was intelligent, a hard worker and had ambition," said Sue. "I helped her with her college re-imbursement forms," she continued. "This would have been her second semester at NYU. She was studying Hotel Management. She said her goal was to manage a hotel for a while, then manage her own property. In a couple of years she would have applied for an internship here which in all likelihood would have been approved. She did not deserve to die Detective."

"I have set up interviews with some of the people on her work schedule, the people she ate lunch with and the people whose locker is close to hers," said Mr. Mendoza. "I didn't schedule any of the folks who produce the swipe cards. I figured you want to do some checking first."

"Mr. Mendoza if any of those people don't show up for work or take an unscheduled vacation…," said Kate.

"…I will most definitely contact you Detective. We lost a member of our family; we are not going to lose another. The other thing we have done Detective is look at the video of all the exits from one o'clock until six o'clock. We have identified every individual by entrance/exit camera, and time. We have no unidentified people. This should help with your own video analysis."

"Thank you," said Kate. The people Kate and Rick interviewed all said pretty much the same thing, Cathy was well liked by them, never a source of problems, didn't have a significant other, and she didn't deserve to die.

Back at the 12th

It was late in the afternoon when the Team finally reassembled back at the 12th. While the rest of the Team was scrubbing and installing the data given them by Mr. Mendoza and updating the known out of the apartment list, Kate reached out to the contacts she had made earlier in Robbery and Tech.

The Robber Detective was certain that there had not been any other robberies using this MO in the database, she was also able to state that none of the gems or pieces had shown up yet. 'Ok' thought Kate, 'we don't have a Crew breaking in and stealing jewelry, and none of the pieces has shown up yet so we are still in time.' The Tech contact's information was a mixed bag. There are only two companies in the greater NYC capable of producing the cards, but there were an additional nine within a two hour drive time radius. The Tech had contacted the two local firms and learned that their processes were tightly controlled with even the scrap accounted for. As far as they could tell, all of their products were accounted for, and of course they were willing to co-operate. The Tech also said that even if they had a card they would still need a way to program it with the correct data, and the process was a little more complicated than copying files to and from a CD. It would require someone with the data and access to a special machine. 'This leaves the Security and Planning personnel still on the hook,' thought Kate. 'I wonder if that information can be hacked out f McCormick Place.'

While she was digesting this an email from Lanie arrived. 'Must be no news, 'thought Kate if she had something she would call and ask us to come over. All Lanie's note told them that the Tox screen was nil and there was no DNA under the victim's fingernails.

As Kate was contemplating the updated murder board she heard one of the Uniformed Officers say, "Detective Beckett you have visitor."

"Thank you," she said mechanically. Turning she saw Serna Kaye. Kate immediately flashed back to the scene in the hotel hallway where she watched Serna and Castle kiss. Shuttering a bit Kate thought, 'I put them together. It was painful to watch, but I learned a bit more about myself and how much Castle means to me. He didn't go out with her when he had the chance, and besides he is my trophy husband.'

"Serna, welcome," waving her to a seat. "What's brings you her, the Collins theft perhaps?"

"Hi Detective Beckett, Yes it is the Collins theft. I was hoping we could work together again. I know your priority is the killer and mine the recovery of the jewelry, but still I thought I may be able to help."

"Ok, let's go talk to the Captain."

"Who is the lucky guy," asked Serna with a glance at Kate's left hand?

"Castle," said Kate with the hint of a smile. Knocking on the Captain's door, "Sir, you have a minute? You remember Serna don't you? She has offered to help on the Collins case."

"Come in Detective, Miss Kaye," said Captain Gates.

Castle was sitting at Kate's terminal when Esposito remarked, "Say Castle isn't that your psychotic ex-girlfriend?" Turning Castle saw Kate and Serna exit the Captain's office and head their way. Locking eyes with Kate the message was clear, 'Look but don't touch, and don't look too hard.' With a thought of 'why me' Castle got up out of Kate's chair.

"Guy's you remember Serna don't you? That's Esposito, Ryan and Castle. She is going to help us on the Collins case."

"Hi," said Castle, "What do you have for us?"

"I'm got pictures, which you should already have; identification numbers which I saw were already on the hot sheet, the fact that Mr. Collins just had those pieces re-apprised three months ago, and the name of a fence who says he has already been contacted by the thief. As a matter of fact, the fence said the guy was shopping the goods on the Wednesday before the heist."

"Why would the fence talk to you asked, "Esposito?

"I'm in recovery remember? If he buys it for ten cents on the dollar and sells them to me for twenty cents on the dollar he makes a profit, I get my finder's fee and my firm comes out ahead. So when he calls I normally answer."

"When and where is the buy going to happen," asked Ryan?

"Tomorrow night at his shop right before closing. The thief will bring the items in for appraisal, if genuine, then money will be exchanged. It will look just like another jewelry sale."

"Why do you need us," asked Kate?

"A whole lot of reasons. The tip could be a false alarm, in which case I'm back to square one. If the tip is true and you guys swoop in and pick the guy up, snag the jewelry as evidence I'll get my finder's fee I can expense some money to the fence. Everyone is happy and I'm off to the next case. There is one catch though." When Kate made a continue hand gesture, "The fence gets immunity for this transaction. He knows that there is a body attacked to the gems. He is a thief not a killer."

"I think I get the ADA to sign off on that, but I'll need a name," said Kate.

"Ted Schmidt, he owns the Diamond Boutique on West 47th," said Serna.

"He wasn't on Robbery's list," said Ryan. Serna's smile was huge.

"How do you want to play it," asked Kate?

"I'd thought Guy Friday here could take me shopping. When the guy comes in and asks for the appraisal, I'll take a quick peak. If they are the ones from the heist, I'll let Castle know and he can text you or something. "When Kate didn't respond Serna continued, "Look Ted knows me. We have done business in the past. With Castle with me he won't get nervous. I promised him no lingering cops. It provides you a witness to the transaction, and allows me to keep an eye on the items. "

"Castle," Kate asked? The subtext was clear to everyone, it's an ok plan. If you kiss her you die a slow and lingering death.

"It's a plan," said Castle in an extremely dry voice.

"Good," said Serna, "He closes at six on Saturday, so we need to walk in around five-thirty."

"We'll meet here at four-thirty, due a quick plan review, then move to execute," concluded Kate.

"Ok," said Serna.

"I'll walk you out," said Kate.

Castle met Kate at the door to the break room with a fresh cup of coffee. "Kate I don't want to do this," said Castle.

"I know, but Serna's right. If I send in Javier or Ryan it could spook them. Just pretend your Christmas shopping for your wife," Kate smiled. "With all the material we need to look at it looks like the Valencia is off for tonight Castle," said Kate.

"I know, and it is the Flint double feature," replied Castle. "Flint was a perfectly enjoyable 007 spoof. I never understood why they didn't make more than two movies." For a moment each one thought about one of their favorite moments in the shows. For Castle the whole concept of an 'Un-American Eagle' was humorous, and for Kate it was Flint rescuing his ladies by reminding them that they weren't pleasure units, before totally destroying the place. But I am a pleasure unit, thought Kate, but only for one very special guy, and he is my pleasure unit.

"Could you start the food order," asked Kate? "I'm in the mood for sushi."

"OK, Thai for me and Chinese for Javier and Kevin? This will make for an interesting assortment for dinner." As Castle was placing the orders he heard a loud and angry "Castle" coming from Kate. Turning he tried not to smile as he once again failed to readjust Kate's chair, and there she sat with her legs flapping in the air.

With the financials, phones, and employee data, the Team had a lot to slog through. Esposito took the phones, Kate the employee data and Ryan and Castle worked through the financial information. Everyone's ears perked up when the heard Castle call Serna and ask how much would a fake set of items costs, and did her employer know if the Collins' had purchased a replacement set.

"Castle, you on to something," asked Kate?

"On Mrs. Collins accounts there are numerous jewelry stores and other miscellaneous charges starting around six months ago, if I add them all up they total over one hundred and fifty thousand. Each charge doesn't catch your attention, but in the aggregate they are large," said Castle. "And guess what. She has a Playhouse account."

"That's enough to build the replacement sets and maybe hire someone to steal the stuff," said Esposito.

"Especially if you are guaranteeing no one is home when you are breaking in, providing a key to the door, providing an escape route as well as the combination," added Ryan.

"Speculation guys," said Kate, "but no proof.' 'Why would she have a Playhouse account,' thought Kate.

"I'll take another look at her phones, but I don't remember seeing anything that caught my eye," said Esposito.

"Kate in the McCormick Place stuff is there a log about lost or replacement keys," asked Castle?

"No, we should have asked about that before," said Kate.

When Castle raised his eyebrow Kate reached for the phone.

"This is Detective Kate Beckett; please connect me with which ever GM is on duty please."

"That would be Mrs. Ito. One moment please."

"Good evening Detective how can I help you."

"Good evening Mrs. Ito. We were reviewing the material you and Mr. Mendoza gave us and had some follow-up questions."

"Not surprising, what are they and I will try to find the answers."

"Have there been any lost cards reported in the last thirty days, and has any quest asked to have their card reprogrammed," asked Kate.

"The lost cards are an easy question. We have to bill them for those. One moment….We have issued seven replacement cards. …Looking back further that appears to be our average. I see some months with five, others seven, and others nine. So nothing out of the ordinary in that regard."

"My I have the names?"

"Certainly... and we have had six keys reprogramed with in the last thirty days. I will send you their names also… Oh my, one of them is Mrs. Collins."

"Social programs," whispered Castle.

"Mrs. Ito I noticed that McCormick Place offers a variety of social and recreational programs. Would it be possible to get a list of the programs when they meet and the participants?"

"Yes Detective. I push that out to you also. I see where you are going with this. Don't worry Detective I'm not going to tell anyone, and I hope you won't be offended if I hope you are wrong."

"No of course not, your cooperation and silence are greatly appreciated."

After Kate had hung up, "Castle what about Mr. Collins accounts," asked Ryan?

"Well he appears to be spending a lot more time at the Playhouse, "said Castle.

"What's that," asked Esposito?

"A very discreet club where millionaires can take their mistress without fear of being seen at a hotel," said Kate with a touch of anger in her voice. "There is no chance for a PI to get pictures or even get anything to link them together. You still have your membership don't you Castle," asked Kate in voice full of disgust?

"Yes, I still need it to do research," pleaded Castle. "It's a great place for meeting and talking with people who wouldn't give me the time of day otherwise." Luckily dinner arrived and saved the Team from hearing the start of a fight. Over dinner the conversation turned to other matters, most sports, some politics, and a normal amount of rumormongering. Castle thought the Thai food was a little bit too spicy and the sushi a little off, but here he was eating dinner with his wife and trying to take a killer off of the street.

The additional information from McCormick Place was interesting. One of the ladies that lost her card attended several activities with Mrs. Collins, and she reported her card missing immediately after an aerobics session they both attended. The next day Mrs. Collins asked to have a card reprogramed.

It was way past the end of the shift when Kate called a halt. "Theory Castle," asked Kate?

"Somehow Mrs. Collins found out about all of the time Mr. Collins is spending at the club and thinks he is with another woman. They have a solid prenuptial agreement, and since she cannot prove infidelity she's stuck. So she takes the matter into her own hands. She arranges to have her jewelry stolen."

"If it's converted to cash then Mr. Collins cannot shield them as heirlooms per the agreement," said Ryan.

"Yes, she gets some of the settlement plus the pieces themselves," added Castle. "She lifted a card from one of the other residents and had it reprogramed for her Suite. The open question is who did she give it too? How did she contact him? We need to know more about her. Family, previous acquaintances etc."

"Oh this is good," continued Castle, "the card she gave the killer times out on Sunday at six o'clock with the delivery and registration of the card for December. She has minimized her risk. She waits for a week or so then collects the originals."

"What if Mrs. Collins had a duplicate set made and that is what she let the thief steal," speculated Esposito. "She pays the guy for a quick score."

"What about the meeting tomorrow," asked Ryan?

"The robber doesn't know they are fakes. He's trying to double cross Mrs. Collins," said Castle. "If he can get more money by fencing them then he will, otherwise he takes them back and picks up the other half of his paycheck."

"If the robber double-crosses her what can she do," asked Ryan?

"If she switched the jewelry out, where did she put the originals," asked Castle.

"Perhaps there is another safe in their suite," speculated Kate. "Great story, but we still don't have proof," said Kate, but the Team knew this was a very good place to dig deeper.

"We also need to pull the financials on the people who have access to the data and can program the cards," said Esposito. "The records of those people look clean. We need to see if there is a sudden new circumstance."

"Ok," said Kate. "Let's knock off for tonight. Tomorrow we pull the financials on the appropriate employees; we dig deeper into the personnel lives of Mr. and Mrs. Collins. We need to establish a game plan for the stakeout with Serna, and Castle and I will visit the Playhouse."

At the Loft

While Kate stowed her hardware Castle made some tomato soup to help settle their stomachs. They finished their soup in silence, each relishing the quiet presence of their partner. After they had taken care of the dishes they adjourned to the living room and were delighted to find the second movie in the 'Thin Man' series, 'After the Thin Man' just beginning. The day's activities quickly caught up with them and they soon fell asleep and begin to dream.

Chapter 3 - The Dream

Wednesday at the Theater

"Hurry up darling or we are going to be late," yelled Kate Castleton as she peaked into the bed room.

"Darn tie," said Karl.

"Here let me," said Kate as she walked over to her ex-PI husband. "One of these days you are going to have to learn to tie this type of tie."

"Why does have to be black-tie," moaned Karl. "One would think a normal suit and tie would be enough."

Kate let Karl ramble-on. He was always like this whenever it was a black-tie affair. One of his quarks, but he was worth it, she thought. Besides he looked great in formal evening ware. After she had finished she patted him on the shoulder. She frowned when she felt the all too familiar gun harness. "Come on or we will be late," she said. Kate didn't resist when he pulled into a quick kiss. "Don't you dare mess up my hair or make-up," she said, not really meaning it. Just another game they both liked to play. On the way down in the elevator, Kate caught Karl admiring her in the reflection from the elevator doors. "What do you think?"

"I think you are the most beautiful woman in the world," said Karl as he turned to face his wife and grabbed one of her hands, "and you don't have to fish for compliments, it's just when you dress up like this I'm speechless." Kate knew she was a beautiful woman. She was secretly delighted when she saw men follow her with their eyes as she walked through a room. She also knew that her husband's opinion was only one that mattered, and the look in his eyes right now was the one she strived to keep.

Kate settled back in the car and smiled; tonight was going to be a celebration. Just like the night when she first met Karl Castleton a PI registered in both NYC and LA. She was furious with her father, how dare he hire his as a bodyguard. The kidnapping and murder threats could not be real. After all she had just graduated from Stanford with honors and nothing happened there. She was young, beautiful, headstrong and an heiress. She had come to NYC to party not to pick up a baby setter. Then the improbable happened, she fell in love with him. When he was severely wounded while killing her would be kidnappers she decided to marry him. Her father objected of course, but then he relented, and now Dad was happily home with his grandson while Kate and Karl took a two-week vacation to celebrate their success.

As Karl was recovering, he told Kate stories of his old cases. Kate was able to turn the stories into murder-mystery stories. They had sold well. They had sold the movie rights to two of them, and tonight's premier was a story that had been turned into a play. They still took the occasional case, but they were 'retired' from active mystery solving. Kate had never dreamt that she would be happily married to an ex- PI and she would become a famous mystery writing author. She wouldn't change it for the world.

Kate loves the red carpet, thought Karl. She will never admit it out loud, but she does. One only has to look into her eyes to know that the smile on her face is real. She loves the spotlight for a little while. She likes talking with the crowd, the flash of the camera's, and the crowd pressing trying to get closer, and then she likes her privacy. When Karl exited the car and offered Kate his hand he was doing what he had been trained to do. He was searching the crowd for potential threats, and ready to push or shove Kate as needed to keep her safe. 'On my left side love,' thought Karl, 'keep my gun hand free,' he thought. Don't look at her concentrate on the crowd, move keep smiling. Kate is the blinding light you can remain invisible. Two more steps and were through, why is she stopping?

Kate stopped in the doorway looked up and saw Karl watching her. When she reached up and pulled his head down for a quick kiss the cameras went wild.

As the usher was escorting them to their seats, eighth row center, Kate thought how thrilled she was when Andrew Willis, the producer of the play, had called her to start negotiating for the rights to the story. During the negations Kate had insisted on three things, tickets to the opening and closing shows, and his assurance that he would hire the best cast available. Hiring Martha Reynolds, an old friend, to play the distrait Mother was a stroke of genius, and casting Richard Snyder to play Karl was a solid choice. Kate had refused the offer to collaborate on the play in NYC, citing her desire to remain with her husband and son on the west coast. She did, however read and comment on the drafts of the screen play they sent her. Kate frowned when she saw that the seat next to her was vacant. That's supposed to be Ted's, she thought. I hope he and Martha aren't fighting again.

The first act was closing and Karl had a strange feeling. I hope they don't do anything stupid during the intermission. Go ahead and acknowledge Kate, she deserves it, he thought. She thrives on it. Just leave me out of it. All I want is time to hit the head, and grab a couple of drinks for us before the second act. Just keep me out of the spot light. As the first act curtain fell and the house lights came halfway up a voice from somewhere began and a spotlight pinned Kate and Karl…"Ladies and Gentlemen we would like to acknowledge two people without whom this night would not be possible. Kate Castleton whose short story forms the basis for the play and her husband Karl Castleton whose real life adventures inspired Kate."

Karl hates this thought Kate as she stood up to acknowledge the applause. The applause surged again when Karl finally stood and waived. I'll make it up to him. We got two more social obligations then the rest of the time is ours. One of these days he is going to realize that he is a special man. Then what are going to do, a nagging thought interceded? Hug him harder was her immediate response. Finally the spotlight clicked off and the house lights came up to full and the people began to disperse for the intermission.

Karl was chatting with several couples when Kate announced her presence by sliding her arm in his and relieving him of her drink. After introductions the conversation remained center on how wonderful the acting was and polite inquires about did things really happen that way? Karl was relieved when the lights dipped and returned the standard signal for the start of the next act.

It was near the end of the play when Karl started to feel uncomfortable. Sensing his discomfort Kate reached out and grabbed his hand. With a quick glance she saw him looking at something off stage. Following his glance she saw two men open the side door and head back stage. Hey, I know those two. A gentle squeeze of her hand by Karl and a subtle nod brought Kate back to reality. As Kate's eyes flicked back to the stage she could not help and wonder why two of NYC's finest Detectives were heading backstage.

When the final curtain feel, the theater was awash with applause. The play writer had done an excellent job of adapting the story and the acting had been superb. They could have a long run, thought Kate. I can't wait to read the reviews tomorrow. The place exploded again when the curtain rose and the assembled cast recognized the audience.

Should anybody care, thought Kate with a touch of pride, Karl did all of those things and more. Now I wonder what is waiting for us backstage.

The scene in Martha's dressing room was somber. Kate had met Martha several times in the past. She had been one of the younger women rumored to have been with her father, and Karl had provided security for her on more than one occasion, and some other services which he never spoke of. Martha was in early thirties and she was an accomplished stage and screen actress. She loved the theater even though she had been a star in several major films. She was medium height and amply curved. Her gray-green eyes offset and perfectly complemented her reddish-brown hair. What men remembered most about Martha was the full impact of her face, her eyes, the short upturned noise and her full sensuous lips. What the Directors liked was the way Martha could deliver a line. She could take a simple piece of dialogue and turn into the most sensuous piece of prose ever written. Her gorgeous looks, consummate acting skills, and her down to earth attitude made her a pleasure to work with and a guaranteed box office draw. When Kate and Karl arrived, instead of a room filled with the joy of a great performance and a very appreciative crowd it was quite, deadly quite. "He's dead," wailed Martha. "Someone has killed my Ted."

Chapter 4 - Real Time Interlude

After closing and locking the door, Martha walked further into the Loft, toward the sound of the TV. She stopped short when she saw Kate and Rick asleep on the couch. Noting that Richard was still dressed in shirt and slacks and Katherine had changed into what she called her house clothes, Martha smiled. 'At least it's not a repeat of Jackass and Fool', thought Martha, fondly remembering the last time she had seen 'her children' asleep on the couch. Turning off the TV with the remote Martha moved to wake them then paused. They look so peaceful, so beautiful, so very much like they belong together. She saw Richard slumped down at one end of the couch, with one arm over Kate. Katherine was curled up beside him, using his thigh as a pillow for her head. Her hand had captured Richards and was held in front of her. Richard's sleeping face had a little boy grin and Katherine's. She looked like an angel.

'I wish Jim could see our children now,' thought Martha. Why not? Quietly taking her phone out of her purse she moved to get just the right angle and took the picture. When the flash didn't wake them up, Martha moved into their bedroom brought out and covered Kate with a small quilt.

Alone in her room Martha shared the picture with Jim, and then after a moment's hesitation with Alexis. She had barely had time to remove her rings and earrings when he phoned buzzed with a text from Alexis.

'Awesome Grand, Give both a hug from me. Love you – A'

She had taken off her necklace and her watch and was starting to unbutton her blouse when her phone rang.

"Martha, its Jim. Thanks that was a wonderful picture. "

"They do look content don't they?"

"Are things ok between them? Kate and I don't talk as much as we should."

"Things are great. You should come over for dinner. This Tuesday, six-thirty, ok? We will ambush them."

"Are you sure, they may have something on their calendar."

"Let me check, we all share a calendar now to prevent awkward moments from happening. No they are both free on Tuesday night. Come over for dinner and see for yourself."

"I don't know Martha."

"Jim we are their parents. We have the right to ambush them occasionally," laughed Martha.

"Ok," laughed Jim, "I will see you on Tuesday."

Feeling very pleased with herself, Martha went to sleep.

Chapter 5 -Now back to the Dream

Kate detached herself from Karl as Martha ran into his arms. Karl looked nonplussed for a moment then folded his arms around Martha as she started crying. They have a history thought Kate, and then she immediately chastised herself. I know my man. He'll never leave my side or I his, affirmed Kate.

After Martha had calmed down, Karl held her at arm's length and walked her to a chair. Turning he looked at the Detectives. "What happened?"

The Detectives were as unlike a Team as you could find in present day NYC. Detective Sergeant Kevin O'Riley was Irish to the core and Detective Sergeant Javier Espinosa was Hispanic. "The maid let the caterers came in to prepare their penthouse for the after dinner party and found the victim dead in the library," said Detective O'Riley." He had been shot with a small caliber weapon. Probably a 22. We found a 22 that had been recently fired in your trunk Mrs. Reynolds. Do you care to explain?"

"I do own a 22," said Martha. "Ted bought it for me. When I left for the theater Ted was alive. He said he was coming later, he had an appointment that he needed to keep."

"The maid said she heard you two arguing yesterday. What was that about?"

"Nothing that I want to discuss right now," said Martha.

"Mrs. Reynolds I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist that you come with us downtown. We need to test your hands and the clothes you arrived in for gunshot residue," said O'Riley.

"You think I killed Ted," wailed Martha?

"Please Ma'am," said Espinosa. "Your gun, you were heard arguing, we need to check."

"Go with them Martha," said Kate. "I'll call Jim and have him met you there. What precinct Officers?"

"The 12th Ma'am," replied O'Riley.

"Karl promise me you will find out who killed Ted. Promise me," begged Martha.

"We'll find out," said Kate as she flowed to Karl's side.

"We'll find out," echoed Karl.

"Karl, you still legal for that thing," asked O'Riley with a grin.

"Yes, I renewed last month when I came here with Kate's Dad. I'm not going to have any problems with you guys am I?"

"Not if you keep us in the loop, but right now I have to like Mrs. Reynolds for the deed," said Espinosa.

"The lack of GSR will help a little," said Karl. "I don't suppose you have run the weapon for fingerprints yet."

"Not yet. Look we better be heading down to the station," said O'Riley.

"Is the maid still at the apartment," asked Karl.

"I don't know," said O'Riley.

"Kate, why don't you go with Martha to the station house? You can keep everything straight until Jim arrives. I will meet you at the apartment. Martha may I have your keys please and permission to enter your apartment?"

"Sure, here," said Martha.

"We may not be through with the crime scene," advised Espinosa.

"As long as the caterers left the food I can wait," smiled Karl

Dream – At Martha Reynolds Apartment

"Excuse me Mister, but you can't go in there," said Sergeant Clarke blocking the entrance way to Suite 321.

"Clarke, if you're guarding the door that means the Captain is here, and yes I do mean to go inside," said Karl.

"It is a crime scene," said the Sergeant.

"Really, surely not the whole apartment, "said Karl." I do have Martha's keys," said Karl shaking them, "and I have her permission to enter. So please stand aside."

"You might as well let him in Sargent, we have everything we need," said Captain Gates.

"Good evening Captain," said Karl in a neutral voice, "Perlmutter, they still allow you to practice medicine in this state?"

"I thought you were banned from the city," retorted the Doctor.

"They rethought that, you know after saving the Governor and all that," replied Karl with a grin. Karl walked over to the buffet popped a shrimp twist into his mouth, poured himself a glass of ginger ale and asked "Anything I should know?"

"It looks bad for the Lady."

"Why?"

"He was shot with a twenty-two and we found a twenty-two that had been recently fired in her trunk," said Captain Gates.

"Did the gunshot kill Ted," asked Karl?

"It looks that way, but I'll know for certain when I get him on the table."

"If he was shot to death then she didn't do it," affirmed Karl.

"How can you say that," asked the exasperated Captain?

"Martha started out as a Shakespearian actress. That makes her a traditionalist. She would have used poison. She would probably put hemlock or arsenic in his single-malt scotch. After he had died she would have cleaned up after herself and you would be puzzling how he got poisoned."

"You seem sure about that," said the Captain.

"I know Martha, she is a traditionalist," said Karl. "What about the timeline?"

"Sometime between six and eight PM," said Perlmutter.

"That makes it almost impossible for Maratha to be the killer," commented Karl.

"But still possible," said the Captain.

"Still possible," acknowledged Karl. "Who found him?"

"The maid, she came up to let the caterers in and supervise the set-up," said the Captain. "She opened up the library saw the victim and called us."

"Yet she still made the caterers set-up," laughed Karl. "I like her already. No wonder Martha hired her."

"She does not work for Martha, she works for the building," said the Captain. When Karl looked blank he continued, "This is what they call a 'Concierge Building.' The cleaning and laundry staffs are employed by the building. The Suite owners pay so much a month and the building staff provides the services. They will buy your groceries, walk your dog, and cook your meals."

"Murder your husband," joked Karl.

"That was not in their list of standard services," replied the Captain with a grin. "But I understand that they do perform special requests."

Pouring himself another glass of ginger ale Karl walked to the Library and peered inside.

"I thought a drunken bum like you would have migrated to the good stuff by now," sneered the Captain.

"You know I can't handle alcohol," said Karl. "It almost cost me my license once. I haven't had a drop since I met Kate. I live awfully well for a bum, don't you agree Captain," said Karl in a hard and crisp tone.

"Only because of you wife," retorted the Captain. "I really don't understand what she sees in you."

Everyone saw Karl Castleton clinch his fists, take a deep breath then breathe out, "There is no finer woman in the world then my Kate," said Karl in a tone that allowed no argument. "I'd be careful of what i said about her if I was you….I'm not going to have any trouble with you am I Captain."

"No, not as long as you remember we both want the same thing, the killer." With that the Captain turned and left the apartment.

"Perlmutter…."

"Drop by right after lunch tomorrow Karl and I'll tell you what I can. And don't forget…"

"Your fee of course," answered Karl, One bottle of scotch, the universal price of a favor in NYC. Karl went back to the buffet and helped himself while waiting for the ladies to return. After finishing his food and poring himself another ginger ale Karl called the front desk and made appointments to meet with the maid and the staff who worked in the suite.

Something doesn't feel right, thought Karl. Martha said Ted was delayed because of an appointment, but so far I haven't heard anyone say who it was or saw them come in. Is there another way into this place besides the elevator? Walking past the elevator Karl saw a short hall ending in a window that was open and it opened on the fire escape. The curtains are wet, he noted, so they were open prior to the rain ending. I wonder where this goes, thought Karl as he ducked through the window and onto the fire escape. A couple of minutes later he reached the ground near the loading dock which was around the corner from the main entrance. Unless someone was making a delivery you could enter or exit unseen thought Karl, interesting.

Approaching the building entrance for the second time within the hour the Doorman called out, "Good evening again Mr. Castleton. I must have missed you earlier. "

"Yeah, Mike, I just slipped out for a breath of fresh air. Hey, do you remember when the rain stopped?"

"A little after nine o'clock, Sir. Why if I may ask?"

"Where we live at we don't get much rain and I miss it," said Karl with a sigh.

"You never really appreciate something until it's gone," said Mike. "You really don't think Mrs. Reynolds did it do you?"

"No she didn't do it, but I'm going to have a hard time proving it," said Karl. "I'm sure the police talked to you already, but did a stranger come in to see Mr. Reynolds after Martha left for the theater?"

"No Sir and that's a sad fact."

"What about deliveries. I know the caterers came, was there anyone else?"

"You need to ask Mr. Thomas about that."

"Ok thanks."

"How did you get out past me," asked Mike?

"The fire escape Mike. The window on the third floor was open and I came down the fire escape."

Mr. Thomas was most helpful. He confirmed that the caterers for the Reynolds party were the only delivery this evening. They arrived at eight thirty-five and left at nine twenty. After thanking Mr. Thomas Karl went back up to Suite 312. After he let himself back in, Karl walked around the place.

If we move back here, we are going to get a place like this thought Karl. I like openness, the space. Finally arriving at the library he took a deep breath and walked in. Trying hard to ignore the sight and smell of blood, Karl worked his way around the room looking for anything that could tell him what happened. I'm not going to touch anything till Kate gets her, he thought. I want her to tell me what she sees. She sees differently than I do. Together we don't miss much.

Approaching the south wall he noticed that one of the paintings was displaced from the wall. Taking a peek Karl saw an open safe behind the painting. Ted hid his safe behind a Jackson Pollock, thought Karl. I guess money is an abstract concept. I wonder if anything is missing.

As Karl started to laugh he thought, they are not going to like that, robbery as a motive for the murder. They are not going to like that at all.

Finding a radio Karl turned it on; the silence is killing me he thought. A minute later he was listening to a live performance of Duke Ellington coming from the Green Room Bar. Hey that's in our hotel. Kate's has always talked about going to a Duke Ellington performance. After we save Martha we will certainly take in a performance.

"I can't believe you told me to remain in the city," said Martha in a loud voice. I guess the ladies are home, thought Karl. Walking out of the den he saw Detective O'Riley and Detective Espinosa talking with Martha with Jim Beacon, Martha's attorney and Kate present.

Kate, seeing the glass in Karl's hand made a beeline for him. Taking his glass she took a sip.

'You don't trust me,' he glared.

'You told me to check on you any time I thought you might slip,' thought Kate. 'Ted's death certainly qualifies.'

'I know it's just…' Karl lost his chain of thought as Kate enveloped him in a fierce hug.

'We both need this,' thought Kate.

Why does Kate always smell like cherries, thought Karl? Gently lifting her chin Karl gently kissed his wife. Into the sudden silence Karl said, "Martha you need to look around to see if anything is missing. Do you know the combination to Ted's safe. It looks like someone looked behind the Jackson Pollock."

"What safe," asked Detective Espinosa?

"The one in the Library," said Karl. "It's on the south wall behind the painting."

"I have Ted's combination written down on a card in my safe," said Martha. "Kate you can use the phone in my sewing room and meet me in the bedroom."

With a quick squeeze of Karl's hand and a shy smile, Kate moved off to call home and help her friend. "Hi Caroline, its Kate. I need to speak with my Dad. How's Alex?"

"Alex is fine; he's eating us out of house and home. Let me get Mr. Harris."

"Katie is everything alright," said Kate's father.

"We are fine Dad, really. You will probably read about it in the papers tomorrow, Ted Reynolds is dead. He was shot in the Suite and the Police think Martha did it."

"That's terrible. What can I do to help?"

"Karl and I want to stay and help Martha clear her name, but that means we may be here longer and I know how you feel about Mothers and their children being separated."

"Parents should be there for their children," affirmed Kate's father. "But they also need to set a good example, and deserting your friends in a time of need is not a good example. How much additional time do you think you will need?"

"Hopefully it won't take more than a week Dad. If it takes longer I'll come home on the train and Karl can stay here."

"Nonsense, if it's longer than that, Alex and I will come to you. He is a little young yet, but I think he would enjoy Yankee Stadium."

"Really Dad, thanks. How is he?"

"He's the perfect grandson Katie really. … Bye Kate. Call if you need anything."

"Bye Dad. Give Alex a hug for me."

As the Detectives moved into the Library to look at the safe Karl approached Jim.

"I assume you are the Executor of the Estate?" When Jim nodded Karl continued," Jim I would like to have access to Ted's financial records. There may be something there that can help us determine why this happened and who is responsible."

"Kate already asked about that. I'll set something up with his accountant for tomorrow."

"We are going to need his company as well as his private records."

"That's what Kate said," said Jim with the beginnings of a smile.

"Did Kate ask to look at Martha's?"

Laughing Jim replied, "Yes she did, and it's the same accountant."

Laughing, "That's what makes her such a great partner," said Karl.

After several minutes the Detectives returned to the living room and Martha and Kate returned from her bedroom. "Nothing was missing out of my safe," said Martha. "Jim if you could come with me and close the door."

"It looks bad for her Karl," said O'Riley. "Even though the GSR test was negative we still have a witness saying they heard them arguing and her gun was used as the murder weapon."

"Also no one saw anyone else enter or leave the apartment," added Espinosa.

"What about the wet curtains, and the open window that leads to the fire escape," asked Karl?

"What window and fire escape," asked the Detectives simultaneously?

"Come on," said Karl. Walking them past the elevator Karl led them to the window and the fire escape.

"You see how wet the curtains are. That means that the window was open when it was raining, from a little after seven to a little after nine o'clock I believe. If you follow the escape down it comes out near the loading dock, in a place that cannot be seen by the doorman."

"This proves nothing," said O'Riley.

"On the contrary," said Kate. Who had followed them out, "It proves that someone could enter and exit the Suite without being seen." Turning to look at Karl, "Now we need to find out whom. Oh and Detectives … Martha's gun was in her safe. "

"Then whose gun was in the trunk in the sewing room," asked Espinosa?

"The murderers," said Kate and Karl together.

Hand-in-hand, Kate and Karl lead the procession back to the Suite.

Back in the Suite Martha informed the group that the safe was empty. "Ted normally keeps around fifty-thousand dollars in cash in that safe as well as some bonds and his private journal."

"Detectives, I can give the numbers of the bonds tomorrow morning. I would appreciate you passing them to the banks. I will notify the issuer of the bonds that they have been stolen, and have duplicates issued," said Jim.

"The Journal is the important thing," said Martha. "Because that was his idea book. That is where he formulated his plans for the future of the company. With that book his competitors would have a substantial advantage."

"Martha you are going to have to open your safe again and give the Detectives your gun," said Kate.

"Really dear, ok I guess, I need to put the card back anyway. Give me a moment gentlemen."

After Jim and the Detectives left the Suite, Kate and Karl entered the Library. This was a scene they had played many times in the past.

"This was an intimate killing," said Kate. "They were sitting in those chairs. Ted stood up and came close, got shot and fell. I think the gun was in a pocket or purse. Let's remember to ask Perlmutter about fibers in the wound tomorrow. There was a lot of anger here as well. She that series of blood splotches. I think the killer kicked Ted."

"We'll ask about bruises too," said Karl.

"Can we leave the desk till tomorrow, I'm getting cold."

Karl immediate moved to Kate, took off his jacket and wrapped it around her and pulled her close.

After a moment, "Better," Kate said. "Let's go talk to Martha."

Kate asked, "Are you going to be alright Martha? Do you want someone to stay with you?"

"No I'm not alright. Ted is dead. I need to mourn Ted alone for a bit."

"Martha we do need to talk to you," said Karl.

"I know, come over after nine ok? We can talk over coffee."

On the way back to the Edison hotel Kate and Karl sat in silence. Finally Kate said, "So what did you think about the play?"

"Martha was spectacular, but the leading man needs to loosen up."

"I agree, and he is not nearly as handsome as the real thing."

Beaming Karl bent down to kiss his wife's upturned face."…but I bet he does know how to tie his own tie." Laughing they both settled back into their seats and enjoyed the remainder of the brief ride.

Chapter 6 Mistress and Horses

Dream Thursday

Arriving at the 'Concierge Hotel' around eight o'clock Kate and Karl met with Marcia, the maid and Connie, the laundress.

"Ladies," started Karl, "My name is Karl Castleton and this is my wife Kate. Martha Reynolds is a dear friend of Kate's Dad and I worked for her on occasion. Martha has asked us to look into her husband's death. We are not the Police so we cannot force you to answer our questions. If you feel uncomfortable then say so. Anything you tell us about Martha and Ted stays with us. We won't be going to your boss and saying you're a gossip or anything like that. We just want to know what you know."

"Please help us help our friend," added Kate. "Did the Police talk to both of you," asked Kate?

"I talked with them," volunteered Marcia.

"I didn't," said Connie.

"I understand from the Police that you told them that you heard them arguing. We don't need to know what caused the argument. We are talking to Martha a little bit later, but we would like to hear when the argument occurred and anything else you can tell us."

"I know, Mrs. Reynolds has ordered coffee and pastries," said Marcia more for Connie's sake then the Castleton's. "They have been arguing steadily for a couple of months and getting more heated. For the past month Mr. Reynolds has been sleeping in the guest bedroom."

"I think he has a gaming problem and a mistress," blurted Connie. "I've found old racing betting tickets in his pants and jacket pockets, and lipstick on his collar, not Mrs. Reynolds shade. Also on his shirts I've smelled a different perfume."

"Do you recognize the perfume," asked Kate.

"It smelled expensive," continued Connie.

"The betting slips, where were they from." Asked Castle?

"Aqueduct."

"Do they entertain a lot," asked Karl?

"Mrs. Reynolds held dinner parties for the people from the play," said Marcia. "Occasionally Mr. Reynolds hosts a business dinner. Mrs. Reynolds does not attend those."

"When was the last one?"

"The last business dinner was a month ago. A celebration, they just won a huge contract and Mr. Reynolds had the senior staff and some others over for dinner. The last theater party was two night ago. The night right before the play opened. Mr. Reynolds did not attend that party."

"Anything else?...Thank you ladies. You have helped us out and said nothing that Martha probably doesn't know." With a smile, Karl got up and opened the door for the ladies.

"A gambling problem and a mistress," sighed Kate.

"At least he's not a drunk," said Karl.

"Karl Castleton you stop that immediately," said Kate in a venomous tone of voice that took Karl completely by surprise. "You may have been one once, but you are not going to be one again do you hear me!"

"What did I ever do to deserve you," said Karl as he reached out to touch his wife's face.

"You stole my heart then saved my live," said Kate in a whisper.

"Every day you save mine," confessed Karl.

"Good, now let's go save Martha's"

Offering his arm, which was readily accepted, they left the room and headed toward the elevator that would take them to their friend.

Chapter 7 'Sometimes he is not useless'

At the Suite

"You're early dears," committed Martha.

"I know," said Kate. "We need to go through Ted's desk. We didn't get the opportunity last night. Have you seen the reviews? They loved you!"

"Yes," said Martha with a huge "It helps that I have a great material. Which you were a major part of Kate," continued Martha saluting her with a cup of coffee. " Coffee is on the counter let me get his keys. "Oh and Jim with have a copy of the accounts over here by ten. I thought you could use the dining room table to spread out on."

With the keys to the desk, the Castleton's entered the library. The staff was already hard at work cleaning up from the murder. The walls had been washed and were freshly oiled. The bloody carpet and pad had been cut out and was in the process of being replaced.

Setting in the desk chair, Kate unlocked the center drawer. The only item of interest was Ted's calendar. Searching the top right and left hand drawer revealed nothing. The bottom right hand drawer contained files of personal information on the key members of his company. The bottom left hand drawer contained a locked partition. After trying several keys Kate finally managed to unlock the partition. In it they found Ted's personal journal, some letters, and pictures of two beautiful women. Bundling them all together they went out to talk with Martha.

Seeing them coming Martha poured each one of them a cup of coffee and sat back down at the countertop.

"Martha," started Karl, "You have known me long enough to know that I demand to be told the truth in all things. Are we clear?"

"Yes, I remember. I know I can't afford to lie to you so I won't," said Martha.

"Good, did you kill Ted?"

"Heavens no, and I didn't hire anyone to do it either," said Martha in an offended tone.

"Good. What can you tell me about Ted's mistress and gambling debts?"

"I know nothing about his gambling debts. I know he likes to play the ponies, but he never talked about winning or losing too much. His mistress, which one?"

"Martha," cried Kate.

"Kate, Ted and I love each other, but the magic has been out of the bed room for a long time now. About twelve years ago we decided that we could take lovers, as long as we remained discrete. "

"What did you argue about?"

"His old and new mistresses, both of them had the brass to call up and demand to speak to Ted. He was at the office at the time so I told them to call there and never call here again. Before then there was the bedroom incident. He must have brought her into our home, because I smelled strange perfume on the sheets in our bedroom. I went ballistic. "

"What did Ted say?"

"He tried to make apologize. That's when I kicked him out of my bedroom and into the guest room. When I asked the Doorman if any strange woman had come into the building today, he lied and said 'No'."

Maybe she came into the fire escape window, thought Karl. No, what kind of woman would do that? "Ok," said Karl "what about the gambling debts."

"Karl I don't think he has any," said Martha.

"OK," said Kate. "Can you help us with his calendar?"

"It looks like he had several meetings with his banker, and tonight he has a dinner meeting with a Mr. Brad Frank."

"Mr. Frank was Ted's number one competitor," said Martha.

"I understand Ted's company just beat them out on a rather larger contract," said Kate.

"Yes, I think so."

"Martha, what are you going to do with the business?"

"I don't know. Probably ask Jim to sell it I guess."

"Why don't we keep the appointment and sound him out if he is interested," suggested Kate?

"That would be fine."

"Next is a breakfast with Sally Davis."

"Sally Davis, I don't remember that name," said Martha.

"Sally Davis…here she is," said Karl is pointing to one of the pictures they had taken from the desk.

"Must be his new mistress," said Martha.

"On Saturday he is supposed to meet Vinny Mal in the club at an hour before post time and Aaron Cross in the club fifteen minutes prior to post time. What's wrong Karl?"

"Vinny Mal aka Vincent Maldonado is a made man. Last time I heard he was looking for ways to move the mobs money and take over legitimate business. If Ted borrowed money from Vinny it could be real bad."

"What are you suggesting Karl?"

"We need to keep that appointment."

"Let's keep them all," said Kate.

Picking up the phone, "Karl Castleton for Mr. Frank please….Mr. Frank I am Karl Castleton I'm a friend of the Reynolds's. I see by Ted's Calendar he has a dinner meeting with you. My wife and I would like to keep that appointment… Martha will probably be selling the business and I understand you might be interested. …Ok see you then."

"Karl Castleton for Vinny. That's right Karl Castleton ….Vinny I'm a friend of Ted's. From his calendar I see he was supposed to meet you in the clubhouse an hour before post time. I think my wife and I should keep that appointment to prevent a disagreement that could upset Martha from happening. …I remember, see to it that your boys remember."

"Karl what was that about," asked Kate?

"History. Ancient History," I hope.

Kate was equally successful in keeping the appointments with the other two ladies.

Several minutes later, Kate's reading of Ted's journal was interrupted by the doorbell. The messenger delivered four boxes. Two were marked Reynolds, LTD. One was marked Ted, and the last one Martha. The note from Jim said that he and the accountant would be there around five. "That doesn't give us much time," said Karl "We have to meet Perlmutter after lunch and the dinner engagement is half-way across town."

"We'll be ok," said Kate. "How about I take the company's paper and you take Ted's and Martha's."

"There is nothing in mine," said Martha

"You're just afraid I will find out how much you really pay the hairdresser and how much you spend on nail polish," retorted Karl.

"My dear how ever do you put up with him," smiled Martha.

"Sometimes he is not useless," was the answering smile.

Kate, being her father's daughter, quickly had the company's finances under control. Several times during the morning Karl heard her mumbling phrases like "low overhead", "great cash flow", "deliveries to receipts time lag is low" "margins falling but still great", then she suddenly went silent. "Karl what do you see in Ted's accounts for May 13th?"

"In his everyday Pocket Account I see a deposit for fifty thousand. Most of that is still there. In his super-secret account a deposit of four-hundred and fifty thousand. He has less than two hundred left."

"Where did it all go?"

"It looks like he was paying mistresses on a monthly basis. He just started paying Sally Davis, and didn't pay Aaron Cross."

"Red flag?"

"Yep"

"Who else?"

"The Playhouse Library and Club,…"

"It's a bring your own brothel," said Martha.

"Martha!" said Kate.

"Well it is. You should go and see for yourself sometime."

"I think we will," said Kate. "OK what else did Ted spend his money on?"

"He paid over three-hundred and seventy thousand to Ace Construction Ltd. Anything in the Company notes about new construction?"

"No"

"Not surprising, it's a mob owned company. There's the tie to Vinny"

"Oh my," said Martha.

"Martha shouldn't you be taking a nap before your performance?"

"I will right after lunch. It should be arriving in a couple of minutes."

"What are we having," asked Karl?

"Just soup and sandwiches," said Martha.

Almost on queue lunch arrived.

As they left the Concierge Hotel Kate was surprised when Karl didn't immediately call for a taxi. He instead steered Kate toward a liquor store. "Kate I need you to buy me a good bottle of scotch." When Kate didn't move Karl continued, "It's for Perlmutter. A bottle of scotch is …"

"…the universal price of a favor in NYC," Kate finished.

Getting into the cab,"400 East 26th Street, "said Karl.

"Did you see that," asked Kate?

"Yes, since we are going to see Doctor Perlmutter we should have asked them for a ride."

We a glance into his rear view mirror, "What you would let the cops still a fare from an honest cabbie," interjected the cab driver. "Next thing you know all of the cabs will have cops as drivers, that way they would know where everyone was going all of the time…"

Kate and Karl sat back and smiled as the cabbie kept up a constant chatter as he drove them to their destination. "You know," said Karl as he reached in to pay the fare, "We will be done in about an hour and will need a ride back to the hotel, and we don't want to ask the cops. So if a cabbie happened to be in the area."

"Listen Buster," said the cabbie, "If I didn't need the money I'd let you walk, but your Lady, she has class, and for her sake I might be around," he said with a grin. Leaving a generous tip the Castleton's headed up the steps to meet with Perlmutter.

"Ah the Castleton's, bearing gifts," said Perlmutter, "and pretty close to on-time too."

"What can you tell us," said Karl as he took the bottle from Kate and deposited it into the bottom drawer of Perlmutter's desk.

"He was definitely shot to death with a twenty-two."

"The first one or the second one?"

"The first one, the second hadn't been fired in a long time. And no there were no prints on the weapon."

"Any fibers on the weapon, say gray or white cotton," asked Kate?

"Gray fibers. They were caught in the safety. How did you know?"

"Just a hunch. Any fibers in the wound or on the floor around the victim?"

"Yes, care to guess?"

"Oh I would say wool, but I would be betting on either silk and leather, or silk and cotton."

"Just silk, are you going to tell me what else I found out," asked an aggravated Perlmutter?

"You are going to tell us that victim was kicked several times after he had been shot," added Karl.

"What no shoe size," said a very annoyed Medical Examiner.

"…Well," said Karl, "What was the shoe size?"

"How the devil should I know," said Perlmutter.

"Any change to the time of death estimate?"

"Yes, a little bit later. Right now I'm placing the time of death to be between seven and eight o'clock."

"That takes Martha out of the timeline," observed Kate.

Seeing Perlmutter nod , Kate asked, "Anything else interesting?"

"Nothing really, it looks like the victim was losing big at the track," said Perlmutter pointing to the bag containing Ted's personnel effects.

"Is there any reason we can't take his personal effects back to Martha," asked Karl in a subdued tone of voice.

"Sorry, you are not the next of kin. You can tell Martha that I'm going to sign the paperwork to release the body today so she can start making arrangement s for the funeral, and a phone call is all I need to release his effects to you."

"Martha should be taking a nap about now; she's got a performance this evening. "

As they entered the lobby on their way out of the Forensic Biology Laboratory they were ambushed by Detectives O'Riley and Espinosa. "Anything you care to share," asked Javier?

"Martha didn't do it," offered Kate.

"We are beginning to think that ourselves," said Kevin. "You guys have any ideas?"

"Don't you know? You have been following us since we left our hotel this morning," retorted Karl.

"They have," said Kate. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"They are friendly's," said Karl with a shrug, "nothing to be concerned about."

"But you haven't gone anywhere," said a frustrated Javier.

"Ok," said an annoyed Karl, We are heading back to Martha's place where we are meeting up with her lawyer and accountant. Then we are going to Al Schacht's Restaurant for a steak dinner. We will be talking with a Mr. Brad Frank. Martha might be selling the business to him."

"Tomorrow we are going to the matinee program at Aqueduct," said Kate. "Oh, I'm going to need a new sun dress, hat, gloves, and shoes."

"What no purse," interjected Karl?

"And a purse," said Kate with a smile, "So shopping in the morning. Please don't follow me into the changing room Detectives, that would really annoy Karl," said Kate sweetly. The sour look on their faces cheered both their hearts.

Karl was not surprised when the same cab driver screeched to a halt in front of them, got out and opened the door for Kate. With a smile Kate said, "Back to the Concierge Hotel please. We already told the cops so you don't have to worry about letting them follow you. Oh did the Yankees win yesterday, I forgot to look in the paper this morning."

On the return trip Karl heard Kate and the cabbie discuss Whitey Ford, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and the rest of the team. Dancing and a ball game, thought Karl. I definitely need to add those to list of things to do for this trip.

Letting themselves into the Suite using Martha's spare key Karl started making coffee, while Kate secured a tablet and a pencil and patently waited for her husband's full attention.

"What do we know," asked Kate?

"Martha didn't do it," said Karl.

"The company is in good shape financially," said Kate.

"Ted had one maybe two mistresses," said Karl.

"Two," asked Kate?

"I think so," affirmed Karl.

"The company just won a huge contract that will keep them in business for the next three years at least, "added Kate. "And they don't have the capacity to meet the contract."

"Ted may or may not have had a gambling problem," added Karl.

"His was making payments to a mob owned firm," said Kate.

"He had meetings planned with his mistresses, his leading competitor, and a mob boss scheduled in the next couple days," said Karl.

"He was shot by someone he knew, and the only thing he had on his calendar for that day was attending the premiere of the play," said Kate.

"You said that you thought the killing g was intimate," said Karl.

"That's right, followed by a release of pent up anger."

"The kicking, right. Motives?"

"Martha, anger over the indiscretion. The mob moss, killing Ted may enable him to force Martha to sell the company to him. The competitor, he's desperate for apiece of the action. He might argue that will Ted gone the company cannot perform on the contract and his firm would be the obvious one to contract with. I don't know if the ladies had a motive."

Pouring a cup of coffee for both of them Karl set down and starting opening the box containing Martha's financial records.

"What are you going to do," asked Kate?

"Find out how much Martha pays the hair dresser and how much she spends on cosmetics. You?"

"I'll read more of Ted's journal."

While they were waiting for the Jim and the accountant, Kate saw Karl smile, and Karl heard Kate gulp several times and say "no" several more times. She will tell me if it is important thought Karl.

When Jim, Larry Jones, the accountant, and Phil Thompson, Deputy GM, arrived, Kate still wasn't sure what the motive for murder was. The group moved into the den in order not to disturb Martha. Form experience Kate knew that Martha would soon be waking from her nap and starting her pre-theater good luck ritual. Kate felt embarrassed when she saw Karl carrying a tray with the coffee service into the den. She quickly shooed him to a chair and took over the role of hostess.

After the introductions Jim and the Castleton's quickly assured Phil that until Martha said different he was running the operation and he had a free hand, within reason, to do what was necessary to keep the company together and profitable. He was also responsible for long term planning and business capture, but major expenditures could only be approved by Martha. Mr. Jones confirmed that he thought the company was in excellent position financially and with the new contract poised to expand. Mr. Reynolds's death could not have come at a worse time. When pressed he was surprised that Ted had awarded himself such a large bonus, but considering it was booked properly and Ted does own the company there is nothing illegal about it. Both Jim and Larry cringed when Karl mentioned the payouts to Ace Construction Ltd.

Neither Jim, Phil, nor Larry had a clear idea why Ted wanted to meet with Brad Frank. Phil's guess was maybe Ted wanted to purchase the company, or maybe subcontract out some of the work on the current contract. Phil said that subcontracting out some of the worked seemed like a good idea and asked if Karl and Kate could broach that subject with Brad.

Chapter 8 A tour of the City

The Meeting with Mr. Frank

As to be expected Al Schacht's Restaurant was extremely crowed. As they approached the maître d to inquire about their reservation they were joined by Mr. Frank. He was a talk, a little over six foot, lean, and appeared to have an abundance of nervous energy. He was dressed in a conservative suite, white shirt and narrow black tie.

"The Castleton's I presume," said Brad tentatively.

"Yes," said Karl extending his hand for a handshake. "This is my wife Kate and I'm Karl."

"I'm Brad, nice to meet you." After they had been shown to their table, ordered their drinks, wine for Brad and Kate, coffee for Karl, and their steak dinners Brad started off the conversation. "You are going to have to pardon my ignorance, but exactly what is your relationship with Ted Reynolds?"

"Martha is an old friend of my Dad's," said Kate. "I have met her several times and we grew friendly. Karl is a PI and worked for her on several occasions."

"Security, investigating backgrounds of people, the usual," added Karl.

"When Ted died, the police first thought that Martha did it. So she asked us to look into it."

"Is she still a suspect?"

"No, I think we have succeeded in taking her off of the suspect list," said Kate. "But we still don't know who killed Ted."

"Just because I just lost a contract and was arguing with him a couple of days ago doesn't automatically make me suspect," said Brad with some heat.

"Well you must admit it does make it look like you have a motive," said Karl. "Look all we want to do is find out who killed Ted and why. Anything you say to us is hearsay, but what you say to them," with a nod to two gentlemen will be taken seriously.

"They followed us," said Kate with an angry glare. "Good evening Detectives," said Kate in a loud voice waving to O'Riley and Espinosa. "They are Detectives Kevin O'Riley and Javier Espinosa," said Kate. "They are the ones assigned to the case an all that have done is follow us around."

"In your phone call you also said something about the sale of the company."

"That's right. Martha probably isn't going to keep the company. You are the number one competitor; it seems like a natural point of discussion, Jim Beacon may be talking with you on that topic. Also Phil Thompson will be running the operation for the foreseeable future. He would like to talk to you to call him Friday about some subcontract work."

"That's what this meeting was supposed to be about actually," said Brad. "Ted and I have talked about it a couple of times and I was looking to close the deal today.

After the salad had been replaced with the main course Karl asked, "If you don't mind my asking, where were you Wednesday night?"

"At the theater with you guys, Karl did you really do all those things," said Brad with a touch of awe?

"Yes," said Kate with no small note of pride, "and more, but some of the things really can't be put in a play. A movie maybe, but not a play."

As desert was been served both Kate and Karl watched Brad's body language change as if he was struggling with something. "Look," he said, "I've got to tell someone it might as well be you. I've been offered Ted's book."

"Ok, when," asked Kate?

"This morning, a phone call at work, they said the purchase price was twenty-five thousand."

"Male or female?"

"Couldn't tell."

"What did you say?"

"I said I would think about it. When you called I thought that would be one of the topics of discussion, but then I remembered seeing you at the play."

"How did you leave it?"

"They will call me back on Monday."

"When the Detectives talk to you, and they will, you are going to need to mention that."

After the final coffee, Brad left to go home to his wife, Kate asked "Do you think they are going to follow us around the rest of the night?"

"Probably, shall we take them on a tour of the city?"

"What did you have in mind?"

Nothing that it was still early and the night was only beginning to fall Karl asked, "Has Mrs. Castleton ever been to the Empire State Building as the sun was setting and the lights of Manhattan beginning to shine?"

"No, Mrs. Castleton has not. What else," said Kate in a conspiratorial voice?

"A touch and go of Staten Island via the ferry?"

"A moonlight boat ride, upper deck?"

"It will be chilly."

"We can share your jacket."

"Ok, then a moonlight ride in a horse drawn carriage in Central Park."

"Necking at the appropriate moments, followed by," said a breathless Kate.

Karl leaned in and whispered, "I take Mrs. Castleton back to her hotel room and thoroughly and vigorously bed her."

"A prefect plan," purred Kate. She stood up, took a step toward the door and looked back over her shoulder. With a look that would have stopped traffic in Times Square, she reached back her hand and said, "Coming Karl?" For the remainder of the early summer's evening the Castleton's played tourist.

Chapter 9 Kate's lucky Day

Dream Friday

When the Castleton's arrived at the Russian Tea Room on West 42nd Sally Davis was waiting for them. Sally was around 5' 2", in her early twenties, with medium length dark brown hair and a figure that was every man's dream. Her jade green spoke of intelligence, were lively and seemed to catch every detail. She was dressed in conservative white blouse with a dark blue jacket and matching skirt.

"Hi Sally," smiled Kate. "I'm Kate and this is my husband Karl. "We're so glad that you could talk with us this morning."

"Glad to meet the both of you. I'm a little puzzled as to why, but a breakfast at the Tea Room is always nice," replied Sally in a very pleasing and confident voice.

"Martha has asked us to look into Ted's death. Your name was in his appointment book for today. So we thought we would keep it and find out what your relationship with Ted is," said Kate. At the word relationship both of them saw Sally hesitate slightly. This should be interesting thought Kate.

As they were been shone to their seats Karl thought he was in the presence of the most beautiful women in the world.

After breakfast had been orders and the coffee poured and sampled, Karl begin, "Sally how did you meet Ted?"

"I'm an Associate in the advertising agency that handles the company's account. I got assigned right after I joined the firm, about three months ago. Right now I'm the only Associate on the account," said Sally with an unmistakable sense of pride. "We were going to meet today to refine the continuation of the advertising campaign."

"Oh, I wasn't aware that Ted's company had an advertising campaign underway," said Kate.

"It's very much directed," said Sally. "Ted started it when they started going after the major contract that they won. It put the company's name and accomplishments in front of the appropriate decision makers. The plan is too follow through with a slightly less extensive coverage until the first items are delivered, and then hammer home the points of on-time, on-budget product deliveries," continued Sally.

"You should probably discuss the plan with Phil Thompson," said Karl. "He is going to be running the company on a day-to-day basis."

"Thanks, I was wondering who I should be talking to."

Midway through breakfast Karl caught Kate's eye and asked, "Sally have you been with Ted outside the office?"

"I don't know what you mean Mr. Castleton," said Sally in an angry voice and a touch of panic in her eyes.

"Sally," said Kate in a soothing tone, "We know that Martha and Ted have an understanding about these things. As long as the relationship remains discrete then no harm occurs."

"We also know that he spends a lot of time at the Playhouse," added Karl. Karl noticed that the mention of the Playhouse seemed to slap Sally.

"And if I have been with Ted so what?"

"Nothing actually, that was between you Ted," said Karl in a matter of fact tone. "When did you start?"

"About six weeks ago, I don't why he insisted on the Playroom. My apartment is so much better," said Sally.

After the dishes had been removed, "one last question," said Kate. "Where were you Wednesday night?"

"I knew you would ask this," said Sally. "I worked until six-thirty, and then Joyce Anderson, Tom Gill, a client and I went to the Rib Room for dinner. I left around eight and was home by eight-thirty."

"Thanks for your time Sally. You should probably give Phil a call."

"Thanks I will. I love your books by the way. I think your publisher could market them better. Do you mind if I give them a call?"

"If you think you can come up with a way to increase sales then I'm sure they will listen," said Kate with a smile.

As they were walking out, "Thanks for breakfast and the information, I hope you find the guy."

"What's next," asked Karl?

"Shopping," exclaimed Kate! Seeing the look on Karl's face Kate continued, "I'm a big girl. I can shop by myself. "

"You sure?"

"Karl! What time do we need to leave?"

"I think we can grab lunch at the Clubhouse with Aaron after we talk with Vinny so twelve-thirty."

"So I will meet you back in our room by noon. What are you going to do?"

"I thought I would go checkout the Playroom."

"No. I want to be with you when we do that, ok?"

"Sure," shrugged Karl. "Then I guess I'll talk with the boys," with a nod toward their shadows, "take a walk and meet you back at the Hotel."

Putting Kate in the cab, and receiving a quick kiss on the check, Karl walked over to the Detectives.

"Good morning Detectives. Kate is off shopping for a new outfit for our trip to Aqueduct today. I thought we could compare notes. Buy you guys a cup of coffee?"

"Get in," said Espinosa.

Crammed into a booth in a dinner that advertised 'The Best Doughnuts in the Five Boroughs' O'Riley asked, "What do you have?"

"Really I got nothing. I haven't figured out a why yet, and I'm running out of places to look. How did your talk with Mr. Frank go?"

"He's got an alibi for the crime, and he told us about the book. He offered to work with us on the next phone call. What about the woman you just met?"

"Sally Davis, she works in an advertising agency. She says she was having dinner with her boss and a client, and then went home alone."

"We will check that of course. She could get me to buy anything," said O'Riley. "Were they?"

"Yes, and Martha knows. She and Ted had an arrangement. As long as it was discrete and not permanent then no harm was committed." Seeing O'Riley and Espinosa shake their heads, "Look they loved each other. They have been married for over twenty years. This arrangement works for them."

"You sure about the arrangement," asked O'Riley.

"I'm sure," said Karl.

"How?"

"Look you guys got anything?"

"Nothing really, we know Martha didn't do it, and the fire escape just makes it impossible to rule out anybody. Who are you meeting at the races?"

"Vinny Mal and Aaron Cross."

"Vinny Mal, you nuts," said Espinosa! "Who is Aaron Cross?"

"Kate would say I'm certifiable, and we have never met Aaron Cross. I suspect she is another one of Ted's acquaintances. Is there anything new I should know about Vinny?"

"As long as you remember that he is a made man, very connected and extremely dangerous you will be fine," said Espinosa. "You're still nuts."

"Ok guys, I'm not going to meet anyone until the races this afternoon. I'm going to walk around a bit and try to find something for Alex. Are you guys following us to the races?"

"I wouldn't miss your reunion with Vinny for the world," said Espinosa.

"You going dressed like that," said O'Riley with a nod toward the gun.

"No, that would be asking for trouble. I'll put it in the safe in the room."

"That's a smart move. See you at the races."

Kate watched Karl's face as she exited the bedroom. She was not disappointed in his expression when he stopped pacing turned and looked at her. She could tell by his eyes and the corners of his lips as he started to smile that he liked what he was seeing. Her yellow and white sun dress was held up with spaghetti straps. It emphasized Kate's curves and amplified her long flowing limbs. Her large straw hat with her long dark hair tumbling out and the pale yellow ribbon was the same color as her gloves highlighted her already attractive face. The outfit was completed by a pair of canary yellow shoes with a matching purse.

"Kate…you look wonderful," said Karl as he held out his hands to her. She took them and guided them behind her as she reached up to pull him into a kiss. You look like a sunny day, thought Karl, and smell like cherries. Why is it when I see you I think of cherry blossoms and springtime? Don't think, do, thought Karl as he pulled Kate into a fierce hug that surprised Kate.

"Thank you kind Sir," she breathed. "You ok?"

"Yes, … it's just…I think we are going to have to stay in the Club House," joked Karl "or else you will distract the jockeys." Kate's answering smile lite up Karl's heart.

"Ready," she asked?

"Let me put this away," said Karl, as Kate watched him put his gun in the safe. Seeing her expression Karl continued, "it's best if I leave this here." When he saw her puzzled frown he said, "I might be tempted to use it."

As they entered the cab they heard a familiar voice, "Ah my favorite couple, where are we off to today?"

"Mario," replied Karl, "If I didn't know better I would say you are stalking us."

"An afternoon at the races," said Kate with a smile in her voice.

"A bit early aren't you?"

"We have to talk to someone first."

"So long is it isn't the horses. They really have nothing to say you know and if they are giving you betting tips don't listen. On Friday afternoon at Aqueduct it's best to bet the favorite to win in the second, third, fifth, seventh, and eighth races. " For the rest of the ride to the track Kate and Karl listened to Mario's monologue about betting systems, great horses, and great racing victories.

After leaving a Club House ticket at the 'Will Call' window for Aaron Cross, the Castleton's headed toward the Club House. Climbing the last stair they entered the promenade. The promenade was decorated with flowers of the racing clubs colors in flowerpots that were at last six feet in diameter, other flowers were in smaller flowerpots and hung from poles. The colorful banners on top of the Club House moved with the steady breeze. The temperature was comfortably in the mid-seventies. The puffy white clouds complemented the blue sky and held absolutely no chance at rain.

Advancing further Kate saw four men in an umbrella protected table rise and turn them. Suddenly she felt the air around turn deadly chill. A look at her husband's face confirmed her fear. She had she that look before. It had only one meaning,' trouble'.

"Karl," waved a medium size man with graying hair dressed in an open neck shirt and a dark blue blazer. Next to him was a tall and thin red headed man dressed in a conservative business suit. They were flanked by two men. Despite being dressed in business suits and ties there was no mistaking why they were here. Words like 'muscle', and 'hit man' sprang instantly to mind. Kate saw the expression on the last man on change to that of fear. When he made a motion like he was reaching for a gun Kate internally quailed. She heard the waving man snap out something and the man's hand moved to his side. With he a quick check of her husband's face she was relieved that it had changed from 'trouble' to just a normal game face. It's time to put mine on she thought.

Stopping five feet away Karl said, "Vincent, It's been a long time. Colin it's nice to see you again. Kate the man directly in front of me is Vincent Maldonado, to his right is Colin McDougal. He is the Counselor for the family. To his right is Tommy Stallone, and to Vincent's left is Turk Malone. The man I said I would kill the next time I saw him. It seems I owe myself a rain check. Gentlemen this is my wife Kate. "

The silence after Karl's pronouncement was loud. "Karl," said Colin, "The old man still says you are untouchable."

"Good to know. If you remember I would tell you when I was going to need a hunting license. "

"You haven't filled the paperwork," replied Colin,

"That's right."

Looking at Vincent, Colin continued, "Tommy, Turk, why don't you guys get some air."

"Mr. McDougal, that's Karl Castleton there."

"He isn't armed."

"He doesn't need to be."

"I know, but he is here on business, and he is not going to put his wife in harm's way."

"You can keep the Detectives that followed us busy," said Karl. When Karl saw the stern look from Vincent he continued, "Look it's not my choice. They know I'm looking into Ted's death for Martha. They are clueless so they are following us and hoping we uncover something. .. I know you didn't kill Ted. If you did the crime scene would have been a whole lot messier, or Ted would still be a missing person."

With a smile and a nod from Vinny Turk and Tommy disappeared. Sitting Kate in the shade offered by the umbrella Karl sat down to her left and put both of his hands on the table. His left hand was immediately covered by Kate's. Before anything could be said a waiter appeared at Vincent's elbow.

"Something to drink?"

"A glass of a good red wine," said Kate.

"Coffee," said Karl.

"I'll take a coffee also," said Collin.

"A double single malt scotch neat," said Vinny.

Smalltalk continued until after the drinks had been served.

"Karl why are you here," asked Vinny?

"Vincent, as I said I'm looking into Ted's death for Martha. Martha is also a friend. We saw your name in Ted's calendar and thought we should keep the appointment. I don't want anything bad to happen or surprise Martha."

Vinny waved his hand at the implication of harm to Martha, "Nothing will happen to Martha. I saw you at the opening my dear," said Vinny turning to Kate. "I thought you were lovely then, and now even more so."

Kate's smile and head bob was the only answer.

"We do have an issue with Ted's estate," said Collin.

"Then you are going to need to talk to Jim Beacon, Martha's lawyer," said Karl.

"I know, but we thought we could talk to you first. That way you could break the ice with Jim and make the negotiations less difficult," said Collin.

"How much trouble was Ted in," said Kate. "We know that he paid Ace Construction over three hundred thousand dollars."

Vinny and Colin shared a look. Collin shrugged and said, "You know Karl is a good Detective so it shouldn't surprise you."

With his gaze shifting from Karl to Kate and back, Vincent said," There are two issues here. He still owes us another hundred thousand in gambling debts, and he promised to sell us a percentage of his business if we helped him win that new contract, which we did and he did. He was going to use the cash to buy Brad Frank's company. Good business for all. We get a piece of the action, Ted gets to consume a rival and get the manufacturing capacity he needs to make good on the contract."

"Were there any other considerations in the purchase?"

"The firm would switch to a different waste disposal company and use a different trucking company for their shipments," said Vincent.

"That's going to have to wait until after the estate is settled. I know they have enough cash to settle the debt, but I don't know about the favor," said Karl.

"Karl," said Kate. "Ted did mention in his journal that he owed Vincent a favor. There was no mention what the favor was. Ok, I guess the question becomes with Ted gone do you still want to go through with the deal?"

"Yes, I think we can persuade Mr. Frank to sell and to become the manager of the new company," said Collin.

"And when Martha markets the combined company…."

"We buy the rest," said Vincent.

"We will talk to Jim and Martha," said Karl with a glance at Kate.

"Good that's all we ask," said Colin. "Karl, are you going to want a hunting license?"

"No, but keep Turk away or I might forget myself.'

"Fair enough, well good luck with the ponies," said Vincent.

Saying their goodbyes the Castleton's adjourned to another table to await Aaron Cross. Twenty minutes later they saw Aaron Cross walk towards them on the promenade. The picture does not do her justice; she is even lovelier in person. Aaron was tall for a woman, probably in her late twenties, but very pleasantly curved. Her long blonde hair spilled down her back and almost to her waist. The green and gold dress she wore highlighted her natural coloring. Ted sure can find beautiful woman, thought Karl with a guilty glance at Kate. The sudden squeeze of his hand convinced Karl that Kate had read his mind. When he squeezed her hand back and looked into her eyes, they both knew that they belonged together. Getting up and waving to attract her attention the Castleton's greeted their guest. After introductions they went into the Club House.

After they had been seated and orders place Aaron began, "I'm glad to meet you both, but I'm a little puzzled as to why."

"We are friends of Martha's, and she has asked us to look into Ted's murder," said Kate. Both of them saw Aaron wince when Kate mentioned Ted's name. "We saw that you had an appointment with Ted today. We thought we keep it. Besides it looks like a great day to be at the races, and I like your dress."

"You walk like a model," said Karl.

With a huge smile Aaron continued, "I am I work for the Stevens Agency. I've been with them since I turned eighteen, almost ten years ago."

"I thought you looked familiar," said Karl. Karl ignored the deadly look from Kate and continued. "Exactly how well did you know Ted," said Karl in a suggestive voice.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Look Aaron," said Kate. "We know that Martha and Ted had an understanding about ex-marital relationship."

"I've been with Ted for almost seven years now. We met at a Congressional fund raiser. We just connected and had a lot of fun together. He would take me places and we do things. Sometimes when we were at a remote shot location he would show up. He was very kind, considerate and generous."

Noticing the beginnings of tears in her eyes, she loves him thought Karl, "Do you have any idea of who might want to kill him?"

Both of them saw her hesitate, "No I don't. I hope you find whoever killed him."

"Do you mind telling us where you were Wednesday night," asked Kate?

"I had a late photo shot at the studio. We did not finish up till six; then I had dinner at Angles on 23rd, and then I went home. I was in my bath by seven-thirty. Why am I a suspect," asked Aaron.

"Just curious," said Kate.

After lunch they all went outside to their box seats and began to enjoy race day. Castle was not a betting man, but he did love the races. To him the horses were magnificent creatures worthy of awe and respect, and he appreciated the jockey's skill in managing the race and getting the most out of their horses. Aaron and Kate on the other hand kept up a running discussion of bloodlines, training techniques and jockeys. Still Karl was surprised when after the first race Kate asked to borrow twenty bucks.

"Why," asked Karl?

"I never gamble with my money," said Kate. Surrendering quickly, Karl handed Kate the money. During the second race it was more fun to watch Kate cheering for 'her' horse than it was to watch the race. The smile on her face and the hug he received after 'her' horse had won the race left Karl speechless. On her way to collect her winnings Karl noticed that the favorite had won. She isn't is she, thought Karl remembering Mario's advice about betting? Kate was equally as animated during the third race, and when the favorite won Kate about broke Karl in half.

Karl was certain that Kate was following Mario's advice when she remained sitting during the fourth race and fanned herself with a program. Sure enough the favorite had lost by a half a length. Scene repeated itself for the fifth sixth and seventh races. At the start of the eighth race Kate was happy and extremely nervous. So much so that Karl pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "Relax Kate it's only twenty bucks." He was rewarded by a grin that turned into a smile, which changed into a laugh and was followed by a brief but very passionate kiss.

"Now I remember why I have you around," breathed Kate.

"Wait, you mean you forgot," teased Karl.

"Never," said Kate in a voice that warmed Karl down to his toes.

When 'her' horse won by three lengths, Karl thought Kate's shriek of joy could be heard in California.

After the end of the last race, the Castleton's and Aaron sat back finishing their drinks and watching the crowd depart. "Thanks for meeting with us," said Karl "and sharing about Ted. Would you like to share a cab?"

"No I'm fine."

"At least accept car fare."

"Mr. Castleton I rode the same win streak as Kate's. I'm never been so lucky or felt so very much alive. Thank you for an excellent day at the races." With that Aaron left the box seat and made her way out of the racetrack.

Reaching into her bulging purse, Kate pulled out a twenty and handed it back to Karl with a humorous glint in her eye. "Thanks for the loan kind Sir."

"Hey, what about the interest?"

"Later," said Kate with a quick smile and a kiss to the check. "You can collect the interest later."

"If I were to ask…"

"Seventy-five hundred."

"Nice, but I was talking about Aaron."

"You think she did it? She loved Ted."

"That's the point."

A stunned Kate looked at Karl for a long moment, "Maybe," she said. "Maybe." Kate followed Karl's eyes and saw Detectives O'Riley and Espinosa walking toward them.

"Welcome Detectives, sit down. Can I interest you in some ice tea? We still half a pitcher left and some clean classes," said Kate.

"Thank you Mrs. Castleton that would be nice."

"Kate and Karl please Detective," continued Kate. "There is no need to be so formal," Kate continued as she poured the Detectives some tea.

"How did the meeting with Vincent go," asked Espinosa. "We saw Turk and were amazed that he was still alive."

"This is neither the time nor the place to settle that," said Karl with a grim expression.

"Is it going to be settled," asked O'Riley?

"Not by me on this trip," said Karl with a faraway look in his eyes. 'I will kill that SOB, but will not endanger Kate' thought Karl "…Ted has some outstanding gambling debts. Not much, but more than I would like. The big thing is he owes Vincent a favor."

"He wants to use the favor to purchase part of Ted's company," added Kate. "From the conversation it appears that Ted asked for some help to win the contract. He got it and now needs to come up with a bigger factory to meet the contract."

"Vincent provided the favor to win the contract and is willing to provide the cash for expansion at the cost of a piece of the company."

"Anything suspicious," asked Ryan?

"I don't know about the favor, but from a business perspective it all makes sense. Ted gets a sweet contract and money to expand, and Vincent gets a piece of the action," replied Kate.

"I don't like him for the murder for a number of reasons," said Karl.

"Why," asked O'Riley.

"He was already going to get what he wanted," said Karl.

"But what if Ted wanted to back out," said Espinosa.

"In Ted's private journal he acknowledged that he owed Vincent a favor," said Kate.

"Why haven't I seen the journal," said O'Riley.

"It was in the desk drawer," said Kate. "We assumed you guys looked at it and left it."

"Anything else in there?"

"No, I don't think so, but you better ask Jim to get it for you just to be sure."

"Ok, anything else?"

Karl looked into Kate's eyes and said, "What do you know about Aaron Cross?"

"Is that the name of the woman you were with," asked O'Riley?

"Yes, she was Ted's mistress before Sally Davis," said Kate.

"Wait you are telling me that Ted had two mistresses and a wife," said Espinosa. "We didn't know he had one."

"Yes," continued Karl. "I would check out her alibi.

"If I could I would try to find an excuse to get a warrant to search her apartment," said Kate. "I would be looking for a pair of damaged gray gloves."

"The fibers that were caught by the safety," said Espinosa.

"Ok," said O'Riley. "What are your plans? I don't want to be baby sit you guys all day, and you have given us some things to check on."

"Some shopping," said Kate with a smile, "then an early dinner."

"Then we are going to try to get some answers at the Playroom," said Karl.

"Good luck there. We tried and could not intimidate the hostess. We tried to put pressure on the manager; he just smiled and said no," said O'Riley

"Then the Captain told us there is nothing there and to back off," continued Espinosa.

"It is a powerfully connected private club," said Karl.

"What makes you think you can get anything out of them?"

"I don't, but I know I need to try."

"If we get back in time, we will go dancing at the Green Room Bar in the hotel."

"Karl, that would be great," smiled Kate.

"What are you plans for tomorrow?"

Kate took a look at Karl who shrugged and said, "We haven't made them yet."

The promenade was fairly full as the Castleton's were making their way out and toward the taxi stands. The cleaners were already busy trying to readily the place for tonight's racing card. Kate's heart skipped a beat when she saw Vincent, Colin and the boys waiting for them. She was reassured a little bit when only Colin and Vincent approached.

"A little bird told me that two ladies, one wearing green and gold, and the other wearing white and gold picked five straight winners," said Vincent with a huge genuine smile.

"Aaron and I talked to the horses this morning and asked them to run for us and they did," said Kate sweetly.

Breaking out into a loud laugh Vincent continued, "Kate the next time you two 'talk to the horses' let me know ok. I hate losing at this place."
With a laugh Kate noted yes.

"Good, Karl you will…" started Colin.

"I will call Jim tonight or at home the first thing tomorrow morning and explain the situation. From there you are on your own."

"That's more than fine. We have work product that Ted has signed and initialed so we are in good shape there."

"Karl," said Vincent in a whisper, "I made a call. I told them what you told Colin about not wanting a license. The Five have confirmed your Envoy status, and any action against you or your lady will be dealt with severely, most severely. Turk has got the message."

Nodding his acceptance Kate and Karl continued down the promenade.

When Colin heard Kate say, "Karl what was that all about?" and Karl's response, "I will tell you all about it, but not here. I will tell you when we are home and watching the sunset, from our front porch, but not before," he smiled. He knew that Karl would not be a problem this trip, and with Kate on his arm maybe never again. He shuddered when he remembered that last time Karl went hunting. It was bad, very bad for business.

The cab ride to Washington Square was uneventful. Karl felt like a useless appendage as Kate led him for store to store. I don't know what she is looking for, thought Karl, but I am sure she will let me know when she finds it. After it seems they had visited a zillion stores and boutiques they stepped into a shop called 'The Subcontinent'. Karl almost walked over Kate when she stopped to admire a pair of very large ceramic elephants. 'What is Kate's thing about elephant's' thought Karl. As Kate led him further into the store Karl became more and more intrigued by the merchants and the smell of the incense.

He almost ran over Kate again when she gasped and stopped to admire a painted brass Bengal Tiger. 'That's you' he thought he heard Kate say. Karl allowed himself to be seated as Kate went into the woman's section to 'try on a few things'. When she emerged wearing a sky blue sari with silver trim Karl almost fell off the chair. The silk hugged her bottom and chest leaving no doubt as to the curves Kate possessed. The bare midriff and shoulder just accentuated her classic beauty and her long limbed good looks.

"Do you like it," Kate asked?

"If I remember," said Karl, "that is one long piece of silk. I want to spin it off you and make you forgot how to put it back on."

"Later," said Kate.

"That's two laters," complained Karl.

"I'll take it," said Kate to the sales clerk, "and the dark green one too." Crossing to Karl she gave him another brief kiss. "I know, but soon it will be now," and with a look in eye that Karl understood she returned to the fitting area.

All told Kate bought a pair of elephants, the tiger, a teakwood privacy screen and three saris. After arranging to have the merchandise shipped home they walked back outside.

"Where to now," asked Karl.

"How about dinner at Grand Central Oyster Bar," said Kate. "Tonight you might need their help," she whispered. Considering it was Friday night and they had no reservation, they were pleasantly surprised to find that they only had a fifteen minute wait. Dinner was of course excellent and the Castleton's were very pleased with themselves. For a while they had forgotten all about Ted's death and were doing what they came to NYC to do. Enjoy life for a moment secure in the knowledge that their three year old son was safe, secure and loved by his Grandfather. Both seemed to know that in a couple of years both of them would show NYC to their son, and as he grew they could re-experience it with him, but tonight was just for them.

"How about another cab ride," said Kate? "I think smoothing is an excellent way to work of dinner."

"I had something more strenuous then smooching in mind," complained Karl.

"Later," said Kate.

"That's three," said Karl with a laugh that Kate quickly joined in.

The horse drawn carriage ride was exhilarating and even the horse nickered its goodbye when the Castleton's exited the carriage and headed toward the taxi stand. Kate knew the next destination was the Playhouse but she was surprised at the address Karl had given the cabbie.

Walking into the lobby of the Empire Tower Savings and Loan building Kate finally exclaimed, "You mean to tell me that the Playhouse is in the middle of the Financial District?"

"Ideal location," said Karl. "It has plenty of private parking nearby. It's only one block away from the subway and the bus stops at the corner. There are a number of businesses in the building for a legitimate client to be going two and the central hallway is used by thousands of people every day."

"It is close to rich people who need a convenient getaway. It also has a dining room and plenty of private meeting rooms where, if you believe the rumors, some of the biggest deals have been struck." When Kate looked at the marquee all she saw was Private Club, 17th floor.

As they got off of the elevator on the 17th floor Kate noticed the fine mahogany paneling, the fine old chairs with the aged leather smell and the exquisite art decorating the walls. This place smelt and felt like a place of secrets, intrigue and power. The receptionist had medium length blonde hair done in simple curls, a minimal of make-up artistically applied, a bigger than average bust line and a very slim waist. In a word she was gorgeous. Kate watched the receptionist's blue eyes take in every move she and Karl made as they approached her station. Kate sensed that there was intelligence behind those eyes. Kate felt her jaw drop when she heard her say, "Good evening Mr. Castleton. I haven't seen you in a while. Do you require a room?"

Kate also felt a flash of fierce pride when she saw Karl casually display his wedding ring and say, "Good evening Sharon, I've not had the need to be here in quite a while. Tonight I am just looking for some information. I'm not going to ask you anything you can't tell me. Ok?"

"Go ahead Mr. Castleton, if I think my answers will compromise our members I will not answer."

"This is to be expected. Martha Reynolds has asked us to look into the death of her husband. We know that Ted comes here often. All I want to know is has he brought Aaron Cross her," laying a picture of Aaron on the counter," after he brought Sally here," as he laid Sally's picture next to Aaron's on the counter?

"No"

"Is that 'No' you won't answer the question, or no once Ted started bringing Sally her he stopped bringing Aaron."

"Yes"

"Sharon you are driving me nuts here."

"Once Ted started bring Sally he stopped bring Aaron."

"Thank You."

Kate saw Karl's jaw drop when she said, "Sharon we will need a room."

"Mr. Castleton?"

Karl was shocked to hear Kate ask for a room. When he turned to look at her and their eyes locked, he saw his wife with a small smile on her lips. There was love and definitely a challenge in her eyes. He had gotten lost in her eyes four years ago and had not escaped. He loved Kate completely; with the love came absolute trust. He didn't know why but the idea of treating or even thinking of his wife as a mistress upset him. If I say no I may not ever find out what she is thinking or why. Maybe I am overthinking. Maybe Kate just thinks later is now and this would be a fun place.

"Yes Sharon we will need a room."

Kate turned on the light switch as she stepped into room number seventeen. The room opened up in front of her, to her left was a small hall that led to the bath room, to her right was the door to a closet. Opening the door Kate unpinned her hat and shook out her long dark hair. Placing her hat on the shelf she unhooked a hanger and waited for Karl to hand her his jacket.

"Kate, I…"

"Shush love," said Kate in a gentle voice, "love me?"

Finally breaking from the kiss that was Karl's response, Kate led Karl by the hand further into the room. The walls were painted a soothing green and the ceiling a creamy white. A ceiling fan gently stirred the breeze. The bed, flanked by two nightstands stood against the wall to her right. Kate Sitting Karl in the chair that was next to the wall passed the foot of the bed, Kate turned on the radio and found some soft orchestral music. Maintaining eye contact Kate next moved to turn down the bed. That task complete she went over to Karl Knelt in front of him and slow untied and removed his shoes and socks. Carefully placing those aside she sat on his lap with her back to him.
Looking over her shoulder," Do you mind?" When Karl had finished with the buttons, "Strap too." Careful to maintain eye contact Kate slowly and seductively undressed. When Karl moved to unbutton his shirt, Kate gently smacked his hand,"I'll do that" and continued to undress. Once Kate was completely nude she started to undress Karl, Kate was gentle and slow, with lots and bestowed gentle touches and light kisses in places she hadn't kissed before. She was pleased and terrified with the tension she felt building up in Karl.

When Karl couldn't take it any longer he scooped up Kate and literal through her on the bed, and dove in after her. Their lovemaking had gone from slow and gentle to wild and passionate in a heartbeat, and Kate couldn't have been happier.

Afterward, still intertwined and enjoying the moment, Kate spoke, "Karl when I asked for a room I saw your face do crazy things. Care to share."

"I didn't know what to think. I didn't know why you wanted the room."

"I could say a lot of things and be correct. I could say research. I could say I have always wanted to know what it felt like to be a kept woman. I could say I wanted to act out being a woman who went to a hotel room for the sole purpose of having sex and being sure that her man was completely satisfied."

"From my perspective you achieved that goal," said Karl with a gentle hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"You were great yourself," said Kate stretching up to give Karl a more meaningful kiss.

"I may be old-fashioned," said Karl, "but I always thought a place like this is where men bring their mistresses not their wives. The thought of you being a mistress pains me Kate."

The pain Kate heard in Karl's voice surprised her, "Karl Alexander Castleton I will never ever be anyone's mistress except yours. I love you too much to even consider being with another man. Got it? I'm a mistress because I chose to be your mistress, and I'm going to be your only mistress got…"

"Shut up and kiss me!"

Later, why does it hurt when we stop, thought Kate? The phrase ' …love…only mistress' kept circulating in their brains. "I know who the killer is," said Kate and Karl simultaneously.

"Aaron Cross," said Karl.

"And the oldest motive in the world, love," continued Kate.

"How do we prove it?"

"We get her to confess," said Kate. "Look Ted's funeral is on Monday, so Sunday afternoon we hold a pre-funeral who-done it lunch. We invite Martha, the Detectives, Brad, Vincent, Sally and Aaron."

"That's only nine. You know how superstitious I am."

"OK we add Jim…. During the lunch we talk through each of the guest's reasons for killing Ted. We end with Aaron making her admit that she loved Ted, how much she hated being pushed aside," said Kate.

"We make her admit that she came back in and confronted him," continued Karl. "Something went wrong and Ted got shot….Would you climb up three flights of stairs for me Kate?"

"What?... and climb in through a window? For you no for Ted yes," teased Kate. "Where are we going to hold the luncheon?"

"The scene of the crime, Martha's," said Karl.

"She should be home from the theater now I'll call and ask," said Kate.

"We're on," said Kate with a smile.

Crawling back into bed and cuddling with Karl once again, "You know I could say I asked for a room because I wanted to show you how much I really care and love you and thought this would be a great place to share my love with you."

"You know I loved you since the first time I saw you," said Karl as he brushed the hair away from Kate's face.

"Then you remember what today is don't you," said Kate. When she saw his blank look, "You don't remember do you. It's the anniversary of when we first meet."

"Look I first met you when your Dad asked me to lunch and asked if I could provide discreet protection for you and you came in near the end of the meal gushing about the sale at Macy's and then started wailing about a loss of privacy…"

"I remember, "said Kate with a blush and a grin, "but that was not the first time. It was a Saturday. I had just returned home after finishing my first year at school. You came in with Mr. Atlas, Dad's attorney. He had just closed a deal for some land. In fact the deal was for the very land that our house is on. You had provided security because the deal had been made in cash. Dad offered you a ride back into the city. We were going to celebrate the deal and my completing my first year of college with straight A's. I thought you were the sexiest man I had ever seen. During the ride to the city I tried to get you to look at my legs, but you fell asleep," said Kate with a touch of disgust.

"You do have great legs," admitted Karl. "You know what else is great? This," as Karl reached down and gently grabbed Kate's ass, "and this," as Karl stated to tweak and kiss Kate's breasts. Round two had definitely begun.

Chapter 10 Unexpected Pleasures

Dream Saturday

When Kate woke she stretched out and for Karl and felt nothing. Opening her eyes, 'he's on the roof exercising again' thought Kate. She found it strange that Karl would continue to exercise every day, but she had to admit she liked the results. I can live with that quark, thought Kate. Donning a dressing robe she opened the bedroom door and entered the main room of the suite. Setting on the table were several calligraphy pens, ink, a stack of invitations and another stack of addressed inner and outer envelopes. When did he do these? They are beautiful. I knew he was good, I didn't know he was this good.

One of Karl's lesser known skills was that of a calligrapher. When Karl was a PI he was not always busy. He had spent a lot of time drawing and then decided he would teach himself calligraphy. On several occasions he had made rent and food money by selling some of his works. He liked to do it to fill in the time and to relieve the boredom, but since he had met and married Kate, he had never felt the need to draw.

When Kate heard the door open she looked and saw Karl walking in, dressed in his workout clothes and carrying two envelopes.

"These are wonderful," beamed Kate.

"Great you are up, I think the wording is trite but ok," said Karl.

"No I mean you made each invitation a work of art. Perhaps I should ask you to illustrate a drawing in one of my next books."

"No," said Karl in a harsh tone. I wonder what that is about thought Kate. I'll ask later.

"What can I do to help and what is in the envelopes?"

"To help is easy, find the invitation, fold it and place it in the corresponding envelope that just has the on the outside, then place that envelope in the outside addressed envelope. The messenger will be here in about ten minutes to pick these up. …These envelopes, this one contains two tickets to this afternoons Yankees- Red Sox game ….and this envelope contains tickets to the eight o'clock Duke Ellington Band. After we get back from the game I'd thought we stay in, I mean eat in the hotel if that's ok with you, that way we can be sure to get a good table to sit at when we go dancing."

Kate's smile was huge, "Your dripping on the carpet, why don't you go in and start the shower. If you wait until after the messenger leaves I will join you," said Kate with a gleam in her eye.

As Kate was stuffing the envelope's she noted that each invitation said the same thing but was uniquely different. These really are a work of art, thought Kate. Where did he learn to do this and why doesn't he want to talk about it. The last one she read out loud

James E. Beacon, Esquire

Katherine and Karl Castleton

Formally requests the pleasure of your company on Sunday June 4, for a 'Who Killed Ted Reynolds' luncheon. The luncheon will begin at 12:30 PM and be hosted in Suite 312 of the Concierge Hotel. Entertainment will consist of grilling the suspects on their motives for killing Ted. Audience participation is expected and required. For the innocent, the meal will be extraordinary and the entertainment will range from being very personal, as you are being grilled, to enlightening. For the guilty, at least the last meal you eat as a free person will be extraordinary.

RSVP (Care of the Edison Hotel)

Faithfully yours,

Kate and Karl Castleton

While waiting for the messenger Kate had second thoughts. What if they don't show up? What if it doesn't work? Then she remembered a line from the invitation, 'the meal will be extraordinary'.

Once the messenger had picked up the invitations, Kate hurried into the bathroom shedding her dressing robe, and night clothes on the way. Yes, thought Kate, a leisurely shower with your husband is an excellent way to start a Saturday.

One of the things that Karl did not understand about Kate was her love for the game of baseball. On many occasions he had accompanied her to the Sacramento to watch a 'Solons' game, and when they were in San Francisco they always went to a 'Seals' game. When he saw Kate pack her 'lucky baseball' dress, Karl knew that taking Kate to a game in Yankee Stadium or a Giants game in the Polo Ground was a foregone conclusion. Following that up with a night of music and dancing just seemed the perfect combination for a Saturday.

When Karl asked the Doorman to hail them a cab he looked around and was surprised to see that there was no trace of Detectives O'Riley and Espinosa. Kate's laugh brought him back to reality, sliding into the cab he heard Mario's cheerful voice, "And where am I taking my favorite couple today?"

"Yankee stadium," said Kate smothering a laugh.

"Yankees – Red Sox," started Mario, "You could not have picked a better game or better weather…" and for the rest of the ride the Castleton's listened to the history of the Yankees – Red Sox rivalry, and commentary about the starting pitchers and line-ups.

When they got out Karl gave Mario a hundred dollar tip. "Look Mister….," said Mario.

Putting up his hand to stop the conversation, "Mario we really do enjoy you driving us around," said Karl.

"Besides," added Kate. "Your racing tips worked. I had five winners in a row. Just consider this part of the payout."

"I never meant for you …You mean they worked…Of course they did," exclaimed Mario. "Now you are my favorite couple," shouted Mario as he watched Kate and Karl turn and walk toward the stadium entrance.

At the ball game Kate was in her element. She was instantly chatting with the neighbors and exchanging commentary on the players, the quality of the play and all other things baseball. Watching Kate get emotionally involved in a ball game was a treat in itself. After their fourth inning feast of hotdogs, peanuts and lemonade Kate kicked her cheering up in to high gear. Karl reverted into his old habits, searching the crowds for possible threats to his wife. But by the eighth inning, even Karl's paranoia, earned over years of PI work was overcome by the general good mode of the crowd. He was glad that Kate had insisted that he not ware his gun today. Today carrying a gun into a place like this did not make sense. Tomorrow may be a different story. All Karl really remembered was that the game was won in the bottom of the tenth when Yogi Berra singled home Billy Martin from second, and at last they could return to the hotel.

Both were disappointed when Mario was not they cab driver. On the way back Karl heard Kate talk about talking to her father about getting a baseball to move to San Francisco. Good luck with that thought Karl.

When they got back to the hotel Karl was not surprised to learn that everyone had accepted the luncheon invitation. Back in their suite, they shared another shower, and dressed lightly as they rested up before the start of the start of this evening's activities. Kate heard Karl groan as she pulled out his tuxedo and placed it hook beside the closet.

"Don't worry dear, I will tie your tie for you, and I really do like how you look in a tux."

"Everyone looks good in a tux," said Karl. "That's why it's remained the standard for evening wear forever."

"I know, but you still look good," said Kate.

'I'm doomed' thought Karl, but when Kate pulled the lavender dress that was cut low in the back and reasonably high slits in the sides and put it on the hook for her side of the closet Karl concluded it would be worth it to see Kate in that dress.

Karl tuned in some light jazz as he watched Kate curl up to read her book. Karl opened his book then looked up at the desk that still had a lot of good quality paper and his calligraphy supplies.

Kate watched Karl put his book down on the sofa, go over to the desk, sit quietly for a while, then grab his pens and start to write. When he put the pen down, Kate quietly rose, walked over and looked over his shoulder. She saw

A Haiku for My Kate

Wonderful Mother

Whose Stunning Beauty Haunts Me

Please, Never Leave Me

Crafted in a style that was incredibly lovely and magnificently unique.

She saw Karl jump, when she said, "You need to change the last line. How about 'My Soul Mate'," offered Kate?

"Not enough syllables," said Karl.

"Ok, how about 'My Companion for Life'?"

"Too many syllables," said Karl.

"Ok, how about 'My Life's Companion'?"

Kate fascination turned to awe as she watched Karl write.

A Haiku for My Kate

Wonderful Mother

Whose Stunning Beauty Haunts Me

My Life's Companion

Kate felt like she was in a magical moment. Please let these words remain true, she prayed. Help me be a good mother to our children, let me remain beautiful in my husband's eyes, and let us be each other's life companion. She felt a slight shock as she reached out and touched his shoulder. In a husky voice Kate whispered, "Thank you."

Karl's nod was a very satisfactory answer. As the moment passed, Kate heard Karl sigh, and watched him recap the inkwells and pick-up the pens for cleaning. When he returned Kate was curled back up and reading her book.

"Now I understand why you don't want to do an illustration for a book. You project a lot of yourself into the effort and it just wouldn't feel right."

"That's right," said Karl.

"How were you able to do the invitations?"

"Those were for Ted and Martha, not me," said Karl. "Unless I really believed, I don't think I could do any calligraphy work. Emotion drives what I do, without it would be sterile. "

Why would Karl think I would want to leave him, Kate asked herself. "Karl," asked Kate timidly, "do you think that I would every leave you?"

With a pained expression, Karl replied, "Yes, sometimes, look you are young, smart, beautiful, and rich and can have any man in the world you want."

"I have exactly the man that I want," said Kate in a commanding tone that made Karl lock eyes with her. "Get used to it Mister," Kate said in a light voice," We have been together for a little over four years and I plan on picking up the option for another thirty, and the thirty after that, OK?"

"Have I told you I love you today," asked Karl?

"At least a thousand times and as many different ways," replied Kate. Kate went back to reading her book and was not surprised when she heard gentle snores coming from Karl's end of the sofa. Have a good nap love, she thought, tonight I do plan to dance your feet off.

As they entered the hotel's restaurant Kate felt many pairs of eyes watching her. She knew she looked good. Her standard mirror, the joy reflected in Karl's face when he saw her, was at an all time high. Eat your hearts out boys, Kate smirked to herself, I am with him. She was equally amused at the number of females checking out Karl. Ladies, she thought, see this arm? I am never ever letting it go.

After they had been seated, handed menu's and drinks ordered, white wine for Kate, coffee for Karl, Kate asked, "Do you know what we are having for lunch tomorrow?"

"No, Martha said she would take care of that so I'm sure it will be fantastic. I begged to get the type of salad I like and strawberry shortcake on the menu, but I don't know."

"What looks good?"

"I was thinking of just getting an appetizer, some soup, a salad, and the apple cobbler. "

"That's not a bad idea. We have eaten well and done a fair amount of walking, and other things," said Kate. "Cutting down on the food for a meal would be prudent."

"Madame are you ready to order," said the waiter.

"The Gentleman," started Kate," Will have a dozen oysters in the shell, a cup of the chicken noodle soup, the Waldorf salad, the apple cobbler with ice cream and some more coffee."

"The Lady," continued Karl, "Will have the shrimp cocktail, a cup of the chicken noodle soup, the Caesar salad, the apple cobbler with ice cream and another white wine."

After dinner Kate and Karl walked slowly down the corridor toward the Green Room, toward their night of music and dancing. One of the things that both Kate and Karl agreed on is that they liked good music and a good dance band and Duke Ellington was one of the best bands around. Kate's musical tastes ran more to the classical side and Karl's toward soft jazz, both tonight they were prepared to dance when they felt like it and listen when they didn't.

On the dance floor Kate and Karl were a joy to watch. A lot of couples envied Kate's grace and style seeming that of a natural athlete and Karl's economy of movement and co-ordination which was earned from his long hours spent practicing the martial arts. Together they just seemed to flow, never out of sync, never out of reach, never crowding each other. They were simply there. On the dance floor they knew that they attracted attention but they just didn't care. Kate danced only for Karl and Karl only for Kate.

During the course of the evening they noticed that when they danced the floor seem less crowded, and when they left the floor there was applause. They just assumed it was for the band. When they sat out they saw people looking their way nodding their heads and smiling. Karl and Kate acknowledged the looks, caught their breath then went back out on the dance floor.

It was the end of the second set that produced one of the most embarrassing yet pleasant memories for the Castleton's. Duke Ellington's band was playing a Louis Armstrong song 'Stardust', a favorite of Karl and Kate's, Karl had captured Kate and was holding her close, as the song came to an end they kissed. When they broke the kiss, they were still swaying to the music, except the band had stopped playing and the dance floor was almost empty. They acknowledged the band leader with a smile and a nod when they heard him say, "You know some people just bring their own music to dance to and this OK with me."

Kate and Karl were tired, but a happy elated tired and they sat out the last couple songs of the final set. When they heard "…that concludes the show," they stood, cheered, and clapped like everyone else. After the applause had started to fade they found themselves in the spotlight. "…You have been such a great audience tonight that, with your permission, we like to offer this couple the opportunity for one final dance." Hearing the opening bars to another of their favorites, another Louis Armstrong tune, 'A Kiss to Build A Dream' Karl got up gave a bow to Kate and held out his hand, Kate stood up dropped a curtsy that would had done a royal courtier proud took Karl's hand and proceeded to the dance floor. As the song was coming to an end, they shared another gentle kiss and finished the song holding each close forehead to forehead. As the sound faded they turned to the band, Karl bowed, Kate curtsied and the crowd erupted. Turing around Kate and Karl acknowledged the audience and the room got louder.

It took almost an hour for Karl and Kate to fend off their well-wishers and make it back to their suite. Once inside their suite Karl folded Kate into a long and passionate kiss. When the broke, Kate reached up and pulled out the combs that was holding her hair in place. Shaking her head to free her hair, she touched Karl's face and said, "Don't make me wait too long."

At the start of their lovemaking when Karl was reaching into the night stand drawer, Kate said, "No, It's time Alex had a baby brother or sister. It probably won't happen tonight, but until it does..." Karl's only response was to nuzzle Kate's neck and work his way down to her breast. In the bed, their lovemaking was sweet, passionate, teasing and considerate; each brought the other so close then backing off to prolong the moment. When they climaxed together it was the perfect end to the perfect day.

Chapter 11 The Wake Up

Dream Sunday

Kate was in limbo. She was aware, but not awake, aware but not asleep. She felt the bed move as Karl shifted around. Kate shivered slightly as Karl gently patted her ass. She heard him get up and gather his clothes. She fell asleep again when she heard the bathroom door close. … Kate felt someone looking at her. In her mind's eye she saw Karl lean in and kiss her check. Her sleep self-felt the kiss and tried to reach out and grab him, but she couldn't move her arms. When she heard the bedroom door close, a voice in Kate's mind screamed, 'he is leaving me.' 'Never', was Karl's shout in her mind!

Karl shifted and looked at the back of his sleeping wife, you are beautiful he thought. After reaching out to gently touch his wife, Karl got up, gathered his exercise clothes and went into the bathroom to change. When he emerged he once again looked at Kate sleeping on the bed. You are an angel he thought. He lingered for a second, and then leaned in and gently kissed her on the check. I'll be right back he thought. I'll never leave you alone for long.

Karl's 'shout' finally jolted Kate awake. Kate rolled over and stretched out her hand to the empty side of the bed, I miss you already she thought. Kate shrugged into her dressing robe and looked at herself in the mirror. My hair is a mess. Sitting down she attacked it with a brush, smiling as she remembered how her hair got that way. That will do, she thought, I'll fix it later after our shower. Calling room service she ordered coffee for two, the Sunday paper, and a large carafe of orange juice. They sell orange juice in thimbles, complained Kate to herself. I guess I'm spoiled, being a California girl in all, she laughed.

Entering the main room of the suite, Kate went over to the desk and reread the haiku Karl had written for her for at least the hundredth time. I've been married to him for over four years and I never knew he could write poetry nor did I have any idea that you had such calligraphy skills. Looking at the door to the suite, I wonder what other skills you have and secrets you keep.

After rereading the poem again Kate took a deep breath picked up a pen and piece of paper, and wrote.

A Haiku for My Karl

Ruggedly Handsome

Strong, Passionate, Protector

My Life's Companion

I hope I can get Karl to write this, thought Kate with another glance at the door to the suite. These two poems belong together, and thanks for the inspiration for the dedication for our next book.

Kate was still in thought when room service arrived with the coffee, juice and the paper. After drinking a glass of juice, Kate poured herself a cup of coffee and then retreated to the sofa to attack the paper. Kate quickly worked her way through the stories on the front pages, glanced at the editorials and made her way to the Business section, where it was reported that an anonymous source had spoken about the possibility of Brad Frank's company resubmitting a bid in the hope of getting the contract. The rationale he used was that Ted's company did not have the resources to execute the contract, and that now that Ted was dead, it would take them even longer to get the resources and start delivering on the contract, whereas his firm could start delivering almost immediately. Interesting, thought Kate. Karl needs to see this. This will make the luncheon even more interesting.

Next Kate turned to the Entertainment section. Below the fold on page three was a great review of Martha's play, and very flattering description of her performance. Martha will be pleased with this, thought Kate. Reflecting for a moment, last night was fantastic. The music and dancing was like a dream come true. I wish we could do it again, but going back to the Green Room doesn't feel right. Turning the page, Kate bolted upright, that's a possibility, oh yes, let's. It took Kate only two phone calls arrange what see hoped would be another memorable evening for Karl and her. After finishing her coffee she went into the bedroom to begin to pack.

When Karl came into the suite, he smelled the coffee, and made a beeline for it and the orange juice. With the remains of his second glass of orange juice in his hand, he went to the bedroom and was astonished to see Kate putting his clothes into a suit case. "I'm I going somewhere," he asked?

"Yes we are," said Kate as she folded a dress into the suit case. "I think it would be nice not to be here after the luncheon today. So I have arranged for us to stay someplace else." Seeing the look on Karl's face she continued, "It's only for tonight and we will be back in plenty of time for Ted's funeral. Besides, I thing you will enjoy what I have planned for us."

"Any hints?"

"No, let me surprise you ok? …Karl," with a nod to toward the table, "Do you think you could write that up for me?" She watched the emotions play across his face, nothing, then joy, then pain. Why pain? When he walked toward her and held out his arms, she moved quickly into his embrace.

"Thank you," he whispered rich with the emotion Kate had touched, "but I don't think I can. That poem is about me, and I don't think I can write it out."

Arching her back, Kate reached up and framed Karl's face with her hands, "Karl I understand, but I lack the skill. Please try, use the love that you hold for me to drive you, for that is the love that I hold for you." When she saw hope replace the pain in his eyes she kissed him and led him to the bathroom for a shared shower.

After the shower Kate continued packing. She grimaced when she heard Karl crumble up page after page of the paper. Finally she saw him take the pens into the bathroom to be cleaned. Scurrying over the desk she saw both haiku's side by side. The words seem to flow of the page and speak directly to her.

Kate felt like she was in another magical moment. Please let these words remain true, she prayed. Help me be a good mother to our children, let me remain beautiful in my husband's eyes, for he will forever remain my handsome protector in mine, and let us be each other's passionate life companion. Kate went slightly weak when Karl pulled her into an embrace from behind. In a husky voice Kate whispered, "Thank you." Kate just closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment when Karl kissed her neck and hugged her tighter.

Chapter 12 The Who done it Brunch

Kate and Karl where pleasantly surprised that they were not the first ones to arrive. In fact the only ones whom they had beaten were the Detectives and Jim. The rest of the party was already in the living room chatting and enjoying cocktails. After the last three had arrived and had secured their drinks Karl ushered everyone into the dining room.

"Please find your seats, everyone. I'm glad that you all decided to come to this 'Who Done It' luncheon."

"Well you did promise an excellent lunch," said O'Riley.

"And before we get to the menu, I would like to get introductions out of the way. At the end of the table is Martha, the wife of the deceased and for a while the number one suspect. On her left is Detective Kevin O'Riley, one of the detectives working the case. Across from his is Jim Beacon, Martha's lawyer. While not a suspect in this case, he is a lawyer, so he is guilty of something. We needed someone to even out the guest list, so thanks for coming Jim."

When Jim saluted with his wine glass Karl continued. "To Jims left is Vincent Maldonado. Vincent wants a piece of Ted's company and killing Ted may just be a way to expedite the process."

"Good theory, wish I had thought of it," replied Vincent.

"Across from Vincent is Sally Davis. She is an account associate for an advertising company and Ted's current love interest. Perhaps she wanted to become more."

"Mr. Castleton," shouted Sally.

"On her left is Brad Frank. He's company is the number one competitor for Ted. If today's paper is correct, Mr. Frank is trying to profit by Ted's death. Who knows perhaps he killed Ted."

"I had nothing to do with Ted's death," said Brad.

"Across from Brad, is Aaron Cross. Aaron is a successful model and the former love interest of Ted. "

"I did not kill Ted," said Aaron timidly.

"Next to her is Javier Espinosa. He is another Detective working the case."

"On my right is my wife Kate and I am Karl Castleton. I will be your host and the master of ceremonies for this afternoon. Kevin you asked about the menu. Martha if you don't mind?"

"Martha if you would be so kind to go over the menu," suggested Karl.

"Certainly dear, we will start with a seafood appetizer. That will be followed with some Chicken Noddle Soup. The next course will be the Waldorf salad that Karl loves. You can select from three entrées, the Chicken Florentine, roast beef, or roast ham. There is an assortment of vegetables. For dessert you can have your choice of either Dutch apple pie with ice cream or Strawberry shortcake. There will be a cheese tray available after dessert for those who wish it."

"I hope you enjoy the wine pairings," said Kate. "The hotel does have a decent cellar and I believe the selections will be more than adequate. " With a nod from Karl the first course was served.

"As I said in the invitation," started Karl, "during the luncheon we will investigate each of your motives for killing Ted. Martha considering you was our number one suspect I would like to start with you."

"Certainly Karl," said Martha. "Let me guess, everyone things I did it because I found out he was having an affair." Kate saw Aaron flinch when Martha made the pronouncement. "The truth is that the magic has been out of our bedroom for a long time. Ted and I made an arrangement ten years ago that we each acquire lovers as long as we were discrete. Quite often he told me there names. I know he has been seeing Aaron for almost five years and has just started seeing Sally. So Detectives, the infidelity chip is not going to come into play here."

"Good story Martha," said Sally. "You wouldn't happen to have an ex-lover present to verify your story would you?"

After taking a sip of his sparkling water Karl said, "Why that would be me."

Kate immediately disengaged her hand from Karl's and rushed towards her face in shock.

Taking a deep breath Karl continued, "Kate this was before I had meet your father, and way before I even knew you existed. Since the day that your father first hired me to watch your back there has been no other woman in my life but you."

"Did Ted know about your involvement with his wife," asked Javier?

"I think so. He sponsored my membership to the Playhouse and paid my first three years membership fees. He told me that I probably needed a clean, private place to conduct business. "

"You expect us to believe you," asked Vincent?
Kate, hearing the truth in Karl's voice made a great show of capturing Karl's hand in hers and placing it on top of the table for all to see.

"Yes," said Kate. "Karl has not lied to me, even though there are times I wished he would … It was four months after the kidnap attempt. Karl and I had been dating. It was in the afternoon before a date I watched him come out of Zidders. That night while we were drinking our drinks prior to the start of the first act I asked him if he bought anything at Zidders. He said 'No they didn't have anything special enough.' I told him that the person must be very special if Zidders did not have what he needed. He said 'the person is very special to me and requires something extraordinary.' I asked him if I knew the person. He said 'Yes'. I offered to help him shop for the gift. After a moment he answered that he was looking for…"

"…an engagement ring for the most beautiful and wondrous woman in the world, you," completed Karl.

"I almost dropped my drink," said Kate with a smile dominating her face. "I don't remember the play all I could think about was how I liked the sound of Mrs. Katherine Victoria Castleton. Afterwards during the carriage ride in Central Park I literally begged him to ask me so I could say yes…..So Vincent you can believe Karl on this point."

When Kate turned to look at Karl she saw his smile and the pride and the love in his eyes. She returned his smile then blinked in shock. "My birthday," she whispered in a voice only Karl could hear? When she saw the Karl nod his head slightly she blinked her eyes and remembered.

It was the day before her birthday and she had pestered Karl to find out if he had bought her a birthday present. Finally he had broken down and said yes and he begged me not to guess what it was, but I ignored him and kept guessing. It didn't take long before I guessed correctly. The next day when we celebrated the present didn't matter, because I already knew what it was. I destroyed his joy of giving I portion of his love for me, thought Kate. For what? So that I could know beforehand? Giving Karl's hand a gentle squeeze, Kate vowed to herself never to do that again.

"Maybe we should add you to the suspect list," quipped Brad.

"The only reason that Karl would have to kill Ted," said Kate, "is if Ted threatened me."

Both Javier and Kevin looked at Kate and Karl and remembered the scene at the hotel a little over four years ago. They arrived to see Karl sitting in a chair covering him with his gun as Kate was wrapping towels around his wounds and cursing them for not being the ambulance people. Her screaming had forced the uniforms that had accompanied them to scurry off in search of ice. They remembered seeing the eight men Karl had shot dead on the floor and hoped Karl would not mistake them for an assassin.

Javier remembered asking Karl 'If he could put the gun away', and secretly thought Kate nuts when she walked into the line of fire and gently coaxed the gun from his hand. Two brave people and one extremely dangerous man, thought Javier. If Karl wanted Ted dead, he would have shot him between the eyes, double tapped him in the heart, blown his balls off, and then make him permanently disappear. One threatens Kate at their own peril thought Javier.

"I think that takes care of the jealous spouse motive. That leaves you with one more motive, money."

"Really Karl," said Martha?

"Detectives," said Karl. "It may interest you to know that Martha's liquid net worth is nearly seventy per cent of Teds. In fact if Martha does not receive another paycheck she will be able to maintain her lifestyle for the next thirty years. That does take into account any money those funds would earn. So of the two motives we can assign to Martha I don't think anyone of them can be taken seriously. "

"Thank you Karl," said Martha. "I do believe it is time for the soup."

Mid-way through the soup Karl looked at Vincent and said, "I think it is a gentlemen's turn to be 'grilled' so to speak, so Vincent do you mind?"

"Go ahead, so far this has been fun."

"Vincent actually has a couple of reasons for killing Ted and both of them are business related," started Karl. "Apparently Ted has been betting and losing heavily at the races, but from his accounts it looks like has paid off quite a bit."

"We did extend him a rather large revolving line of credit," admitted Vincent. "Currently the tab is less than ten thousand, so not much of a motive, we need our customers to be alive to pay us back, as well as to continue to borrow," said Vincent.

"True," said Karl. "The real issue is with the collection of the service you provided. We know that he has been talking with his banker about getting major financing for his company. If he did that then he could probably turn down your offer to buy a portion of his company, and that would upset your business plans and piss you off personally. Especially since a piece of the action is what you asked for and he agreed to prior to you acting in his behave."

"All true," said Vincent, "but we had worked all of that out. That is why we were meeting on Friday to finalize the details."

"That's true from your perspective but so far unproven, but what if you learned that he had finalized the deal with the banks and he was coming to tell you that your deal was off. It's a matter of face and maintaining respect you couldn't afford not to kill him. After all he would be an example of someone who got away with thumbing his nose at the 'Organization.' "

"Again all true," said Vincent, "and Kate this wine is excellent. Look at the manner in which Ted died. That is definitely not our style. Assuming of course we ever did anything like that."

"Of course," agreed Karl, "Like I said in the invitation, all I wanted to explore was motivations. If Ted was going to double cross you, that would force your hand," continued Karl.

"But he didn't so the point is unimportant," said Vincent.

"I suspect that, but I don't know for certain," said Karl with a nod to Vincent. "Anyway I think it's time for the salads."

Part way through the salads Karl said, "I do believe it's a lady's turn. Sally do you mind?"

"Go ahead, I have absolutely no reason to kill Ted," replied Sally Davis.

"Really," said Karl with more than a touch of disbelief. "Your motivations are two-fold. You need to bring in new accounts to your firm. You latched on to Ted because he promised you he could open doors for you to meet other important people. So far that has not happened you are desperate. You threatened Ted, it got out of hand."

As Karl was speaking Kate saw Sally's expression change, from confident to concerned to stricken to scared. How did he know?

"It wasn't like that," pleaded Sally. "He promised and I have yet to meet anyone," Sally confided, "but I didn't kill him."

After a moment of silence, Kevin said, "Karl you said Sally had two motivations, what was the other?"

"Sally is living beyond here means, she needs cash. She knows that Ted is a sugar daddy and takes care of his 'girls'. This month he was a little short and late. Something to do with the fillies I believe."

"I still didn't kill him," said Sally in a small voice.

An uncomfortable silence settled in as everyone finished their salads. "It's time to select your entrée," said Martha to everyone one's relief.

As the entrées were being prepared Detective O'Riley got a phone call. When he got back he announced, "The lab results on the other case came back and they were positive. " Kate saw Javier's eyes flick to Aaron with a look of triumph and Karl's face take on a look of sadness.

After the entrees had been delivered, "I guess it's my turn now," said Brad, "Karl I'm going to keep enjoying my roast beef why you tell me why I wanted to kill Ted."

Midway through his Chicken Florentine Karl said, "Brad, like Vincent, the reason you had to kill ted was entirely business. Let's face it you borrowed and invested heavily in anticipation of getting the contract. When Ted's firm got the contract you have no place to go. The notes are coming due and you don't have the cash to pay them. You are going to have to sell off quite a bit of your company just to make ends meet."

"I should have won the contract," exploded Brad. "I have the newest facility, the largest production capability, and my unit bid price was the lowest. There was no way I should have lost the contract. …Anyway I didn't kill Ted."

"Really," continued Karl, "I think you discovered that if Ted was dead you could get back in the game. After the customer wants the material quickly and with Ted dead it will take a while to get the ownership and production issues straightened."

"You think I had Ted killed. I don't even know how much that costs," raged Brad.

"It is surprisingly affordable. It is at least compared to the cost of putting together a new bid, which is what the paper this morning said you are doing."

Brad looked furious, "How did…" After calming down he continued, "I am just taking advantage of an opportunity. "

"Vincent, hypothetically, how much would a hit on Ted cost," asked Karl.

"Karl," said Vincent in an almost sincere shocked voice, "I am deeply offended that you would even think that I would about such things. Surely this outrage…"

After several seconds of listening to Vincent's tirade Martha began to clap, "Not a bad performance Vincent, "said Martha, "but your body language is giving you away. I could teach to be more convincing."

"You mean like acting lessons?"

"Yes"

With a smile Vincent continued, "Hypothetically speaking, someone could get Ted knocked off for somewhere between two hundred dollars and twenty five thousand. At the low end, just a pop and drop as he is getting into a taxi, or coming out of the store. For several thousand, you could probably arrange to have him killed in the location of your choice. For twenty-five thousand, Ted would be a missing person, a permanent missing person, hypothetically speaking of course."

"Of course," said Karl. "A couple of thousand is chump change when you are looking for a million dollar pay day."

"I still didn't kill him," insisted Brad.

After a few more minutes Martha said, "I think it's time for dessert."

After Karl had finished his strawberry shortcake, and taken a sip of his coffee he asked," Why did you do it Aaron? I know you were here that night."

"How," asked Aaron?

"Your perfume, it's distinctive. It almost reminds me of Kate. I smelled it when I entered the library."

"Miss Cross," said O'Riley," We found a damaged pair of gloves and a bloody pair of shoes in your apartment. The gloves will match the threads we found on the murder weapon. The blood will match Ted's and the shape will match the subtle outline we saw in the blood splatter."

"I know you loved him," said Karl in a soft voice, "what happened?"

"Of course I loved him," asserted Aaron, "How could I not love him? I've been with him for five years. We've had a great time. I knew that he wouldn't divorce Martha. He promised to take care of me. He told me that he loved me and I believed him. I never thought he would throw me away like that. … That night I came up the fire escape and through the open window. I've been doing that for several years. I must admit it added excitement to our meetings. I used my key to get in. When we talked in the library I begged him to take me back. …I was so desperate that I pulled the gun and threatened to kill myself. Ted tried to stop me. We struggled and the gun went off. The first shot didn't kill him and we kept struggling. Finally Ted went down. …What am I going to do?"

The entire gathering was silent as they listened to Aaron's sobs. "Jim, Can you help her," asked Martha?

"I might be able to get her charge reduced to Manslaughter."

"Do the best you can," said Martha.

"What happens now," asked Aaron between sobs?

"Take your time Miss," said Javier. "We will take you down to the station house when you are ready."

After the luncheon guests had departed, the catering staff had cleaned up and left and Martha had retreated to her bed room for her pre-performance nap, Karl was sitting on the couch and waiting for Kate to finish her phone call home. Kate noticed that Karl looked sad and depressed. Kate reached over the couch and hugged Karl. "A penny for your thoughts," she said.

"I hate it when a love story ends badly," replied Karl. "That was a short phone call."

"They are fine," laughed Kate. "Our son said, 'I'm playing trains with grandpa, bye' and my Dad said 'Katie we're fine. We're playing trains so I will see you when you get back."

"Really," laughed Karl.

"I didn't even get a chance to tell them about the luncheon. Luckily they put Caroline back on when they left to play trains," laughed Kate. "She says they are fine. Dad took Alex riding with him yesterday to look at the grapes."

When she felt Karl stiffen, she continued, "Relax, Dad taught me to ride, and I'm sure he's not going to let anything happen to Alex." Kate kissed Karl's cheek; she knew that riding was a sore point with Karl. Despite Kate's best efforts, she still could not convince him to join her on a ride. Now with Alex riding she may have some leverage.

Chapter 13 at Coney Island

When the cabbie got out of the cab and headed toward Karl to relieve him of the suitcase, both Karl's and Kate's face broke out in a big smile. "Mario," chuckled Karl, "this proves you are stalking us."

After stowing the suitcase in the trunk and seeing that his passengers were seated, "and where am I taking my favorite couple today," asked Mario.

"'The Cove' in Coney Island," said Kate.

"The boardwalk after dark is beautiful," replied Mario.

"I know", said Kate, "But tonight we are going to the' Pavilion Under the Stars'. They have a good dance band and Thelonious Monk is playing." Seeing Karl turn his head to look at her, Kate continued. "I got tickets for both the dinner and evening shows. We won't have to leave our table except to dance. "

"Have I told you I love you," asked Karl?

"Maybe, but I never get tired of you telling me, "said Kate as she pulled Karl's face down for a Kiss. For the rest of the trip they listened to Mario talked to them about the virtues of dancing.

The evening's entertainment was a dream come true for Karl. First he would listen to a short set of music performed by Thelonious Monk, and then he and Kate would dance, then more Monk then dancing, and then a long Monk set followed by dancing till dawn. Like last night the Castleton's were a joy to watch dance. They just seemed right together and their uninhibited and genuine laughter and smiles seemed contagious. All of the folks present thought this night was a magic night and for many of them it was the high point of the summer.

Chapter 14 Now Back to the Real World - Saturday Morning at the Loft.

It has been a great evening, thought Kate Castleton as she pulled her husband's head down into a kiss. We proved our friend was innocent and caught the bad guy. The music and dancing had been fantastic again. The kiss, full of love, passion and promise promised an even better end to the evening…What is that obnoxious noise.

Kate's consciousness recognized the sound of her alarm clock. A moment later she realized that she had fallen asleep on the couch with her husband. She could feel Castle's steady presence behind her, his arm, draped protectively across her made her feel warm, secure and loved; she just wanted to stay and snuggle like this for five more minutes. As she continued toward full consciousness that fact that the TV was off and she was covered with a quilt finally registered. Martha, I wonder what she thought this time. What a great dream she thought.

As Karl Castleton pulled his beautiful and extraordinary wife into a passionate kiss, he reflected on how lucky he was. The luncheon had revealed the murderer and now he and Kate could spend the rest of their vacation together. The last two nights of music and dancing had been special and now just as he was about to scoop Kate up and carry her into the bed room he heard an obnoxious noise….Drifting into consciousness, it must be Kate's alarm clock, Rick reasoned. We must have fallen asleep on the couch. Why is it I wake up before the good stuff happens, complained Castle to himself? What a great dream, he thought. Still waking up with a beautiful woman in your arms is a great way to start the day. Cherries, why does Kate always smell like cherries even in the morning? Freeing his hand Castle gently moved Kate's hair aside so that he could kiss her neck. As he was about to kiss her ear, Kate rolled over and pulled him into a kiss.

With a sigh, "I guess I need to turn that off and get ready for work. We do have a case to solve," said Kate. As Kate was leading them into the shower she heard Castle say, "I had the strangest dream."

"Me too," said Kate. "And it ended like this," as she turned and pulled Castle into a passionate kiss. "Now come on we do have a murderer to catch."

Saturday at the 12th

It was early Saturday morning and Kate and her team where standing in front of the murder board as Castle started an impromptu case review. With a glance over her shoulder she saw Captain Gates take up her normal position, one row behind her team leaning on a desk. Kate appreciated the fact that the Captain hardly ever asked for status updates because she took the time to stay involved. Kate smiled to herself when she remembered that on more than one occasion the Captain appreciated Castle's challenge everything briefing style.

"What we know," began Castle," is that Cathy Brown was killed in Suite 312 of McCormick Place, and that the suite is owned by Mr. Tim and Mrs. Lynda Collins. We also know that they have reported that several priceless family heirlooms have been stolen. "

"What we suspect is that Cathy came in to clean the Suite, surprised the robber, and was killed," added Kate. "What we have seen of her background does not lead us to suspect that she was a murder target. We also suspect that she knew her attacker."

"Which means it was a resident or member of the staff," said Captain Gates.

"What we know," continued Castle "is that McCormick Place has a very state-of-the art security system. They have implemented tracking of their employees in the building by using a badgeing system that is a combination of RFID tracking and swipe and pin access. They also maintain tight control of the swipe cards and exchange them on a quarterly basis. The combination of RFID tag and access code makes this card almost impossible to replicate without the proper equipment and knowledge."

"We have talked to the manufacturers and they are pretty sure there are no blank keys wandering about. We suspect this is an inside job," added Esposito. "The video for the day shows that only residents and employees entered and left the facility. Which means that the murderer is either a resident, a member of the staff, or someone else who used the fire escape and used the bypassed window on the third floor landing."

"Staying with the keys," said Castle, "We know that one of the residents lost a key and she attended a yoga class with Mrs. Collins, and the next day Mrs. Collins asked to have a key reprogrammed."

"Creating the key that could be used to enter the Suite," said Captain Gates.

"Correct," said Kate.

"Mrs. Collins financials are very interesting," added Ryan. "They show here making several payments to a jeweler as well as accumulating some cash. We have checked to Serna and she thinks that is enough to create a duplicate set of pieces. What is also interesting is that both of them have Playhouse memberships and Mr. Collins' membership has shown extensive use latterly."

"What's the Playhouse," asked the Captain.

"I think I heard it described as 'a bring your own brothel'," said Kate.

Shaking her head, "Do we know anything about their relationship," asked the Captain?

"I couldn't really tell, but they have a pretty binding prenuptial agreement," said Castle.

"And Castle thinks she is a trophy wife," said Kate with a hint of a smile.

"Theories," asked Captain Gates.

"Pure speculation mind you," started Castle, "but I think Mrs. Collins suspects her husband of having an affair. The Playhouse charges would support that line of reasoning. Since she can't get definitive proof she is…"

"…trying to steal is pride and is past by stealing the heirlooms," said Kate. "Remember how on the first interview the only thing he seemed to care about was the jewelry. This way if she divorces him she can get a portion of the insurance settlement money and keep the jewelry as well. "

"Yes," nodded Ryan, "if Castle hadn't intervened I thought you were going to slug him."

Kate shrugged and said with a hint of a smile, "sometimes he is not useless."

"I think Mrs. Collins obtained a Playhouse membership in an attempt to catch her husband in the act. When she couldn't catch him, she put this plan in place to steal the jewelry, but the death has forced a change in plans. We think she stole a key from one of her neighbors and had it reprogrammed. We don't know who she gave the key to."

"That seems to be a key piece that you are missing," said the Captain.

Nodding her agreement Kate said "Yes, Serna has a tip that someone will attempt to fence the heirlooms today. What is interesting is that Serna said that the caller described the pieces on the day before they were stolen. We know where the robber plans to sell the merchandise and we plan to be there when he does."

"Ok people right around lunch I want o go do a scout of the meeting place. I'm hoping we can hid in the holiday shopping crowds, and at four-thirty we are going over our plan with Serna. Until then we continue to dig into the staff and the Collins's."

Chapter 15 The Stakeout

The reconnaissance of the Diamond Boutique was a mixed bag but invaluable. The Diamond Boutique was located a quarter-way down a promenade that had once been a narrow street but had been converted to a promenade that only allowed foot traffic, so surveillance from parked vehicles was out. The covering teams would have to pretend to be shoppers and maintain vigilance from the other stores or the park benches that had been strategically placed. The chill November air made lingering on the park benches problematical. The good news was that the Diamond Boutique had only one entrance and exit to cover. The pedestrian nature of the location also meet that the team had to flow into their positions at different times. The team decided that when Serna and Castle first entered the store Javier would be watching from the store directory map that was installed just inside the throat of the promenade. Once they had entered Javier would move into the store directly across from the Diamond Boutique. That would be Kate and Ryan's cue to approach the store directory, delay then move to a store opposite. They figured that by walking slow and lingering they would only need to visit two stores before ending up on the park bench about twenty feet away from the store front. Esposito would end up in the other park bench facing the wrong direction, but would be able to use the storefront glass as a mirror to see what was going on.

When Serna showed up for the pre-stake out briefing the first thing that Kate noticed was that Serna was wearing an engagement ring and a wedding band. "I'm playing a part," she said. "I'm pretty sure that the only way that ring is coming off of Castle's finger is when he's dead. Anyway, I thought if I asked him to take it off then I'd be dead so here I am in disguise." When Serna heard the coverage plan she agreed that it should be adequate to catch this thief.

Ryan felt Kate grip his arm, turning his head he saw her lips pressed together in displeasure. Following her gaze he saw Castle and Serna enter the promenade and the taxi speed off. She doesn't like this, thought Ryan, and seeing Castle's face at the 12th, he doesn't either. I hope they don't fight about it, especially with me in the middle. I'm pretty sure Castle wants to stomp me into little pieces just for being with Kate, and I have to prevent Kate from killing Serna.

When Castle entered the Diamond Boutique he had a strong sense of déjà vu. For a moment he thought he was back in the 1950's. He blinked felt Serna on his arm, saw her nod to the man in the back, and saw him shake his head no. Castle felt lousy. Kate was the only woman he wanted on his arm, well maybe Alexis, but certainly not anyone else. When they were finished with this, he and Kate needed to have a talk about what he was willing to do as her partner. While they were waiting Castle maneuvered Serna around the display cases. At least while he was here he could look for something for Kate for Christmas.

Kate looked at her watch, it was three minutes passed closing time and no one remotely suspicious had entered the store. When the door opened Kate had a strange vision. She saw another man dressed circa 1950 walkout of the store and for some reason that made her smile. Then she blinked and saw Castle and Serna. She saw Castle shake his head no, watched his eyes look at Kevin and his expression grow hard and then he looked away embarrassed. If it wasn't for Kevin's presence and pressure on her arm she might have done something stupid. She covertly watched them walk up the promenade toward the street. When she saw Castle place Serna in the cab alone she sighed. "It looks like the tip didn't pan out, so let's call it a night," she told Ryan. "Tomorrow we will try to figure out who Mrs. Collins gave the card to." I've got a husband I desperately to hug, thought Kate as she rose and hurried off after Castle.

"Javier," said Ryan as they walked toward their cruiser, "one thing that I learned today is never ever use a loved one in an operation. The anxiety is a killer."

"Kate brake your am?"

"Almost, I'm going to have bruises that will last forever."

"I don't get it. I don't understand why they were so upset. It was only a mission."

"I guess they just think differently than us," said Ryan. They are in love, thought Kevin, and you don't risk your loved ones for something like this. Kate has risked Castle twice now with Serna, let's hope she has learned her lesson and doesn't do it again.

Kate rounded the corner and saw Castle two stores down looking into the window. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his raincoat. He was hunched forward. He looked miserable. She hurried to his side. Looking at his reflection in the store front Kate asked, "Was it as bad for you as it was for me?"

"You think someone would report me if a hugged a lady cop?"

"I'm off of the clock," said Kate as she flowed easily into his embrace. Hugs, Kate decided are a very important element in non-verbal communication and this hug said a lot. It spoke of shared love, of resentment of recent events, of mistakes past, and a promise for the future. "I don't how the spouses of actors and actresses stand it," said Kate. "I wanted to slug Serna and she was only on your arm. You didn't kiss her did you," said Kate with a touch of alarm in her voice?

"Kate, What, No! I remember which one of us wears a gun," said Castle with a touch of a smile.

"I'd use it too," said Kate with an answering smile. "Hungry?"

"Later," she sighed as Castle kissed her neck. "Let's try the 'Painters Pagoda'. The food is good and it's quiet and restful. We can forget about this and just be Mr. and Mrs. Castle."

On their way to dinner Castle kept humming a song. Exasperated Kate asked, "What is it?"

"Oh I heard it last week and it reminded me of us. The title and tag line is definitely about you, but the rest of the song could have been about me before I asked you to marry me. Harry Connick did it and it's called 'One Fine Thing'" Kate had never heard Castle sing before and she had to admit he brought feeling to the song. Kate felt herself blushing when she heard Castle sing the tag line, 'Your one fine fine thing.' The Castle's only had a five-minute wait for their table. Once seated, the green of the plants surrounding them soothed them, the voice of the water wheel calmed them, and the smell of the food awakened their appetites. "Kate if possible…

"..I will try to find another way."

"I'm not here for the stories anymore."

"I figured that out awhile ago," said Kate with a smile. "And you are not here only for me."

"Kate!"

"Hush! You are for me and to help the people. I know this. I can accept this and I love you for it. I have no doubt that you love me. But today…Today I took your love for granted and put you in a compromising situation." Reaching out and grabbing his hand Kate continued,"I will not do that again. I want you by my side, not on the arm of another."

"Good," said Castle gently squeezing Kate's hand, by your side forever is where I want to be, thought Castle.

After dinner Kate took a sip of her tea cracked open her fortune cookie and smiled as she handed it to Castle, "Half of this is true already." It read 'You will enjoy good health, and you will be surrounded by love.' Castle smiled and handed her his, 'You need not worry about your future.'

With a sigh Kate said, "I think I need to go back on the clock."

"Why?"

"The Playhouse, too many unanswered questions."

Chapter 16 – The Playhouse

As they got off of the elevator on the 17th floor, Kate saw the head of the receptionist look in their direction. When she stood up Kate remarked, my God she is tall. The receptionist was almost six feet tall with mid back length auburn hair. She had a healthy tan and her green eyes seemed t watch their every move. She maybe a little light in the chest, thought Kate, but she doubted that any man had ever considered kicking her out of bed.

"Good evening Mr. Castle," said Susan. "It has been a while," with a glance at Kate she continued, "Do you need a room?"

"No Susan we don't. This is Detective Beckett we are here investigating a murder and we need to ask you some questions."

"You know I can't compromise the clientele, Sir?"

"Yes, but I think the questions we will ask you can answer."

"Susan" began Kate, "We know from Mr. Tim Collins financial records that he comes down here a lot. Does he come down here with the same woman or different women?"

"Mostly with one woman, but he has brought others. The only name that is logged is that of the member."

"Is she one of these two," asked Kate showing her pictures of Mrs. Collins and Miss Martin."

"Her," said Susan pointing to the picture of Miss Martin. "This woman has also been here, but with another man. "

"That's Mrs. Collins and we know she purchased a membership about three months ago. Has she become a regular," asked Castle?

"Three times a week, and Detective I think I saw his picture in your portfolio."

Kate opened her portfolio and as she was placing the pictures of the McCormick Place staff on the counter Susan said, "Him."

"Tom Whalen the Yoga instructor," said Castle.

"I hear they can get into amazing positions," said Susan with a touch of humor in her voice,

"Now we have a connection and a motive," said Kate. "Thank you Susan."

"Just out of curiosity, have Mr. and Mrs. Collins ever been here on the same day," asked Castle.

"Let me check, Yes several times. Last Wednesday they missed each other by ten minutes."

"That would have been awkward," laughed Castle. "Thanks Susan you have been a great help."

As Castle was turning to go Kate caught his arm, caught his eye and said, "Susan we will need a room."

"Kate," said a shocked Castle? When he looked into her eyes he saw a challenge, playfulness, laughter, and love. He got lost in her eyes the first day they had met her and had never been able to find his way back out.

"Susan, we will need a room."

Kate turned on the light switch as she entered number seventeen. I've been here before, she thought, with my husband, and the sex was fantastic. Opening the closet door she took off and hung up her coat.

"Kate I …"

"Shush," said Kate placing a finger to his lips to be replaced immediately by her lips as she pulled him into a kiss. When they broke the kiss Kate said "Not a word." Castle was surprised when Kate went around behind her and took off his raincoat and jacket. Castle was astonished when Kate led him into the room, had him stand for a moment as she turned down the bed and finally sat him down on the bed.

Castle watched as Kate took a couple of steps back and slowly removed her sweater. After Kate had taken off her bra Castle started to undo the buttons of his shirt only to have Kate smack his hand and say, "I'll do that." Mesmerized Castle watched Kate slowly and seductively finish undressing. Maintaining eye contact Kate next moved to undress Castle. First she removed his shoes and socks, then she started on his shirt, slowly and teasingly she loosened button after button. After the shirt Kate removed Castle pants. With Castle completely nude as well Kate slowly and gently began to gentle caress and kiss Castle in all of his special places. She was pleased and terrified with the tension she felt building up in her and Castle.

When she paused for a second Castle reached out and grabbed Kate and pulled her to him. In an eye blink their lovemaking had gone from slow and gentle to frantically passionate, and Kate couldn't have been happier.

Afterwards, still intertwined with Kate Castle starts to chuckle, "Well Kate you have ruined this place for me. How can I ever expect to bring a mistress here and top that?" He punctuated the moment by hugging Kate a little tighter and kissing the top of head.

"In case you have forgotten mister," said Kate with a mock serious tone, but with laughter in her eyes, "I am the only mistress you are allowed to have. I am your wife, your lover, your friend, your nurse, your mistress and hopefully the mother of your children."

"Kate are you…" said Castle in a very serious tone?

"No, and we have been trying either. All we have been doing is practicing. Who knows in another couple of hundred.. ouch you…," she complained as Castle grabbed her ass and pulled her on top and sought her lips for a kiss.

"You do have a way with words," Castle teased.

"You know it's customary for gentlemen to give his mistress a present for the pleasure of her company," purred Kate.

"If I gave you a pretty bauble each time we had great sex I'd be broke."

"But I'd be rich," laughed Kate. "I'm going to take that as a complement. Speaking of baubles, did you see anything in the jewelry store? "

When Castle said, "They didn't have anything special enough for you Kate." Kate thought she had heard those words before and it was the start of a very special time in her life. When Castle rolled her over on her side she knew that another special time was about to happen, round two had begun.

Later that night, Castle's gentle snore woke Kate up. She propped her head up with her hand, gently traced Castles jaw and softly said, "Do you know what day to day is Castle?

Of course not, how could you. It is the anniversary of the first day I met you. Of course you don't remember. I was one of many for you, but you were the only one for me.

It was another cold wet Saturday after Thanksgiving. I stood in line for hours for an autograph at one of your book signing. Do you remember the book? It was the first one with Sophia as your muse you know when you introduced Clara Stark.

Before then I only read your books. I got lost in your words and the deeds that our heroes performed and their triumph over great odds. It was like you writing to me for me. I had to meet you. You gave me courage. You saved me.

I was adrift. Mom had died; Dad had retreated into a bottle and I was alone, so very much alone. Then there you were. When I read your stories I was able to lose myself for a little while. They anchored me and helped me cope with my loss. You helped me find myself. You helped me cope enough to help my Dad. You helped me cope enough to get through college, return to NYC and hunt for my Mom's killer. You know, you helped me find you. It's like we were meant to be together.

When I read your books I thought you were a god, and I had to meet you. When I finally meet you I wanted to tell you how much you had helped me, but all I could say was "Kate." And when I saw you, you were just a man. I had expected more but what I found was a vain, egotistical man. I was disappointed but then I read the first chapter and still you captured me. You helped me survive and grow strong. You helped me find my inner strength and for that I am externally in your debt.

And now I get to help you. When you came out of your den after writing sometimes you look lost and depressed and you sit all the way at the end of the couch. I move and made you hold me. Slowly you return to me. With a touch your face lights up. After a while a touch turns into a caress, next a kiss, and finally to making love.

Over the years I have gotten to know the man you truly are. Vain, sometimes. Egotistical sometimes, but you are a whole lot more. And even now you still help me. You make my job easier. Your companionship strengths me, and I know I am never alone. Even when your chair was empty, it wasn't because you are always with me. When we need you, you are and inspire us, and yes we catch the bad guys.

There is no need for you to know how special this day is to me. I can keep this secret safe. I will always make this day special for us.

Sleep well my love. Tomorrow will be another special day I promise. "

Chapter 17 Sunday in the Real World

Kate and Castle spent the night at the Playhouse and were surprised to see Martha up this early when they returned to the Loft.

"When one person returns home at this hour after being out all night it's normally called the walk of shame," said Martha with a grin.

"But when a married couple do it, it's a wake of fame," countered Kate. "I could use another shower. Coming Castle?"

"Let me start a pot of fresh coffee then I will join you," said Castle.

"So where did you spend the evening Richard," asked Martha.

"At the Playhouse Mother."

"Richard!"

With a smile on his face Castle joined his wife in the shower.

Sunday at the 12th

Kate had just finished updating the murder board with Tom Whalen's information when she got a call from Serena. She said had a pleasant surprise for the Team and would be by in an hour or so and she was bring one of her friends in the jewelry recovery business. With Esposito and Ryan present, and Captain Gates, as usual monitoring the discussion, Kate updated the team on the theory of the crime with Tom Whalen as the love interest for Mrs. Collins, and the theory that the pair was going to use the proceeds from the robbery to set them up after Mrs. Collins eventual divorce.

"Ok until Serena gets here let's see what we can find out about Tom Whalen. I'm going to try to get a warrant to search his place for the jewelry and an article of torn blue clothing. Sir is there someone from Robbery that should be here when Serna shows up with her friend?"

"Detective Duncan, I'll make the call Detective," said Captain Gates.

The Team met Serna and her guest, Mr. James, the fence, in the small conference room. Mr. James said "I was contacted last night and had the opportunity appraise certain items that looked a lot like the jewelry the Department had placed on the 'Hot Sheet', except that they were fakes. Good costume jewelry but still fakes. Serna had contacted me about the items so I gave her a call and she convinced to come down here."

"As opposed to doing your civil duty," grumbled Detective Duncan.

"Look Detective, Serna said that there was blood on these items and the Detectives working the case were sharp and come after me hard when they found out. I do not want that type of attention, so here I am."

"How did the guy react when you told him they were fakes," asked Esposito?

"He was surprised, upset, angry and scared."

"Can you describe him," asked Kate?

"Around six-one, two-hundred ten pounds, very solidly put together. He moved like an athlete. He had light brown hair, cut short and brown eyes, and very nervous."

"Hey that sounds like…"

"Espo," said Kate, "could you and Kevin create a couple of six-packs containing a picture of the name we just added to the board?"

"On it," they coursed.

"Wait, you already know who it is," asked Serna?

"We find out shortly," confirmed Kate.

When Mr. James identified Tom Whalen from the photo array Kate nodded and said, "Thanks for coming in Mr. James. You have been most helpful. This helps confirm our suspicions. Castle could you show them out."

"Detective," pleaded Serna.

"Serna thanks for bring Mr. James in. When we find anything definite about the heirlooms we will call you. I think you can trust me on that…. Mr. James…. Castle please."

"This way guys," said Castle.

As they approached the elevator Serna asked, "What's next?"

"I think we are going to pay Mr. Whalen a visit. I do not if it's going to be a formal visit, that is getting a Warrant to search his place or we drop by to chat, but I definitely think we will be paying him a visit. Serna if we find them we will be giving you a call."

"You know it's nice having the NYPD do the gopher work for you," teased Serna.

"I would not let Kate hear that," laughed Castle. "She can be a handful if you get on her wrong side."

While Castle was walking out their guests Kate made a call, "This is Detective Kate Beckett badge number 41319 writing ADA please. Yes I need a warrant to search the residence of a Mr. Tom Whalen for items taken in a robbery homicide and torn clothing that he wore when he committed the crime….Ok. You can fax to us here and to my phone."

When Castle returned from escort duty, the Team was bring Captain Gates up to speed and discussing the implications of the fake items. "….Mrs. Collins is the only one who had jewelry charges on her financials," said Ryan.

"Serna said they just got a new appraisal four months ago and she did not mention they had a fake set made," said Esposito. "The existence of a fake set normally results in a lower insurance premium."

"If the fake jewelry was in the safe, then where is the real stuff," asked Castle. "Mr. Collins didn't seem like the type to take them out of his house and put them in a safe deposit box."

"No he doesn't," said Kate. "And I don't think Mrs. Collins would stuff them in her purse and walk out either. If her husband found out he would go ballistic."

"That means that they are still in the Suite, perhaps in another safe," said Castle.

When Kate heard Castle say 'another safe' she looked at him and saw that he went vacant for a moment. Me too, she thought. In the dream there was another safe in the master bedroom. The more she thought about it the more she was convinced that is where they would find the items, but first they would need a reason to look. For that they would need Tom Whalen. Where is the Warrant?

"Do you think there is another safe," asked Captain Gates?

"Don't know Sir, but I think we need to find out."

After a half-hour Kate made another call, "This is Detective Kate Beckett writing ADA please…

"Sorry Detective we are having a difficult time tracking down a Judge. The primary and the alternate went to the Jets game. Judge Freemen was in church with his daughter-in-law. She went into labor and he went with her to the hospital. Judge Herman is in traffic and won't discuss it until he stops. My associate is talking to Judge Laidlaw now...Detective you are good to go. I've faxed it and sent it to your phone."

"Ok guys," said Kate, "the warrant is here let's go talk to this guy."

On the way over to Tim Whalen's apartment Castle said, "Kate you know yesterday I told you I had a weird dream, some of it took place in this apartment. That's how I knew about the fire escape. I know there is another safe, but I know there is something important about it and I can't remember. When I try to concentrate it floats away."

"Then don't try," said Kate. "It will come to you."

Kate took a deep break, managed a side glance at Castle and said, "My dream was similar, that's why I think there is another safe…. Castle I remember that we were married, happy, very much still in love, and had a son."

"Yeah, I remember that too. His name was Alex. I also remember we had a wonderful night together and just as things in the dream were starting to get interesting we woke up."

"Feeling frustrated are we Castle," teased Kate.

There was no drama at the Whalen apartment. He didn't say a word when they presented the Warrant. They found the fake heirlooms in a satchel on the kitchen counter. It only took Kevin ten minutes to find a pair of blood stained ripped exercise pants. We confronted he immediately lawyered up.

Back at the 12th Kate, Castle, Esposito, Ryan and Captain Gates were looking at Tom Whalen through the one way mirror. "Since he lawyered up we can't question him," complained Kate.

"Let's do what we did in the past," suggested Castle, "We go in and do a record review. We don't ask any questions. We read his reactions and perhaps we can press a button to cause him to blurt out something we can use."

"It's worth a shot. Let's go."

"Good afternoon Tom, I'm Detective Kate Beckett and this is Mr. Castle."

"I don't have to say anything to you. I don't have to answer your questions," said Tom.

"We aren't going to ask you any questions Tom. We are just going to review the facts so you understand where you stand," said Kate. "When CSU comes back with the test results matching your pants to the fibers that Cathy had in her hand, and the DNA of the blood on your pants matches Cathy, then we will charge you with murder and the time for negotiation will be gone."

"The jewelry provides a great motive, too bad the items are fakes but you didn't know that," added Castle. "Sharon down at the Playhouse says you and Mrs. Collins are regulars." At the mention of Mrs. Collins and the Playhouse everyone noticed Tom's head snap up and his eyes focus on Castle.

"Security at McCormick Place is first rate," added Kate. "So we know it had to be an inside job."

"What did she promise you," whispered Castle. "I bet she told that you she loved you, that she was going to leave her husband, and the jewelry was going to be your set for life money."

"I know that…"

"…you need to remain silent. I am Mr. Oberlin. I have been hired to represent you. Detectives please leave us. I need to speak with my client."

"Rats," breathed Kate, "another minute and we would have them."

"Take a run at her anyway," said the Captain. "You have enough for a Warrant. With Mr. James' revelation that the stolen items were fake you have a very good reason to suspect that the originals are still in Suite. A search is not unreasonable. "

At Suite 312

Warrant in hand, the Team head toward Suite 312 in McCormick place. "Castle you look worried," said Kate.

"It's something about the other safe. It bothers me and I don't know why."

"That's Ok," said Kate with a smile trying to reassure Castle. She did not want to admit that it was bothering her too.

When they presented the Warrant, Mr. Collins was furious and insulting. But when Kate told him that he had two choices, either he open the safe or Kate would get an expert from the Department to come down and open it for her. It didn't matter to her one way or another but the safe will be opened and searched.

"There," exclaimed Mr. Collins, "See, I told you that the jewelry wasn't here. You are just using this as an excuse to hide your own incompetence."

"Ok," said Kate, "We need you to open the other safe."

"What other safe," shouted Mr. Collins?

"The one in the master bedroom," replied Castle.

"There is no safe in there," said Mrs. Collins.

"Let's go look," said Kate.

Kate led the way up the stairs and into the master bedroom. When she opened the door she had a strong sense of having been here before. On the wall where she had been expecting a painting was a large cold air return duct. Moving quickly to the panel she undid the quick turn fasteners and pulled the panel off of the wall, revealing a very modern safe with a combination biometric digital lock on a slide out tray.

"Lynda I do believe this one is yours. Please open it for us?"

"Lynda?" said Tim.

"Be quite Tim," said Lynda. "Detective, how did you find out about the safe?"

With a quick glance at Castle, "That doesn't matter right now. What matters is that you open the safe."

As Lynda punched in the last number and spun the locking wheel Castle started to move toward Kate. He saw Lynda reach in grab something and then spin toward Kate. Gun thought Castle.

Chapter 18 A painful way to close a Case

Time seemed to slow down for Kate as she watched Lynda open the safe. She was aware of Castle's approach and was surprised when Lynda grabbed a gun and turned to fire yelling, "Die Bitch." She saw Castle step in front of her, heard the gun fire three times, felt Castle start to fall then her combat training kicked in. Stepping up Kate grabbed the gun hand and smacked it into the door of the safe, seeing the gun go flying and hearing a satisfying crunch, Kate backhanded Lynda in the jaw. Catching her balance and shifting closer, she kneed Lynda in the gut. When her head bent forward Kate grabbed a handful of hair and forced Lynda safely to the floor.

As Kate was handcuffing Lynda she heard herself scream 'call 911'. It took a while for it to register that Kevin had called it in and the ETA of the ambulance was twelve minutes. "Kevin, take Mrs. Collins out in the other room and read her her rights." Before I lose myself and keep pounding your face into the floor, thought Kate. "Be careful she may have broken her wrist. Mr. Collins please accompany Detective Ryan."

Moving toward Castle, "Espo call security and tell them that there is an ambulance coming and to get the doors and secure an elevator for their use, and get our door open."

"Castle," whispered Kate. "Castle," repeated Kate as she gently rolled Castle over.

"I screwed up Kate. I forgot about the gun," said Castle.

"Hush, don't talk." Kate saw that the abdomen was a bloody mess; she stripped the pillow case off of the pillow and used it as a compress to stop the blood flow.

"I love you Kate."

Looking into his eyes Kate saw the pain, the fear and still the love. "Then live for me Castle. We can get through this. I know we can, but you have to promise that you are going to live for me. I love you Rick," whispered Kate into Castle's ear.

"Detective let us have him, Detective!"

Stunned Kate sat back out of the way. A minute later she had recovered enough to be Detective Beckett again. Getting up Kate went and looked in the safe. In it were all of the reportedly stolen heirlooms. Serna will be happy thought Kate. She watched as the EMT's strapped Rick on the board and lifted the board onto the gurney. She was following them out and stopped when she saw Captain Gates. "Keeping going Detective we got this. Go, Go!"

CSU arrived soon after Captain Gates. After uniformed officers had taken Mrs. Collins into custody and Mr. Collins down to the precinct for questioning, Captain Gates turned to Esposito and Ryan, "Ok what happened?"

"There is a second safe Sir. Right where Kate thought it was. I don't know how she knew, but she went right too it. Took down the false panel and asked Lynda to open it," said Esposito.

"She opened it reached in grabbed a gun and turned and fired," said Ryan. "Castle saved her life Captain. He stepped in front and took three shots."

"He may have saved all of us Bro," said Esposito.

"Why weren't you guys in vests?"

"This didn't feel like a tactical situation," said Ryan. "Look these guys are rich and didn't strike us as the violent types."

"We did a gun search after the first incident here Sir. Neither one of them has a gun registered in their name, so we were not expecting to see a gun," added Esposito. "If Castle hadn't acted things could have been a lot worse."

"How is he?"

"Three in the gut, all low, so maybe he got lucky," said Ryan.

"Let's hope," said the Captain. "Ryan you called it in as an officer down. Some people won't like that. Don't worry about it. If there is any heat from the brass I'll take it. It was the right thing to do. I'll head back to the precinct to take Mr. Collins' statement. So when you are done here I will see you at the hospital."

At the Hospital

Kate was on automatic as she followed the ambulance to the hospital and was escorted to a waiting area. Then it hit her Martha, Alexis.

"Martha where are you," asked Kate.

"At my school, what's wrong Katherine?"

"It's Castle, Rick's been shot. We are at Mercy Hospital, he just went into surgery. He's going to be ok Martha, he's got to be."

"How are you?"

"Physically I'm fine, emotionally I'm a wreck. He saved me Martha."

"Then breathe Katherine. As long as you are breathing then you are ok."

"Ok, I need to call Alexis next."

"Be there soon dear."

"This is Alexis, you know the drill…"

"Sweetie its Kate, I'm at Mercy Hospital. It's your Dad he's been shot. Call or come when you can. I think he is going to be ok. Call me when you get this please."

As Kate was settling in to the torture device sometimes called a waiting room chair, her eyes locked on another torture device, the walk clock. The second hand seemed to take forever to tick forward. Each click seemed to toll like a death bell in her mind. Kate looked around and no one was near. She began to feel very small, very much alone, and very afraid. Kate closed eyes, but before she surrendered to her fears she heard a small voice in her head say 'I'm always with you love. You will never be alone.' Castle she thought? From somewhere in her mind she heard Louis Armstrong begin to sing 'We Have all the Time in the World'

'We have all the time in the world
Time enough for life
To unfold all the precious things
Love has in store'

After the first verse Mr. Armstrong voice began to fade and Kate's determination strengthened. Castle we will get through this Kate affirmed. You get through the surgery; I'll get you through rehab. Hurry up Doc, Kate shouted to herself, I want my man back! With that Kate settled back in the chair and tried to take Martha's advice and just breathe, but her mind kept returning to the song Castle sang for her last night and she remembered how warm she felt when Castle sang the tag line, 'Your one fine fine thing.'

The click of the door opening grabbed Kate's attention. She was surprised, elated, and ashamed when she saw Martha on her Dads arm as they walked down the hall toward her. How could she forget to call her own Dad? Getting up she waited for them by the chairs.

"Katherine any word," asked Martha.

"No, and the longer they take the more nervous I get. Thanks for calling Dad."

"You sounded out of it and I think we both need the moral support. Alexis called me and said she was on her way."

At the mention of Alexis, Jim saw Kate's eyes glisten and his daughter start to shake; Jim quickly folded her into an embrace.

"It's my fault Dad I should never have allowed him to come with us, I should have remembered the gun, I should have pushed him out of the way. I should make him stay home."

"Take a deep breath Katie and tell me what happened."

As Kate was telling the story to her Dad and Martha Captain Gates, Javier, and Kevin walked in.

"Katie it wasn't your fault. No one anticipated the situation. Sometimes I think you forget the quality of the man you married. How could expect him not to protect you? Really Kate, after all you have been through together you expect him to stand there and do nothing? And don't even think about leaving him home. After all he has done to be by your side. That would slowly kill him."

"I want him to be safe."

"Then teach him to be, he will learn. He loves you Kate and he will do we he must to be may your side. You need to step up if you want to keep him there."

"He is going to hate me Dad."

"No he won't, why?"

"I want him by my side so much. So much so that during his rehab I am going to work his ass off. I miss him already Dad. I'll teach him Dad."

After giving Kate another hug and kissing her forehead Jim said, "Good, when you are together you look out for each other and I know that both of you will be safe." Leaning forward and whispering into Kate's ear he continued, "Martha and I both have ulterior motive for keeping you both safe …grandkids." When Jim saw the small the smile start to appear on Kate's face he knew she would be ok. Now if we could only get some good news about Rick.

Captain Gates felt like an intruder as she listened to Jim's and Kate's conversation, but the truth was there was no place she could go in this small space, and she agreed with everything he was saying. She wanted desperately to know what Jim whispered to Kate that caused her to smile. A father-daughter thing I met. When they broke apart Captain Gates said, "Detective a word please."

"I take it there is no news."

"Yes Sir, as far as I know Castle is still in surgery."

"Ok, first the case. Mrs. Collins confessed to the scheme for stealing the heirlooms. She said she and Tom worked up the scheme. She said she told Tom Cathy's schedule and he blew it. So good work on solving the case," said Captain Gates with a gesture to indicate that the entire Team was included in the praise.

"Serna has already come over and identified the items, so that part of the case is solid. Kate are you still planning to use days for this coming Thursday and Friday," asked Captain Gates.

"Yes Sir. Us girls, Martha, Alexis and I are planning to go Christmas shopping on Thursday and then decorate the house on Friday."

"OK, between now and then you are Administrative Leave."

"Sir I don't the time off. I'm fine."

"It's not you I'm worried about." With a nod toward the end of the hall, "It's Castle. You are going to need to get him home settled and started on his rehab. Yes?" When Kate finally nodded her acceptance Captain Gates continued. She turned to Esposito and Ryan, "This means I need you two finish the case paperwork."

"Now the last thing, you won't believe how many phone calls I've gotten about Castle and his future, the Mayor, the Chief, the Chief of Detectives, the DA and whole lot of others each offering advice or asking what I'm going to do. So here it is, when Castle is physical and mental cleared, the Department will not prohibit him from shadowing you."

"You are going to make Castle go to a shrink," quipped Javier.

"I'd sign up for couples counseling just to be in the room," smiled Kate. "Thank you Captain. I hadn't got to there in my thinking yet, but that will certainly make Castle happy and provide a positive focus for rehab."

Just then the door flew open, "How could you," screamed a tall redhead with fire in her eyes. Alexis had arrived. The room seemed to hold its breath as the two women approached each other. "You promised." There was a loud crack as Alexis slapped Kate.

"When you married him you promised that you would take care of him." Alexis had gotten close and was using both of her hands to punch Kate in the shoulders. "You promised he wouldn't get hurt….Now he's here…You promised you would take care of him… Now my Dad's hurt…My Dad… You promised."

As Alexis wound down Kate enfolded her in a hug. A few moments later Alexis returned the hug. "He's going to be Ok Sweetie, he's going to be OK… He saved by life Hon. He saved by life."

After Alexis sobs had subsided, "Kate I'm sorry."

"For what, for being angry, scared, for loving your father? I'd only be angry if you didn't. I am going to need your help. Help me rehab him. Help me get him back on his feet. I want my husband back at the top of his game. Help me help your Dad Ok?" When Kate felt Alexis nod Kate continued, "Now Martha your Grand needs you." With that they walked over toward Martha and Jim.

"I'd rather face a civilian review board then Alexis any day," said Ryan.

"I agree, Kate handled that well," said Esposito.

Captain Gates was not surprised by the number of her people dropping in before going off shift. They all came in to ask about Castle, most exchanged words with Javier, Kevin, or Kate and a few talked with Alexis and Martha. They all were pleased when they learned that Castle could back after rehab. It was no surprise when Dr. Parrish came in and hugged Kate and attached herself to Javier's arm. I made the right decision thought the Captain. If I benched Castle I would lose an asset, the morale in the house would suffer and I would lose a friend.

The room went silent when the Doctor entered. Even though he spoke softly to Kate, Jim, Martha and Alexis, everyone heard.

"He is going to be fine," said the Doctor. "He took three bullets in the lower abdomen. Nothing vital was hit. We removed the bullets sewed up holes they made in the intestines and started him on an antibiotic regimen. The only thing we have to worry about now is infection. We are going to need to keep him for a couple days after that we will release him and he start his rehab plan. They will be putting him in a post-op room soon. You can see him if you like, but he is out of it and probably won't wake up till early tomorrow morning. My advice is to take a quick peak then come back tomorrow."

Captain Gates winched as she heard Kate say, "Doctor, this man is a witness in an ongoing police investigation and will require police protection." She watched a whole series of emotions play out on the Doctor's face, anger, concern and then understanding.

"Will a comfortable chair in the room with him be sufficient?"

"Very," smiled Kate.

"OK, but I am not letting you spend the night dressed like that. Go home shower; get out of those bloody clothes. When you come back your Castle and your chair will be waiting. "

"Thank you Doctor for everything," said Kate.

"Someone should thank the person who used the pillow case as a compressive bandage before the EMT's arrived. That bandage kept the area clean and helped keep the abdomen stable. This way to the post-op room, "said the Doctor.

It was a little after three AM, the hour of the Tiger. Kate's night in the hospital had brought back the memories of her ordeal. The lights of the machines made the room too bright, the constant noise made deep sleep impossible. She had just dosed off when she heard someone humming a song. Was that the song Castle was humming when they went to dinner? Crawling into consciousness Kate turned her head and saw Castle with his eyes open looking at her.

Castle woke up and felt that he had just had his ass kicked by the proverbial eight hundred pound gorilla. He opened his eyes and ears and saw the machines and the IV tubes. What is that smell, cherries? Kate! Turning his head he saw Kate about ten feet away asleep in a chair. I wonder how she managed that he wondered. She is beautiful, thought Castle. He swallowed to moisten his throat and started humming the song he sang for her Saturday night. When her eyes opened and locked with his he sang the tag line, "Your one fine fine thing."

When Kate heard Castle singing the tag line she literally flew out of the chair and to his side. It's one thing for a Doctor to say someone you love will be alright, and another thing altogether when you know it. "How do you feel?"

"Better now that I can see, feel, touch …and taste you," as Kate leaned down to kiss him on the lips. "How bad am I?"

"Three shots in the abdomen, nothing major damaged, they say the only risk now is infection. If nothing happens then you can go home in a couple of days and we can start your rehab."

At the mention of rehab, Castles eyes closed, "Do you think the Captain will let me back?"

"She has already said yes. You have to be physically and mentally fit, but yes."

"That's cruel; she's sending me to a shrink."

"What's the matter Castle, not scared of a little therapy are you," teased Kate.

"Yes," said Castle with surprising earnest. "The case?"

"Oh, Mrs. Collins confessed to the defrauding scheme. Cathy's death was just a bad accident."

"Kate, thank you for being here when I woke up. You don't know how much that means to me. Now go home and get some proper sleep."

"I love you," said Kate, "And that sounds like I good idea. When I come back I'll bring a thermos of real coffee. Don't drink the stuff they serve here it will kill you," she smiled. Kissing her husband once more Kate turned to go. Knowing Castle was watching she turned her walk to the door into her sexist strut. At the door she stopped to blow Castle a kiss, and the smile on his face kept her warm as she made her way home on this cold December morning.

Epilogue

Esposito and Ryan adjourned to the break room to eat their lunch and to complain about the last month or so. Since Castle went on the disabled list, they had only caught one case, and they solved that in a couple of hours. When Homicide Detectives have no cases they become fodder for special assignments. They had to admit that being around the Dalai Lama for three days as he addressed the UN was , well enlightening, and Kate's solution to the situation was truly inspired. Watching for specious behavior at the performance of the all boy band had been a pain. The toughest assignment had been providing security for a Senator Bracken fund raiser. But the real gem was seeing the expression on Eric Vaughn's face after they overhead Kate tell him, '….On the contrary, meeting you made me realize how truly extraordinary Castle really is.' But they were Homicide Detectives and if they didn't catch a case soon, they would go nuts.

Both of them looked up as the general level of noise in the building increased. As the noise seemed to approach they got up and went to the door. They spotted Castle going into the Captain's office. Looking at Kate they saw the smile on her face.

"He looks fit," said Esposito.

"He is," replied Kate.

"He is back early," said Ryan.

"Let's just say I know how to properly incentive a workout," said Kate with an even bigger smile.

Several minutes later, they were joined by Captain Gates, and Castle. "He's all yours Detective, " she said will a ghost of a smile.

Looking at the smiles on his friend's faces, Castle began, "You know I had a real difficult time convincing the psychiatrist that I was sane. When I told him I wanted to go back to a job that didn't pay, and people shot at me, he knew I was nuts!"

"What convinced him?"

Looking at Kate, Castle said, "I told him that there is no other place I'd rather be."