II
"Two bodies, no crime scene and no murder weapon. If I didn't know any better, I'd say we were watching an episode of Columbo," Castle remarked, setting down the coffee he'd brought and taking his seat. "Didn't they always show who the murderer was at the beginning of the episode?" Beckett inquired. "Yeah. I always thought that kind of took all the fun out of it. What good is a mystery when the answers are spelled out for you in black and white?" he wondered. "Esposito, where are we on her background check?" Kate asked. "Just got it in. She got a clean record. Everything's normal except for one detail," Javier told them. "Wait, don't tell me! Her body was made of antimatter," Richard interjected. "Wouldn't that have vaporized half the city?" the Detective countered. "Marsha Simmons lives in Jersey and get this. She's the only daughter of Damian and Cora Simmons," Esposito commented.
"Well, we already know she was adopted. Makes sense that her records wouldn't reflect her true identity," Castle noted. "That's not the weird part. We've contacted the family and they're heading over right now. According to them, they are the ones who gave up her sister for adoption to Paul and Leslie Pulaski," Javier reported. "Have you got in touch with them also? They're probably Rachel's foster parents," Beckett stated. "That won't be possible. The couple died five years ago, within a few months of each other. And get this. Paul's body was stolen from the funeral home before his ceremony and never recovered," their colleague proclaimed. "Were there any leads on that?" Kate wondered. "The officers in charge came up empty. Someone driving a hearse came to the site to pick up Mister Pulaski, only they never made it to the cemetery. Turns out, the car had been hotwired and was left in an alley. They swept for prints, DNA and came up empty. Whoever was responsible knew what they were doing," Esposito replied.
"Where's Lanie on our two victims?" the Detective asked. "Last I heard, she was just about done with Miss Simmons. In the meantime, she's run our second stiff against dental records. Should have a result later this afternoon," Javier answered. "Alright, go back to the funeral home and see if you can come up with any leads. It can't be a coincidence that Marsha lived in the house where that body was hidden," Beckett directed. "On it," the officer stated and headed off. "You know, it's possible that Marsha found out about the secret lying beneath her feet and whoever put it there killed her to cover it up," Castle suggested. "If that's the case, why was her body left inside? When the house was destroyed, that would only lead us back to the second victim," she retorted. "Perhaps we're going about this all wrong. What if Marsha was the murderer and was trying to hide it by having the site destroyed. Someone found out and killed her for it," he asserted. "Why not turn her in? There's no statute of limitations on murder," Kate reminded him. "Beckett, the family's here," Ryan reported, gesturing to the lounge. Richard could tell that the couple was clearly distraught by the news and wondered how long it would be before they would have answers for them.
"We're sorry for your loss," Beckett began, taking a seat across from them. "How long had it been since you heard from Marsha?" Castle asked. "Three weeks. She called us about once a month, to let us know how things were going. Marsha was so happy here. She'd found something we thought had been lost a long time ago," Damian replied. "Rachel. She told us that it was Marsha who'd been given up from adoption," Kate observed. "When they were born, we didn't have the money to take care of them both. I'd met Leslie Pulaski on the job and she was always talking about how long she and her husband had been trying to have a child, without success. It seemed like the perfect opportunity. Rachel would have a home and we wouldn't have to worry about her future," Cora said, weeping for a moment before regaining her composure.
"I take it that things didn't turn out as planned," he remarked. "Paul made it big as a realtor a few years later. He moved, cut off all ties with us. He didn't want anything to remind him of the way things used to be. The first time we knew where they'd ended up was when Marsha located Rachel," Damian told them. "Do you have any idea why Rachel thought Paul and Leslie were her parents?" Beckett wondered. "She was legally adopted about a year after they started taking care of her. I doubt her folks ever told her the truth. Paul even made her executor of his will," Cora answered. "Had Marsha reported anything unusual lately? Strange phone calls, unwanted visitors; something out of the ordinary?" Richard inquired. "No, nothing like that. She was always talking about the lifestyle Rachel led, how it made her distant. Marsha was determined not to let success change her also," Damian told them.
"What I don't get is the duplicity of the Pulaski family. How could they go all this time without Rachel suspecting a thing?" Castle remarked. "Adoption is a tricky business. They probably didn't want to lose her," Beckett told him. "Beckett, we just got the dental records for your second victim and you're not going to believe who it is," Ryan said as he approached. "Paul Pulaski," she guessed. Kevin looked surprised for a moment and then said, "Yeah, how'd you know?" "His body went missing and now we've found a corpse in the home of his adopted daughter's sister. I'd have been surprised if it wasn't him," Kate commented. "So, a nefarious dealer in cadavers raids a local funeral home; searching for his latest find. He comes across Paul, a man cut down shortly after his wife died and whisks him away to his secret lair; performing top-secret experiments before finally laying him to rest. Two years later, Marsha comes to town; determined to find her sister and just so happens to come into possession of the house where Paul is hidden. Our thief knows that its only a matter of time before she uncovers him, especially once it is scheduled for demolition and attempts to kill two birds with one stone," Castle summarized.
"It seems like a stretch of the imagination to believe Marsha got that house by accident. Maybe she was looking for him," the Detective countered. "Why would she care what happened to Paul? They're not related and his death took place two years before she came to town," he shot back. "Then you explain it," she challenged. "Maybe Rachel was right and it was Marsha who had been given up for adoption. It could be that keeping quiet about it was part of the agreement the Simmons' made with the Pulaskis. So when Marsha finds out, she comes to find her real family and ends up targeted by the person who hid her father's body," Richard proclaimed. "Which would explain why she was in the house. She hadn't found it yet and was looking for him when whoever planted Paul there showed up and got rid of her, for good," Beckett declared. "So how do we know who's right?" Castle wondered. "We get a court order and have them release the records," his partner answered.
"That's it? No creeping thru dimly lit halls to pry open a hidden vault and uncover secrets no man was meant to know?" he retorted. "In real life, we could get arrested for that sort of thing," Kate explained. Just then, her phone rang and she said, "Beckett. I see. What about the second victim? Alright, call me if you get anything else." "Lanie?" Richard guessed. "Marsha Simmons died from blunt force trauma. A blow to the back of the head, probably as a result of a fall. There were definite signs of a struggle, but the damage done to her makes it hard to tell for sure. She puts time of death between two and five on Tuesday evening," Beckett answered. "When was that call Rachel received?" he asked. "3:20 P.M. Which means she was probably killed a little while after. Ryan, where are we on the sister's alibi?" the Detective inquired. "I just got off the phone with her firm. They've got her clocking in at 3:02 and she stayed until after 6," Kevin answered. "That building's halfway across town from the house. If Marsha was killed and left there, Rachel couldn't have been involved without being in two places at the same time," Castle pointed out. "Any luck on Marsha's phone records?" Beckett wondered.
"She didn't have a house phone. All of her business was conducted by a cell. I've got her number from the records from her job and according to the provider, that call at 3:20 was the last one she made," Ryan answered. "Any chance we might be able to find it?" he asked. "After this much time, the battery's probably run out. If it was carted away along with the body we'd have a better chance of finding Jimmy Hoffa," the officer declared. "What about her other calls?" Kate inquired. "Most of them are clients, her family and the firm. But there's one number which doesn't fit. It belongs to a local PI, Morgan Lutz. We're trying to track him down now," Kevin told them. "That's probably how she found Rachel," Richard observed. "What about known associates?" the Detective asked. "According to her coworkers, Marsha was something of a loner. Didn't go out for brunch or date anybody they knew about. The only time they saw her was at the office. Rachel seems to be her only friend," Ryan reported.
"Not hard to understand. Until three years ago, she was a small-town girl. Then she moves to the city and lands a job with her long-lost sister's firm. She might have a hard time adjusting, especially if she didn't approve of Rachel's behavior," Castle put in. "What about the sister? Anything that might give her a motive for either of our victims?" Beckett wondered. "Rachel Pulaski has a strong business, a fiancé and several truckloads of cash in the bank. When Paul died, she was named his heir and she inherited something on the order of two million dollars," Kevin told them. "That's a massive chunk of change. More than enough to bribe someone to steal your father's body and hide it where nobody would ever look," he remarked. "Why steal it in the first place, though? It doesn't make any sense," Kate observed.
"You're telling me that you found my father. After all this time?" Rachel exclaimed. "He was buried under the house your sister was living in. We were wondering if you had any idea how he got there," Beckett said. "No, why would I? You don't think I had anything to do with that?" Pulaski countered. "It just seems odd that his body was stolen after you inherited his fortune. Especially since Marsha may have been killed to keep his location a secret," Castle pointed out. "Well, I didn't have knowledge he'd been taken until the funeral. I've never felt so mortified in my life. Here I was, trying to honor the man who raised me and those incompetent fools lose him," Rachel complained. "We spoke with the Simmons'. They told us that they had given you up for adoption," Kate went on.
"They must be mistaken. I've seen my birth certificate. Paul and Leslie were my parents," Pulaski objected. "With their money, it would have been possible to get the files legally altered. If they were cutting all ties to your real parents, they might not have wanted you to find out about them," Richard explained. "Why would they hide that from me? I find your story hard to believe," Rachel maintained. "Did Marsha give any indication that she was interested in your parents?" the Detective asked. "Not really. You have to remember that both of them were dead before she showed up," Pulaski answered. "Do know how Paul died?" Castle inquired. "The doctors told me it was heart failure," the realtor replied. Just then, Kate's phone rang and she said, "Beckett. Really. Thank you, Lanie." Hanging up, Beckett declared, "That was the coroner. Turns out, your father was murdered."