Prison of Darkness
The writing in this one is not as smooth as I'd like, but I hope you still like it.
Disclaimer: Castle is still not mine, darn it.
Chapter 4
"Are they here yet?" were the first words out of Kate's mouth when she entered the station after dropping the glass off for analysis. The question was asked of Esposito, who was at his desk making notes.
"Yeah," he answered. "We were just going to call you. Ryan's with them, in there."
Kate entered the room he indicated and saw Ryan just about to sit down. Across from him sat three people, and Kate recognized faces from the photographs on the floor in Woon's apartment. All three were older, but they were easily identifiable as those in the family photograph.
Mr. and Mrs. Woon were in their late fifties or early sixties. His hair was still dark, with almost no gray to show his true age, but his face was well lined with years of care and worry. The lines were even deeper than normal, she could tell, in this time of grief. Mrs. Woon, on the other hand, was a small, delicate woman whose once blond hair was now as white as snow. Traces of the original color lurked among the white, but just barely enough to show what once had been there.
With them was a man, about Kate's own age, with puffy cheeks and uncontrollably curly hair. His eyes were downcast, and his expression was unreadable.
Kate closed the door behind her, and Detective Ryan looked up at the click.
"Mr. and Mrs. Woon, this is the senior detective on the case, Detective Kate Beckett."
Three sets of eyes turned to look at her.
"Beckett, Andrea and Andrew Woon and their son Michael."
Kate nodded at the Woons and sat down beside Ryan.
"First of all," she said, "I want to say that I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you, Detective Beckett," Andrea Woon replied. "Can you tell us what happened to our son? Is it true that he was murdered? With a shovel?"
Kate glanced at Ryan, who said, "Yes, it's true. Do you know if your son had any enemies or if anyone would want to do him any harm?"
"No, I don't," she told them after thinking for a moment. "Ian wasn't very social, but the friends he had were loyal and good people."
"How long has Ian been living in New York?" Kate asked.
"A couple of years."
"Did you talk to him often?"
"Every day or two."
"He seemed happy," his father put in. "He was working for that big real estate company."
"Did he have a girlfriend?" Ryan asked.
Both parents looked at Michael. "Not that I know of. He never mentioned anyone. He had a few friends he hung out with after work, but they were all guys."
"Do you know their names, Michael?" Kate asked.
He frowned, thinking. "Norman and Nick and...Eric, I think."
She wrote these names down so she could find out more about them. "Is there anything more you can think of that we might need to know? Think carefully. Anything could be important, even something tiny."
The three of them shared a look, and it was Mr. Woon who answered, "I don't think so."
"If you do think of anything, please call." Kate stood and handed her business card to Mrs. Woon.
"We will," the older woman promised. "You'll tell us if you find anything?"
Kate nodded. "Of course. Thank you for coming in."
When the door closed behind them, Kate handed Ryan her piece of paper. "Find out who Norman, Nick, and Eric are and how well our vic knew them. Have the Tutweillers established alibis yet?"
"They are both saying they were with their friends Mark and Mindy Pepler, but we haven't been able to track them down yet. Esposito has left messages on their voice mail."
"Anywhere anyone would have seen them?"
"In the Pepler's home."
"Of course. I found some glass at the scene that was overlooked."
Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Glass?"
"A broken wine glass. I sent it for tests in case it's important."
"Okay."
"When you find out who Norman, Eric, and Nick are, let me know. Maybe we'll be lucky and one of them will have a second job as a grave digger or something."
"Or be a weekend gardener."
"That too."
Ryan went out to confer with Esposito and Kate headed back to the murder board. There wasn't really much to add, but staring at the board was sometimes comforting, and it helped her to think.
Picking up the dry erase marker, she wrote, "Nick? Eric? Norman?" Then, she wrote, "Family" and underlined it. She listed Mr. and Mrs. Woon and Michael. After a moment, she added a notation about the wine glass and the stain that was not blood but looked fairly new and had been near the victim.
"Beckett?" The captain's voice traveled to her across the bull pen.
She looked towards him, and he was beckoning her to his office. Kate replaced the marker and made her way over. As she passed Ryan's and Esposito's desks, she heard one on the phone with the Tutweillers and the other on the phone with someone he was calling Maria.
"How is the Woon case coming?" Captain Montgomery asked as soon as she was within earshot.
"We have a couple of suspects."
"Tell me the Tutweillers didn't do it, Detective. I could do without the press explosion that would cause."
"We don't have anything solid yet. Ryan and Esposito are running down alibis."
"And how are you doing?"
"Sir?"
"You know what I mean."
She did, of course. Her eyes traveled to his face for a moment so he could read her expression. She kept it as neutral as possible.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"For now, I'm sure."
He nodded in acceptance. "Good. How's Castle?"
She could answer this because she had checked with Alexis on her way back from Woon's apartment. "He's doing well, sir. He's going to make it...only..." He just listened quietly, not prodding her. "They're just getting a little puzzled and worried about why he's not awake yet. Right now, they are doing some tests. They don't think there should be any trauma or damage."
"Maybe he's just not ready yet."
"He can be stubborn," she agreed.
"How are Mrs. Rodgers and Alexis doing?"
The captain spent time with Castle socially and was well acquainted with the women in the author's life.
"As well as they can. Better now that he's going to be okay."
Montgomery looked relieved. "Good news, Detective. Oh, and I wanted to warn you."
She had been about to turn away but stopped. "About what?"
"A reporter called here a few minutes ago. I don't think Castle's shooting is a mystery any longer."
Kate winced. All Martha and Alexis needed was to be hounded by news hungry reporters. She wondered if anyone had warned Gina. Maybe there was something Gina could do to divert the frenzy.
"Thanks for the warning, sir."
As she started back to her desk, she wondered if she should call Gina herself. It wasn't really her place, but Castle's girlfriend was also his publisher, and she really should know what was going on.
In the end, she decided she didn't care what the protocol was. She called Gina and found out, with some relief, that Gina was already way ahead of her and fighting the demon hordes.
Kate found that the more she talked to Gina, the more she liked her. Despite that nasty scene at the beginning of the summer, and despite all the things Castle said about Gina before they got back together, she seemed like a good, solid, responsible person. No wonder Castle couldn't decide if he liked her or not. She wasn't his type.
The reports on the canvassing of the building came up soon after that. Apparently, no one had seen anything.
"I don't get it," Ryan said as they looked through the statements taken by the uniforms. "It's not like the shovel could have appeared in the apartment out of nowhere just to be used by our murderer and then disappeared. Someone must have seen something."
"According to this," Esposito answered, not even looking up, "five people were not home to answer their doors. Maybe we'll get lucky with them."
"Any news on Eric, Nick, or Norman?" Kate asked Ryan hopefully.
"Yessss..." he said, putting down reports and picking up another piece of paper. "Full names are Eric Jackson, Nicholas Boudreau, and Norman Nickerson. They work for the Tutweillers, just as Michael Woon said. Eric and Norman are junior agents, and Nick is a mortgage specialist. Exciting people. According to the Tutweillers, no one is working today. The office is closed down as a sign of respect for the victim".
"Did you get their home addresses?"
"Yup."
"You two take Nickerson and Jackson. I'll interview Boudreau. Objections?"
The two looked at each other and shrugged. She took that as a no.
When Ryan handed her Boudreau's address, she was surprised to discover he lived in Castle's building. It was a little pricey for a mortgage specialist, even one who worked for the most famous real estate agents in the city.
At Boudreau's apartment, the door was answered by a small, dark haired girl with serious eyes.
"Hello," Kate told her. "I'm looking for Nick. Is he in?"
The girl nodded and trotted off. Kate waited. It wasn't long before the girl came back, trailed by a very small young man. He looked about sixteen years old but was probably a little bit older.
"Nicholas Boudreau?"
"Yes."
"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD." She flashed her badge. "I want to ask you some questions about Ian Woon."
Fear or nervousness flashed through his eyes. "Okay. Do you mind if my parents sit in?"
"That will be fine."
It was at this point that Kate found out that Nick's parents were the Boudreaus of Boudreau and Boudreau. Both lawyers had long, stern faces, and Mrs. Boudreau eyed Kate with suspicion.
"Is Nicholas a suspect?" she asked bluntly as they all sat down.
"No," Kate told her honestly. "We're conducting interviews with everyone who knew Ian at Tutweillers Real Estate."
She seemed to relax a little. "It was a horrible shock."
"Did you know Ian Woon, Mrs. Boudreau?"
"I met the boy once. He seemed very nice. He came here to have a movie day with Nicholas. If I remember correctly, they watched the entire Star Wars saga."
In her mind, Kate could hear Castle commenting on this.
"Nick, how long did you know Ian?"
The young man turned his hands in his lap. "We met when I started working for the Tutweillers a year ago. It's mostly girls who work there, so the guys kind of stuck together, you know?"
Kate actually did know. Every once in awhile, she and Karpowski, and sometimes Lanie, got together to just wind down and gripe about the stubborn, hard headed men in their lives.
"And there were how many of you?
"Four. Ian, Norman, Eric, and me."
"So, you were good friends with Ian?"
"Pretty good. We hung out."
"When was the last time you saw him?"
"After work, the day before yesterday," he said without hesitation. "I remember because we were having a discussion about...well..." He colored slightly. "...one of the girls. Eric was with us and trying to get up the nerve to ask her on a date."
Kate noted this, then asked, "Were you aware of Ian having an argument with Mr. Tutweiller?"
Nick looked puzzled. "No. I didn't hear anything."
"Okay, thank you, Nick. One more question, just because I need to know. What were you doing yesterday between 7 pm and midnight?"
"I was at work doing paperwork until eight. Mia and Lauren can vouch for me because we were doing paperwork together. After that, I was here with my parents."
Kate stood. "That's all I need. If you think of anything that might help, give me a call."
She handed him her card.
"I will."
Kate decided to see if anyone was home at the Castles before she left the building. She wanted to check on Castle and see how Alexis and Martha were doing.
The door was opened almost immediately by a tired looking Alexis.
"Detective Beckett." She brightened slightly.
"I came to check on you. How are you doing?"
"I'm okay."
"Is your grandmother here?"
"Gram's upstairs having a shower. She'll be down in a few minutes." The teenager moved out of the way. "Come in."
"Is there any more news about your father?"
"Yes." The girl's eyes suddenly filled with tears, but she blinked them back.
Kate was immediately alert. "What's happened?"
"It's strange."
Kate closed the door behind her and asked, "Strange?"
Alexis nodded, her face suddenly vulnerable.
"What do you mean?"
"He's healing well physically. Everything's fine, but he won't wake up."
"He's still not awake?"
"No, and they say that they can't find a reason why. They checked for trauma, and there is none. They did brain scans, and he's not in a coma, at least not according to his brain waves. Everything points to a normal sleep. But he should be waking up right now, and they don't know why he isn't." By the end, her words were running together and her voice had gone high and cracky.
Kate placed her had on the girl's shoulder and squeezed. "I'm sure it will be all right."
"They think it might be psychological. Why do you think my Dad wouldn't want to wake up?"
Kate didn't have time to answer because Martha interrupted them. She came down the stairs slowly, and Kate quickly scanned her face. She still looked very worried.
"Kate," she greeted, mustering up a tired smile.
"I was in the building doing an interview and decided to come up and check on you."
"We were just going back to the hospital. Alexis wanted to read to her father."
"Maybe an exciting adventure will make him want to wake up," Alexis confided to Kate.
"It can't hurt," she agreed gently.
"Gina's going to meet us there," Martha said. Kate wasn't sure if this was a comment or a warning.
"I talked to her earlier. She's been working hard all day to control the press."
"I've always rather liked her," Martha admitted. "I don't really think she's right for Richard, but she's a nice girl. A little strange, but nice."
"To hear Castle before they got back together, she was the devil incarnate."
"Yeah, well, they fought a lot." She waved her hand airily.
"I've got to go back to work. Will you call me if there is any news?"
"Of course."
"Thanks."
Kate left the loft feeling rather puzzled. She wondered why Castle wouldn't wake up, and she wondered what could possibly be psychologically wrong. The trauma of getting shot? Maybe his brooding on the day he was shot was over more than just Finke.
Ryan and Esposito were already at the station when she got back. Their interviews with Nickerson and Jackson had gone pretty much like hers with Boudreau. The other two had good alibis, and they didn't really have motive.
That meant they still didn't have anything.
"If we could just find the murder weapon," Esposito growled under his breath for the hundredth time as they stood staring at the murder board.
Kate just frowned in reply. They were missing something and she just didn't know what.
She glanced up at the clock and saw the it was already 6:30. When had that happened? No wonder her eyes felt like they were burning.
"I think we should sleep on it," she said finally, earning her surprised looks from both sides. "Maybe it will seem more clear if we look at it with fresh eyes."
The words were hardly out of her mouth before Ryan was on the phone with Jenny. Esposito rolled his eyes at his partner.
"I think I'm going to go check on Castle," Kate told him. "Want to come?"
"Sure. I'll get my coat."
XXX
She was so beautiful. Her eyes were compelling. Intelligent. Green.
He smiled. He couldn't remember the last time he saw someone so perfect. No wonder that writer wrote about her. Her pictures in magazines didn't do her justice.
She was beautiful. She was strong and unbreakable. And, soon, she would be his.