Castle followed Beckett into the brightly lit interrogation room, where a young man in his mid twenties was already sitting in the chair facing their usual seats. He was pretty handsome, with deep blue eyes and wavy brown hair, and he was dressed as though he'd just returned from work. However, he also appeared to be quite nervous; underneath the table, his hands were being wrung together, and it wouldn't have been surprising if there were some traces of sweat on his body. He was either feeling guilty about something, or this was his first time being questioned by the police. Judging by his clothes and upright posture, Kate could venture to guess that it was the latter, or a mix of both.
"Mr. Brady, is it?" She said, as she and Rick took their seats. She flashed the man facing her a small smile as he nodded in response to her question. With his type, it was better to appear kind at first. If he wanted to play later, they'd play. But for now making him feel comfortable was her best bet. "Can I call you Steve?"
"Sure. Look, you don't think I did it, do you? I would never kill Dana, never. She was the love of my life. I was going to propose."
"Right now we're just doing some routine questioning, seeing what we can find out." Kate leaned back in her chair, realizing for the first time that her seat was a bit closer to Castle's than she remembered. She almost laughed and gave him her signature eye roll, but she soon caught herself and focused all of her attention back onto Steve. "Unless, of course, you give us some reason to suspect you." She put up a hand to silence him when he opened his mouth to protest, and he, in turn, went silent. "Where were you last night? Say, between midnight and one AM?"
Steve's eyes drifted up to the ceiling, and he thought a moment, muttering something under his breath as he tried to recall. "Dana and I went out last night. We had dinner, and we left around nine thirty to see a movie. And I took her home, I'd say, at about quarter to tweleve. By midnight I was at my own building. It's right down the street from Dana's."
"That sounds more like a first date than a date with someone you were going to propose to." Castle was the one talking now, and as Kate quietly watched him, she had to admit that this wasn't something she would have brought up. And he was right. If these two people were nearly engaged, why would the date be so casual? And why wouldn't he have spent a little more time talking to her in her apartment, maybe even spent the night? In the past, she had hated to admit that Rick really had been a big help on some of her cases. Now that thought was funny to her. They made a great team.
"We both had work in the morning." It was a simple enough excuse, but an excuse nonetheless. "And I had someone else to see that night."
Castle and Beckett exchanged glances, then turned their attention back onto Steve Brady.
"No! Not like that! See, there's this older woman who lives across from me, Mrs. Henderson, she and I are close. I help her out around the house, she can't do much, being older, you know, and she cooks for me and we talk. She's kind of like my granny, in a way."
"So you were with her? Why?"
"Just to talk. I usually go over there in the evenings, so she doesn't get too lonely. She likes having someone to talk to, since all of her children and grandchildren don't really talk to her."
"And why don't they talk to her?"
Steve shrugged. "I don't know. She never said. But it's kind of sad, don't you think?" Kate thought for a moment, and she could see where he was coming from. When her mom passed away, her relationships within the family were strained. Her grandparents had already died, but there were so many aunts, uncles, and cousins that she stopped talking to, other than to send the required greeting cards for birthdays and Christmases. That was yet another thing that she loved about the Castle family, that they were so close. She longed to be a part of something like that, to always have the love and support, and to always have someone to love and support. When she used to think about the kind of person she wanted to spend her life with, as most young girls do, she could always remember thinking that she wanted someone with a big, loving family. A family to make up for her lack of one.
Castle spoke up next. "Can you think of anyone who might want to hurt Dana? Or maybe, did Dana have something that someone else would have wanted?"
Once again, Steve looked up to the ceiling, thinking it all over. Then he shrugged. "Dana was a pretty likable girl. Except, maybe at work. She worked for a fashion magazine, and the rumor around the office was that she was in for a pretty big promotion. Maybe someone was jealous."
Kate, having been pulled out of her thoughts, nodded, standing up from her seat. "Thank you, Steve. You can go now, and we'll be in touch."
"""""""
"What do you think of him?" After the interrogation, Castle was sitting at Beckett's desk, sipping some coffee. The murder board had already been filled in with information, and now he and his partner in crime were mulling over the details. Or rather, that's what they were supposed to be doing.
"What should I wear tonight?"
Castle stared at Kate for a minute, hardly believing that those words came out of her mouth. Of all the women in the world, he'd have thought that she was the least likely to worry about what she looked like. "Wear whatever you like."
"But you haven't told me where we're going. What if I end up looking like a complete idiot who doesn't know how to dress?"
Rick grinned, knowing in an instant that this wasn't actually about clothes. Beckett wasn't really asking what she should wear, rather, she was trying to find out where they were headed on their first date. He already knew exactly where they were going and what they'd be doing, and he'd already told her a hundred times that he was keeping it to himself. One of Richard Castle's romantic strategies was the element of surprise. If she didn't have any idea what to expect, he'd be able to wow her completely. She would never know what was coming. "It's not going to work." He sipped some more coffee. "Dress casual, nothing fancy."
"What's not going to work?"
"Really, Kate? Don't act so innocent."
The detective rolled her eyes, muttering something unintelligble under her breath. "Fine. It's still seven, right?"
"Right. Seven sharp."
