Chapter 6

With yet another winter storm, the snow blanketed New York. The silence in the loft was eerie as car traffic was almost at a halt. "I'm going to pull out my cross country skis," Rick said gazing through the window. "I could go right down the street out there."

"No skiing!" Kate commanded. "It's been less than a year since you broke your knee and we don't need you back in a wheelchair. I don't have time to put together another drama."

Rick laughed and kissed her nose. "The concern you have for my well being is touching."

"No," Kate purred, reaching under his t shirt, "I just want to touch a well being."

Rick stroked Kate's cheek. "Where would you like to touch?"

"Here," Kate whispered, stroking the fine hair on his chest. "And here," she continued, running her fingers through his hair. "And maybe here."

Rick gave a little gasp. "If you're going to do that, we're going to have to move away from the windows. Someone over there might have a pair of binoculars too." Rick swept Kate up in his arms and carried her to the bed. As she pulled off his shirt he murmured, "Now you can touch anything you want."

The 12th was neither happy nor full. Those who could, had either made it through the snowy streets or the subway, but there were still a number unoccupied desks, especially from denizens of the outer boroughs. Kate was on the phone checking alibis. She called the actors on Hoban's list. They verified that he had been at a club, but not during the entire period of the kill zone. He had arrived at about ten thirty.

Barry Porthos' wife had been unable to confirm that he had been home in bed. She and their children had been staying with her mother. His female friend, Lana Fentress, did tell Beckett that Barry had lent her his car, but with some hesitation in her voice.

"I think," Beckett told Castle as she filled in the murder board, "that Lana Fentress may have been lying. That still leaves us with two suspects, but we don't have enough to get a warrant to check for evidence on their shoes or pull their financials."

"What do you want to do?" Castle asked.

"I don't know," Beckett said.

"Barry and Jean-Luc seem to have a history together. Barry talked about being in the same producer's stable. What if," Castle proposed, "we talked to the producer. He might be able to give us some insight about what Barry has against Jean-Luc and maybe against Next Chapter and Luke Spinelli."

"Do you know who the producer is?" Beckett asked?

"Easy enough to find out," Castle said, reaching for his phone.

Beckett and Castle got lucky. Jonas Hill had been in Paris promoting a movie and had flown back to New York to catch a flight to Los Angeles. Flights out of New York had been grounded by the storm and Hill was staying at the Four Seasons. Beckett and Castle met with him there. "I'm a fan of your work, Mr. Castle, especially 'Hell Hath No Fury.'"

"Really?" Castle exclaimed in surprise. "No one read that one." He glanced at Beckett. "Well almost no one."

"I liked the imagery. I used something like it in my first series," Jonas told him.

"That's the one Barry Porthos started in, isn't it?" Castle asked.

"He did," Hill agreed.

"Wasn't Jean-Luc St. Jacques in that too?" Beckett asked.

Hill nodded. "About six years later. They didn't really work together. Barry was on a spin-off by then."

"We got the impression that Barry Porthos has some kind of a problem with Jean-Luc," Beckett said.

"You'll excuse me," Hill said, getting up to pace. "Unless I'm working, I get very antsy sitting still. If Barry has something against Jean-Luc, that may be my fault. When Barry was working on his spin-off, I had to take my best writer-producer and put him on Jean-Luc's show, Rebel Ship. I didn't have enough time to spend with all of my shows at that time and if I hadn't done it, they all would have gone down the tubes. Rebel Ship got canceled anyway, but I had to give it my best shot. Barry was furious. His show started losing ground and the network pulled the plug on it as well."

"Didn't you turn Rebel Ship into a movie?" Castle asked.

"I did," Hill agreed. "That was another part of it. "Jean-Luc was doing movies, he still does, even with Next Chapter, and Barry doesn't do as many. They actually voiced the same animated character. Jean-Luc is known for it but no one remembers that Barry did it. Barry's been doing very well with 'Dig Up the Truth', at least until recently. Some of Barry's fan's got turned off when it came out that he cheated on his wife. 'Next Chapter's' audience has grown about ten percent and 'Dig Up the Truth' is petering out."

"You pay attention to ratings for 'Next Chapter?'" Castle asked.

"Jean-Luc's a cool guy. I like hanging out with him. He's also about the kindest man I've ever known. When he's on a set, it's a happy place. If he gets some time loose from 'Next Chapter' I want to put him in a movie."

"But not Barry Porthos," Beckett asked.

Hill's silence was an assent.

"I can understand why Barry would kill Jean-Luc," Castle told Beckett as they trudged to the subway, "but I don't understand why he'd want to kill Luke Spinelli. Even if Next Chapter stops shooting, which doesn't seem to be happening, how would that hurt Jean-Luc? He could probably get a job with Jonas Hill."

"It doesn't make sense," Beckett agreed, "but Harmon Hoban doesn't have that strong a motive either. We should talk to Greta Jorgensen."

Greta was on the set of Next Chapter, having taken over her husband's duties, but she was anxious to help with the investigation. She repeated Beckett's question,"Did Luke have any problems with Barry Porthos or Harmon Hoban? I think he might have had the same problem with both of them. They had a concept for a new show, something with a retired secret agent running a security agency with an assortment of misfits and scoundrels. They were trying to lure Luke into writing it. Luke refused. He didn't want a show he didn't have control of and he thought the idea was too derivative. Hoban is upset because he's going to run a show he doesn't think will do well and Porthos thinks he's going to hit the skids when Dig Up the Truth ends. They may both be right."

"Which one of them is more upset?" Beckett asked.

Greta shook her head. "I really don't know. I wasn't in on the discussions. I know Luke was not impressed with either of them."

Rick and Kate picked up burgers and shakes to go at Remy's on their way back to the loft. Quickly shedding snowy boots and jackets they settled down in front of a John Woo movie. More than sated with imaginary bloodshed, they cuddled contently, sipping brandy spiked coffee. "Kate," Rick asked, "what would you think of a TV show based on Nikki Heat? Jean-Luc St. Jacques could play Jameson Rook and Tasha Olesky could play Nikki."

"I think they're busy on Next Chapter," Kate answered.

"How about a mini-series? They could do it on hiatus?"

Kate wrinkled her nose. "After Natalie Rhodes I don't think I can take another clone."

Rick pulled Kate close. "You're right. That was creepy." Rick kissed her softly. "There's only one you."