Interrogation of a Vampire

Chapter Seven

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Isn't it bleeding obvious I don't own any of this? Rating: M, in spots. Time: After season eight, before children.

"We have another one, Captain." Ryan stuck his head into Kate's office. "East Village. The uniforms first on the scene said the vic has the same puncture wounds on her neck. Lanie is on the way, as is CSU. Are you two going?"

Kate looked at Rick and smiled. "Sorry. I have to go, but you can go home."

"And leave you alone with a dangerous pseudo-vampire out there? Never."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "Except for the people being dead part. That I could skip."

They arrived at the crime scene together, as usual. There were looky loos standing behind the police crime scene tapes as usual and the usual mix of people inside, doing something or doing nothing. The corpse wasn't usual.

"She was tortured before she died." Lanie said. "But she was killed the same as the others. Twin puncture wounds on the neck, and drained of as much blood as he could get out of her."

"Do we have an ID?" Kate asked.

A uniformed cop, a skinny blonde just transferred to the 12th replied. "Driver's license shows her as Andrea Gaithers, this address. Age 35. Business card in her purse says she's an antiquities dealer. All that's on the card is her name, the words antiquities dealer and her cell phone number. We couldn't find the cell phone."

Castle nodded. "The killer took it. He's called her and doesn't want us to find his phone number."

"But why kill an antiquities dealer?" Espo asked.

"Easy." Castle said, grinning. "Our boy thinks he's an ageless vampire. He probably asked our vic to get him back the hat he wore to George Washington's first inauguration. When she couldn't find it, he went berserk, tortured her to death and killed her."

"Really?" Kate said.

"Do you have a better idea?"

Kate thought, then shook her head. "His hat?"

"Okay, something. The perp is nuts, remember? He thinks he's a vampire. He wanted something, an old coffin, an autographed photo of Bela Lugosi, something and he killed her because couldn't get it."

Kate turned to Ryan and Esposito. "It's late. We'll get started tomorrow. You two do phones and financials, we'll look into her business. See if we can find her customers, or maybe employees."

When Rick and Kate arrived at the precinct, Ryan and Espo were there, looking unhappy. "Phones are easy. Her phone number is listed to a Norma Jean Baker with an address in LA. Guess where the address is?"

"The cemetery where Norma Jean Baker, AKA, Marilyn Monroe, is buried?" Castle replied. "And she paid cash. A burner phone."

"Give that man a prize. And she used it sparingly. She called three numbers. All burners. All phony names, paid for in cash."

"Financials?" Kate asked.

"No record of any bank account. She had a credit card. Used it to pay her household bills. Nothing else. She used cash for everything else, I bet. I'm betting she has a bank account under a phony name someplace. Probably a bunch of them."

Kate nodded. "No one goes to that much trouble to stay out of sight. She's doing something wrong."

"Too true." The speaker was a rail thin, older detective, with thinning grey hair and a conservative suit. "Captain, Anthony Paul, Robbery, the Five Five. We've been tracking Ms. Gaithers under a lot of aliases for a couple of years now, but we could never make an arrest."

"Why not?" Kate asked. "And what's she up to?"

"She is an antiquities dealer, but a crooked one. And she's a middleman, or middle woman, I suppose. She knows a number of people who deal in stolen antiquities, people who buy them, and some that steal them. What she doesn't do is do business with anyone not very well known to her. We've tried to tempt her with undercover cops trying to sell very valuable antiquities and you know what she did? She called the cops and turned them in. We've never gotten close to her and now she never will. We can give you the names of the people she deals with and their jackets." He took a bunch of police files from a brief case and handed them over.

"Any idea who might have killed her? Any deals gone wrong? Dissatisfied customers?"

Paul shook his head. "No word on that. She does go to great lengths to keep her customers happy." He stopped for a second. "Did go, I should say."

Kate handed the files to Ryan and Esposito. "Find out all you can about these people. Check phones and financials, reach out to other agencies. If and when you get something, bring them in."

About a dozen of Gaithers' contacts were brought in to the 12th for questioning. All said more or less the same thing. They knew Andrea Gaithers in a business capacity, but not well. They had never bought anything from, or sold anything to her. What business did they have if they didn't buy or sell? Everyone explained that she had excellent contacts all over the word.

"I was searching for some 18th Century scrimshaw. Andrea found some for me, but it wasn't really what I was looking for." Said one dealer.

"I had a friend, in Europe, who had some Roman coins to sell. I thought Andrea might know a buyer. I handled the business as a favor to him, but I don't believe they ever made a deal."

"Oh, I'm absolutely mad for Buddhist artwork. Dear Andrea found me some wonderful pieces from a gentleman in Macau, but we couldn't agree on a price. I did pay the dear girl for her trouble, of course."

In short no one had ever done business with Andrea Gaithers. That they would admit to anyway.

"I'm positive every one of them is sitting on piles of stolen antiquities." Kate grumped.

"And being positive will not get you a search warrant for any of them." Castle said as kindly as he could.

Kate checked her watch. "It's five o'clock. Let's go home."

Rick did his best to look shocked. "What? Going home at quitting time? What happened to my hard working, over achieving, working 24/7 wife?"

"Sometimes I need to just go home, have a drink and a good dinner, relax and unwind and everything looks better the next morning."

"Okay, we'll figure out what attracted Nosferatu to Gaithers tomorrow."

"We need to figure out what attracted the vampire to this Gaithers woman tonight." Flynn said to Simone, who was resting her head on his chest as they lay in bed.

Simone laughed. "We know that, silly. From Judson. He told me that Gaithers was dealer in stolen antiquities. She was the sort of person that Judson would keep his eye on. She actually tried to breach The Library's security once, but failed. You have very good security here. I don't even think a vampire could break in."

"Which is why we're staying here until we catch this guy. I'm not taking any chances with you. I want you safe."

She raised her head up. "What? We can't go back to our lovely home?" She pouted disarmingly.

"No." He kissed her. "Besides, I'll be here all of the time working. Don't you want to be with me?"

Simone sighed. "Of course."

"So, you think that the vampire hired Gaithers to steal….the Judas Chalice?"

She clapped her hands. "Smart boy. Of course. He may or may not know it's here. But why he killed her, I'm not too sure."

"I'm sure I can find out more tomorrow when I go to the 12th Precinct."

Rick and Kate were about to leave when Epso stopped them. "You have to see this. We got a report of a break in at a very expensive brownstone. The place was really torn apart. Not vandalism, but like someone was looking for something. Something they wanted badly."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Castle asked.

"One of the neighbors called it in because he heard the place being torn up. He said the owners were a Ms. Simone Renoir and, get this, a Doctor Flynn Carsen."

"He's supposed to be from LA."

"Right, Captain. On a hunch, I asked the uniform to ask the neighbor to describe Ms. Renoir and I asked him to take a look at a photo of you. He IDed your photo as Simone. Said her hair was shorter and darker and she was maybe a little younger, and she had a French accent."

"Son of a bitch!" Beckett swore.

"And here's the icing on the cake. Dr. Carsen works for The Library."

"Get a warrant. As soon as we get it, we're headed for The Library."

Castle, Beckett and her team were up before dawn and had a search warrant for The Library in their hands. As Judson had told them, The Library was open most of the time and it was open when they arrived. Kate marched up to the receptionist and showed her badge and the warrant. "We're here for Flynn Carsen and Simone Renoir. Where are they?"

"Why are you looking for them?"

Kate whirled around to find Judson standing right behind Esposito. No one had seen or heard him arrive.

"I believe that Ms. Renoir assaulted me and I want to interview Mr. Carsen about his consulting."

"Well, he consults with us all of the time. That's what he does, you know. Consults. As a consultant."

"Is he an employee of The Library?" Castle asked.

Judson looked very thoughtful. "He does work for us and he is on a retainer. I'm not sure whether that constitutes employment or not." He smiled. "I'll call our attorneys. They'll know." Judson pulled out his phone and began explaining to his attorney what had happened. "He says he'll be right over."

"Is Mr. Flynn or Ms. Renoir here?" Kate asked.

Judson again looked thoughtful. "I haven't seen Flynn, but the boy does come and go as he pleases. As for Ms. Renoir….Michelle, do we have a Ms. Renoir working here? I don't recall one, but there are so many people…"

Michelle shook her head. "I don't recall one either, but I'll check the roster."

"Ryan, Espo, get some uniforms and start searching the place." Kate was fuming at the delay. She did not like being disarmed and she intended to have Ms. Renoir in a prison jump suit as fast as she could.

Deep within The Library, Flynn's phone rang as he and Simone were busy reading old Manuscripts. Simone was yawning as dawn was breaking.

"Simone, the police, that Captain you spoke to and others. They have a search warrant and they're looking for us."

Simone's eyes brightened. "Silly, they can't get in here. Even a vampire couldn't even find this part of The Library, let alone get in."

"But it cuts me off from the NYPD."

"Phooey. You don't need the police. You have me. Unless you're interested in that captain. Are you?"

"Of course not. You know…." Flynn could see Simone's eyes closing.

"Damn, just when…." And then she was asleep.

Flynn gently picked her up and carried her to the bed, undressed her and then checked the clock. He had gotten up early that morning to read manuscripts, then had spent the day with the police and then came back to The Library. He smiled down at Simone and began undressing, then slid into bed with her. He was sure he wasn't going to the 12th Precinct today.

Kate had her officers search every square inch of The Library. Twice. They had found nothing. Judson insisted that they had no record of a Ms. Renoir.

"Is she Carsen's girlfriend?" She demanded.

The older man looked puzzled. "Flynn is a young man, with a young man's interests in young women. I know he was seeing a blonde woman a while ago. Jane? Janet? Juliet? Well, she was very pretty and I thought…"

"Is she his girlfriend?" Kate repeated.

"I really have no idea. Flynn and I work together, but due to the difference in ages, we don't socialize together. Of course, we could…"

"Thank you." She snapped and walked off.

Kate pulled her people out of The Library and went back to the precinct. Once there, she sat at her computer going over everything she could find about The Library, Flynn Carsen and Simone Renoir. Simone was almost a complete waste of time. There were dozens of Simone Renoirs but none of them matched the one Kate had seen. Flynn Carsen was easier, but of little help. The man had an enormous number of academic qualifications, but the most recent mention of him was several years ago. She carefully read through each entry she found on line and found that Carsen rally was both a genius and very eccentric. In the end, she didn't feel she knew any more useful information about Flynn Carsen than she did when she started.

The Library was another story. The on line information on The Library went on forever. Kate got another cup of coffee and began reading. She had been reading for hours when Rick, who had been scrubbing video footage with Ryan and Tory Ellis knocked on her door. "Ready for dinner?"

She shook her head. "I can't. I have a crazed murderer out there who thinks she's a vampire and she has some connection to Carsen and to The Library. I can't stop now. You go home, Rick. I'll work for a few more hours."

He nodded, knowing better than to try to argue with her when she was on a case like this. "Tell you what. I'll go get us some burgers from Remy's. Your usual?"

She smiled sweetly. "I love you. And yes, a cheeseburger, fries and a strawberry shake."

Rick was back quickly and they ate while Kate read about The Library.

"Rick, we've finished dinner. You're bored. Why don't you go home? I'll be there in a few hours. Okay?"

"Two hours, or I'm coming to get you and drag you home."

"Three hours?"

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. Finally, "Okay. Three hours, but not a second longer."

Kate was rather proud that she'd called Rick two and a half hours after he'd gone home to tell him she was on her way. She walked into the darkened police garage, heading for her car and fumbling for her keys in the dark.

"Hello, Captain Castle. How are you?"

She recognized the voice at once and spun around, pulling her Glock at the same time. "Simone Renoir?"

Simone stepped out of the shadows. "Yes. May we talk?"

"Simone Renoir, you're under arrest for murder. Put your hands on your head and turn around." Simone complied and Kate walked over to her and searched her. "Slowly, put your hands behind your back."

"Certainly. Like this?" Simone complied.

Kate put the cuffs on her and read her her rights. "I need to take you into the station. Do you wish to make a statement?"

Simone turned around. "Yes. I'm a vampire."

Kate shook her head. "Simone, you're not a vampire. You may think you are, but I can get you help."

Simone smiled. "If I'm not a vampire, how do you explain these?" She opened her mouth to show her fangs.

"I've seen those before. A dentist did those for you. They aren't real. Simone, you need help."

"Not real? Then explain this." Simone's fangs retracted into her upper jaw, then came back down. She repeated the procedure several times.

"I don't know how you do that, but there are no vampires. They don't exist."

"How about this?" Simone held out her hands. The chain between the two cuffs had been pulled apart.

Kate was feeling very odd about this. "You have something, some kind of machine behind your back."

Simone turned around. "Then find it."

Kat ran her hand over Simone and found nothing.

The younger woman turned to face Kate. "Take my pulse."

Late reached for her hand to take her pulse. She couldn't find one. She tried the other hand, then Simone's neck. She had no pulse.

"Please, Captain Castle. I am a vampire. I'm dead. Well, not dead as we understand the term, but as you would. But I move, talk, dance, make love and feel joy, pain, sadness….everything you feel. But I'm a vampire and I'm over four hundred years old. And technically dead."

"Simone that's…." Kate wanted to tell her that was impossible, but couldn't.

"So, I'm a special kind of dead. Like any vampire. You know there hasn't been much good research done on us to explain all of this. Most people want to drive a stake through our heart, or cut off our heads instead of trying to understand us. It is sad."

"Simone, why have you killed those people?" Kate had to get the conversation back to somewhere that made sense.

"I've killed in the past, but never to feed. I buy the blood that I need. I've sworn to never take even a drop of blood from a human, even if it means my death. My permanent death. I never have and I never will. As far as the people I have killed, I did so to save my own life or the life of another. But I've killed no one in New York."

"Then who did kill those people?"

"Another vampire."

Kate shook her head. This just seemed to go in one big circle. But how could she explain what she had seen Simone do? "How do you know it's a… vampire?" Kate had trouble even asking that question.

"A feeling I get. I can't explain it. It would be like explaining sight to a blind person. It's something I can do, some skill I have."

"What can you tell me about…these people? In New York?"

Simone shrugged. "Not much. I confess that vampires do kill humans. I've never met a vampire that didn't kill them. They feel superior to humans because of their strength and their long lives. They don't understand that being a vampire is a curse. They'll never know love or even the happiness that comes with the companionship of a friend. They have no friends. And so I avoid others of my kind."

"Why aren't you that way?"

Simone laughed. "I don't know. Perhaps there are others like me. Perhaps it's because I was in love when I was taken that I want to love and be loved so badly."

"Flynn?"

Simone nodded and smiled. "I do love him. It's hard. I have loved humans before. I had to watch them grow old and die and leave me. But I remained the same. But that is changing, perhaps."

"How?" Kate couldn't believe she was asking a vampire about her love life. She still couldn't believe she was really talking to a vampire. There has to be some logical explanation to this.

"I found something that Flynn was looking for. A relic. A powerful relic. It would change vampires, supposedly. When Flynn finally had it, I wanted to die. A decided to sit and watch the sun come up with Flynn. The sun would kill me of course. But Flynn touched me with this object and it changed me. I can be in the sun, although I get sunburned. "That caused Simone to laugh. "Imagine! A vampire with a sunburn. I can stay awake a bit in the day and sleep a bit at night. And I can eat a little. It's like I'm partially alive. Alive as you know it."

"Simone, I need to take you into the station." Kate hadn't gotten the last word out when Simone disappeared in a puff of wind. She appeared ten feet from Kate.

"No. If I let you take me in there, even if I can prove that I have killed none of those people, I'll never be free. A vampire? A true dead woman walking? The government would keep me and study me and do…I don't know what they'd do to me."

"Simone, I can help you. Please trust me."

"I do trust you. But you won't be deciding my future. Other people, much more powerful than you will." Simone broke the steel cuffs still around her wrists and threw them to Kate. "I want to help you. I will help you. But not at the cost of my freedom." Simone disappeared and reappeared at the end of the garage, then she was gone.

Kate put the pieces of the cuffs in her purse and walked slowly to her car, completely unsure of what to do.