Chapter Seven
Castle and Beckett made their way through the empty store, Beckett flashing her badge at the uniformed officers guarding the entrance from the press and curious passersby.
"So, Lanie and Esposito, huh?" Castle remarked, breaking the silence between them as they walked.
Beckett laughed. "Yeah, seems like it." She paused, smiling as she continued. "It makes sense, though, doesn't it?"
Castle looked at her and pondered her question. "Why is that?"
"Two people working together for years. The jokes, the suggestive comments, the bonds they form. Eventually it's bound to lead somewhere else." Beckett remarked, not realizing the full extent of what she was saying or how Castle may have taken it.
"My my, Beckett." He grinned. "Are you saying you actually do believe in fate?"
Beckett smirked back at him. "I don't deny that it's possible." She paused. "In some cases."
Castle laughed. "Careful there, detective. Don't tell me you've finally gone soft."
"Come on, Castle." She replied. "You're the storyteller. Isn't this the epitome of a love story?" She smiled as she explained. "Star-crossed lovers, friends, partners, eventually realizing that what they've been looking for has been right in front of them all along?"
Castle nodded, smiling. "That it is, detective." He stopped in his tracks suddenly. "Except…" His voice trailed off, deep in thought.
Beckett turned to look at him, a puzzled look flashing across his face. Her brow furrowed as she tried to read his expression. "What?"
"Well, they're not partners." He stated, still thinking about what she had said.
Beckett immediately turned her gaze away from him, stammering for a response. "Yeah, you're right, I just meant that they work together." With that, she turned and continued through the store to the employees-only area.
Castle watched her for a brief moment, still puzzled, before he followed her.
Beckett walked through the open doorway of the back office, Castle following a few paces behind her.
Tyler rose from his chair to greet them both.
"I'm sorry for making you come all this way, detective, it's just that I still have a lot of work to do, even if the store is closed." Tyler apologized as he shook Beckett's hand and motioned for her to sit down across the desk from him.
Beckett and Castle both took their seats and settled in for a discussion with the store manager.
"Well, thank you for seeing us, Mr. Brooks." Beckett replied. "Our CSU team is just wrapping up their sweep of the scene, so you should be able to reopen the store tomorrow morning."
Tyler breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, detective, I appreciate that." He shifted his papers around on his desk to give himself more space. "Now, how can I help?"
"We've spoken to some of your employees and to Ms. Carter and I was hoping you could shed some light on the issues between Mr. McKay and his ex-wife." Beckett replied.
Tyler took a deep breath. "Yes, that was a rather troubling situation." He began. "Peter and Sydney had a bit of a shouting match one afternoon and Sydney was rather upset about it. She demanded that I terminate Peter's employment and threatened to take her business elsewhere if I didn't obey her."
"And you refused?" Castle asked. "She was one of your best customers, surely that made it difficult."
Tyler nodded. "Of course. But I simply couldn't put Peter out of work at this time of the year, it just wasn't right. I assumed Sydney was upset and would see the light when she had a chance to calm down and assess the situation."
Beckett watched the man in front of her as she spoke. "According to Ms. Carter, you informed her that Peter had a problem with alcohol and were planning on using that as grounds to fire him when he eventually got caught. Is that true?"
"Well, that is what I told her." Tyler smirked. "But there was no truth to it." He watched as Castle and Beckett exchanged a puzzled look. "Peter was actually a model employee."
"So why make up a rumour otherwise?" Castle asked.
Tyler sucked in a breath. "Like you said, Mr. Castle, Sydney was one of our best customers. Sometimes you just have to tell people like her what they need to hear." He paused before continuing. "I simply insinuated that I was trying to cover my bases and have a more legitimate reason for terminating Peter so he couldn't sue me for wrongful dismissal."
"And you're certain she believed you?" Beckett asked.
Tyler grinned. "She relayed that information to you, did she not?"
Castle nodded in appreciation. "Well played, Mr. Brooks."
Beckett rolled her eyes. "Why not just do what was best for your store and make your customer happy?" She asked.
"I didn't see the logic in that, detective. I felt badly for Ally and Jason because they would surely lose on their commissions in Sydney's absence, but Peter was about to have his career back on track and would be leaving after the holiday season anyway." He paused as he continued. "I didn't see the need to let him go. Like I said, he was a model employee."
Beckett studied the man in front of her as someone else entered the room behind them. They spun around to see a rather attractive woman, dressed nicely in office attire, standing in the doorway. She seemed rather surprised to see the duo.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." She stated.
Tyler rose from his chair and motioned towards her. "Detective, I'm sorry for the intrusion. This is Claire Martin, our resident Mrs. Claus and a devoted office employee here, somewhat of my assistant manager, to be exact."
Beckett and Castle both rose to shake Claire's hand.
"Claire, this is Detective Kate Beckett." Tyler stated.
"Yes, and this is…" Beckett began, cut off quickly by Claire's gushing outburst.
"Richard Castle!" Claire exclaimed, extending her hand to him and shaking it vigorously. "I'm a huge fan of yours, Mr. Castle."
"Please, call me Rick." Castle replied as Beckett rolled her eyes.
Tyler interrupted the impromptu meet-and-greet, clearing his throat before he spoke. "Was there anything else you needed from me, detective? If not, as you can see, I have some matters to attend to."
Beckett shook her head. "No, I think that's all we needed at the moment, Mr. Brooks. Thank you for your time."
Beckett turned to leave, noticing Claire still gushing over Castle. "Come on, Rick, it's time to go." She said, sarcastically emphasizing his name as she gently pushed him towards the door.
Castle and Beckett quietly sat on the edge of Beckett's desk, studying the murder board in the dim, coloured lighting of the holiday-themed bullpen.
They sat in silence for a moment before Beckett spoke. "What are you thinking?"
Castle pondered for a second before replying. "Well, I'm wondering if Ally or Jason may have blamed Peter for their lost commissions. If he hadn't gotten into that argument, they'd both have much more money coming in for the holidays."
Beckett nodded. "Sure, it's a good theory." Her comment elicited a small smile from Castle. "So maybe one of them decided to take Peter out of the equation, get Sydney back in the store again."
"Could be." Castle agreed. "I mean, their commissions from her sales weren't exactly petty cash."
Ryan and Esposito interrupted as they sauntered up to Beckett's desk.
"You may be on to something, bro." Esposito stated.
Ryan nodded. "Turns out Jason was in pretty deep. Gambling habit got a little out of control a while back and he owed a lot of money."
"And then, just a week ago…" Esposito added, pausing for effect. "It was magically all paid off."
Beckett and Castle looked at each other and grinned. "Great job, you two." Beckett replied. "For now, just go home and get some sleep. I'll need you two to keep looking into the financials tomorrow, see if you can dig up where that money came from."
Ryan and Esposito nodded and excused themselves to head home for the night while Beckett turned and moved Jason's picture to the suspect area of the murder board.
"Tomorrow morning we'll head back to the store and see what we can get out of Mr. Samuels." Beckett stated.
Castle grabbed his coat from the chair. "Are you heading home, detective?"
Beckett nodded. "Yeah, it's been a long day."
"Well, a little fresh air might help." Castle added, smiling. "Can I walk you home?"
Beckett thought for a brief moment before answering. "Sure, the fresh air really would be nice right now."
"And the company?" Castle prodded, winking at her.
Beckett laughed. "We'll see."
They gathered their belongings and headed out into the fresh winter night.
You know what this means… a pure Castle and Beckett chapter up next ;-)
Those are always my favourites to write! And if you enjoy that, just wait until the closing chapters of the story ;-) ;-) Yes, that was a double wink...
