Miracle at the 12th

Chapter 14

Title: Uncle (Father) Christmas (by the Kinks)

Disclaimer: The good little boys and girls of the 12th, sadly not mine. But I do enjoy taking them out for a good old-fashioned sleigh ride. Thanks Marlowe and Company.

"Ms. Hanson, I'm Detective Esposito. Thanks for coming in." He took in her costume and gave his head a shake to clear it. Alison Hanson was young and cute, but if he never saw another elf again, it would be too soon. He plastered on a smile.

She smiled back and subtly checked him out. "No, problem."

He sat down across from her and spread out his files. "Did Detective Karpowski explain why you've been called down here today?"

"Yes, she did. She said it was about Timmy, but I'm not sure how I can help."

He nodded. "I only have a few questions for you. How well did you know the deceased?"

"We worked together at Macy's. I'd only known him for a little over a month, but he was a real sweetheart. We'll all miss him." She shook her head. "I just can't believe he's gone. Santa must be heartbroken - they were very close. He was a very good elf - one of the best I've ever seen."

Santa? Elves? He looked into her eyes and braced himself for another ride on the cray-cray train. He was thinking about getting a monthly pass; maybe save some money. "Ms. Hanson, let's talk about Tommy Frost. Can you tell me the last time you saw him?"

"Tommy - sure. Yesterday at work. We closed up at around five pm, clocked-out."

"What can you tell me about him? Any strange behavior? Have you heard anything that might be related to our case?"

"Well, actually I do have some thoughts on that subject, but I'm not sure if they pertain directly to the case or not."

"By all means, feel free to share whatever you like. You never know, might end up being useful."

"Okay. Well, frankly I thought Tommy's performance was a little lacking, you know what I mean?"

"Performance?"

"Yeah, you know... his portrayal of an elf, working side by side, day in and day out with Santa, in the big mean city, so far away from home. The daily interaction with the children, the spreading of holiday cheer...I'm just not sure he ever really fully-embraced his role. His whole heart never seemed to be in it.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"What I mean is, Tommy's head wasn't in the game. His mind always seemed elsewhere. But now Timmy - he really nailed it. That kid...he made one hellova elf."

He remained silent as she explained further..."Timmy and Santa both took their roles very seriously - much like myself. You know, I was originally cast in the role of Mrs. Claus. Until they gave it to that bitch, Tammy. I mean, puh-lease. Seriously, have you met her?" He nodded back. "Does that ho really look like she could be the actual Mrs. Claus? Give me a break."

He was trying to follow her, he really was, but she was making him dizzy. Surprised at how quickly they'd gone off-track, he realized it was time to reel her in. "Alrighty then. Can you tell me where you were last night between the hours of five and say midnight?"

"I'm not sure how that's relevant, but I was at my boyfriends..."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Let me do the talking on this one, okay, Castle?" Beckett warned, as they stood outside the door. "Karpowski said the girl was uncooperative and not that I'm judging, but you seemed slightly intimidated by her earlier today. She'll probably be more responsive to me."

"Not gonna be a problem." He was more than happy to put a temporarily hold on his "man-card" during this particular interrogation and made a show of zipping his lips shut before holding the door open for her.

Holly sat up at attention when they entered. She'd recognized them both from earlier in the day when they'd visited the store; especially the tall, older, dark-haired man who'd she'd caught staring at her chest. She gave him the evil eye and he backed away; apparently remembering her as well.

Even though he'd known what to expect when the door opened, the girl still scared the crap out of him. He moved to the back of the room having agreed to be "Mr. Incognito".

Beckett smiled warmly at the girl and tried not to stare openly at the blinding bright green and red outfit she was subjected to wearing. "Ms. Winter, I'm Detective Kate Beckett and this is my associate, Rick Castle. Sorry to have kept you waiting." Beckett extended her hand and the girl shook it, albeit hesitantly as she simultaneously eyed Castle with suspicion. He nodded in greeting then leaned up against the wall in what Beckett could only call a lame, failed attempt at disappearing into the background.

The girl turned her attention to Beckett, wasting no time with formalities. "Is Kris okay or not? The other detective said he'd been injured."

"Yes. The doctors say he's going to be fine, physically. Our main concern now is for his safety. There are some bad people out there who we believe might still be trying to hurt him. The same people who may have killed Timmy and three others. You wouldn't happen to know who any of those people might be, would you?"

She didn't answer Beckett's question. "Forgive me if I don't believe you, but I'd like to see Kris for myself, if you don't mind – it's rather important. Is he under arrest or something?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Winter, but I can't allow it. He's not under arrest, however, he is under police and federal protection at the moment, as well as being a potential witness in an open murder investigation."

"But I'm family. You can't keep him from his family. There has to be a law about that, I'm sure of it."

Family? Beckett hadn't seen that one coming. Although unexpected, she supposed the girl could be telling the truth, but she had her doubts. Some of which she chose not to examine too closely. She turned to Castle to gauge his reaction. Her partner gave her a small head shake, and then scrunched up his face, silently disagreeing.

She turned back to Holly, who had been watching them. "I'm sorry, but how exactly are you related to Kris?"

The kid never blinked an eye. "He's my uncle."

Beckett studied her carefully, trying to determine whether or not she was telling the truth. Nowhere in Karpowski's report had it stated the girl claimed to be related to Kris. Ultimately, Holly's tenacity was no match for Beckett's scrutiny. The girl fidgeted in her seat and eventually broke eye contact. Beckett knew she was lying, but decided to play along.

Castle must have caught the girl's body language as well. "Ha!" He shouted, pointing at her. "He is so not your uncle!"

"Castle!" Beckett whisper-yelled, never turning her attention away from Holly. So much for letting her do the talking.

"He is too my uncle!" She challenged, giving him the stink-eye. She leaned back in her chair and criss-crossed her arms. "Uncle Kris, my mother's brother." she added, daring him to argue further.

"Humph." Came his stifled reply. Then he snorted.

Beckett closed her eyes briefly, counted to three, and reopened them. "Be that as it may, Ms. Winter, we still believe he's in danger and will continue to protect him. If you want to help your uncle, then you can start by telling us who might want to harm him."

Holly clamped down on her lips determined to give them no information until they first agreed to take her to see Kris. She studied Beckett, a worthy advisory, unlike her brooding "associate" up against the wall; no way he was a cop. She locked eyes with Beckett who was waiting patiently for her response. It appeared they had reached an impasse.

Holly determined a different approach might be in order. "Okay. Fine. But will you at least promise to let me see him, even if it's only for a few minutes? If you do, I'll tell you everything I know."

"I think that can be arranged." What harm could a mere few minutes with Kris do? Anything to move this case along. "But first you'll need to agree to be completely honest with me."

"Fine." She answered, rolling her eyes. "There's these two guys, complete losers, who've been harassing Tommy, my uncle's friend. One of them goes by the name BB and the other is some guy he called Vinny who hangs with him. Tommy owes their boss some money, or so they say. My Uncle Kris may have gotten mixed up in the middle of it somehow, but I'm certain it's only because he was trying to help."

"Tommy, would be Tommy Frost, then? Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And when was the last time you saw Tommy?"

"Yesterday, at work."

"And exactly what is the nature of your relationship with Mr. Frost?"

"We're co-workers."

Beckett paused, waiting for Holly to expand, but the girl remained silent. "Nothing more?"

"No."

"Ms. Winter, a few of your co-workers have suggested that you and Tommy were a couple. Would you care to elaborate?"

"No. And for the record, you shouldn't believe everything they tell you. You may or may not have noticed, but they're all complete morons."

"If you want to see your uncle, you'll stop lying to me."

"I'm not lying; they're all out of their minds."

"You know I'm talking about you and Tommy."

Holly rolled her eyes again and sighed heavily. Although annoyed, she sort of liked this Detective Beckett; seemed like a straight-shooter. Whether or not she could be trusted; verdict was still out. "Fine. Yes, we've been seeing each other. Is there a law against that?"

"No. How long have you known him?"

"We met last month when he started working at Macy's, became friends and started dating."

"Has he made contact with you since you left work yesterday?"

"No. I haven't heard from him."

"And where were you last night between the hours of five and midnight?"

"After work I went straight home, had dinner, watched Grey's Anatomy, and then went to bed...alone. Why are you looking for him anyway? Surely you have better things to do with your time."

"Well, Holly, it's like this...he's been linked to known criminals, may have answers to why your uncle's apartment was blown up and it's not yet clear as to whether or not he had anything to do with actually causing the explosion. We've got more than a few questions."

Holly's heart started to race. "He didn't do this." She defended. "Tommy would never hurt Kris or Timmy; he wouldn't hurt a fly! He's not like that. He loves them. He just has some...issues to work through. He's been working hard to get his life back on track."

"That may be the case, but even if you're right it's possible he may also be in danger."

"Like I said, I haven't heard from him."

"Holly, did Tommy give you anything to hold on to for him? A package perhaps?"

"No."

"What if I obtained a search warrant and checked your apartment myself?"

"Go crazy. Check it. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Okay. Let's talk about Timmy. How long did you know the deceased?"

"I met him the same day I met Tommy – when the North Pole Exhibit opened up and we started working together."

"Do you know of any reason someone would want to harm Timmy?"

"No. He was beloved by everyone."

"And your Uncle Kris...and we're looking for specifics, Holly. Did you see or hear anything that would explain why someone might try to hurt him."

"Seriously? Who in their right mind would want to hurt Santa Claus? What's wrong with you people?" She blurted out.

Oh, great. Another believer... "So, you believe your Uncle Kris is really Santa Claus?"

Holly let out a nervous chuckle, shook her head, and then checked her cuticles. She intentionally avoided Castle's piercing gaze, and took a deep breath before speaking directly to Beckett. "You think, I think, my uncle is Santa Claus? OMG! Of course not, don't be ridiculous. However, everyone else on the planet seems to think so. The man doesn't have a single enemy. I mean, you've met him right?"

Kate nodded and Holly continued, "Detective, even you have to admit, he's the living, breathing symbol of Christmas – who'd want to hurt him? Total strangers approach him then hand over their children so he can bounce them on his knee; man doesn't get a moments peace, and yet he's always so freaking merry. He's like a saint."

Contrary to Holly's tirade, Beckett suspected the girl still was still holding back. She checked her watch. It was getting late and they were getting nowhere. "I'll need you to ID the men you named from these photos."

Holly blew and popped a bubble with her gum. "That's BB. And the big guy's Vinny." She said, pointing them out. "Please...do us all a favor; arrest them."

"We're looking into it, but I'd like to know why you'd want me to arrest them."

Seeing the photos of BB and Vinny made Holly nervous, and she bit on her bottom lip. She could kill Tommy herself for getting involved with these two. She decided to share some information with Beckett and her "associate" she figured they probably already knew anyway. She had to give them something so she'd appear to be cooperating. "They came by my apartment a few weeks ago looking for Tommy. He was there and they roughed him up. One of my nosy neighbors called the cops. So...what I'm saying is, they're really bad people. Also, they know where I live."

Beckett looked her in the eyes and nodded. "Understood. Let me think on that awhile." The kid was putting up a good front at being brave, but Beckett suspected it was all an act. "What about these men? Recognize anyone?"

She watched as Holly scanned the pictures on the table. "Nope, I've never seen these two, but this man...I may have seen him somewhere." She studied it closer. "Yeah, I remember now. He was in the backseat of a car sitting outside my uncle's apartment one night. It was dark out, but that's him. He never got out of the car, just rolled down the window and talked to Tommy for a few minutes."

When Beckett realized who Holly had id'd, her head jerked up and her eyes went wide. "Are you sure this is the man you saw, Holly?"

Holly nodded. "Yeah. Tommy insisted I go back inside the building while they talked and later refused to tell me what they talked about, but whatever it was, he was spooked. That's the only time I ever saw the guy. I don't know his name."

Beckett picked up the photo and then glanced back to her partner. "Castle?"

"Yeah?" He answered, her tone suddenly alarming him. He walked over to where she sat, leaned over her shoulder and glanced down at the photo she held. "Woah." He took the picture from her hands, stared at it long and hard. He and Beckett exchanged another long glance.

Holly studied them both curiously. She'd only known them a short time but wondered if they knew how often they carried on conversations without the use of actual words.

Despite Castle's earlier promise to remain quiet, he couldn't resist. "Holly, you're certain, this is the man in the car you saw talking to Tommy?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Did I stutter?"

"No." He replied, not letting her rattle him. He'd come to the conclusion she was more of a brat than scary gargantuan elf.

"Well then, like I said...it's him."

"You're certain?"

Holly turned to Beckett. "Is he always like this?"

"Yes." She nodded.

Ignoring his traitorous girlfriend's jibe, he continued. "I only ask again, because it's so not what either of us expected you'd say...

XXXXXXXXXX

Having finished up his interview with Alison Hanson, Esposito sat down with Cammie Coleman, the photographer's assistant. At this point, the outfit she wore didn't even faze him. He introduced himself, thanked her for coming down to speak with them, then got right down to business.

"Mrs. Walker explained why you were asked to come down today?"

"Yes. She told us it was because of what happened to that sweet little elf, Timmy. It's so sad..."

"Very sorry for your loss, Ms. Coleman."

"Thank you. And honey, you can call me Cammie, or Cam's; whatev." She smiled.

"We're investigating his murder. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

"Sure thing." Then she giggled, surprising him. "Sorry, but it feels just like I'm on one of those police detective shows I watch all the time. I've never been inside a police station before. It's so exciting...are you going to read me my rights?"

He plastered on a fake smile and suppressed the urge to scream. "I don't think that will be necessary." Yet. "Do you know of anyone who might want to hurt Timmy?"

"No. He was adorb – everyone loved him."

"How about Tommy Frost? What's your relationship with him?"

"Oh, Tommy and I aren't in a relationship. I already have a boyfriend." She giggled again and he wanted to pull his hair out of his head.

"I meant, how well do you and Tommy know each other?"

"Oh. We're just work friends. He's a cutie too, but not really my type – way too young. Plus, I'm pretty sure he's seeing someone."

"And how well do you know...Kris?"

"He's married, but if he weren't...I'll tell ya; Mrs. Kringle's one lucky girl! Damn."

Esposito sighed. What he wouldn't give to be pouring over 300 hours of security footage with Ryan right now. He pulled out the photos he'd brought. "Cammie, do you recognize any of these people?"

She didn't hesitate for a second. "Why sure! Those are Stevie's friends."

His eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Stevie?"

"Stevie, my boss, the photographer. He's also my boyfriend." She blushed.

"So, these are Stevie's pals, then?"

"Oh, yeah. They're real nice. Although, BB's kind of got crazy eyes, if you know what I mean." she said giddily, before flashing him some crazy eyes of her own. "Sometimes, he makes me a little nervous. But Vinny and me, we watch a lot of the same shows. He's super sweet."

"Cammie, Can you tell me where you and Stevie were last night after work?"

"Sure. Stevie went straight home on account of having a bad headache. Poor baby; he works so hard. I asked him if he wanted me to come with him, but he insisted he just wanted to go home and lay down, so I went back to my place, ordered a pizza and caught up on my shows."

After spending twenty more minutes with her, three things became clear – chick hadn't a clue, she was of no help whatsoever, and he was in desperate need of a drink.

XXXXXXXXXX

Beckett was studying the murder board when Esposito and Jordan both caught up with her and Castle. "How'd it go with Hanson and Coleman?" Beckett asked Espo.

"Well, I didn't learn much – unless you count knowing that they're both sleeping with the same guy."

"The photographer." Castle said, much to Espo's surprise. "Hanson's his alibi." He explained.

"Coleman also id'd both BB and Vinny. Said they're 'pals' of her boyfriend. She's met them a bunch of times, but other than meeting them, she's got nothing. No shock there...not much going on in that head of hers."

Castle turned to Beckett, excitement in his eyes. "Tell me we can arrest Drucker now."

"I'd love to say yes, Castle, believe me, but last time I checked, you can't arrest someone on the grounds they're sleeping with more than one person." She tilted her head and looked at Jordan. "Can we?"

Jordan shook her head. "Sorry, no."

"Worth a shot." Kate shrugged.

"But we can put eyes on him, in case he makes contact with his criminal buddies again."

"Good idea." Kate replied. "How'd you make out with the get-a-way driver, Tony Rizzo?"

"Mr. Rizzo, cut a deal then sang like a soprano. Said his job was to wait outside in the car until they brought Jenkins down. Then he was supposed to drive them wherever he was told. Claimed he was instructed Jenkins was not to be harmed and that's all he knows."

"And his boss would be?" Castle asked.

"The fake doctor, Frank Gallo. How'd it go with Holly, the Elf-girl? She's still here, right?"

"Yes. I asked her to stick around. She's waiting in room three." Kate replied.

Castle made a face. "Such a brat."

Kate looked at him and shook her head. "What Castle means, is that Ms. Winter has been less than forthcoming; the girl knows more than she's letting on. We're gradually pulling the truth from her, but it took awhile for us to get her to finally admit she and Tommy were even a couple. She id'd BB and Vinny from when they visited her apartment a few weeks ago and beat up her boyfriend, but she claims not to know where he is. I think she believes she might also be in danger from the Mangosa's."

Jordan nodded. "Don't let her leave. She may be on to something. My guys went by her apartment. There was no sign of Frost."

"There's a weather joke in there somewhere..." Castle joked to Esposito, who didn't smile back, but looked at him like he'd lost it.

Jordan rolled her eyes "There were however, signs of forced entry, so my agents checked it out. Her apartment had been tossed; someone had been looking for something. It's probably not safe for her to go back there."

Kate nodded. "She seemed worried about them coming after her, but claimed not to know anything about any package. She also said Kris, I mean Jenkins, is actually her Uncle Kris, and she's insisting we let her see him. It might not be a bad idea. I never agreed to let her speak to him alone - maybe a visit from his 'niece' will jog his memory."

"Uncle Kris, huh?" Jordan said, shaking her head.

"I know right - as if..." Castle said, followed by an eye roll. "Oh, Kate, tell them the best part!"

She nodded, stepped closer to the murder board and then turned to them. "What Castle is referring to is that when we showed Holly the photos of the Mangosa brothers, she didn't recognize either Drago or Carlos." Kate then pulled off a photo that was hanging and moved it to the center of the board. She turned around to face them. "She has, however, made contact with their younger brother, Edmondo..."

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Stay tuned for more. I'm on a mission to finish this by Christmas. Karen