Life Goes On

Chapter 14

After returning from the loft with Castle, Kate was just closing her desk drawer on her purse when Ryan and Esposito appeared in the doorway of her office. "Tell me about the rest of the search of Dickenson's apartment," she instructed.

"Not good news, Captain," Ryan stated grimly. "CSU couldn't find any shoes with fabric softener on the soles. There was no GSR on any of Dickenson's clothes. So far, the DNA is the only evidence we have he was in Kiki's apartment. And his lawyer is arguing that he wasn't, that the DNA was a transfer from Nicholson from when he met with Dickenson earlier."

"Could it have been?" Beckett queried.

"CSU doesn't think so," Ryan replied.

"But Dickenson's lawyer's going to claim the DNA is irrelevant anyway," Esposito added, "'cause the shooting didn't take place inside Kiki's apartment, it took place in the hall."

"So we've got nothing from the Dickenson's place," Kate concluded.

"Pretty much," Ryan agreed.

""How about the bug? Any connection there?" Kate asked.

"We're still tracing, but it was sold to someone in New York," Esposito related.

Kate and Castle gazed at each other. "Well maybe we can stretch that a little and use it," she proposed. "We've still got time on the twenty-four hours we can hold Dickenson. Get him back in the box."

Castle watched from Observation as, eyes narrowed and jaw set, Kate faced Dickenson and his attorney across the metallic span of the interrogation table. "We know about the bug, Corlin. We know you put it in Kiki Harkness's apartment. Just that, is enough to get you bounced from the department and possibly behind bars. And we know we're going to find out more. So tell us why you went to that much trouble to find out what Nicholson was up to and we may be able to put the D.A. in a forgiving mood."

Dickenson turned to his lawyer, who nodded. "Alright, I knew Nicholson was helping out a friend of mine a little."

"Burgess Estes?" Kate prompted.

"Yes," Dickenson agreed. "Anyway, Nicholson was getting nervous. He thought he was being watched, like maybe IAD was onto him. I told him I had that covered and they weren't, but he was still jumpy. He called me from Kiki's apartment and he was really sounding paranoid. I wanted to check up on him so I planted the bug. Then I got out of there. That's all."

Castle knocked on the glass. Kate excused herself and met him outside the door. "Kate," Castle wondered, "If Dickenson is telling the truth, could anyone else have been monitoring that bug, like the photographer did when he picked up the feed from the camera in Kay Capuccio's dog's collar a few years ago? If someone listened in from the laundry room, maybe that was who tracked the fabric softener and shot Nicholson."

Teeth on her lower lip, Kate nodded slowly. "That is possible, Castle. We just need to figure out who would be interested in monitoring Nicholson besides Dickenson."

"Cherchez la femme?" Castle suggested. "For his wife, shooting him in front of his mistress' apartment would be very symbolic and possibly very satisfying. The whole real estate thing could be one giant red herring. Maybe it was always about Nicholson being a cheating cheater."

"You may be right, Castle," Kate conceded. "CSU did say the fabric softener tracks were small and it was possible they might have been from a woman. We just focused on men because of Dickenson's DNA. And Burgess Estes had an alibi. Security cameras in his building have him going in before the murder and not leaving until long afterward. Of course he could have had some of his muscle do it for him, but I don't see someone who'd push a little old lady down the stairs being subtle enough to intercept the transmission from a bug. It's past time to talk to the grieving widow. You want to stay?"

Castle shook his head regretfully."Wish I could, but I promised a meet and greet with one of your contributors who needs a little push to write a check for your TV ads, and I owe Gina another two chapters on the next Derrick Storm. I need to proof them. So tell me about the fatal female over a late supper?"

Kate stretched upward for a quick kiss. "It's a date."

Margaret Nicholson snorted and rolled her eyes as she settled into a chair in the interrogation lounge. "Did I know Nick was having an affair? Hell yes. I thanked God every night for that little tramp. She kept him away from me. Jerk snored like a chain saw and cut his toenails in bed. You ever have one of those shavings prick you in the middle of the night? Ugh! And he drank beer for breakfast." She rolled her lips in disgust. "Listen, the only reason I was staying around was I knew he was stashing money somewhere and I needed time to track it down. My lawyer has a forensic accountant on it. Since the commissioner isn't doing a press conference, I assume you haven't found whoever took Nick out yet."

"We are definitely getting closer," Kate responded. "What makes you think your husband was stashing money?"

Margaret held up a flat hand in front of Kate's face. "Oh please! No matter what kind of garbage the commissioner feeds the press, if you people are doing any investigation at all, you know that Nick did favors, especially for Dickenson's buddy Burgess Estes. And I'm sure Nick wasn't doing them for old times sake, although Dickenson did keep the heat off Nick's back. Nick wasn't exactly Mr. Law and Order. He just wanted to put his time in and get what he could from the system. Maybe someone just didn't like the way Nick did business. No honor among thieves and all that. Maybe you people will have more luck following the money than I did."

"I'll need contact information for that forensic accountant," Kate decided.

"My lawyer has it, for all the good it will do you." Margaret took her cell phone from a leather satchel she carried and displayed a contact for Kate. "Here. Now can your people get me out a back door or something? The press is driving me crazy and I'm not in the mood to have to put on my weepy look."

"Sure, Mrs. Nicholson," Kate agreed. "Thank you for being so forthcoming."

Margaret shrugged. "Life is short and I've wasted too much of it on that loser already. The sooner this is over, the better."

Kate sighed as she watched Margaret being ushered toward the elevator. No one liked Nicholson. She'd have the boys check Margaret's alibi, but her gut told her the wife didn't do it. So who had enough savvy to intercept transmissions from a bug and would want Nicholson gone? She was stymied again, and her desk was piled high from all the time she was spending investigating the case. If Castle's late supper wasn't going to turn into a midnight snack, she had to start digging through the paper.

Castle arranged the table with satisfaction. Gina had been placated. A check had been delivered for Alexis to put to work on Kate's broadcast blitz and Hayley had just negotiated a fat finder's fee for the recovery of a Slovinski, which if nothing else would keep Richard Castle investigations from turning back into a money pit. Hearing Kate's key in the door, he lit two white tapers and turned to see his wife stomp in. She didn't look like she was in a romantic mood.

A/N My new book, Dark Awakening by Sally Ramsey, is now on sale on Amazon. There is a link on my profile page.