A/N : Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. I'll have the next one out sooner to make up for it.
Disclaimer : Castle is not mine it is ABC's
The Roggenkamp Farm
Kate manoeuvres her blue Charger down the dirt track leading to the main house on the Roggenkamp farm. As she drives she ponders on why she and Kent, who is sitting in the passenger seat next to her, are here. After his dramatic writing of Sheriff Hogan's name on the murder board the NJSP Detective had proceeded to tell everyone present the reason why.
It turns out that the wife of the Deputy that the Sheriff had introduced Kent to had a bit more information to share than the Sheriff knew of or even wanted known. During their joint interview of the woman Kent had gotten the distinct impression that the woman had a some more to say but wouldn't say it in the presence of the Sheriff. So after parting company with the Sheriff, Kent had gone back to the woman's house to speak to her privately. What she told him had led him to write Sheriff Hogan's name up as a person of interest.
According to the woman Mrs Roggenkamp and Sheriff Hogan had been more than friends for several years. It was something that the pair was keeping secret from everyone but the woman that Kent had spoken to had come across the couple one time at an old picnic spot that they all used back when they were in school. Being a 'friend' of Mrs Roggenkamp Kent's informant had tried to hint to her friend that she knew more about her relationship with the Sheriff but apparently the woman had denied it. The friend hadn't pressed it because while the Sheriff was a widower Mrs Roggenkamp was her friend and she didn't want to embarrass the woman. She only mentioned it at all to Kent due to the seriousness of the fact of Arty Roggenkamp's murder. While Kate, and everyone in the conference room, had been surprised she had been sceptical at first because the source of Kent's information could just be spreading unsubstantiated gossip.
Fortunately Esposito had immediately been able to supply some confirmation of the possible relationship between the Sheriff and the recently widowed woman. From the phone records he was studying he had already highlighted several phone calls to the Roggenkamp's home phone during the middle of the day from the same cell phone. Esposito hadn't run down the owner of the number yet but all it took was a glance at the card with his contact details that Sheriff Hogan had given her for them to confirm that it was his cell phone making the calls.
Being very conscious that Sheriff Hogan, along with the NYSP, had called her taskforce in to investigate the murder she had immediately wanted to talk to the man. While it would be unlikely for him to bring in outsiders to investigate Roggenkamp's murder if he was responsible, he still needed to explain to her why he hadn't mentioned such a connection to the Roggenkamps if the fact of the affair is true. Such an omission was inherently suspicious.
The suspicious nature of the situation only increased when, upon inquiring upon the Sheriff's whereabouts they were told he was at the Roggenkamp's house giving some support to the victim's wife. Even now, as she drives, she rolls her eyes as she remembers Castle's comment of, "I bet he is," when they learned of the Sheriff's location.
So while she had taken Kent, both as her second in command and the one who brought the suspicious connection to light, with her to go confront both the Sheriff and Mrs Roggenkamp she had set the rest of the taskforce to work. Esposito to continue going through the victim's phone records for any other anomalous calls. With Douglas returned from again speaking to her superiors in DC she had set her back to work going through the Roggenkamp's financials with the addition for her to flag any connection between the Sheriff and the Roggenkamps. This in addition to a search to see if there was any truth to the rumours of the victim being in financial difficulty.
She had told Ryan and Castle to gather as much information on the members of the Southwick family as they could and for them to start looking for means and opportunity for one of them being responsible for the murder either in their own right or in conjunction with WayTech. While they waited for Gibson's warrant to come through she had instructed the NYPS Investigator and Kaminski to likewise gather as much information as they could about WayTech and in particular why the FBI would want to prevent them from investigating the company. Kate had studiously ignored the reaction that order had gotten from Douglas.
Kate realises she needs to have a talk with the young FBI Agent and as this case progresses it is becoming more apparent that she does so sooner rather than later. Previously she had been able to have a sit down with Gibson, Kaminski and briefly with Kent seeing as he joined just as they got the call for this case. The discussions they had were both a first step towards her getting to know them and their abilities but also to let them know what she expected from them as members of her team. With Douglas having just joined them as they started this case she hadn't been able to do that yet with her. She really needs to do so if for no other reason as to let Douglas know that she expects everyone's loyalty to be the taskforce first and for there to be no divided loyalties as difficult though that even she knows that can be.
As Kate brings her car to a stop in front of the two story, wooden, whitewashed house that is the Roggenkamp home and next to the Sheriff's cruiser parked there she realises that she also should have another talk to the man seated next to her. With a sigh she jerks up the hand brake, switches off the ignition and then pauses for a moment. Next to her Kent unbuckles his seat belt but then pauses himself as he has obviously picked up on Kate's wish to talk and he no doubt knows what she wants to talk to him about.
"So, Kent, is there anything about what we discussed back in New York that you want to tell me?" she asks him while turning in her seat to regard the Detective Sergeant.
At first the man's eyes won't meet hers but eventually he does look her in the eye as he replies, "I did speak to one of my old colleagues at West Trenton to see if there was any new information on my partner's murder."
Kate gives the man some credit for being honest with her not that he would get very far if he did try lying to her. She sighs again to convey her disappointment that Kent had already forgotten or disregarded their talk from when they first met.
"And did you learn anything new?" she asks letting her disappointment with him show in her tone.
"No," he responds in frustration.
"So are you prepared to give this investigation ALL of your focus or have you totally forgotten what we discussed before we came here? Have I made a mistake, Kent? Should I just send you back to New Jersey or are you able to concentrate on this case and keep any other personal investigations until you are off the clock?" she asks him frankly.
Now it's Kent's turn to sigh as he looks out the car's windshield, "Yes, Captain, I can focus on this case." Kent turns back to look Kate in the eye again, "I apologize, Captain. I appreciate you giving me a chance but I'm finding it difficult to let it go."
"I'm not asking you to let it go, Kent, but I am telling you that your first duty is to this taskforce and to this case. Anything else has to wait, for now," she tells him assertively.
He gives a single but definite nod of his head in acquiescence at that.
"OK, then," Kate nods in return before looking out at the house in front of them. "Let's see what Sheriff Hogan and Mrs Roggenkamp have to say for themselves."
Kate gets out of her car and Kent does the same and they both walk towards the front of the Roggenkamp house. Together they walk up the three steps onto the porch and then to the front door. However, before Kate can raise her hand to knock on the door, it is opened and Sheriff Hogan stands there with a look of resignation on his face.
"You better come in, Captain," Hogan says the resignation in his voice matching his demeanour.
As Kate steps inside with Kent close behind she asks Hogan, "You know why we're here, Sheriff?"
Hogan nods in confirmation and indicates with his hand towards the living room off the font entry where Kate can see Mrs Roggenkamp siting nervously on the sofa. As Kate and Kent enter the room the middle aged woman with shoulder length brown hair with a hint of grey at her temples half rises from the sofa and waves at a couple of armchairs across the coffee table from the sofa.
"Please take a seat," the woman offers in a quiet voice.
As Kate and the New Jersey Detective take the offered seats Sheriff Hogan goes to stand beside Mrs Roggenkamp before the pair of them sit down together and sit side by side on the sofa. Kate takes a moment to regard the couple, for that is what they obviously are, as they get as comfortable as they can on the seat across from her. Mrs Roggenkamp is continuing to look at the two new arrivals with nervousness tinged with a hint of embarrassment. Sheriff Hogan is looking directly at Kate and while there is also embarrassment in his expression there is a touch of defiance in his eyes. From their attitudes it is obvious to Kate that the gossip of their affair is more than just gossip.
Kate returns Hogan's defiant look and asks assertively, "So, Sheriff, would you care to explain why you didn't mention that you are having an affair with the victim's wife?"
There is a long moment where the Sheriff and Mrs Roggenkamp share a look before the Sheriff sighs and looks back at Kate. In a slightly conciliatory tone he says, "Look, Captain, I know I should have mentioned my...um...relationship with Sherrie before now but I'm a cop and I know how these things work. The second it is found out that the victim's wife is having an affair then both the wife and their partner become suspects. You said yourself that a lot of the time spouses are involved in a partner's murder. We were going to tell you I just wanted a few hours for Sherrie to get over the shock of Arty's death before we had everyone descend on us. You might find this hard to believe but we are in love and there isn't anything I wouldn't do to protect Sherrie."
"Even if I believe you Sheriff, you must know how keeping this from us looks. If your intention was to stave off any suspicion that yours and Mrs Roggenkamp's relationship might cause keeping that fact secret only increases the suspicion," Kate pauses and takes a breath before continuing. "You realise that as a result of this you can not have any further part in the investigation and you are right, I will have to treat you and Mrs Roggenkamp as suspects."
Hogan nods in resignation, "I know and I accept that, Captain. I've already told my mayor that I've stepped down while you track down Arty's killer. My senior deputy will take over and he will give you whatever support you need to complete your investigation."
Kate sits back in her chair and regards the Sheriff and his words for a moment. She then looks over at Kent and indicates with her head for him to start asking the questions that must be asked.
"Sheriff, where were you between 8pm and 10pm last night?" asks Kent.
"I was at the station. There are at least two of my deputies that can verify that. I can give you their names. Also, at about 8:45 I met with Joe Wright, the owner of Joe's Hardware in town. He's had some problems with shoplifters and wanted to talk to me about it. I was with him for about half an hour so you can check with him as well," responds Hogan quickly and seemingly honestly.
Kate nods at that information before asking her own question, "How long have you and Mrs Roggenkamp been having an affair?"
Kate sees Hogan's face flush in anger at her again referencing their relationship as an 'affair' which is what she intended. She doesn't want the couple to be too comfortable so that they can just feed her whatever story they've prepared. She wants them off balance so that she can get some semblance of the truth. Normally she wouldn't speak to the couple together like this. No, normally she would separate them to see if she can find any inconsistencies in their stories. She might still do that she'll just see how this little 'chat' goes.
Disconcerted, Hogan looks like he's going to responds angrily but Sherrie Roggenkamp places a restraining hand on his forearm before she responds, "We've known each other all our lives. Even dated for a time in High School but then Arty and I became serious and Michael here stepped back. Then a few years ago Arty and I were having problems and I went to him as an old friend and for someone to talk to. It was during that time that we realised that we'd never lost those feelings from High School for one another." The woman pauses and straightens her shoulders as she looks Kate in the eye, "I'm not proud of lying to my husband and believe me Captain I was working up the courage to leave Arty but I didn't want him dead and I can't believe Michael would have anything to do with it either."
"Did your husband know about you and the Sheriff, Mrs Roggenkamp?" asks Kent who is doing the good subordinate thing by taking notes of what is being said.
The woman shakes her head negatively, "No, Arty had no idea."
This time it is Sheriff Hogan that places a reassuring hand on Sherrie Roggenkamp's forearm as he says, "Actually, Sher, that's not true. About a week ago Arty came to see me. He knew."
Sherrie Roggenkamp looks at him, shocked, "What! How?"
"He came home for lunch to surprise you a couple of weeks ago and saw my cruiser parked outside. He knew how we were back in school and that you'd come to see me when you were having those fights years ago. He put two and two together and decided to talk to me."
Kate looks on as the couple continue to talk and while part of her is uncomfortable being witness to such a personal discussion another part of her is taking in as much a she can to see if the pair are being sincere or if this is all just an act.
Running a shaking hand through her hair Sherrie Roggenkamp asks quickly, "What did you say? What did he say? Why didn't he confront us at the time and why didn't you tell me?"
Sheriff Hogan takes her hands in his and says frankly, "I didn't lie to him. I told him that his suspicions were true and that we are in love. He wasn't happy, as you'd expect, but he also admitted to me that he kinda knew all along that there was something more between us. He said that he didn't confront us at the time because he was embarrassed. He was going to think about what to do next but he did say that he didn't want to stay in a marriage or keep you in a marriage where one of the people is in love with someone else. He made me promise not to tell you until he'd decided what to do next. You know how guilty I've felt about what we are doing, Sher, so as felt I was in the wrong and he was in the right I decided to do as he asked."
There is long pause as the couple in front of her look in each others eyes and Kate has a feeling that what she's seeing is real. Then again this was the same woman that had looked so distraught when she and Gibson talked to her at the crime scene. For her it all means that the couple still have some questions to answer.
Clearing her throat to regain their attention, Kate asks another seemingly rude question to gauge the veracity of the couple's reaction, "So, Mrs Roggenkamp, if you are in love with the Sheriff here why were you so upset at your husband's death. Surely with him out of the way it just make things easier for you and the Sheriff to be together?"
The angry flush reappears on Sheriff Hogan's face and he in the one to respond, "Look, Captain, I get you have and investigation to run and that we should have let you know about our relationship from the start but there is no reason to insult Sherrie."
Sherrie Roggenkamp pats Sheriff Hogan's hand, "It's Ok, Mike, as you said she's just doing her job." The older woman turns her frank gaze on Kate as she responds directly, "Captain, while I am in love with Michael here, I'd spent over twenty years married to Arty, living with him and I still cared for him. The last thing I wanted was for him to be hurt and I certainly didn't want him dead. I think my reaction to finding out the person I've spent a good deal of my life with had been killed was more than understandable."
"And what about the financial problems you mention to the Captain? Did they have any bearing on why you didn't just leave your husband? Were you just waiting for things to improve so that you'd get a decent settlement in a divorce?" asks Kent next to her pointedly.
The red in the Sheriff's face deepens at that and Kate can see Sherrie Roggenkamp's knuckles go white as she grips her lover's hand tightly maybe to try and keep him from overreacting. The woman moves her frank gaze to Kent and continuing in a sincere if now strained tone replies, "No, Detective, that was not the reason I stayed and what I told the Captain about our financial issues is true. I'll admit that the stress our money troubles caused was one of the reasons Arty and I started having problems but I didn't stay with Arty because of that. If anything I know that things aren't likely to improve so there isn't any point for me to stay just so that I can hope for a better pay out."
"How did you know they weren't likely to improve, Mrs Roggenkamp?" Kate asks her.
"Our current crop has been hit hard by some strange disease. Arty thought it was chemical contamination of our water by those WayTech people. Either way there was no way we were going to get a good price for this season's crop. Arty thought that we would barely cover our costs from what we were going to get. That coupled with the low beef price and we weren't looking at making any money this year," Sherrie Roggenkamp tells her.
"How was Mr Roggenkamp dealing with this? Did he have a plan for fixing your money troubles?" pushes Kate.
Sherrie Roggenkamp just shrugs her shoulders, "Besides taking those WayTech people to court, which we could barely afford to do as it is, there wasn't much else he could do. Just keep working and praying that things would get better."
"He wasn't likely to look elsewhere for money? From, let's say, some less than scrupulous money lenders perhaps?" asks Kent.
Sheriff Hogan, a little calmer now, speaks up at that, "This isn't New York City or New Jersey, young man. We don't have mobbed up loan sharks on every corner. There isn't anyone in this area that fits that bill. Believe me, I'd know if there was someone like that operating around here."
Kate shares a look with Kent at the Sheriff's statement. That he doesn't try to immediately divert attention from himself and Mrs Roggenkamp by offering up an alternate suspect actually works in his favour in Kate's mind. They need Douglas to finish going through the vic's financials so that they can see for themselves if there are any anomalies and so corroborate what the couple are saying.
Looking back at them Kate takes a breath before saying, "Alright, that's enough for now but I need you both to stay available if we have any further questions. And I'm afraid that while you have an alibi Sheriff, that we will be checking by the way, Mrs Roggenkamp you can't satisfactorily account for your movements at the time of death so you still must be considered a suspect. In fact as I mentioned, due to your connection, you both are."
The couple both nod reluctantly in acceptance of Kate's words as she then continues, "Sheriff, as we talked about, you can have no further part of this investigation and that includes any further contact with any of your deputies. As much as you may want to it will only look suspicious to us if you try and keep tabs on the investigation. I think your decision to step down for the time being is the right choice. That said if either of you come up with anything further that is relevant to this investigation I expect you to tell me or one of my team immediately."
Sheriff Hogan nods again as he responds, "Yes, Captain. I understand and just to make it easy, if you need to find me, I'll be right here looking after Sherrie."
Kate arches an eyebrow at that and regards the older couple in front of her again. Her gut is telling her that they probably didn't have anything to do with the victim's murder but she can't rule them out yet.
She just hopes the rest of her team have had better luck with their inquiries.
The Farmer's Tavern – Downtown Otisville
Castle with Ryan beside him pushes his way into the dimly lit bar and his eyes search the gloom for the reason they are here.
Previous to this he has spent the afternoon with Ryan going through phone, financial and social media records of the Southwicks for anything suspicious. The hour they spent doing that reminded Castle of one of the downsides of his new position as an Auxiliary Detective...paperwork. Ok, he thinks, it's not the worst paperwork. The hours of paperwork that is required at the end of a case and that, prior to him receiving his star, he would studiously avoid with excuses like having a chapter to write or urgent meetings with his publisher which he's sure Kate didn't believe for a second. So he really can't complain about spending an hour sorting through various records both digital and in paper form. In fact with his speed reading ability it wasn't really that onerous for him.
So while looking through the financial records of the son, Jimmy Southwick, Castle had come across a single payment for ten thousand dollars just a few weeks ago from an anonymous numbered overseas account. Not something that could be explained by his minimum wage job as a security guard at WayTech. Then to add to the suspicion thrown onto the youngest Southwick, Ryan had discovered a number of phone calls from an unregistered cell phone to Jimmy's cell. The last call being on the night before Arty Roggenkamp's murder.
It was Castle who suggested calling Tory to see if she could find out where the mysterious cell phone made its calls from. In particular to see if the calls were made in the Otisville area perhaps even at or near WayTech. Unfortunately she hadn't been able to narrow down the location beyond about five different cell towers throughout the county. So while they couldn't definitively say the call came from someone at WayTech the calls were definitely coming from someone in the Otisville area.
Back at the Sheriff's station they've asked Douglas to use her contacts to see if she can find the owner of the overseas account. Then, mindful of the FBI agent's restrictions regarding WayTech, they asked Kaminski and Gibson, in their own right, to attempt to see if there was any to link of either the mysterious account or cell phone to the tech company.
While their team mates did those things for them he and Ryan decided to go and bring Jimmy Southwick in for questioning. After some inquiries with one of the local deputies they found out that at the end of the working day Jimmy Southwick could usually be found at the Farmer's Tavern downing a cold one or three.
So that is how Castle finds himself looking through the gloom of the bar searching for image from Jimmy's DMV photo of a tall young man with thin, black hair and a short goatee. He then feels a slight nudge in his ribs as Ryan indicates with a nod of his head towards the back of the bar. There seated at a booth at the back of the bar, with two other young men in working clothes, is a man in a WayTech security guard's uniform that is Jimmy Southwick.
Caste and Ryan walk over to the booth and upon reaching it they both hold up their badges to the now curious looks of those seated there.
"Jimmy Southwick, I'm Detective Ryan and this is Detective Castle we're from a taskforce that has been called in by the Sheriff to investigate Arthur Roggenkamp's murder. We'd like you to come with us back to the Sheriff's station to ask you a few questions," starts Ryan taking the lead as the senior detective. Castle doesn't mind. He got to go first with Kate when talking to the man's father.
"Oh, yeah, my dad told me you'd been around to our place asking about what happened to that idiot," responds Jimmy ignoring what Ryan had said about going with them to the station. From his wide pupils and flushed skin Castle can tell that they've arrived after Jimmy's had more than just three beers to end the working day.
The young man then looks conspiratorially towards his companions and says, "Who would have thunk it that old Arty Roggenkamp would be mixed up with some freaky devil worshiping shit. A good Christian man like that!"
As Jimmy and his two friends have a chuckle at that Castle says, indicating with a wave of his hand, "Come on, Jimmy, why don't you come with us so that we can talk to you about it. It won't take long and then you can come back and keep sharing laughs with your buddies."
The young man's eyes narrow as he leans back in the booth and replies aggressively, "I don't want to leave. I'm not finished my drink and I definitely don't want to go anywhere with you two city boys."
The apple sure doesn't fall far from the tree, thinks Castle, as the aggressive attitude of the young man mirrors the attitude that his father displayed to him and Kate earlier. Castle also suspects that his attitude is not being helped by the number of beers the man has downed. He's also not sure whether to be flattered or offended at being referred to as a 'boy'.
"Look, Jimmy, there's no need to make this difficult. We just want to talk but we're not doing it here. So why don't you just finish your drink and just come with us peacefully. Otherwise we'll have to arrest you for obstruction and then how would you keep you nice security guard job with an arrest on your record," counters Ryan in a faux bantering tone to start but with steel in his voice at the end.
Jimmy's face flushes with anger at that and he is on his feet and stepping angrily towards Ryan. What concerns Castle is that the man's two companions have also risen to their feet and are both standing toe to toe with him. While Castle is a big guy both these men have a couple of inches in height on him and are younger and are very fit and well muscled. What was it that Kate said about being in bar fights all those years ago?
"Whoa, guys, sit back down. This doesn't concern you," instructs Castle taking a half step back so that his balance is right and reaching behind himself under his sports coat.
Meanwhile Ryan has put his palm flat on Jimmy's chest, restraining him from stepping any closer to him, "Stop right there, Jimmy. There's no need to do anything stupid."
A evil looking glint shows in Jimmy's eyes as he replies, "Maybe I like stupid."
With that he takes a swing at Ryan. Ryan easily dodges the wild punch and Jimmy's body turns, off balance. Ryan takes the opportunity to bring up his arm, hook it around Jimmy's swinging punching arm and then force that arm behind Jimmy's back. He then pushes Jimmy face first into the table in the centre of the booth growling, "Stay there!"
Meanwhile, as soon as Jimmy's arm is in motion Castle pulls out the collapsible Asp baton that is on his belt under his jacket and gives a flick of his wrist to extend it. Just as he brings the baton up to his shoulder one of Jimmy's muscle bound friends takes a swing at Castle. Like Ryan, Castle dodges the wild, beer fuelled punch and then uses his Asp to sweep the mans legs from under him.
As the man lands unceremoniously on his butt Castle brings the baton up to his shoulder again and yells in command at the remaining man as he reaches for an empty beer bottle on a nearby table, "Don't pick that up! Not unless you want me to break your arm."
Castle then turns to the man he just dropped on the floor and likewise instructs him, "And stay down or I'll put you on your ass again."
Castle looks back and forth between the men and is satisfied that their brief attempts to assist their friend are now behind them. He then risks a look over at Ryan just as the Irish detective is fixing his cuffs onto the still struggling Jimmy.
"Jimmy Southwick, you are under arrest for attempted assault of a police officer," says Ryan to the prone Jimmy.
With Castle watching Ryan arresting Jimmy and thinking that this went better than the last time he was involved in an arrest in a bar, he doesn't notice the beer bottle descending on his head in the hands of the third friend of Jimmy's that is just returning from the restroom.
A/N : Oh, no what's going to happen to Castle and Ryan? You'll all just have to wait and see. I promise not to keep you waiting too long.
Thank you very much to everyone that is reading, reviewing, following and making this story their favourite.