Love's Gift

Chapter 29

Castle had been sitting in the back of the courtroom for most of the day, finding respite only from his walk to a food truck for soup and a sandwich of questionable content. His mood improves as Kate slides in beside him and asks if there's been any mention of Martha. He's about to answer when the prosecution beats him to it, calling his mother as her next witness.

On advice from the A.D.A, the color palette of Mother's couture has been muted for the occasion. As she's sworn in, Castle suspects that her demeanor has been adopted from a part that she played in Lions of the Law two years before. Her posture is less than its usual perfection, and her solemnity is impressive. Her voice has also dropped about half an octave.

The prosecutor starts establishing her foundation by having Martha explain her family background and how she came to insinuate herself into the psychic network. Castle had helped her craft her narrative, and as usual, she has her lines down perfectly. Her actor's observational skills enter the game again when she answers the prosecutor's questions about what she saw and heard and the instructions she received. Castle knows the hard part will be coming in cross-examination.

He recognizes the counsel for the defense, Pierson Morgan, as having served as the attorney for suspects in several of the homicide cases Castle worked with Kate. His one-word description of the man would be "snake," and he could easily add less printable ones. He just hopes Mother can keep her cool.

Morgan starts out by asking about Martha Rodgers as an actress, urging her to detail her history. He stops her about a tenth of the way into her credits, to begin his attack, demanding that she tell him if actors are professional liars.

Castle grabs Kate's hand and watches anxiously while his mother answers. He shouldn't have worried. He's heard the speech before. It's pretty much Mother's creed. She explains that the purpose of art is to expose truths. When she plays a role, she becomes the character to portray a higher truth to the audience. She posed as a charlatan to the frauds at the psychic network to bring the truth to the people of New York - and that's exactly what she's doing.

Castle gleefully notes the faint sheen of sweat forming above Morgan's collar as the jury looks on in rapt attention. Martha Rodgers has delivered another flawless performance.


Alexis arrives at the loft just in time for the celebration of her Gram's triumph, and like most college students, to get a free meal. And she's brought a friend. Castle regards his daughter's companion across a pan of lasagna, which Kate is managing to portion out with extreme skill that allows no cheese to fall or sauce to drip. Cary Edelman is not leading man material. His hair is slightly overlong, curling over the edges of his collar. His eyes, behind heavy black-framed glasses, are too close to his nose, but bright and alert. He has the long fingers of a musician. In the course of what he hopes is a subtle interrogation, Castle discovers that Cary and Alexis met when she was seraching for the soundproofed rooms in the music building where students can practice their instruments. Like Alexis, he's studied violin. Although his passion is for physics, he still enjoys playing music.

Alexis grins as she points out that Einstein loved to play his violin as well.

Cary quickly interjects that he's no Einstein, but he does lean toward the theoretical, with a particular fascination for the multiplicity of dimensions that arises out of string theory. He's also exploring the possibilities of pocket universes.

As a sci-fi devotee, Castle loves the sound of that and bounces several plot lines off the young man. Cary is respectfully polite but still manages to point out several technical errors in Castle's imaginings. Kate manages to keep the conversation from going too far toward the barrier at the edge of the universe by reminding Castle of the chocolate blackout cake for dessert. Castle comments that Castle Junior seems to be inheriting both Kate's sweet tooth and his own. Mother, always Mother, cautions him that while Kate may be eating for two, he isn't.

Castle refuses to be fazed, inquiring of Cary whether it might be possible to create a universe in which chocolate is a staple. When the young man quips that it already seems to be one in at least one of the dorms at Columbia, Castle decides that he might even like the budding scientist - unless he does something to hurt Alexis. Then Castle might have to consider Gina's favorite threat of honey on the eyeballs and anthills.

Castle cuts the evening short when he can see that Kate is flagging. She's worked even harder than Martha has to tie up the psychic syndicate case and he can see it catching up with her. Still buoyant, Mother uncharacteristically volunteers to help with the dishes.

When Castle is finished cleaning up, he finds Kate sitting on the couch in front of the TV with her feet up on an ottoman. She's beginning to catch up on all the episodes of Temptation Lane she's missed during the week. It's far from Castle's favorite source of soapiness, but since he and Kate solved a murder on the set, he's developed a certain affection for the show - as long as he doesn't find his mother necking with its longstanding star, Lance Hastings, again. Eww!

Castle plops down beside Kate, satisfaction spreading through him as she leans into his shoulder. He notes that the writers are repeating themselves. The heroine has just been kidnapped and trapped in a cave with wild animals. They're wolves, rather than the bears his mother was trapped with during her sojourn on the show, but it's otherwise a redux.

While he's noticed that many of his fellow authors write the same book over and over, just changing a detail here and there, and still keep making the best-seller list, he prides himself on originality. He hates telling the same story twice. That may be why he turns out fewer books per year than many of his compatriots - that and all the time he spends trying to solve genuine mysteries. But he's fine with that. In their own way, his books have integrity.

It will be even harder to keep up his output when the baby comes. What he does write in a bleary-eyed sleepless haze, may not make it past the critical eye of the editorial staff at Black Pawn. He's toiling as hard as he can now, to develop work he can submit during the first few months after his son's birth. His publisher will be happy, and he'll be able to spend as much time as possible with mother and child. His hand finds its way to Kate's belly. His son is kicking. The boy may end up with his mother's prowess at the martial arts. Or he may like, like Castle, end up falling on his ass the one and only time he tries to kick a football. It won't matter. Athlete or klutz, the boy will be stupendous. How could he not be? He'll be Kate's son. And the Rodgers and mystery man genes he gets from Castle won't be so bad either.