This chapter finds Kate and Castle in Jemma Nelson's apartment. Castle has just found something he wants Kate to take a look at.

Disclaimer: Characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and the team.

Chapter 36

Kate frowned at her partner, a questioning look in her eyes, but she got up from the armchair she had been sitting in and went over to join him near the window.

Jemma Nelson swiveled round on the sofa, twisting her neck as she looked over the back of it, to see what Richard Castle was holding up. Her cheeks had a slight flush to them and her face looked pinched.

Kate's shoulder brushed against Castle's as she leaned in to inspect the item he was cradling in his handkerchief. It appeared to be a black pen. A small pot of ink was also sitting on the edge of the desk, along with a stack of what looked suspiciously like the cardstock that had been used to send out the invitations to their victims, and to Kate herself.

"A fountain pen?" Kate said quietly to Castle, taking the item carefully from his hand to look at it more closely.

"Well, technically, this is a calligraphic pen, if I'm not mistaken," said Castle, turning round to look at Jemma Nelson for confirmation. "The word, calligraphy, it comes from the Greek for 'beautiful writing' and is considered a visual art form. These pens all have special nibs, which can either be flat-balled or round-nibbed. They come with a slit, and a breather hole to accommodate the special ink you use with them."

Kate looked at him questioningly, as if to say, 'and you know this how'?

"I went through a graphic novel phase. Tried my hand at calligraphy," he explained, in answer to Kate's unasked question. "Used the Lindisfarne Gospels as my inspiration…" he continued, drifting off into a memory of some sort.

"Pretty ambitious there, Castle," said Kate, emitting a low whistle.

"Yeah, probably why I decided I had no talent for this kind of thing…but you," he said, turning to address Jemma Nelson, "this is seriously good."

He held up the ornate black and white scrolling design that had been propped up against the drafting table, part lettering, part flowing floral motif, for Kate to see.

"Jemma," said Kate, her tone turning parental, "we have to talk about something really quite serious. These cardstock invitations you have here and this pen, they are very similar to some items that were used in the process of committing a crime."

"What kind of crime?" asked the small, pale girl.

"Well, I…it was a murder actually…more than one," said Kate, nodding gravely. "Anyway, these items, they look…"

"Similar. You said," repeated Jemma, interrupting Kate's flow. "Similar, doesn't mean the same," stated the girl, knees drawn up to her chest now in a protective pose.

"Jemma, I'm betting that if I got our lab to test this paper and that ink…"

"But it doesn't prove anything. That stuff…you can buy it at any stationery or art supply store. Why are you so sure you're looking for mine?"

"Because we found your fingerprint on one of these cards, Jemma. It had been sent to one of our victims. The calligraphy on the card was of as high a quality as this. Are you really sure you don't know Jerry Falconio?" repeated Kate, giving the girl a chance to change her answer.

"I told you already. I don't know him," she said, firmly.

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you to the precinct to continue this conversation, Ms. Nelson, and I'm going to have our Crime Scene technicians come over here and comb your apartment for evidence. It won't take me long to arrange a warrant, but it'd really work in your favor if we could have a look around ourselves, with your permission, before we head over to the 12th?"

"Do what you want," said the girl, sullenly. "I don't know what this is about and I have nothing to hide," she said, getting up from the sofa.

"Where are you going?" asked Kate.

"Well, if you want me to go with you, then I'd rather put some clothes on, if it's all the same to you?"

"Fine. But be quick, and don't close the door all the way over," said Kate, as Jemma Nelson went into her bedroom.

Kate called in the warrant request, outlining the justifications for the search and possible seizure to Esposito, who took notes and promised to file it right away. Then she came back over to the window to join Castle.

"You think she did this?" he asked, sounding a little skeptical. "She's tiny, and she looked as if she was stoned when we arrived. I don't think she's really capable of lifting anything heavier than that pen."

"I tend to agree with you. But as far as the threatening notes and the invitations go…these writing implements, that bottle of ink, and the cardstock all look pretty suspicious. I also think there's something she's not telling us in relation to Jerry Falconio. If she didn't know the guy, she maybe knew of him. She looked slightly uneasy when his name came up," said Kate, brushing her fingers lightly over Castle's knuckles after she handed back the handkerchief containing the pen.

Castle shivered when she touched him, and Kate smiled, her eyes dancing. She enjoyed the affect she could have on him with a simple touch, and apparently he did too, if the heated look he gave her was anything to go by.

"Kate," he growled, in warning.

"Do you think it's gone awfully quiet in there?" she asked, touching Castle's arm as she moved round him to listen at the partially open bedroom door. "Jemma, you okay in there?" she called out, opening the door further to see for herself.

When Kate looked inside, Jemma Nelson was hanging out of the now open bedroom window, trying to hide something out on the fire escape. Kate crossed the room quickly and hauled the girl, and the black plastic trash bag she was holding, back inside the room.

"What the hell is this?" she asked Jemma, opening up the bag while the girl looked on uncomfortably. "Pot? You thought you'd hide your stash before CSU got here, is that it? Well let me tell you, Jemma, you're in a lot more trouble than you were the last time you were stopped for that petty drug violation. There's enough marijuana in here to charge you with Possession, maybe even Intent to Supply. There must be 10 ounces in this bag. That's a class E felony. You're looking at three to four years in jail, and since this is your second offence, you'll be on a mandatory six months sentence, plus a $5,000 fine."

While Kate read Jemma Nelson the riot act, Castle continued to wander around the apartment, since the girl had in essence given them permission to do so. He circled the sparsely decorated living room, lifting cushions, checking behind chairs, reading the spines of the books he found on the built-in shelves. She had every Twilight novel in the series, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Romeo and Juliet, a hardcover copy of Jane Eyre, and a whole collection of erotic manga graphic novels, which Castle took enormous pleasure flicking through, until Kate reappeared, holding Jemma by the elbow. She directed her to sit back down while they waited for the warrant to search the rest of the apartment.

After five minutes, Castle asked if he could use the bathroom, and when Jemma nodded silently, he headed out into the hallway, where he'd noticed another door on the way in. In fact, he now realized that there were two doors. One, when he opened it, was indeed the bathroom, and the other seemed to be a locked closet of some kind. He did what was necessary and then washed his hands. When he got back into the living room, he asked Jemma why the closet at the end of the hall was locked.

"'Cause that's Joey's closet," she said, turning up the sleeves on her plaid button-down shirt, "and he doesn't like people getting into his stuff."

"Joey?" asked Kate. "Who's Joey?"

"He's my boyfriend."

"And he lives here too?" asked Kate.

"Yeah. But he likes to wander off now and again," she explained.

"What do you mean, wander off?" asked Kate, watching the girl closely for any sign that she might be lying.

"We don't live in each other's pockets is all I mean. He likes his space sometimes. That's why he leaves his stuff in the hall closet," said Jemma, her head shooting up when there was a loud knock at the door.

Castle went to answer it and found a team of CSU techs waiting in the hallway, along with Esposito, who was carrying the hurriedly prepared warrant.

"Hey, Castle. How's it going, man?" asked Esposito, slapping the writer on the back.

"Good, Javi. Beckett's inside with Jemma Nelson," he said, tilting his head in the direction of the living room. "Guys, come on in," he said to the two techs, shaking hands with each of them in turn.

"Hey, Espo," said Kate, standing to greet the young detective. "I need you to bag and tag this for me and admit it into evidence," said Kate, handing Esposito the black bag filled with marijuana.

Then moving onto CSU, she started over at the desk, showing them the calligraphic pen, the bottle of ink, and the cardstock.

"Bag this lot. Get a sample of the ink and the card over to the lab for comparison testing against our existing samples. Then sweep the rest of this place for evidence. Take this drawing as well," said Kate, indicating the partially finished piece of artwork on the drafting board. "It'll help us do a handwriting comparison on the calligraphy. Jemma," she said, addressing the girl again, "do you have a key for that hall closet?"

"No, I told you already. It's Joey's."

"But this is your apartment, right? Your name is on the lease. So, any room or space or cupboard is considered yours for the purposes of our search today. So, do you have a key to that closet or shall we just break the lock?" asked Kate, starting to lose patience with the girl, who still seemed quite unaffected by the seriousness of the situation she was now in.

"I don't have a key, okay. Like I said, he keeps his stuff private. So, I guess you're gonna have to break the damn lock," said the girl, chewing her bottom lip.

"Right, I'm going to call Uniform. Get them to take her back to the precinct so we can carry on with our interview. A little time in the back of an uncomfortable, stinking squad car might just liven up her ideas and loosen her tongue a little," whispered Kate to Castle and Esposito. "You find anything I should know about, you call me, Javi," said Kate, helping Jemma up off the sofa and angling her towards the front door. "We'll wait downstairs."

"Sure, boss. I'll call the minute we turn anything up," said Esposito, pleased to see that Beckett's mood had improved from earlier in the day.

Kate stopped in the hallway and shouted back over her shoulder to Esposito, "Oh and open a window in there, Javi. It stinks."

The black and white turned up within minutes, and Kate helped Jemma Nelson inside, protecting her head as she dipped down to slide into the back seat, just as she'd done for hundreds of other suspects over the years.

"Guys, take her back to the 12th, and get her booked in, would you? Charge her with felony possession. We caught her with over ten ounces of marijuana. Detective Esposito has the evidence. He'll sign it into the locker when he gets back. Her name is Jemma Nelson. Prints are in the system already. We'll follow on behind you. Put her in lock-up until we're ready for her," instructed Kate, looking at the impassive face of the student through the toughened glass of the squad car's window.

Kate banged twice on the roof of the police car to indicate she was ready for it to pull away from the curb, waving the uniformed team off, before turning back to Castle and handing him her keys.

"What's this?" he asked, accepting the set of Ford car keys.

"Would you mind driving? The air in that apartment's given me a headache…and the munchies," she said, rubbing a hand across her eyes.

"Kate, I'm sure it's purely psychosomatic. The air in there was just fine. Though now you mention it…I wouldn't say no to some food. So, maybe you do have a point," said Castle, sniffing at his jacket.

"Castle, you're always hungry. The smell of pot has nothing to do with that," said Kate, tugging him back to the car by his sleeve. "Let's stop at Famous Original Ray's on East Houston. I could really murder a slice of greasy pizza right about now," said Kate, closing her eyes and leaning back against the headrest.

Castle's lips twitched. He was tempted to devour her, right now, in the Crown Vic. With her head thrown back, the soft, pale skin of her throat exposed like that, it took all his self-control to put the key in the ignition and the car in Drive. Focusing on the job was killing him. He just hoped Montgomery would appreciate it, and they could make up for lost time later.

With her eyes still closed, Kate turned her head towards him and muttered, "Castle, stop perving and drive."

A/N: Are the shorter, more frequent updates working for you?