Chapter 37
The Case Of One Man's Treasure
Part 1
It was one of those evenings where I was gripped by a bout of rampant boredom. I was up to date with my writing and I felt that Nikki and Rook could use a little break from me trying to manipulate their lives. There was no new murder case to concentrate my attention. A game of laser tag was out of the question because my darling daughter had gone to visit a friend for the evening. I could have watched a movie but I doubted it would have kept my attention for more than a few minutes and I did not want to read a book, because, again it would not have kept my attention for too long. Also I was not in the mood to play a video game. I was bored.
Then I found it. One of my cool toys. I had bought it not all that long ago. A radio controlled model helicopter. Actually, a top of the line radio controlled model helicopter. To be more specific, a top of the line radio controlled model Black Hawk helicopter.
I raced out of my office and set it down in the living room and powered it up. Soon I had it flying around the living room getting the hang of the controls and within a couple of minutes I was controlling it like an expert. I even opened the window in the living room and flew the helicopter out the window and had it moving about outside of the loft.
Apart from the radio controlled model helicopter I had gotten myself a radio headset. It was not long before my over active imagination began to provide a sound track to the flying model helicopter.
"Sector six maverick." I intoned in a Southern accented voice. "This is your captain up and on the mount."
The helicopter had been hovering outside the loft for a couple of minutes and I was slowly navigating it through the open window and back into the living room.
"Listen up, ladies and gentlemen, our fugitive has been on the run for ninety minutes. We're in the pipes. Let's keep our feet dry this time."
I was beginning to sound like Tommy Lee Jones in US Marshals. The helicopter moved about the living room and made its way in the direction of the kitchen area where Mother was seated at the counter. She was trying to concentrate on the script she had open in front of her.
"Jungle Radio. This is One Delta Bravo. Eyes on the suspect."
The helicopter was slowly approaching where Mother sat.
"Requesting back up over. Requesting permission to deploy laser activated radioactive immobiliser."
Mother had been trying to ignore me for some time but she could not do so any more especially with the helicopter rapidly invading her space.
"Permission denied." Mother snapped in frustration. "Really, Richard, I have all of these lines to learn before my play goes into rehearsal."
"I'm going in." I replied. Like the dutiful son that I was, I had ignore her plea.
I had the helicopter move to the kitchen counter and hover above it. Mother stared at the helicopter.
"If that comes any closer..." Mother warned, "...you're going to have Black Hawk Down on your hands."
At that moment I attempted a landing for my helicopter. It wasn't the smoothest of landings. The helicopter seemed to slam down on the table with a loud thump.
"Oh!" Mother exclaimed in outrage.
At that moment my darling daughter, Alexis returned from visiting her friend and came over to the kitchen and was surprised to find a radio controlled model helicopter had crash landed near where Mother was sitting and who was shooting daggers in my direction.
"What's all this?" Alexis asked with a look on her face that indicated she was already regretting having asked.
"Official police tactical training." I replied.
I had been standing in the living room when I was trying to land the helicopter keeping out of range of Mother's wrath but now that the chopper was down and my daughter was home I thought it was safe enough to venture closer.
"Oh, hey, Dad, did you get the chance to sign that permission slip I gave you the other day?" Alexis inquired.
I had removed the radio headset and put down the radio controller and then had gone into the kitchen.
"Haven't you learned to forge my signature yet?" I asked with a little surprise.
When I had been Alexis' age I was quite masterful in forging Mother's signature. I had managed to get away with it for a little while but Mother had found out, as mothers usually do, and for punishment I was forced to autograph a whole heap of her promotional photographs. I still have a couple of boxes of those photographs somewhere in storage, if you're interested in a thirty year old black and white photo of Martha Rogers.
"Credit cards, yes." Alexis said. "Permission slips, no. It's for my civics class. Every student has a three day volunteer internship at one of the city's agencies, law enforcement, sanitation, fire."
"I'll go with fire. They have the best calendars." Mother piped up, smiling.
"I went with law enforcement." Alexis said. "Detective Beckett already said it's cool if I volunteer down at the station."
I have admit I was a little bit surprised. I had vague recollections of my darling daughter mentioning something about a civics class internship and about wanting to do it down at the 12th. I was also a little pleased that Beckett was happy to help out my daughter.
"Oh, well, as a member of the NYPD volunteer squad, I would be happy to show you the ropes."
"Acutally, Detective Beckett is giving me my orientation course." Alexis informed me.
"Then I would be honoured to carpool with you or share a cab."
"Mmm." Alexis murmured.
Before further discussion could be conducted about this particular matter my phone started ringing. It was none other than Detective Beckett calling to inform me that a body had dropped and she was on her way to pick me up.
Half an hour later we were standing in the garbage room of an apartment building. A body was laying on a guerny. Dr Lanie Parish was standing on one side of the guerney and Beckett was standing on the other side. As for me I was standing a little distance away behind a wire fence with both my index fingers in my nostrils and trying to breath through my mouth.
The reason I was doing that was because of the smell that struck us the moment we had walked into the garbage room. It was an overpowering sickly sweet smell of putrification that was gag inducing.
"Prelim suggests victim died of a single gunshot wound to the chest at close range." Lanie announced, using her pen she pointed to the wound on the victim's chest.
"Any sign of struggle?" Beckett asked.
"Contusions coming up, here and here." Lanie replied. "But it's likely a result of his tumble down the garbage chute."
Beckett nodded her head in understanding. The guy had been shot somewhere on a floor above and his body had been shoved into the garbage chute and he had ended in the dumpster where we found him now.
I made a rather loud nasally sound which drew the attention of both Beckett and Lanie. They turned and stared at me.
"What?" I said in a nasally tone.
"What are you doing?" Beckett asked.
"Well, I can't breath through my nose." I informed her. "I happen to have a very acute sense of smell."
Beckett rolled her eyes at me in response.
"Suck it up, Castle. Real cops deal with worse."
"Yeah not to mention medical examiners." Lanie added. "Do you know long I have to shower before heading out on a date?"
I stared at Lanie. "No, but if you need someone to time it for you I'd be happy to..."
"Found it!" Ryan called out.
A moment later Ryan emerged from the dumpster where the body had landed. He burrowed down amongst all that muck and rubbish and found the missing wallet. He passed it over to Beckett.
"It must have fallen out of his jacket on the way down." Ryan suggested.
Beckett inspected the wallet.
"Yep, that's our guy." she announced. "Alright, the name is Sam Parker. And the driver's license has his address placed in Connecticut." Lanie noted down the victim's name on her clipboard. Beckett passed the wallet over to Lanie.
"Maybe he was visiting someone in the building." Ryan suggested.
"You mean dropping by?" I suggested.
Beckett turned to me and rolled her eyes. Though I dare say she will deny it, there was an amused grin on her lips.
Ryan's phone started ringing and he quickly answered it.
"Ryan...Thanks, bro." Ryan rang off and looked at Beckett. "Esposito's up on fifteen. Says he found out where our guy was shot."
"Alright, let's go." Beckett ordered.
I did not need to be told twice, I was more than happy to get out of the garbage room. Ryan was still wearing his NYPD jacket when he stepped into the elevator and he reeked from his very recent dumpster dive to find the victim's wallet. I started complaining though a certain female detective would have described it as whining. What ever it was the response was familiar. I was told to suck it up. I managed to hold my breath almost all the way up to the fifteenth floor.
We found Esposito at the end of the hallway in the area where the garbage chute was located. It was a small narrow room. As there was little room for all of us to crowd in Beckett and I stood in the doorway.
"From the blood splatter, our guy was shot here." Esposito reported as he pointed to the wall where there was a fair bit of blood decorating it. "Then he was shoved head first down the chute." Esposito lifted up the garbage chute door and then closed it.
"A killer who cleans up after himself." I remarked. "Very American Psycho."
"He probably wanted to get out of the building unnoticed. Figured the dumpster wouldn't be emptied for a couple of days." Beckett mused.
"He didn't count on a tenant on the seventh floor." Esposito said and then coughed the word 'Hottie' "Seeing the body drop as she threw out her pizza box."
On hearing the word 'hottie' my disposition suddenly brightened.
"Is she distraught? Because I can be very comforting." I offered.
"CSUs?" Beckett said in a voice that sounded unimpressed and judgemental all that the same time.
"Team's on its way." Esposito told her.
Ryan reached us. Beckett had tasked him with speaking to the neighbours nearest to this area.
"Neighbours didn't hear a shot." he reported.
"Ah." Esposito said as he moved over to a garbage bin and picked up a large plastic soda bottle. "Poor man's silencer. Must have picked it up from this pile here and then threw it back when he was done." Esposito passed the soda bottle to his partner to have it bagged and tagged.
"Resourceful." I said.
"How did a clean cut, suburban guy end up this far from home, dead and thrown out with the trash?" Beckett wondered aloud.
Beckett and I canvassed the neighbours on the fifteenth floor but there really was not much they could furnish us in the way of information. No one had heard or seen anything. I had suggested we speak to the witness down on the seventh floor because maybe she might have something further to add to the statement she had already given to the police. That hopeful suggestion was shot down in flames merely with a look from a very unimpressed Beckett. So alas, dear reader, I never met the hottie on the seventh floor.
XXX
The following morning Beckett and I were in the break room. I was standing by the coffee machine. For a change Beckett had agreed to let me make her a cappuccino. I was in full barista mode, foaming up the milk and pouring it into each waiting coffee cup. Beckett was standing close by with an expectant look on her face as she watched me do my magic. The item of discussion was my darling daughter's internship here at the precinct.
"Are you ready?" I said, looking around. Beckett gave me a nod of her head.
I picked up the cups and turned around handing Beckett her coffee.
"Here we go."
Beckett nodded her thanks and started walking out of the break room. I fell into step beside her.
"I know Alexis talked to you already." I said. "I just wanted to make sure that you're really okay with having her here."
"I wouldn't have said yes if I wasn't." Beckett replied.
"Well, yeah, but you're busy, and I just don't want her to be in the way."
"Big Castle is the one who likes to get in the way." Beckett said with a smile on her face. "I'm sure Little Castle will be a pleasure."
I rather liked Beckett calling me 'Big Castle' but this time I did not make a point of voicing that thought. I was also very pleased to hear that she thought my darling daughter would be a pleasure to have around.
We reached Beckett's desk and at that moment the boys walked up.
"Sam Parker, age 38. Lives in Connecticut with his wife Helen and two kids." Esposito informed us.
"Wife's en route to the morgue to ID the body." Ryan added.
"We contacted the leasing office, and they don't have a Sam Parker listed as tenant." Esposito said.
"So, he probably was visiting someone." Beckett said.
"Uniforms are canvassing. No hits yet." Ryan added. "CSU's working to untangle the prints, but it's a common room, there's dozens of them. However, the chute handle, doorknob and soda bottle were all wiped clean.
Beckett nodded her head.
"Alright, let's go visit the wife at the morgue." Beckett said looking at me. "Maybe she can tell us what he was doing in the city."
"And if she doesn't know, that tells us something to." I said.
"Mm-hmm." Ryan murmured and nodded his head.
Beckett gathered up her things and started moving off. I was still holding the cappuccino I had made and had yet to take a sip. I passed it over to Ryan who was more than grateful to accept it, and quickly dashed to catch up with Beckett.
"Fresh. And hot, and hot...hot." I heard Ryan say as he quickly set the cup down on Beckett's desk.
"He doesn't make me coffee." Esposito pouted.
XXX
Beckett and I had reached the morgue, on the ride over we had been discussing the case. My eagle eye attention did not fail to notice the closer we got to the morgue the little more quieter Beckett became. I ventured forth a couple of my less outlandish theories about who had killed Sam Parker. And, yes, they involved three letter government agencies. If I was trying to be outlandish I would have mentioned the other theories of mine, the ones involving aliens. My less outlandish theories only managed to get a small smile from Beckett.
We were walking along the corridor towards the autopsy room. I noticed the frown on Beckett's face so I had to ask.
"You okay?" I said.
Beckett looked at me and nodded quickly.
"This is never easy." Beckett said. "No matter how much experience you have."
I finally understood why Beckett had been a little subdued. The wife of the deceased had received 'the telephone call that changed everything' and now had come in to the identify the body. For a moment I had been a little concerned that my jokes were no longer tickling Beckett's funny bone.
Beckett reached the double doors of the autopsy room. I held the door open for her and followed her in. There was a woman standing at the autopsy table where the body of Sam Parker lay. The woman whom we came initially to know as Sarah Reed, was aged in her late twenties, with black slightly curly hair, certainly attractive. Currently she was sobbing over Sam Parker's body. I suspect she had identified the body.
"Oh my God." Sarah sobbed.
Beckett walked up to stand on the other side of the autopsy table and I joined her.
"I'm Detective Kate Beckett. I'm with the NYPD. I'm very sorry for your loss."
"Do you have any idea who did this?" Sarah asked.
"We are doing everything we can to figure that out." Beckett assured the other woman.
It was at this moment when things went from sad and sombre, zoomed right past interesting, and went straight to Whisky Tango Foxtrot level, or in other words...'What the...?"
The door to the autopsy room opened and a morgue assistant entered the room. He was escorting another woman. She was crying and let out a gasp of shock when she saw the body on the table.
"Excuse me, we're in the middle of an identification." Beckett said frowning as she approached the morgue assistant.
"That's why she's here." The morgue assistant replied, suddenly looking embarrassed.
"And you are?" Beckett said to the woman who had just come in.
"I'm here to identify my husband." The woman who we came to know as Helen Parker said. She took a couple of steps towards and let out a loud gasp. "Oh my god."
"Excuse me? Your husband?" Beckett said, suddenly looking confused. She looked at the first woman. "What's your relation to the victim?"
"I'm his fiancée." Sarah Reed said.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Helen Parker demanded.
"I'm his fiancée." Sarah insisted.
A look of incomprehension appeared on Beckett's face as she turned to me. I must have looked just as confused as she was. The wife and the fiancée of our victim were getting ready to bear their claws. I cast a glance down at the body of Sam Parker fighting rather hard to keep the smile appearing from my face.
"Dude, you are so busted." I whispered to the body.
Sam Parker rather wisely remained silent.
The fun and games only got better moments later when Beckett was forced to intervene and keep the two women apart. Even I had to jump in and drag the bereaved wife away from the bereaved fiancée. Talk about your cat fight, all that was missing was a very large tub of Jello and popcorn.
XXX
As you can well imagine there was no way in the world the wife and the fiancée could be transported back to the precinct in the same car. Beckett certainly did not want the back of her Crown Vic turned into a battle ground so she did the next best thing, she called a couple of patrol cars to swing by the morgue and transport the wife and fiancée to the precinct. She specifically instructed the uniforms that the wife and the fiancée had to be kept apart.
Beckett and I were standing in the hallway talking in hushed tones. We had arrived back at the precinct about ten minutes after the wife and the fiancée. In the interview lounge was Sarah Reed. Across the hallway in the break room was Helen Parker. Sarah, the fiancée was quietly sobbing. Helen, the wife was quiet, subdued, staring off into space, trying to comprehend the enormity of the situation.
Captain Montgomery found us standing in the hallway. He walked up to us.
"Is that our vic's wife?" Captain Montgomery asked nodding in the direction of the interview lounge where Sarah was sitting.
"Fiancée." Beckett informed him as she tipped her head in the direction of the interview lounge.
"The wife is over there." I said, nodding in the direction of the break room.
Captain Montgomery looked at me a little confused.
"Excuse me?" He said.
"Fiancée." Beckett said tipping her head in the direction of of the interview room. I tipped my head also in the direction of the interview room.
"Mm-hmm." Captain Montgomery murmured.
"Wife." Beckett said motioning in the direction of the break room. Again I also tipped my head in the direction of the break room.
"Hmm." The Captain said. Suddenly he had to suppress a smile. "Oh boy."
"I know, isn't it delicious?" I said with a grin. I turned to look at Beckett. "Okay, who do we talk to first?"
"Hmm?" Beckett said as she nodded quickly in the direction of the interview lounge where Sarah Reed was sitting. I nodded my head.
"Okay." Beckett agreed.
Both Beckett and I nodded to Captain Montgomery as we moved off and made our way to the interview lounge.
Beckett opened the door to the interview lounge and walked in. I followed her and closed the door behind me. We came to stand a short distance from Sarah.
"I know this is difficult, Miss Reed, but if we could ask a few questions?" Beckett said.
Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded her consent.
"How long did you know, Mr Parker?" Beckett asked.
"Parker?" Sarah said, looking a little confused.
"Sam." Beckett added.
"His name was Jake. Jake Holland." Sarah said.
Beckett opened her portfolio and found a photocopy of Sam Parker's driver's license.
"According to his driver's license, it's Sam Parker." Beckett said, after consulting the photocopy.
"It was a lie? Even his name?" Sarah said, looking shocked.
"Where did the two of you meet?" Beckett asked.
"At work." Sarah replied. "A girlfriend of mine said there was this great guy in her department, and did I want to meet him."
"And where did you two last speak?" I asked.
"This afternoon." Sarah said. "He called to say he was on his way back to the city. His father is in a hospital upstate. He has late stage Alzheimer's, and Jake would drive up to see him every..." Sarah's voice trailed off and a look of realisation appeared on her face. "I'm so stupid. He was spending the weekends with his wife."
"So, you were intending to see him tonight?" Beckett asked.
"We were going to get takeout and watch a movie. A neighbour stopped me in the hallway and told me that the police had been there. But when I called, nobody could tell me anything...I...I...guess now I know why."
"Because we ID'd him as Sam Parker." Beckett confirmed.
"Somebody at the morgue confirmed that a body had been picked up at his address, so I went down there." Sarah said tearfully.
Sarah looked down at the ring that adorned her finger. A sad smile appeared on her face.
"When he proposed, I told my best friend, and she was all, 'You've only known him six months'. But I didn't care. He was the one. How could he do this?" Sarah said.
That was a question neither Beckett nor I could provide an answer for, at least not yet. Beckett did assure the woman that the police would do all they could to find out who had killed him. Sarah broke down again in tears. Beckett thanked her for her time but asked her to remain for a little while longer. Sarah agreed with a nod of her head.
Our next to stop was the break room where Helen Parker was sitting.
"This is insane." Helen Parker exclaimed. "Who is this woman?"
Beckett had mentioned to Helen Parker that Sarah had been engaged to Sam.
Helen turned to look at us, holding back a fresh wave of tears.
"Sam would never...He...He loved me." Helen insisted. "Our kids meant everything to him.
"Apparently there was more to it than just the affair, Mrs Parker." Beckett said.
"Your husband was using a false name at his job." I added.
"Well, I don't understand. Why would he do that?" Helen said looking confused.
"We're still trying to find that out." Beckett informed her. "But from what we understand, he met Miss Reed at his office."
"He started there about six months ago." Helen said. "He had been passed over for a promotion at his old firm. There are not a lot of opportunities in green solutions, so he took the job, even though it was in the city."
"Green solutions, as in environmentally conscious?" I asked.
Helen Parker nodded he head. A sad smile appeared on her face.
"He did corporate consulting. How to reduce waste, save energy. It was a passion of his." She said.
"It's very commendable." I said gently.
"Well, all that working and commuting were running him ragged." Helen said. "So he found a cheap sublet. It was hard, but if it all worked out, we were going to move down to the city so that we could all be together."
"Mrs Parker, did you have any idea that your husband was having an affair?" Beckett said carefully.
Helen Parker stared at Beckett for a couple of moments, almost glaring at her.
"I know what you're thinking." Helen said. "Why didn't I notice the signs? We had two children together. We do not have a nanny, so every second of every minute of my day is about my kids."
Helen looked from Beckett to me and back to Beckett before she spoke again.
"If there was an issue, I'd call Sam on his cell phone and he would always answer. I never, never thought I'd be sitting here justifying my marriage."
Beckett asked Helen Parker a few more questions and then wound up the interview. Helen Parker had been holding it together through most of the interview we had with her but then the tears started flowing. I passed across a box of tissues.
On a silent nod of from Beckett I took my leave and let Beckett handle this moment alone. I found my way to the bullpen and perched myself on Ryan's desk. The boys had heard about our dead guy having both a wife and a fiancée. Cops, whether they're lowly uniforms or captains, can be notorious gossips. And this was a juicy case. The boys had stopped their work and wanted me to spill.
While I was briefing the boys Beckett had the task of escorting the bereaved wife and bereaved fiancée out of the precinct without them crossing each other's path.
"With the wife, it was 'Only call my cell during the week' routine." I informed the boys. "With the fiancée, he pulled out the trusty 'I can't call you from the hospital' act."
"Man, my girlfriend freaks out if I don't check in, like, every hour." Ryan chuckled.
Esposito shot his partner a look. "You do check in, like, every hour." He said.
At that moment Ryan's cell phone chimed. Ryan reached for it and checked the message which had just come in.
"Sometimes more." Esposito added.
I tried very hard not to smile at that last observation.
"This guy had both of these women believing that they were his one and only." I remarked.
While I had been talking Beckett had quietly walked up behind me. She had seen off the wife and the fiancée and had come over. She had heard what I had told the boys.
"People believe what they want to believe." Beckett said.
"Till the dead truth sets in." Esposito remarked.
"What you think one of them caught on to what Sam was doing?" I asked.
"And didn't take too kindly when they discovered they weren't the only woman in his life." Ryan suggested.
"Mmm, I don't know." I said. I turned to look up at Beckett who was standing beside me. "They seemed pretty shocked to me."
"Yeah, me too," Beckett agreed. "But we've got to cover all our bases. Both of them had soft alibis. The wife said that she was watching TV while the kids were upstairs sleeping. And the fiancée said that she was home alone getting ready to meet him."
"We'll run phone and financials, see if anything pops." Ryan suggested.
"Thank you." Beckett replied.
She turned and started walking over to her desk. I rose from Ryan's desk and followed her. Nearing her desk Beckett paused and turned to look at me, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Do you think he would have gone through with it?" She asked.
"Through with what?" I asked.
"Marrying Sarah if he hadn't gotten killed."
"Well that was a pretty big rock he put on her finger." I remarked. "With the fake identity he had set up, the county clerk's office would never have flagged him for someone who was already married."
"Yeah." Beckett agreed. "But Sam was pretending to be Jake before Sarah. I don't understand the fake identity."
"Maybe to land the job?" I offered.
"I understand fibbing on your resume, but changing your identity. The math doesn't add up." Beckett frowned.
"You know what doesn't add up for me?" I asked her.
"Mmm?"
"Two wives."
"One wife too many for you?" Beckett said with a grin on her face.
"Two wives too many." I shot back.
"Seems like to common denominator in that equation is you." Beckett grinned even more as she pointed at me to emphasise her remark. Having made her point Beckett walked off.
I was left standing there looking a little flummoxed at what she had just said. Much to my chagrin I did not have a witty retort that I could fire back at her. I will concede she may have had a point. I had indeed been married and divorced twice already. I wont go into details about my marriages and divorces because this is not time or place for discussion about that topic. All I will say is that is there was fault on both sides.
There was not much I could do here at the precinct so I decided to call it a day and headed home.
XXXXX
There you have it the first instalment of the next Case File. Let me know what you think of this effort by dropping me a line. I'd like to hear from you.
Con