Too Close

Chapter 98

While waiting impatiently in line at the counter, Ryan automatically scans the aisles for activity. "You've got to be kidding me," he mutters as a reflection in a convex mirror catches his eye. A man with a wolf tattoo on his neck is stuffing phone chargers into his pants. He's found Jimmy Wolfinsky. Ryan strolls over to the would-be shoplifter. "No one has that many phones."

Catching sight of the badge on Ryan's belt, Jimmy runs, only to be slowed by the line of people waiting to try their luck at winning a huge jackpot. Ryan easily tackles and cuffs him. "Dumb move, Jimmy. You and my partner and I are going to have a little talk. Look who I found," Ryan announces, shoving Jimmy out the door toward a waiting Esposito. "Hold on to him a sec, will you, Bro. I still need to get my tickets. If ever I was having a lucky day, this has got to be it."

Shaking his head, Esposito loads Wolfinsky into the backseat of the unit that he parked at the curb.

Ryan drums his fingers on the table, next to a pile of phone chargers. "You're on parole, Jimmy. These could get you sent right back to the joint. But Esposito and I are homicide cops. We're more interested in talking about Cameron Ducane."

"What about Cameron?" Jimmy asks. "I heard he's dead."

"You swore you'd get him," Esposito reminds the thief.

"I was just talking. If I'd been in his shoes, I would have done the same thing. Anyway, he was telling the truth. He thought he was just giving me a ride. We were cool. I went to see him a couple of days ago to find out if he could get Blue Moon to give me a job, but he said to trust him, I didn't want to work there."

"Why not?" Ryan asks.

"He said some bad things were going down that I shouldn't get involved with, that a dangerous fix was in on something big."

"What kind of a fix?" Esposito demands.

"I don't know," Wolfinsky swears. "but whatever it was, Cameron was sweating when he told me about it. Look, I'm sorry he's dead, especially with leaving a wife and all, but I didn't have anything to do with it. And if I could tell you any more, I would."

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Esposito counters. "Maybe after you've been in Holding for a while, something else will come to you."

"The bank said there were no signs of a robbery or attempted robbery," Kate reports, shoving her cell back in her coat pocket. "We'll head for the factory, but I think the place might be closed down. The phone is out of service. "

"I don't know what the bad guys would be doing there. The place makes toys and novelties if it is still in business. A lot of small manufacturers like that can't compete with the stuff coming in from China. Too bad, too," Rick adds. "I haven't seen any Hula Hurl in years, not even at Drake's Magic Shop."

"Babe, I'm not even going to ask why you wanted fake vomit, but we'll find out what's going on when we get there."

"It's shut down all right," Castle observes, pointing at graffiti-covered walls and broken windows.

Kate checks the door. "This has been jimmied. Stay behind me, Babe," she urges, pulling her weapon and stepping cautiously inside. Carefully she clears the sprawling space that was a production floor and offices. "No one's here now."

Castle gestures at splatters of blood on the wall. "But someone was. Want to bet that belongs to Ducane?"

"We'll get CSU in and find out," she assures him, wrinkling her nose as Rick picks up a used diaper.

"Cosmo was here, too." He observes unnecessarily. "And whoever brought him here was cheap and not worried about the environment. This isn't even recyclable."

Kate rakes her hair away from her face. "What I can't figure out is what someone was doing in a defunct factory — with a baby."

Castle circles the idle fabrication area. "Kate, look. All the equipment has dust on it except this machine. And it's plugged into a generator that's venting outside. Whoever broke in and had Cosmo must have been using it."

"For what?" Kate wonders.

"Can I borrow your flashlight?" Castle requests. "Staring over his shoulder, Kate hands Rick the light. "From the shape of things inside here, it looks like it turns out some kind of balls. And there seems to be an adjustment to increase the size."

Kate giggles.

"Yeah, the jokes just tell themselves, don't they?" Castle chortles.

Kate presses her lips together, suppressing her laughter. "None of this gets us any closer to Cameron Ducane's killer or who Cosmo is."

Kate pulls out her phone. "Maybe CSU will come up with something. And let's find out what the boys got from Wolfinsky."

Rick hears the cries from the lounge as he and Kate get off the elevator. "Cosmo's still here!" The moment the writer picks up the baby from his portable crib, the infant stops howling.

"You've got the touch, Castle," L.T. remarks. "The captain and I have been taking turns while you were gone. He didn't calm down like that for either of us."

Kate watches as Cosmo nestles against Castle's chest. "Looks like you two are still buddies."

"I guess he knows a daddy when he sees one," Castle supposes. "And he probably wants another bottle. I can feed him and walk him around a bit while we wait to hear something from CSU."

"Fine, I want to go over what Wolfinsky said, with Ryan and Esposito. Then maybe we can do some brainstorming." Kate figures.

"We're missing something somewhere," Kate remarks, frustratedly regarding the contents of the murder board. "there's still nothing here that ties any of what we have so far, together."

"Hey, everybody, it's starting," Ryan yells, turning on the sound on the TV on the wall of the bullpen. "They're going to pick the numbers!"

Castle grabs a bagged lottery ticket found in Ducane's pocket from the board. "I hope Ryan is luckier than Cameron was."

A grinning host introduces the voluptuous, if slightly pale, Miranda Vail, who announces the number of the first ball that pops from the chute.

Castle's eyes widen as the number matches a number on Ducane's ticket. The numbers Miranda calls after it are in a different order, but they all match Ducane's choices. Castle calls the final two numbers out loud before Miranda announces them.

Ryan stares at Rick and then the useless tickets in his hand. "I should have taken you with me to buy these. What are you, Castle, psychic?"

"Sure. I inherited it from my grandparents on my mother's side. They did a mindreading act. It impressed all the crowned heads of Europe."

Ryan's mouth falls open. "Really?"

Castle grasps the detective's shoulder. "Really that my grandparents had an act, but no, I'm not psychic. I just realized what Ducane was involved with. Whoever killed him was fixing the lottery."

"Castle, that's supposed to be impossible," Ryan protests. "Otherwise, we'd all be throwing our money away."

"You're doing that anyway," Esposito interjects.

"Did you notice," Castle wonders, "that Miranda Vail and Cosmo both have the same adorable little crescent moon birthmark on their arms? I think Miranda is Cosmo's missing mommy. Whoever pulled off the scheme must have kidnapped him to make her go along with it."

"And when Cameron Ducane tried to intervene, from what Wolfinsky said, they, probably someone from Blue Moon, shot him," Kate finishes. "Miranda probably doesn't know that Cosmo is safe."