Flu

Chapter 84

Earl's fingers tighten on the neck of his guitar as the lady cop tells him why she's calling. What did she say her name is, Beckett? He never expected to hear from her or any other cop again. Until now, the N.Y.P.D. didn't have a thing about his brother's death, and he liked it that way. The prayer shawl was a great weapon, and the burnt hair added a religious touch, but killing Gil didn't take much. He'd known about his brother's habit of sneaking into churches to filch communion wine since they were kids and did it together. Earl gave up on it as soon as he figured out how to get his hands on the hard stuff. But Gil enjoyed the rush. He loved to hit a church just before Pentecost because they prepared for a larger congregation, but not as big as Easter or Christmas. Slipping something into the wine was no big deal. No one would drink enough of it at communion to make a difference, but Gil was another story. He'd down most of a bottle if he could get one.

Earl politely declines the detective's offer to send a car to pick him up. He doesn't want to spend that much time with cops. He'll make the short drive to the 12th Precinct and practice his grief-stricken look on the way. That and swearing that he knows nothing about Gil's death should get him out of there as fast as possible. If things drag on, he can claim he has to meet up with his band to organize a gig. That's even true. They perform fine on their own, but he handles the details like making sure they get paid – and he gets paid. He agrees to an interview in a half-hour.

"So, is the brother coming in?" Castle asks.

Kate reaches for another packet of crackers. "Uh-huh. He's on his way. What did you dig up about him besides the rock band?"

"He lived in Nazareth until the year his brother was killed. They both worked in the guitar factory, but Gilmartin worked there first and stayed. It looks like Earl was going to school on the side because he got a business degree. That's when he moved to New York and started managing A Mighty Wind."

"Any problems between Earl and his brother?" Kate inquires.

"I was just sourcing from public records," Rick admits. "If there were, it wouldn't have shown up. I can keep looking."

"You go ahead," Kate agrees, "and until he gets here, I'll do a little research of my own about A Mighty Wind."


Earl notes the lounge's comfort when he sits down with Detective Beckett and her consultant – whatever he's doing there. Several tissue boxes are within easy reach, no doubt for sobbing relatives of murder victims. He wonders if he should try to scare up a few tears, but after all this time, that could be overkill.

Without appearing to stare, Kate takes in every detail she can about Earl. His clothes are dress-for-success but off the rack. He goes to a stylist, not a barber, and probably has his teeth whitened. His hands maintain a few signs that he did manual labor at one time, but not in the recent past. He's a man on his way up. The expression on his lips is sad, but his eyes have a sheen of calculation. She's not expecting any straight answers. The lounge has no recording devices, but she's taking notes. Castle is also taking mental as well as written notes, and he's very good at it. She could swear he remembers every word she said when he started shadowing her.

Kate opens her black leather folder. "Mr. Jabbanek, do you have any idea what your brother was doing at Our Lady of Serenity?"

"If there were something on his mind, my brother liked to sit in churches, even when we were kids," Earl claims. "Sometimes he'd do it if he had a big test coming up or if he was trying to decide whether to go after some girl. I don't think he was praying as much as getting his thoughts straight."

"And what would he have been trying to get his thoughts straight about the day he was murdered?" Kate presses.

"I'm sorry, Detective, I have no idea," Earl maintains. "If I'd known he had a problem, I would have tried to help. But I hadn't talked to Gil in weeks. I didn't even know he was in New York. He still lived where we grew up in Nazareth. He made guitars for CF Martin. The company makes great instruments. A couple of the guys in the band I manage play Martins."

Kate nods. "I'm familiar with them. If you don't know of any specific concerns your brother had, were his church visits connected in any way to the holiday?"

Kate catches the wariness in Earl's eyes. "I'm sorry again, Detective. I'm not religious. If there was a holiday, I wasn't aware of it."

"Pentecost," Castle inserts. "Did your brother have a particular interest in Pentecost?"

The muscles topping Earl's jaw tighten. "I don't even know what Pentecost is, Mr. Castle. But perhaps Gil's killer does."

"You may be right, Mr. Jabbanek," Kate allows, handing Earl her card. "But if you think of anything else that might point us toward your brother's killer, please let me know."

"I will, Detective Beckett, but nothing has come to me after all these years. I doubt I'll have anything to tell."

Rick turns to Kate as soon as Earl Jabbanek retreats into the elevator. "Do you believe him?"

"Not for a second. Did you see how he reacted to the mention of Pentecost?"

"And he didn't even ask what it is. Under these circumstances, you'd think he would at least be curious. But he isn't because he already knows. Do you think he killed his brother?" Castle wonders.

"From what we know so far, he doesn't have a motive. We need to look at both the Jabbanek brothers harder than the original investigators did. And I want to ask Lanie to look over Gil's autopsy too. There might be something in there the original M.E. glossed over because the C.O.D. was so obvious."

"Speaking of Lanie, Nazareth is in Lehigh Valley, the same part of the state as Allentown. Wouldn't that make it Lorne Faulkner's stomping grounds? He might come up with something useful," Rick suggests.

Kate winks. "And even if he can't, Lanie won't mind an excuse to call him."

"Or we could videoconference, so they can make eyes at each other," Rick offers.

"That could be too distracting," Kate decides, shaking her head. "If he does know something, we want his brain to be functioning."

"So, another chance for the baby to visit with Auntie Lanie?" Rick inquires. "Not too many criminals in the morgue, at least not live ones. Of course, there is always the chance of a zombie."

"If one of Lanie's patients wakes up and starts demanding brains, I'll shoot it in the head," Kate promises.

Rick nods solemnly. "Good plan."


Eli Douglas inundated Harvey Bender with discovery. The A.D.A. is too smart to let Heitner catch a break on a technicality, or at least he thinks he is. Now Harvey has every scrap of evidence the prosecution intends to introduce. Perfect. Searching through the files, Bender homes in on the D.N.A. analysis. He'll go through it word by word until he finds what he's looking for. With any luck, his surprise coup will be splashed all over the Ledger. It might even make national news.