Flu

Chapter 106

"So you know who murdered your brother," Rick recaps.

"I know or knew at the time what the man looked like and where he lived. But when the police looked for him, he was gone. His fingerprints weren't on file, and in the early eighties, no one worried about D.N.A. The detectives back then tried to trace his car, but they couldn't. The house was a rental. The killer paid in cash, and the name on the lease was phony. After that, the police ran out of ideas, but I'm a professional researcher. I do fact-checking for major magazines and newspapers. Over the years, I've been watching for stories of boys like my brother. I've hated to think that the killer would strike again. But if he did, the police might be better equipped to catch him now."

"And you found a case like Larry's?" Kate prompts.

"I believe I might have. There was a boy up in the Bronx, a middle-schooler. He was doing a project for the science fair on what people throw out and the possible toll on the environment. He went through curbside trash receptacles, the way my brother did. According to what the police told my family when Larry was murdered, that's legal."

"Yes, it is," Kate confirms. "We take advantage of the laws regarding discarded items to gather evidence. So, the child in the Bronx was killed in a way that reminded you of your brother's death?"

"Yes, but it wasn't exactly the same. There was no scrap metal, but there was a broken heater, one of those small heavy ones. The boy was bludgeoned with it. According to the report I read, he was struck so hard that his skull shattered. He would have died almost instantly. I couldn't find any other details of the investigation in the press, and the detective in charge of the case hasn't been very forthcoming."

"No, he wouldn't be," Kate considers. "The N.Y.P.D. doesn't release details of ongoing investigations."

"Could you talk to him?" Berta asks. " His name is Sergei Chertov. The death of that poor child may have nothing to do with Larry's murder. But if it does, perhaps this time, the killer won't escape justice."

"Mrs. Rosencrantz, I can't promise anything else, but I will contact Detective Chertov," Kate pledges.


"I know Sergei Chertov," Kate confides to Rick after L.T. escorts Berta out of the bullpen.

His brows surge upward. "Oh?"

"Relax, Babe. We went to the academy together. His parents emigrated from Russia when he was a kid. I practiced my Russian on him. "

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"He's also gay. Last I heard, he and Stuart are very happy."

"In that case, why not invite Sergei and Stuart for dinner at Imagination Patch?" Rick proposes. "Nothing like good food and stimulating surroundings to get the information flowing."

"You know," Kate considers, "That's not a bad idea. Just make sure Chef Auchincloss doesn't run out of chili before we get there."

"Consider it done."


Sergei digs into a pot pie. "Honestly, Kate, do you really think two murders decades apart were committed by the same killer?"

"I have no idea," Kate confesses. "But Mrs. Rosencrantz isn't one of the crazies that wander into the precinct claiming to have witnessed a crime they actually saw on a soap opera. What she told us made sense. And you are looking into the murder she mentioned. So, what about the dead boy?"

"We might want to wait until after dinner to discuss the details of his case," Sergei suggests. "I've worked a lot of murders, but that one could break your heart. Chris was a good student, had a mother and a grandmother who loved him, and was aiming for the stars. He might have made it too. I'd really like to finish this before we go into it."

"Of course," Kate allows.

Castle points at Sergei's entrée. "Enjoy. You wouldn't believe what Chef had to go through to get that crust right."


"I'm going to take a walk while you talk to Kate and Rick," Stuart announces after a server clears the dishes from the table.

"Hearing about bad things happening to kids upsets him. We're trying to adopt," Sergei explains as his husband heads for the exit.

"Believe me, as a father, I get it," Castle responds. "And good luck on the adoption. I had some friends go through the process. It took a lot out of them."

"It's taking a lot out of us," Sergei confides, "especially Stuart. He plans to stay home with the child for at least the first year, and he's been rearranging his life to do it. In a way, the flu epidemic helped. He discovered he could do a lot more than he thought from home."

Rick chuckles. "As long as the kid's asleep. Until I married Kate, I raised my daughter pretty much on my own, and I can tell you that working at home and doing the dad thing can be quite a juggling act. But it's been worth every minute."

"Maybe we can call you for advice," Sergei reflects.

Rick scribbles his cell phone number on a page from his pocket notebook and hands it to Sergei. "Feel free."

As Kate clears her throat guilt flashes over Sergei's chiseled features. "The case. Sorry, Kate. I'll send you what I have, but I wish there were more. Nothing turned up on our canvass. The lab recovered some D.N.A. but couldn't match it to anyone on CODIS. The phenotype indicates that the killer is male with dark hair and dark eyes. Average height. Primary heritage, Magyar."

"He's Hungarian?" Castle asks.

Sergei nods. "Possibly. We have video from a nearby traffic cam around Chris's time of death, but as yet, we don't know what car to look for."

"If it is the same killer, at least we have an idea of his age," Castle realizes.

"Right," Kate agrees. "We could scrub the video for older drivers."

"That would give us more than we have now," Sergei acknowledges. "If the connection exists, we may actually be able to find this guy."

"Trust me," Rick assures him, "We've broken cold cases starting with a lot less than this. And if it is the same killer, we have a common motive, or at least something that points to one. He can't stand anyone going through his trash. Both Chris and Larry were doing that. Maybe he was afraid they'd find something he didn't want anyone to see. Ooh, what if he's a cannibal, and he was getting rid of human bones?"

"Then the last thing he'd want to do is draw attention to himself," Kate points out. "Assuming it is the same killer, he could just have a weird fetish. But we could go at it another way. Sergei, you said your canvass didn't turn up anything, but you didn't have much of a description. Our victim's sister saw the suspect in her brother's murder. Maybe we can put together a computer composite."

"And age it!" Castle adds. "There are some great apps that can do that. If it is the same killer, we could find out if anyone recognizes the way he would look today."

"If it really is the same guy," Sergei muses. "You might as well go ahead and see what you get. Right now, I'm going out to find Stuart. He'll want to know that this meeting was worth more than a free dinner. At least I hope it was."

Kate slowly pushes away from the table. "That makes three of us."