Couples

Chapter 49

Martha wishes she could delay giving Alexis the bad news, but the house is filling up, and even if she'd have a chance to call during the performance, the cast and crew turn off their phones. After a stray ring just as Harold and Marion were meeting on the footbridge, the stage manager instituted fines on anyone found with an active cell while the curtain is up.

On her way back to the loft from the subway, Alexis's stomach twists at her grandmother's ringtone. Swallowing, she accepts the call. "I'm so sorry, Darling. We had three cast members gain weight, and nine lose it. Julia is swamped altering all the costumes, and the show has to go on. I don't imagine that you can change your schedule?"

Alexis works hard to keep any relief from creeping into her voice. "Gram, no. Dana and I went over everything, and we agreed on what I showed you. But don't worry about it. I'll work something out."

"Are you sure, Darling?" Martha presses.

"I'm sure," Alexis assures her grandmother. She exhales a deep breath as she ends the call. She's heard enough stories of wedding disasters. The last thing she needs is a conflict with her in-laws before she even gets married. Breathing more easily, she calls Dana. "It's a go for your mom." The bride-to-be only hopes that Ginny's dressmaking skills are as good as her quilting.

Rick gloried in the length of Lily's nap and the time it gave him and Kate for late afternoon delight. But with the toddler still wide awake at midnight, he's beginning to think that he should have been careful what he wished for. Since Kate has to be on shift in the morning, there's no question that he's elected to be up until Lily goes down again. She doesn't seem to be in any hurry to be back in her crib or anywhere less confining than her corral.

If he has to wait for his daughter to tire herself out again, he might as well get something done. He managed to fit a Cecil Newbridge-like character into a Derrick Storm novella but left Derrick being pursued by the deadly villainess owner of a yacht on the high seas.

Rick has to figure out how Derrick can turn the tables. It doesn't hurt that Rick's adventurous alter ego can press 400 pounds, but right now, he'd rather have the hero use his brain. Unfortunately, that means that Rick will have to use his own – late-night foggy as it is. His fingers pick up speed on the keyboard. He's written under a lot worse conditions.

Rick is mid-yawn when a mid-morning call comes in from Kate. "I got Fishkill's financials."

A spurt of adrenalin jerks Rick alert. "Any orders for ammo?"

He can hear the triumph in Kate's voice. "Not just ammo, but the exact type and caliber of bullets recovered from Garces' body. I'm going to take the boys to pick up Fishkill now. Any chance you can join me in the box?"

"I'll have to check with Meryl. Her daughter might have given her a late night too. But if she can watch the girls, I'll be there with bells on."

Kate stares at Fishkill across the metal table. For the moment, Rick is behind the mirror, watching the proceedings. "I don't know why I'm here," he complains. "I'm just an importer. I don't have anything to do with crime – unless you consider trying to help your husband open another restaurant a crime."

Kate taps her fingers against her ever-present leather folder. "All right, let's start with restaurants. You wanted to supply Manual Garces with china, did you not?"

Fishkill gulps. "I don't remember."

Kate spreads several sheets of paper in front of him. "Then let me help you recall. Garces received samples from you and had them tested." She taps a lab report. "You can see what the chemist found. Those plates and cups were toxic. They shouldn't have been sold for use with food."

"That has to be a mistake," Fishkill protests. "I never heard about any lab results. They had to be on someone else's dishes."

Kate shakes her head. "No mistake. Manuel Garces kept excellent records, and his widow maintained them. The pottery came from you and Werner."

"Then the lab made a mistake," Fishkill insists.

Channeling Martha, Rick sweeps in for a dramatic entrance. "No, it didn't. I passed on the samples you gave me to Detective Beckett for the crime lab to test. And they were criminal, so full of lead and cadmium that it's illegal to import them."

"I swear I didn't know," Fishkill argues as Rick takes a seat next to Kate. "Werner decides which dishes to buy."

"How about bullets?" Rick asks. "Who decides to buy those?"

Fishkill's collar darkens with sweat. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kate pulls more papers from her folder. "I think you do. This is your order, right here. These are the bullets that killed Manuel Garces, and you brought them into the country."

"I didn't want to kill Garces. That was Werner's idea too," Fishkill claims.

"Except that you're the one who likes to play with guns," Rick interjects, producing a print-out of Fishkill's yearbook photo with the JROTC.

"I want a lawyer," Fishkill demands.

"Good idea," Kate responds.

"What about Werner?" Castle wonders after he and Kate leave Interrogation. "Fishkill already fingered him, and it looks like they'll be competing to see who can toss the other one further under the wheels of the bus."

"Or Werner might try to rabbit. I'll take some unis and pick him up before he gets away. Want to come along?"

Sighing, Rick shakes his head. "Can't. Meryl has a meeting with her editors this afternoon. I'll be with Lily, and I promised to take Belle. Ooh! Can you live-tweet the arrest? I want to see Werner's face."

"I don't know how Montgomery would feel about one of his detectives live-tweeting, but I'll send you a picture," Kate promises.

Lorne pours his second cup of fragrant brew from the coffee maker he unpacked when Lanie helped him set up the kitchen the night before. "I wish you liked coffee. The blend from Rick and Kate's housewarming basket is terrific."

Lanie loads a muffin with gifted strawberry preserves. "These are great too." She catches sight of the clock on the microwave oven. Lorne set it before they even started unpacking kitchenware. "I don't think I've slept this late in years. If I didn't have to go back to work tomorrow, I could learn to enjoy it."

Lorne puts his arm around her shoulders. "We have today, and I'm mostly unpacked. We'll have time to go out somewhere if you want to."

"I think I'd rather stay in," Lanie decides. "There are some other things in that basket I'd like to try."

Lorne reddens slightly, recalling bottles and tubes for adult amusement. "They did look intriguing, although I found some of the label diagrams puzzling."

Lanie leans into his body. "I'll help you figure them out."

Harold Sternbach rereads the email from a Dana Wygard. The young man identifies himself as Richard Castle's future son-in-law and asks for an appointment for him and his bride to pick out an engagement ring. The price range he specifies is hardly top of the line, but it isn't cheap either.

Obviously, the couple is unaware that Rick's wife decided to have the mysterious emerald set into a gift for the new bride. Harold is determined that whatever ring the couple decides on, he'll make sure the jewelry harmonizes. He suspects that Richard Castle will be an excellent and ongoing customer. The jeweler's not about to make any missteps with the family. Harold replies to the young man with an enthusiastic invitation.