Couples
Chapter 85
"It looks like he's leaving," Rick notes as the train doors open.
"This is the stop we thought he'd get off. Let's go," Kate instructs.
Kate and Rick stay well behind Dimmer as he quickly strides across the platform, toward the exit and the stairs upward. On the sidewalk, concealment won't be as easy. With rush hour ending, pedestrian traffic is ebbing, and the pair will have minimal cover. "Got anything else in your pocket of tricks?" Kate asks.
Rick pulls out a pair of aviator sunglasses. "Just these. Oh, and this." He offers a bucket hat. "Normally, I'd consider it a travesty to hide your fabulous face, but in this case, it might be a good idea."
Kate takes the floppy pink and orange creation. "Where did you get this?"
"Coney Island. I got the ring on the bottle. But Alexis wanted the junior bow and arrow set. We could have bought Olympic archery equipment for what it cost to win it. However, I thought the hat might come in handy sometime. It appears it will do so. Although honestly, I haven't seen Dimmer even glance behind him. He really isn't much of a cop, is he?"
"I'm much more concerned with how much of a murderer he is," Kate replies. "Oh, he's going into the bodega I told you about. We can watch from across the street to see when he comes out."
"We're not at the corner. Are you saying we should jaywalk, Detective Beckett?" Rick teases.
Kate reaches for a handful of Rick's butt as she checks out oncoming traffic. "Official police business, Consultant Castle."
The couple barely takes the position Kate indicated when Rick spots activity in the bodega's front window. "Is Oscar putting out a closed sign?"
"He is," Kate confirms.
"During regular business hours, that can't be good," Rick guesses.
"You're right," Kate agrees, heading back toward the street. As the light changes at the end of the block, cars flood into the previously clear roadway. She waits impatiently as they pass and signals Castle to follow as she runs across the asphalt.
Rick peers through the plate glass. "I don't see anyone."
"They must be in the back," Kate assumes.
Rick's eyes brighten. "Ooh! Do we bust in?"
Kate shakes her slightly disguised head. "Not without probable cause."
A high nasal cry of "Help! Please help me!" emanates from the shop.
"And that's it!" Kate declares, pulling her weapon and kicking in the door. "Mr. Sanchez? Mr. Sanchez, are you all right?"
Rick pushes aside a curtain to the back room. He and Kate can see Oscar Sanchez secured by silk ties to the posts of a brass bed. Tom Dimmer holds a pink plastic whip. "I was fine until you busted in," Sanchez complains. "Can't people have a little privacy?"
"You're not hurt?" Kate inquires.
"I'm fine!" Sanchez insists.
"You were the voice in the airshaft," Kate realizes.
"I told you it was just playtime," Oscar retorts. "You should have believed me."
"And you should have believed me that there was no murder," Dimmer adds smugly.
"And if you'd told me the truth, then we could have avoided this whole thing," Kate retorts.
"My sex life is none of the N.Y.P.D.'s business," Dimmer insists. "Do you two tell Montgomery what you do in bed?"
Rick taps his fingers against his lower lip. "He's never asked, but…" He clamps his mouth closed as Kate throws him a dirty look.
Oscar's eyes harden. "You should leave, now. And someone is going to have to pay to fix my door."
"It will be taken care of," Rick assures him.
"You want to take the subway back to your unit or hail a cab?" Rick asks as he and Kate exit the store.
Kate pulls the hat from her head and hands it back to Rick before shoving her hair behind her ears. "The subway. I need some time to think."
"About what you're going to tell Montgomery?"
"I'm going to tell him the truth, but I'll have to figure out how to phrase it. It's not going to look good for me."
"Dimmer doesn't realize it, but it could look a lot worse for him. Even if he isn't required to tell the department about his predilections, but he did lie in his report. Isn't that a no-no?" Rick wonders.
"Absolutely a no-no," Kate realizes.
Rick grins. "And to put a final point on it, in my book, I'll portray the Dimmer character as a total jerk for wasting Nikki's time when she should have been putting her efforts into solving a bloody murder."
"I don't know how much better that will make me look." Kate considers.
"Believe me," Rick assures her, "you will, as always, look fantastic."
Lorne frowns down at Marcus Jensen, the body on his table. A medical examiner from upstate ruled his death as due to natural causes, but the Jensen family didn't believe it. It contracted for Lorne to take a second look. He'll be examining every millimeter of the deceased for anything not noted in the original report. That will be tedious and painstaking work. In addition, he'll also be running tests above and beyond the ones the original M.E. ran. His equipment is at least five years newer than that available to most labs, and his software is more advanced.
In his heart, Lorne is hoping he doesn't find anything suspicious. Reassuring the family of a natural passing could give them peace and closure. But he'll report the truth, whatever it is. That's something M.E.s have to do and have to live with. Dealing with that grim duty is something he and Lanie share. That makes the joys they also share incredibly precious.
He's nervous about the wedding and, weirdly, even the honeymoon. But he's looking forward to his marriage more every day. His bride seems even more jittery than he is, but he believes she's also as anxious to finally tie the knot. She just has more to handle before they get there. He's hoping Kate can help.
"So now what?" Rick asks after Kate comes out of Montgomery's office.
"He's going to have I.A. investigate Dimmer for filing a false report. But he warned me about spending time on any more cases without a corpus delecti."
"Body of a crime, yes," Rick acknowledges. "So, until another deceased drops, are you back to going through reports?"
"Not now. He thinks I should take a break and stop digging for a while. He wants me to take some time off and come back," Kate holds up her fingers in air quotes, "'settled down,' on Monday."
"In that case, while we can still take advantage of Meryl's availability, how about an early but sumptuous dinner out? And later," Rick wiggles his eyebrows, " we can work off the calories."
Lorne regards his computer screen. "Damn!" The acetylcholinesterase and albumin are bound. That's an indication that somewhere, somehow, Jensen was exposed to a nerve agent or a very close analog. The original M.E. should have detected some signs. The family might have seen something as well. That could be why the Jensens were so insistent.
The family won't be getting peace anytime soon. And depending on the source of the exposure, the findings could start a firestorm. If it was accidental, as with pesticide contact, that would be enough of a tragedy.
But if someone administered a nerve agent deliberately, multiple agencies will get involved, and Lorne will be in the center ring of a media circus. That's the last thing he needs before his wedding. The groom-to-be mentally crosses his fingers that Jensen's death was accidental, but he has a bad feeling.