Couples

Chapter 129

Rick crouches in front of his daughter. "Lily, sweetheart. That kitty might belong to someone else, someone who would be very sad if we took it away."

"It does have a collar," Christine chimes in.

Castle throws the sous chef a sideways smile before continuing his explanation to Lily. "See, Baby. Someone loved that kitty enough to give it a present. Maybe we can use it to find out where it belongs and get it back to its family. If you were lost, wouldn't you want someone to bring you back to Mommy and Daddy?"

Lily sniffles. "Kitty lost."

Rick wraps his arms around her. "That's right. But we'll do our best to get it back where it belongs."

Rick turns to Christine. "Do you have any more of whatever Kitty liked? If I feed her, I might be able to get close enough to see a tag if it has one, or get a photo of it on zoom. I can also post the pictures online."

"Isn't there some organization you can call to come get it?" Madison asks.

"More than one," Rick acknowledges, "but if they don't find the owner or someone to adopt the cat pretty fast, they…" he looks down at Lily. "Um, well, you know. I'd hate to have to explain about that. But anyway, it's worth a shot to find Kitty's human."

Christine fills up a bowl-like container with tender pieces of chicken and beef. "I can watch Lily. Good luck, Mr. Castle."

Carefully opening the door to avoid hitting the furry supplicant, Rick puts his offering on the cement surface of the alley. Totally ignoring Rick, the cat goes straight for the food. "I can see your priorities," Rick mutters at the animal. "Not that I blame you – Imagination Patch puts out a good spread." Hunkering down, Rick spies a metal oval dangling from the hungry cat's collar. He reads the name Felicia but at a distance, can't make out the numerals beneath it. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he sets the camera to maximum magnification and begins to capture images.

Returning to the kitchen, Rick reaches out for his daughter and shows her the screen of his phone. "Look, Baby, someone who loves Kitty named her Felicia."

"Take Feli-sa home?" Lily asks.

"We still have to figure out where that is." He points to the numbers in the picture. "See, that's how we can call someone who loves Felicia."

The cell phone lying on a desk near where Lanie is bending over a body, buzzes. Kate picks it up. "This is Detective Beckett."

Rick does a double-take of the number he just called. "Kate, what are you doing answering that phone?"

"Rick? It belongs to a vic the boys just found. What are you doing calling it?"

"It also belongs to the owner of a cat named Felicia that showed up at Imagination Patch today. I was hoping to get her home. But, I guess that just became more complicated."

"You could say that, but you should call Animal Control," Kate suggests. "That's what I would have done if Felicia were here."

"But she isn't. She's here with me – and Lily. And I don't want to have to explain to little ears what would happen in a few days if no one claims her. And you know the way I roll with my girls. I'm not about to lie."

"So, what are you planning to do?" Kate asks.

"Try to find out if someone wants her. In the meantime, we can't keep her inside Imagination Patch. The Health Department would have a fit. We can build some temporary housing for her outside – or how about the precinct? She might be a witness to the crime. If she scratched the killer or something, there might even be some evidence on her."

"You might have something there, Babe. According to Lanie, our vic's been dead for almost 24 hours. The cat might have run away when it happened. I'll send someone from C.S.U. down to get her. But after they're through, we'll still have to figure out what to do with her."

"Yeah, I know. But one thing at a time."

Kate continues to examine the apartment of the victim, Lenore Pettigrew. The framed pictures on the wall make it evident that the victim belonged there, and DMV records confirmed her identity. Whoever broke in on her didn't bother picking a lock. The splintered frame indicates that the door was rammed or kicked in. The cat could have slipped out through the opening. The body bears signs of torture, but from the way the place is ransacked, Lenore didn't tell her attackers where to find whatever they came for. It probably wouldn't have mattered if she did. Whoever the perpetrators were, slit her jugular. They weren't about to leave her alive.

Regarding an open drawer in Lenore's desk, Kate finds an old-fashioned address book. She'll try reaching the contacts on Lenore's phone first, but the book could serve as backup to finding someone who can explain what the killer might have been after. Clearly, it wasn't names and addresses, or the phone and the book would be gone.

The files in a cabinet against one wall are askew. So, someone was looking for papers, or maybe something small enough to fit in a file. Also, the pillows and upholstery on the small couch are slashed open, further evidence that whatever the thief-murderer wanted couldn't have been very big.

If Kate's lucky, the searcher left behind prints and DNA. But it's not hard to put on a pair of gloves, and DNA isn't always in the system. So she could have to slog through Lenore's personal and work history, as well as talking to anyone who knew her, to figure out what the murderer wanted. And by then, her suspect may be long gone. But as Rick said, one thing at a time. She'll let C.S.U. do its work while she determines Lenore's next of kin and makes a notification. Who knows? Rick might be right about the cat providing a clue.

From his car, Auchincloss watches as a van labeled Crime Scene Unit pulls out onto the street from the alley behind Imagination Patch. Urgently pulling into the lot that serves the restaurant and several shops, he lunges from his vehicle and runs toward the restaurant. Rushing through the serving area, he calls out for Christine, who meets him at the entrance to the kitchen. "Are all right?" he pants.

"I'm fine, Ben."

"And Madison?"

"He's fine too. Everything is fine."

Auchincloss shakes his head. "I don't understand. What was the crime scene unit doing here?"

Heat rises in Christine's cheeks. "That's a long story, and Mr. Castle could probably tell it better than I can."

"Mr. Castle," Auchincloss interrupts, "was he involved?"

"Yes, he was, and Lily," Christine admits, "but they're both fine too. You see, there was this cat."

"You know," Rick says, pouring a glass of wine for Kate, "Lily's settled down now. But she's not going to give up on the cat thing. And if C.S.U. turns Felicia over to Animal Control when it's done with her, we would have to explain why the cat didn't find loving arms when Lily wanted her."

"You're saying that you want to adopt a cat, a cat who possibly witnessed a murder."

"Yes," Rick admits, but a crime-busting family taking in a cat who's not only a witness to but orphaned by murder is kind of appropriate, don't you think?"

"Maybe," Kate considers, "but if you're planning on keeping Felicia, you'll need to take her to a vet to make sure she's not going to bring anything into our home that we'll all regret. And you'll be responsible for her behavior – and Lily's. And until we're sure they'll both be civilized, we'll need a cat corral to go with our kiddy version."

Rick leans in for a wine-flavored kiss. "No problem."