Couples
Chapter 137
The mainstream biographies of Melissa Stone are getting Kate nowhere. But if the stories are true, she admires the woman for pushing her husband toward philanthropic work, particularly delivering disease cures to unreached populations in Africa. But it seems unlikely that a woman with a passion for helping distressed peoples would oppose the Lenape. If that truly is Melissa's character, it would seem more probable that she'd try to reach an accommodation with the tribal leadership.
Much as Kate hates gossip – and she's been the target of more than her share – she decides to skirt the official Melissa Stone narratives. For most of Melissa's history, the tales appear to match up pretty well. Melissa encouraged her husband, Walter, to endow a foundation addressing desperate needs. They eradicated a parasite-induced blindness and provided solar energy to areas unreachable by the grid. Then Walter started jumping the track somehow, sparking rumors of inappropriate sexual behavior. Whatever was going on was quickly hushed up, but Kate figures there must be records somewhere, perhaps settled suits.
Digging into the court documents is frustrating, with accusers and accused identified as numerical individuals rather than by their names. But following the trail, Kate finally hits paydirt. Walter was one of the first attendees of the parties at the Gaetz mansion. That led to being the target of suits by women alleging he had sex with them as minors. However, by the time Eli went after Gaetz, the statute of limitations had run out on Walter's actions, so the billionaire wasn't prosecuted.
But apparently, at some point, Melissa discovered what Walter was into and began trying to build her own financial empire, setting herself up to walk away from Walter financially unscathed. Unfortunately, from what Kate can make out, Melissa butted up against Russian interests. Dealing with a Russian bank seemed to put a damper on the conflict – until the Lenape claim on Melissa's properties.
Kate has no access to the bank's or Melissa's private records, but she can guess what happened next. If the bank called the loans, Melissa would have been frantic, perhaps frantic enough to be complicit by silence in Lenore Pettigrew's murder. But if the real-life Melissa is anything like the press portrays her, the death of an innocent woman would tear at her soul. Kate needs to talk to her, A.S.A.P.
Kate's planning her first step toward breaching the Stone fortress when her cell bleeps with a reminder from Rick to talk to Montgomery. Despite the three smiley faces that accompany his text, Kate knows that Rick's serious. Fine. She'll figure out what door to bang on to get to Melissa and talk to Montgomery on her way out of the bullpen.
Mindy is overjoyed not only at starting her job at Imagination Patch but getting to collaborate with Chef Christine Azaria. They're brainstorming new giant cookie ideas for Richard Castle's daughter and all the other cookie monsters who patronize Imagination Patch. While some shoppers pop in with young children in tow, Chef Azaria says that the oversized pastries are popular with adults as well. In fact, the resident writers are particularly fond of them.
The change from pumpkins, however, will take some consideration. The pumpkins are easy to cut, without parts that can easily break off. Even the stalk is thick enough to resist accidents. Decorating the cookies is straightforward as well. A smiling pumpkin face isn't challenging, even for a pastry novice. Chef Azaria wants an equally charming design they can execute as readily.
"How about a snowman?" Mindy suggests. "Almost everything is rounded, and the face would be easy to do."
"But if the kids watch the Frosty cartoon, they'd expect a hat," Christine muses. "That could break or be difficult to ice cleanly. Ooh, or worse, they might want the corncob pipe. That would be very fragile and probably over-bake."
"How about a new character nobody knows," Mindy proposes, "like a smiling snowball? We'd just be cutting out rounds and decorating it wouldn't be much different than doing a pumpkin except that we could use a white glaze."
Christine's eyes brighten. "That would work great! And we could have more than one character, maybe Sammy and Samantha Snowballs."
Mindy nods enthusiastically. "We could give Sammy heavier eyebrows and Samantha eyelashes so we could tell them apart."
"OK," Christine agrees. "During the post-lunch lull, we'll work on some sketches and see what we have. But now it's time to finish mise en place."
Mindy grins. "Yes, Chef!"
"It's the first time Christine's heard that response directed at her. It feels wonderful.
"Problem?" Ryan asks as Esposito stares disgustedly at his phone.
"I've been trying to get a reservation at Casa Diego, but they won't even take any before next month. Castle never has any trouble getting in there."
"Castle never has trouble getting in anywhere – except our weapons lockers," Ryan points out. "He's celebrity-ish and rich. And Casa Diego charges big bucks, Bro. When I looked up the menu once, I could feel my bank account shrinking just reading it."
"But I want to take Bambi somewhere nice," Esposito protests.
"She loved Jenny's shepherd's pie," Ryan reminds his partner. "That's Irish pub food – if it's a good pub. You could take her to O'Hanrahan's. The food is great, and you won't need a reservation. Jenny and I have never had a problem getting a table there."
"But Bro, if things feel right tonight, I want to…."
"Pop the question?" Ryan interjects.
"Is O'Hanrahan's nice enough for that?"
"You won't get dirt on your pants when you get down on one knee if that's what you mean. And when Bambi says yes, the whole place will applaud. Just do it, Man," Ryan urges.
"What if she says no?" Esposito worries.
"Javi, if she says no at O'Hanrahan's, she would have said no at Casa Diego. No woman in her right mind marries a cop for money."
"Yeah," Esposito agrees, "I guess you've got that right."
"You want two or three days off before Christmas," Montgomery reiterates.
"I have the vacation, Sir, a lot more than that," Kate reminds the captain. "And with the weather, crime is down in the city."
"I'm aware of that, Beckett," Montgomery retorts. "But it won't be if it warms up much. And you're right in the middle of a case."
"A case I'm nowhere close to solving. And we both know I'm already past the critical 48 hours. So at this point, I might get the answers I need this afternoon, or I might not get them for weeks or months. And our homicide closure rate is the highest in the N.Y.P.D., whether I close the case before the end of the quarter or not."
"How far have you gotten? Do you have a suspect?" Montgomery presses.
"A person of interest, maybe. I'm trying to get to her."
"Then what are you doing in here? Look, Beckett. You're the best homicide detective in the precinct, maybe in the city. So you deserve the time off. But 1PP is looking at where to put the department's money for next year. That means even the best have to step it up. So find a way to talk to the woman and tell me what you get. Then we'll see about the days off."
"Yes, Sir."
Montgomery rises from behind his desk. "Go get her, Kate. No one digs out the truth better than you do."
"Thank you, Sir."
Montgomery sinks back into his chair. "Now, get out of here."