The Woman in the Yellow Dress
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: I own neither Castle nor a yellow dress. Rating: K Time: Early season five. Others know Kate and Rick are a couple, but not Gates.
On an evening more than a month later, Sarah Blum arrived at Rick Castle's door and was welcomed in by Rick and Kate.
"Really, Mr. Castle. I don't see why you insisted I come her when…" She stopped, seeing who else was there.
"You! And you have my grandfather's painting! Are you prepared to give it back to its rightful owner?"
"Mr. Hobbes is the rightful owner of that painting, as I am the rightful owner of this painting."
The speaker was an elderly lady, seated in Castle's darkened office, wearing sunglasses.
"You will forgive me, but I must sit in darkness due to my aged eyes. But I am sure you will recognize the painting to my right and the gentlemen standing by it.
Blum was shocked. It was the real painting of Daisy Bell, the one with a woman with a blue dress in the background.
She turned to the three men, well known art experts.
"Mr. Sanders, Mr. Milne, Mr. Robin, have you examined this painting?"
Mr. Sanders stepped forward.
"All three of us have, independently. It is the genuine painting of Daisy Bell you've been searching for."
Blum turned to the elderly lady.
"Who are you and how did you get the painting?"
"My name is Anna, and my grandmother was Daisy Bell. I inherited the painting from my mother who bought it from your grandfather in Austria in 1938, just before he and his family were arrested by the Gestapo. I even have the bill of sale, handwritten by your grandfather. These three gentlemen have already authenticated it."
She turned back to Sanders. He handed her a piece of paper in a clear plastic cover.
"It's authentic. We've done all the tests there are and they all come up positive."
"But the Nazis were supposed to have taken the painting. What happened?"
Sanders shrugged.
"The Germans were notorious for documenting everything, but even with them, mistakes were made. Aside from that, we don't know. We'll never know."
"Do you want to sell it?" Blum asked the elderly lady.
She nodded.
"Ten million and it's yours, but with two conditions. My grandmother was a beautiful woman who had no use for the constraints that society then put on women. I want to have the world see what she was really like. The painting doesn't just capture her physical beauty, but the beauty of her soul. Accordingly, if you buy it, you must display it in your gallery. If you sell it, it must always be available for the pubic to view and all subsequent buyers must agree to the same terms."
"Agreed." Blum said quickly. "And the second condition?"
"My grandmother was misunderstood and hated by many. They called her a whore and a slut. They also felt that since my grandmother was a whore, my mother must also be a whore, and by the same logic, so was I. I was still very young and had no idea what the word meant, but it hurt me as I know it hurt my mother and my grandmother. Accordingly, I do not want my name involved in this. You will pay the money to Mr. Castle who will send it on to me. All you can say about the sale is that you made the payments through a third party."
"Agreed. I can have the money to Mr. Castle in about a week."
"Excellent, Mr. Castle has a contract, if you'd care to read it?"
Ms. Blum did so and agreed to it. She signed it on the spot.
"There is one more sale of a piece of art we need to take care of." Rick said.
"What's that?" Blum asked.
"I wish to buy the painting called The Woman in the Yellow Dress from Mr. Hobbes." Anna said.
"I don't know why you want it since it's a forgery, a brilliant one, but a forgery." Hobbes said.
Anna smiled.
"The painting may not be by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, but it captures my dear grandmother perfectly. That's all I care about."
Hobbes nodded.
"Okay, as we agreed, I got it for fifty dollars, you get it for fifty dollars."
"Mr. Hobbes, I need to apologize for the things I called you and the things I've done."
"Apology accepted, Ms. Blum. But, you know, I've been thinking, wouldn't it be great to have all three of the paintings of Daisy Bell in one place?"
Sarah Blum nodded.
"I happen to know that the nude of Daisy Bell is in the Northern California Museum of Fine Art and they've had some really bad financial problems. I'm not sure about the other painting, but the nude might be available."
"Perhaps we could discuss it over dinner?"
Ms. Blum took his arm.
"I'd love that."
And they left, followed quickly by the art experts.
"A half an hour ago she was ready to disembowel him and now she's flirting with him." Rick said.
"The rich are different from you and me." Kate replied.
"That's not the way F. Scott Fitzgerald meant that line." Rick shot back.
"Mr. Castle, might I trouble you for the use of your bathroom? Like so many things, my bladder is not what it was."
"Of course, Anna. It's right through there."
"Kate, if I could trouble you for some help?"
Kate rushed over to the elderly lady, helped her to her feet and helped her to the bathroom. Once she was back, Castle whispered to her.
"I hope that's not your CI. She's not at all what I expected."
Kate laughed.
"Like someone else I know, my CI knows a guy. Don't worry Castle, you'll never have to have Nikki Heat changing an adult diaper on one of her CIs."
While what Kate said was correct, it wasn't entirely accurate, but she had promised Simone.
After a few minutes, Anna was done and ready for Kate to take her home.
"Thank you so very much, Mr. Castle, for your help. I really appreciate it."
Rick smiled.
"Anything I can do for a friend of Kate's is fine with me."
They carried the painting downstairs to Kate's cruiser and headed for Simone's home.
Simone pulled off her grey wig.
"That is so hot and uncomfortable." She said, reverting to her French accent. Then she began removing the makeup from her face and hands. After checking her face in a mirror from her purse, she took off her top. It had been specially padded to make her look heavier than she was.
"Simone! All you have on under your top is your bra. Suppose someone sees you?"
Simone paid no attention and proceeded to take off her skirt and panty hose, also padded to disguise her slender figure. All she had on now were her very sheer black bra and panties.
"What if someone sees us? How would I explain a nearly naked woman who looks like me?"
"Kate, don't worry. It's dark and there is little traffic. I'll dress in just a moment."
As Simone spoke, they had to stop for a traffic light and a bus pulled up on the right side of Kate's car. A teenaged boy who was looking out the window saw Simone and his eyes almost popped out of his head. Simone saw him, smiled and blew him a kiss. The light turned green and the bus turned right while Kate went straight ahead.
"There's a parking lot just ahead. I'll change my clothes there." Kate said. "And if anyone comes, I won't let them ogle me."
Simone laughed.
"But I made that young man's day. His week or month even. Are you telling me Rebel Becks never showed a bit of skin?"
Kate smiled.
"There was this time at the beach…Oops. We're at the parking lot."
"We should switch places, Kate. It will be too much trouble for you to change with the steering wheel in the way."
Once Kate was in the passenger seat, she noticed Simone was paying close attention to her.
"What?"
"I am curious. I know our faces are identical, and our bodies very much the same, but seeing you only in your very chic and sexy red underwear, we really are identical. Our boobs are the same, our legs are magnificent and our derrieres are perfect. It makes me wonder how the Le Bon Dieu, the Good God, decided to make someone so alike as us."
Kate put her red wig on, followed by a rather shapeless dress and flats. It wouldn't do for anyone to see these two identical women together. Simone also dressed.
They pulled into the garage beneath Simone's building and took the elevator to the penthouse. There, Simone put her newly acquired painting in her secure storage room.
"Oh, Kate. I have had so much fun helping you. Because of what I am I have so few friends, and no one besides you who knows what I really am."
"I've told you before, Simone, what you are is a wonderful person."
"I just happen to be over four hundred years old and somewhat dead."
"That doesn't change the kind of person you are. I'm very happy that we're friends."
Before either could say anything more, Kate's phone rang.
"Beckett."
A pause.
"Okay, text me the address. I'll have Castle meet us there."
"What is it?" Asked Simone."
"A murder. It seems the victim as almost entirely drained of blood."
The End
Author's note. I especially enjoy the vampire, Simone Renoir, as played by Stana Katic. This Simone is slightly different from other Simone's that have appeared in my stories. As some of you could tell.
Next up…a spaceship blows up, leaving a mixed bag of survivors headed for a planet that most sensible people wouldn't want to visit. There is an engineer with hazel eyes and chestnut hair who's quite hot and a tall, blue eyed mercenary soldier. The rest of the passengers in the lifeboat may or may not be much use.