Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 29

Mr. and Mrs. Castle

Part 1

"Esposito, can I see you for a moment?" Kate calls from the entrance to her office. "Close the door," she advises as he follows her inside. "I just got this list of promotions from 1PP. You're not on it. There were only a few sergeants slots, and you weren't high enough on the list to get one. I'm sorry."

"Captain, if this is your way of letting me know I was 273 out of 300, I already knew where I scored."

"Then what the hell is the deal between you and Ryan?"

"Even without sergeant's stripes, I am senior, but everyone calls him the king of video. And the way he writes up our cases in "The Ryan Report" always makes him sound like the hero."

"You read it?"

"I've seen it. And now that Alexis and Hayley helped him start making money from it, he gets pretty smug about having all those readers."

"But Ryan's got a family and another child on the way. He needs the money. Wasn't that the whole reason he took the sergeant's exam?"

"Yeah," Esposito acknowledges. "But I wish he'd shut up about it sometimes."

"So you shut him up with the sergeant stuff. Look, the promotion list is going to be public. So Ryan's going to know soon enough that you're not moving up. Wouldn't it be better if you were the one who told him? Then maybe you two could get along without my husband having to play referee."

"Is telling him an order, Captain?"

"Consider it a strong suggestion, one I'll keep in mind the next time I hand out assignments. Do you get what I'm saying to you?"

"Yes, Captain."

Esposito finds Ryan in the break room, making coffee to go with a doughnut he wrapped in a napkin. "You didn't take the last jelly-filled, did you?"

"Are you kidding?" Ryan points to his tie. "Jenny put this in my Christmas stocking. I can't get jelly stains on it. What did Beckett want? Or was that sergeant business?"

"Sort of, but I need to talk to you about it. So, look, Kevin, I'm not going to be a sergeant any time soon. I may never be one at all. I'm too far down the list."

"Hey, I'm sorry, Javi. You'd make a good sergeant."

"So would you. But at least you've got your blog money."

"To tell you the truth, I was hoping it would be more. But it's something, and Alexis says it will probably build over time. And my brother-in-law told me he might have some security jobs for me now and then."

"That's got to be better than your gig working as a bouncer at that male stripper joint."

"Tell me about it! It took me a week to get all the glitter off. So, peace? If Castle can go back to helping Beckett instead of buffering us, this could be a happier precinct."

"Yeah, you've got that right, Bro." Esposito holds out his fist for a bump. "Peace."

In her flapper outfit, the woman in the water could have floated out of the 1920s after a mobster tired of his moll. She'd died of a contact gunshot wound, execution-style. But Jane Doe had only been in the water less than 12 hours, so she was very much of the 21st century.

With Ryan and Esposito looking on, Perlmutter checks the label in the back of the victim's costume. "Property of Iconic Cruise Lines."

"Oh, yeah," Ryan recalls. "They have those old-world-elegance ships. Jenny thought it might be fun to spend a few days on one before Sarah Grace was born. But the doctor didn't want her that far away from a hospital."

"We'll have to check if an Iconic ship is still in port," Esposito notes. "If our vic was killed at sea, it's going to be hell to investigate her death."

"It might be anyway," Ryan suggests. "If someone on the ship is involved, it wouldn't be hard for them to escape our jurisdiction. The company could claim that we never had any."

"Right," Esposito agrees. "But you know how Captain Beckett loves the weird ones. So maybe she can shortstop any maneuvers Iconic makes to interfere with our investigation."

"I'm sorry, Captain Beckett, I have instructions from the cruise company to take the ship out to sea," Captain Ziering informs Kate. "The engines are already engaged. Iconic wants no part of any murder investigation."

"I can have the Coast Guard interdict you," Kate threatens.

"And by the time the order comes through, we'll be in International Waters. They'll have no authority."

"We're not going anywhere," Kate declares, with a quick glance back for Rick's agreement.

"Actually, you are," Ziering counters. "A boat will be coming in an hour to deboard you. And I've instructed the crew not to cooperate with you."

Kate holds up a picture of the body. "Can you at least tell me who this is?"

"That is, or was, Laura Madden, one of our dancers. But that's all you're going to hear from me."

"What do you want to do?" Rick asks Kate as Ziering retreats to the bridge.

"We're not giving up on investigating Laura's murder. That's for sure," Kate declares as her cellphone dings a text. "It's from Perlmutter. Laura had silicone nipple covers under her costume. And he found something besides a nipple under one of them."

"Ooh! Kinky! What did he find?"

"He has to confirm it, but he thinks it's an oxycodone pill."

"You mean like Reed's oxycodone?"

"Could be. We need to find out if this ship called at a Caribbean Island recently."

"Who do we ask? The crew isn't allowed to talk to us."

"You remember those senior ladies we saw on the way to the captain? The cruise director said they're permanent residents. So they would know where the ship stopped."

"And probably everything else that happens onboard," Rick adds. "A ship like this is a people-watchers paradise."

Sheri and Elaine Nelson dab at their wrinkled cheeks with heavily scented handkerchiefs. "Such a shame! Laura was a lovely girl," Sheri offers.

"And one of the best dancers," Elaine adds. "She could make all the fringes on her costume shimmy at once. Who would want to kill her?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Rick explains.

"Oh, Richard Castle!" Sheri exclaims. "I just recognized you. The photo on your books isn't very recent, is it?"

"No," Rick admits, "but my publisher likes it. And if you read my stories, you know how we solve mysteries. So we need to talk to whoever on the ship knew Laura best."

"Well, then that would be little Bethany," Elaine replies. "Not the best dancer, but adorable. They were often together. I believe they shared a cabin. But she wouldn't be there now. Sarah, the choreographer, is holding a rehearsal."

"And she's quite the stern taskmaster," Sheri offers. "If the dancers don't show up on time or miss a show, even if they're sick, she gets their pay docked. So some of those poor young people have to take something to keep going. I've seen it."

"Do they get the pills from the ship's doctor?" Kate queries.

"Sometimes. But he's a real fuddy-duddy about giving people what they need, even at sea. He's been very stubborn about helping us with our arthritis. Special medicine is the only thing that makes the pain go away. But he won't give it to the crew or passengers," Sheri complains.

"Is there someone who will?" Rick prompts.

Sheri lowers her voice to a whisper. "Don't tell him I said anything. He could cut us off. But the bartender, Isaac Dern, always has what we need. And I believe he refreshed his stock when the ship docked at St. Croix. "