Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 37

Witness for the Prosecution

Part 3

"We should get back to basics – walk the crime scene," Castle suggests. "And we always talk to the victim's friends. Paying a visit to the Masters' house would kill two birds with one stone."

Roger Masters makes a retching sound. "Sadie was having an affair with Nina O'Keefe! That's so twisted!"

Joanna Masters shrugs. "Well, you never know what's going on behind closed doors." She glances sideways at Roger. "Everyone has their secrets, don't they?"

"As her cameraman, you would be at Sadie's shoulder. And you didn't know anything about her affair with Nina?" Rick presses.

"As a journalist, Sadie had to know how to keep her cards close to her vest," Roger explains. "And she was very good at keeping secrets."

"So why did you hire the catering company Nina worked for?" Kate inquires.

"Sadie told me she attended an event they catered, and the food was fantastic."

"Those tiny quiches were exceptional," Castle recalls.

"I bet that's how Sadie and Nina met," Joanna Masters speculates, "at an event where Nina worked."

Rick favors her with a smile. "Entirely possible."

Joanna turns to Roger. "See, I told you I was a Nikki Heat fan. I even think like her. No offense Captain Beckett."

"No problem," Kate replies.

Rick gestures toward a window overlooking the small yard. "It's good that you moved the basketball hoop away from the house. No one will be able to use it to climb up or down from the second floor again."

Joanna shakes her head. "We always keep the hoop there."

"Nina must have moved it," Rick considers.

"But if she did," Kate points out. "That suggests premeditation. Maybe she planned on using it to escape after murdering Sadie."

"Or Sadie was going to use it to get away with something Nina lifted for her," Castle argues. "The prosecution's whole case hinges on this being a crime of passion. But if Nina or Sadie put the hoop there, that puts a whole different angle on things. And Nina could be telling the truth, that someone was there before she was. That someone could have rammed the poker into Sadie and then escaped down the basketball hoop."

In Kate's office, Weller rolls his eyes in disgust at Castle. "A basketball hoop? You've got to be kidding."

"A woman's freedom is no joke, Weller," Rick retorts. "The fact that the basketball hoop was moved is significant because unless Nina planned on killing Sadie, she had no reason to move it. That knocks your crime of passion theory out the window. Whoever killed Sadie set up an escape route ahead of time."

Kate steps between Castle and the ADA. "What Rick's saying makes sense, Marcus. If Nina didn't move the hoop, who did?"

"Let's stick with what we know," Marcus insists. "Castle's first impression at the scene was that Nina killed Sadie. Of course, over time, memories can blur or become confused by slick attornies like Caleb Brown. But Castle's initial statement said Nina killed Sadie."

"All I really saw was Nina pulling a poker out of Sadie. That's what I told the detectives at the time, and that is still the case. So I don't know for a fact that Nina killed Sadie. And if what Dr. Parish said is true, Sadie could have lived for ten minutes with the poker in her before Nina or I got there. That would have been plenty of time for the real killer to shimmy down the basketball hoop and get away."

"Nina is the real killer," Marcus insists. "You let Caleb Brown shake you. A lot of witnesses do. But you have to move on from that. Nina O'Keefe is guilty."

"I'm not close to 100% sure of that," Rick insists. "And correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't the whole idea of the criminal justice system to send the actually guilty person to prison?"

"As far as I'm concerned, that's exactly what I'm trying to do," Marcus throws back. "Captain Beckett, could you please talk to your husband?"

"I have been talking to my husband," Kate responds. "And I think his doubts are justified."

"Kate," Rick asks as Marcus stomps toward the elevator, "who moved the basketball hoop back where it belonged? Joanna said that they always keep it there, but neither one of them mentioned doing it."

"You're right, Babe. They didn't," Kate recalls.

"And we have another question we haven't even thought about," Rick adds. "Why did Sadie want a sample of Roger's DNA? He was her cameraman for 20 years. She could have filched a coffee cup or something anytime. Nina said Sadie's husband caught her cheating several times. Perhaps she cheated with Roger. And Sadie had a daughter. What if she wanted to leave her husband for Nina? She'd gain points in a custody battle if she could prove her daughter was Roger's. She might even be able to hit Roger up for support money."

Kate presses her fingers against her lower lip. "That's thin, Babe. I can't think of too many judges who'd give points to a cheating spouse."

"Still, we need to talk to Roger Masters again. This whole case hinges on Sadie sending Nina after that glass. If she hadn't done that, none of the rest would have happened."

"All right," Kate agrees. "Let's do it. But we don't have much time. By now, the judge knows her house wasn't robbed, and she's probably on her way back to the city."

Roger grunts as he opens the door to Rick's ring. "You two again!"

Joanna smiles from the entryway. "Hello again."

"Excuse us for interrupting," Kate apologizes. "We won't take much of your time."

"We just have to figure out who really killed Sadie before Nina's trial resumes," Rick adds.

"You already know who killed Sadie," Roger insists. "It was Nina O'Keefe."

"No, it wasn't." Rick retorts. "Nina and Sadie were working together to get something from you, Roger. At first, I thought it might be DNA, but as closely as you two worked together, Sadie could have gotten that anytime. But a clean fingerprint is much harder to score, and the Champagne glass that Nina took would have been a perfect medium for one. But why would Sadie want your print?"

"I have no idea," Roger claims.

Rick watches the color rise from Joanna's face as her eyes blaze. "But I think your wife does."

Joanna gestures for Rick and Kate to follow her into the home office. She points to a painting. "It's behind that."

"Joanna, you don't know what you're doing." Roger pleads.

"I know that if a man keeps the contents of a secret safe, one that opens with his fingerprint, from his wife, he's up to no good. So what were all of those conversations you had with Sadie that stopped when I came into the room? And what were you two doing on all those trips together, Roger?"

"Joanna, you're a fan of Nikki Heat. So when a woman's freedom hangs in the balance, what would she do?" Castle queries.

Joanna steps forward and whispers in Roger's ear. He gulps. "You wouldn't!" Joanna whispers again.

Roger's shoulder's slump. "All right, I'll open it."

Kate and Rick view the video in a camera they pull from the safe. Sadie is discovering a bag stuffed with some of the numerous blocks of cash distributed to warlords in Iraq. On the tape, Sadie suggests that they leave it and report it.

"But you didn't, did you?" Kate accuses Roger. "You went back to get it. But Sadie knew, and she was blackmailing you."

"It was your voice I heard in the bathroom," Rick realizes. "It rained that afternoon, and the yard was still wet. You were cleaning the mud off your shoes after climbing down the basketball hoop. And later, you were the one who put it back where it belonged."

"You can't prove that!" Roger insists.

"You be surprised what a family's financial records can prove," Kate tells him. "I wouldn't be surprised if Caleb Brown subpoenas them. And I'm sure he can convince Judge Wolcott to grant him more preparation time."

Placing her glass of red wine on the coffee table, Kate draws her legs up on the couch, snuggling into Rick. "You did it, Babe. You kept an innocent woman from going to prison."

"A woman I almost sent there in the first place."

"But what I don't get," Kate admits, "is why Caleb Brown was so passionate about clearing Sadie. She wasn't a drug dealer. This isn't the sort of case where Brown was covering any connection to Reed."

"Or maybe it was," Rick suggests. "Reed was distributing and skimming money in Iraq before he took charge in Afghanistan. The cash that Sadie and Roger found might have been connected to him. By taking the case, Caleb could cover anything that might lead back to his boss. And also, by embarrassing us, Caleb would be helping to discredit anything we might say about Reed. Caleb Brown might be coming on like a white knight in the courtroom, Kate, but there is a hidden stain on his escutcheon."

Kate burrows deeper into Rick's body. "Then we'll have to find a way to expose it."