The Children's Corner
Chapter 4
Taking the stairs to give herself time to get past her jitters, Cindy makes the climb to the Castle loft. The minute or two before someone answers the bell seems like an eternity. Did Mr. Castle and Detective Beckett change their minds? Finally, dabbing at his shoulder with a wipe, Mr. Castle pulls the door open. "Cindy! Just in time! Jake's having a meltdown. You can probably hear him. And I think I just got a burp out of Reese. But he'll need some amusement until he settles down. And I need to take Lily to preschool. Kate's got Jake, but you can take over with Reese. If I don't hit too much traffic, I should be back in a half-hour."
"I'm on it," Cindy responds as Rick's already handing Lily her penguin-themed lunchbox.
Lily waves. "Hi, Miss Cindy. Bye-bye, Miss Cindy."
"Bye-bye, Lily," Cindy calls over her shoulder as she follows the sound of Jake's protests to the twins' room. Kate is in the rocking chair with Jake, trying her best to console him.
"What happened?" Cindy asks.
"Jake hates loud noises – except the ones he makes. A sanitation truck started grinding outside. That made him grumpy enough. But then police cars and fire trucks both went by with their sirens blasting. He hasn't stopped screaming since."
"Mr. Castle said I should try to amuse Reese, but can I try something for both of them?" Cindy asks.
"Right now, I'm open to anything," Kate responds as Jake gives out with another howl.
Cindy fishes in her pocket for her phone and quickly starts it playing "Let's Go Down To the River to Pray."
As the song catches Jake's attention, he begins to relax in Kate's arms. A contented Reese waves both his arms and feet.
Kate draws in a deep breath. "How did you know that would work?"
"I didn't. But I love George Clooney movies. So I had the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou on my phone. I noticed that some of the babies at the daycare center liked music with a soft, steady rhythm, so I played it for them. It calmed most of them down. So I hoped it would work on Jake and Reese."
Kate gazes down in wonderment at the now quiet Jake. "Great call! Maybe if you can keep working your magic with the boys, I can grab a shower." She carefully hands off the baby without another eruption of protests.
Holding Jake, Cindy gently lowers herself into the rocking chair. As Jake remains quiet, she winks at Kate. "Go for it!"
With the lack of cacophony spilling out into the hall, Rick wonders for a moment if he got off the elevator on the wrong floor. However, the number on the door is correct, and his key fits the lock. He spies Kate pouring herself a large glass of juice in the kitchen. "I sense a strange quietude. What happened?"
"Cindy and her playlist happened. Whatever we're paying her, it isn't enough. How are we doing that, by the way? I thought her father monitors her accounts."
"My business manager started her a new one. Her checks go directly into it, and she's the only one who has access. He's also doing the paperwork for the I.R.S., so we don't end up with our names splashed all over Page Six for skipping out on paying FICA for a nanny. But the only way her old man will know anything is if Cindy tells him."
"She's going to have to tell him sooner or later," Kate figures.
"According to Alexis, that will be before the next tuition payment is due. If he reacts the way Cindy expects him to, she'll establish her residency in New York and make the reduced payments herself. Cindy's over 18, so there's nothing he could do about it. But she would be completely on her own."
"And what if her father decides to accept the situation and continue supporting her?" Kate wonders. "I think if I'd gotten pregnant in college, my father would have, even with the hole he fell into after Mom died."
"Your father is a lovely man and an excellent grandfather. But, unfortunately, I don't think Cindy puts hers in the same category. I used to think a man would do anything for his daughter. But, the time I've spent around the precinct unceremoniously knocked that notion from my head. Whether they have children or not, some men are controlling bastards. Alexis has had to remind even me to back off a few times when I tried to pull her strings."
Kate rolls her eyes. "Imagine that. Well, we'll find out about Papa Van Heller sooner or later. But, in the meantime, it looks like we have a winner for the boys. And that's not all. I heard back from Professor Cayou. Fortunately, she never throws out her notes. She went through some stuff she received about 20 years ago. A grad student who was working in Transylvania sent her a story about a cursed baby. Supposedly, a smooth-fingered demon possessed the whole family. The local priest made a prayer that the possessed women should birth neither male nor female children."
Rick's eyebrows ripple. "I guess the good father forgot about intersex."
"Anyway," Kate continues. "According to the student's tale, some American tourists who were exploring old castles in the area returned to the U.S. The cursed baby disappeared around the time they left."
"That makes sense," Rick considers. "It could be how Jan Doe ended up in New York. But if some kindly traveler rescued Jan, I wonder why whoever it was didn't ensure that any appropriate surgery was performed."
"Possibly because theoretically, at least, Jan was kidnapped from Transylvania. That might have made it difficult to arrange that type of care. Or it might have been a case of letting Jan decide as an adult."
"However," Rick picks up, "given the type of poison, an Eastern European who knew about Jan still considered him/her as cursed, the embodiment of the family's damnation. Perhaps, the killer believed that if Jan was killed, the curse would be vanquished."
Kate takes a long swig of her juice. "So, if that theory holds, someone from around Transylvania came to the U.S. and either sought out or stumbled on Jan. Then the killer found a way to slowly administer a poison. There should be immigration records of who came into the country from that part of the world."
"But there's a hitch in that, Kate. I did a little research into adermatoglyphia. Of course, everything Lanie told us was accurate. But it was all on the medical end. I discovered that the condition is nicknamed the 'immigration delay disease' because you can't get past immigration without fingerprints. A member of Jan's family would have had to go through a mountain of paperwork to get around those regulations. That would pop up big time. But if it doesn't, we'll be looking for someone else who wanted to wipe out the curse. Or at least the boys will."
"I'll give them a call right now. Knowing Ryan and Esposito, they'll probably stick Sully with the job of tackling the bureaucracy."
"When you were ruling the roost, you would have dumped it on them," Rick points out. "Excrement tends to slide down the command chain."
"Around here, it just enriches the diaper companies."
"Too true," Rick agrees, "which reminds me. My latest investment advisory includes a new company that supposedly makes baby wrappers with exemplary configuration and absorbancy. I went for it."
A smile forces itself on Kate's lips. "Sounds good to me."