Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 59

GDS

Part 3

Rick points to a man talking to a woman with her back to them. "That's Austin. I know his smarmy face from the show business blogs."

"You read that crap?" Kate questions.

"It's not all crap. Occasionally the blurbs say something nice about Mother. And they also help me keep track of Meredith's career. Snide comments about her being dropped from a project tend to herald her trips to New York." Rick catches a glimpse of the mystery woman's face as she turns slightly to stroke Austin's arm. "Damn! That's Kendall, and she's already got Austin wrapped around her skinny finger."

"We'll see about that." Slinking up to Kendall, Kate wraps an arm around the PI's waist. "Sweetie, we need to go shoot our scene for 'Nikki Heat After Dark' now. Our video will attract a more adventurous audience to Rick's new book." She runs her finger over Kendall's mouth. "And there's a position I've been dying to try."

Kate can see the expansion beneath Austin's belt. "How long is your shoot?" He inquires. "I was about to invite Kendy to a private party tonight, but you'd both make exciting and intriguing additions. Ten o'clock?"

The tip of Kate's tongue circles her lips." I think we can fit that in, can't we, Kendy?"

"Whatever Austin wants," Kendall replies.

Kate flicks the notes icon on her phone and hands it to Austin. "Put the address in here, and we'll see you later."

Austin's thumbs fly over the screen before he hands Kate's cell back to her. "I'm looking forward to it."

Kendall's eyes shoot sparks as Kate leads her to the cart she and Rick are using to get around the lot. "Are you kidding me? Do you think this is a game?"

"No, I think murder is deadly serious," Kate replies.

"May I assume that you've also pegged Austin Electra as a suspect?" Rick asks.

"I have a contact on Electra's crew and found out that Phillip Harris pushed Trevor Nigel to let him work with Austin. I also learned that Austin was off the lot by 11 o'clock last night. So yes," Kendall admits. "How did you get onto him?"

"Authorship hath privilege," Rick declares. "We went straight to Nigel. And since you and I are on the same track, we all might as well work together, for tonight, anyway."

"I don't have much choice," Kendall concedes, turning to Kate. "You must be the famous Castle muse, Detective Beckett."

"I'm surprised you're not more current with your research," Rick taunts Kendall. "It's Captain Beckett."

"Fine. Captain Beckett, you have the address. Give it to me, and I'll meet you there."

"Give me yours, and we'll pick you up," Kate counters.

Ryan tries to look nonchalant as he peers at his computer screen but quickly clears it as "Hey, Bro!" sounds from behind him.

Ryan spins away from his monitor. "What's up, Partner?"

"Beckett might be right on the money about Austin Electra, that movie director. He was in New York during two of the Phantom's murders."

"What about the third?"

Esposito spreads his hands. "I took the info from his financials, and there's nothing there to show where he was."

"Which means he could have been here." Ryan swivels his seat back to face his desk. "I'll keep digging, and … don't!"

Esposito hits the tab for Ryan's previous screen. "What is this?" Ryan grabs for the mouse, but Esposito snatches it first and pockets it. "What are you hiding from me? Who's Tyler Ross, and why are you doing a background check on him?"

"Um, Jenny wants to work more hours. So we're looking for a nanny, well, a manny. Tyler Ross is a candidate."

"Then why does this say he's a pediatrician? Stop it, Man. You're like the worst liar. Who is he really?"

"Lanie's new boyfriend," Ryan confesses. "She wanted me to check him out but not tell you."

"Then you know what this means," Esposito asserts. "We're going to have some fun. And this time, you're not going to tell Lanie."

"We have this afternoon and a lot of the night before Austin's little party," Kate notes after she and Rick return to their suite. "What do you want to do?"

"What I said I had to do, find that temple. But I don't know if it was in Korea Town like The Hungry Orchard or a memory from my time in Thailand. I need to go through pictures of temples and see what matches."

"Was there any striking characteristic?" Kate asks. "If you can give me something specific to look for, I can help."

Rick closes his eyes to summon the image. His inner vision becomes sharper as he fights to recall details. "It had a large round structure, like a rose window in a church – except there was no stained glass. It was very geometric. And the building wasn't like the pictures you see of pagodas, with bright colors. It looked like it was made out of sandstone."

Kate lays her hand on his shoulder. "Good. That should eliminate a lot of possibilities."

"Babe, I think I've got it," Kate calls after a few minutes with her iPad. "The temple's on Wilshire Boulevard." She holds up her tablet for Rick to see.

"That's it! Kate, that's walking distance from here, or at least it is for New Yorkers. We could go right now!"

"Babe, let's think about it for a minute. If that temple is essential to what happened to you, we can't just go barging in there. Suppose someone is still trying to keep the truth from you. We could be spotted, and the lid on what you want to know will be clamped down tight. We need a plan."

"You're right," Rick acknowledges. He re-examines the image. "This is pulled from a Wikipedia article. Those always have sources. We can split them up, sift through them, and see if anything pops. Then, we can go from there."

Air whooshes softly through Rick's lips as he reads. "Kate, the reason that temple doesn't look like a Buddhist structure is that it isn't one. It's a Jewish Synagogue that pre-dates Korea Town. The place is huge. It even has a ballroom. So members of the surrounding community have events there sometimes. But it's still Jewish. The congregation established itself in the 1800s, but erected the current building in 1929."

"Nineteen-twenty-nine," Kate repeats. "The year the stock market crashed."

"But also during prohibition," Rick points out. "Wine is a vital part of many Jewish ceremonies. Sacramental wine was exempted from the Volstead Act, but that was primarily to accommodate Christians. The Jewish community would have needed sources. And if I were building a temple in 1929, I would have taken that into account."

"How?" Kate asks.

"Tunnels, hidden rooms. They might have been sealed and forgotten after the act was repealed. But if they're still there, they'd be a perfect base for covert operations."

"Even if you're right, how would we find out?" Kate wonders. "Locations like that aren't exactly public domain."

"No, they're not," Rick agrees. "But one thing I found out about the CIA is that it has a database of hidey-holes. They can see them from heat imaging satellites and with ground-penetrating radar. And the company isn't crazy about rogue operations either. If something is going on under that temple, they either know about it or will want to know about it. I'm going to contact Agent Grey."