Moment in Time Part 3
Chapter 98
Dead Again
Part 3
Kate looks up from her budget juggling to see Vikram standing in her doorway. Have you got something on the Alan Masters case?"
He steps in, closing the door behind him. "No, Ryan and Esposito are attacking Masters' list of unhappy inspectees. This is about Reed. I've been going through the records of the flights into LA at the time your husband was grabbed and held. Something flashed like a neon sign." He shows Kate an iPad image of a man in the passenger seat of an SUV.
Kate stares at the screen. "That's Caleb Brown."
"Facial recognition confirms that," Vikram acknowledges. "But he obviously didn't want his presence known. He was using an alias, Peter McCaffery."
"Did you identify the driver?" Kate queries.
"No. And I can only get part of the plate, but I'm generating a list of possible matches."
The glass in Kate's door vibrates with Ryan's knock. Kate nods as Vikram clears his tablet. "Come in!"
"Captain, Dave Barton alibied out. And his mother-in-law was eager to list the sins he committed in her presence. If he were going to poison anyone, she would be first up. We're still going through Alan's list of companies he's either fined or shut down recently."
"In the meantime, Masters' would-be killer is out there. Is his security set up?" Kate demands.
"We have a squad car outside his apartment and a uni posted at his door."
"Let the guards know to let Castle in. He wanted to talk to Alan about using him as a model for a victim in a Heat novel – except in the book, he wouldn't be coming back from the dead."
"I'll take care of it, Captain."
Rick notes the pouncing lion on Masters' TV screen. "I see you got the Adventure Channel working."
"Uh-huh. The cable tech who fixed it said the customer service rep was so freaked out by what happened that she couldn't stop talking about me. So the company scheduled an online appointment in self-defense."
"I suppose that's a silver lining of sorts. So, now that you've been reborn, what adventures are you planning for yourself – besides calling the woman in your journal?" Rick wonders.
"Gwen? I haven't called her," Alan confesses. "I need to be focused. When I finish watching 'Heart of a Lion,' I'm going to bed. I have a full day of inspections tomorrow."
"You can't just go back to work like nothing happened," Rick protests. "You had a near-death experience. That should be energizing, invigorating. It was a wake-up call. You should get out there and live the life you've dreamed about."
"Just because I have a few pictures on my wall doesn't mean I'm unhappy with my life," Alan claims.
"You forget. You're talking to the man privy to your innermost thoughts. Besides, if you go right back to your old routine, you'll make a boring character."
"My life isn't boring," Alan argues. "I mean, I look into all sorts of dangerous things."
Rick pulls his notepad out of his pocket. "Like what?"
"Collapsed ceilings, toxic chemical spills, fires."
"So you inspect businesses that deal with toxins?" Castle prompts.
"Yeah, sometimes. Wait, are you asking me about inspecting a company with access to TTX?"
"Did you tangle with anyone like that?" Castle wonders.
"I just deal with categories of safe storage. But the fire department will have a detailed list of specific substances and their hazards – or they should. Inspectors aren't the only ones those guys try to hold out on."
"I bet," Rick agrees. "But they haven't come up against Captain Beckett and her merry band. I'll let my wife know what you told me."
"Not about Gwen!"
"No, that will still be between you and me. But you really should ask her out. It might go better than you think."
Alan sighs. "That would be a new experience."
The final credits roll on "Heart of a Lion" as Rick heads for the door. Alan turns off the TV, pulls off his shoes, and climbs into his bed. Unfortunately, the spread conceals copper wire wrapped around the metal frame. Electrical current crackles throwing Alan back against a low table. The bedclothes catch fire as the uniformed guard charges into the apartment with Rick at his heels.
Rick kneels and searches for a pulse in Alan's neck as the cop grabs a fire extinguisher. The officer points to the wires exposed by the burned bedding. "Someone rigged the bed to electrocute him. Is he dead?"
Rick's jaw tightens. "Better call the medics, but this time I think he really is."
As she turns away from the body, Lanie pulls off her gloves. "Sorry, Castle, no pill's going to bring him out of this one."
Rick slumps against the kitchen counter. "What a waste!"
"Yeah, to have a second chance and have it taken away like this," Lanie agrees.
Cooking utensils jump as Rick pounds his fist. "I was here. I should have noticed the wire."
"Castle, Alan Masters, was an inspector," Lanie reminds the author. "If anyone noticed something was off, it should have been him."
Alan coughs. "She's right about that. Loose wires are one of the hazards we look for. I shouldn't have let myself lose focus."
Dumbfounded, Lanie just stares as Alan gets up.
Lanie's voice echoes off the hard walls of the hospital hallway. "He was definitely dead."
"That's what you said last time," Dr. Ellins reminds her.
He was dead the last time too," Lanie insists as Kate hurries to join her. "Did Castle call you?"
"Actually, the supervisor of the uni I had at the door did," Kate replies. "But Rick wasn't far behind. He just took a few minutes first to document everything he saw. He's trying to understand what happened."
"Which makes two of us," Lanie confides as Ellins walks away.
"Rick said he's going to do some research. He came up with the pills last time. He's looking for records of electrocution survival."
"Yeah, well, if he figures this one out, he'll deserve more than a gold star."
Kate winks. "I think I can work out a suitable reward."
"Do you have any forensics on the second attempt?" Lanie queries.
"No. The bed must have been wired after the apartment was released as a crime scene. But that means the would-be killer only had about a two-hour window before Alan and then Rick got there. Whoever it was must have been watching the place. So Vikram will scrub any video we can get. And the boys will run a canvass again to see if anyone saw someone hanging around. Whoever wired that bed can't be invisible."
Lanie shakes her head. "Girlfriend, after this, I'm not counting on anything."
"Hey," Ryan calls as he comes down the corridor, "TTX, the toxin that should have killed Alan, is a controlled substance, available through only a few pharma companies."
"How about sushi bars?" Kate asks.
"Turns out there are only three chefs in New York right now qualified to prepare Fugu, the pufferfish with TTX in their livers. Those chefs are very careful to maintain their standing. They all follow detailed protocols for disposing of fish parts that might be dangerous. And they can account for anything that could be toxic." He presses a hand to his abdomen. "I wish the last place I had sushi was that meticulous. But anyway, what was in Alan's filter had to come from a pharmaceutical company. The CDC is sending over a list now."
"So finding the buyer could lead to whoever tried to kill Alan," Lanie concludes. "You and Javi should get on that fast before they try it again. The third time could be the charm."
Kate looks at Ryan. "You heard her. Get on it!"