Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 109

Much Ado About Murder

Part 3

"We have a lead on Zane's mystery woman," Esposito announces. "His financials came in. He rented a limo yesterday morning."

"Which makes sense since the pictures show someone trashed his DB9," Castle notes. "Naomi denied doing it, but someone was unhappy with the Hollywood Hamlet."

"Where was the limo going?" Beckett asks.

"I don't know yet," Esposito admits. "I'm still waiting for the driver to call me back, but hopefully, he knows who the woman is."

Ryan strolls over with a self-satisfied smile. "I've already found her. It turns out that Zane was renting a suite at the Black Door Hotel under a fake name."

"Ah yes, the Black Door, I know it well – from before I married Kate," Rick rushes to add. "It's very fancy and also very discreet. I used it as a model for assignation locations in some of my books."

"Still discreet," Ryan reports. "The manager wouldn't tell me anything until I threatened him with obstruction. But according to the hotel's records, Zane's had a suite there for two weeks. And – wait for it – he's had a woman there with him every night."

"So, Ophelia wasn't going mad," Rick muses.

"So, who's the woman?" Kate presses.

Ryan shrugs. "No idea. She's not a registered guest. But get this! Not only did she arrive after Perlmutter's time-of-death window; she's still there."

Rick regards the door of Zane's suite. "The privacy light is on."

"She must still be inside," Esposito concludes.

Ryan knocks on the door. When there's no answer, he turns to the manager. "Could you unlock it, please?"

The detectives cautiously push open double doors into a darkened room. "Police," Ryan declares.

"NYPD," Esposito adds.

Castle follows them to a bed. A woman lies beneath the covers with only her hair showing. The detectives hold their guns at ready as Esposito moves closer. "There's a ginger in there." He turns on a lamp.

Rick gasps as the occupant of the bed jolts upright. "Mother!"

Ryan looks on. "Hamlet had an Oedipus complex."

"More like an inferiority complex," Martha responds."He has no faith in his acting. But what's going on? Richard, what are you doing here with the detectives?"

"Mother," Rick explains gently, "Zane was murdered. And right now, you're the prime suspect."

Martha rises from the bed, obviously fully dressed. "That's ridiculous! Why would I kill poor Zane? He was my pupil and a very well-paying one."

"I think you'd better take it from the top," Rick suggests. "Why were you in Zane's bed?"

"Because he was late for our session."

"What kind of session?" Esposito asks.

Rick clears his throat. "Mother, are you saying you were instructing Zane in the ways of love?"

"Oh, drop the gavel, Richard! I was his acting coach, not his mistress. The poor boy was out of his depth trying to play Hamlet, so one of my other students referred him to me. Zane needed me to be on call 24 hours a day. He booked this suite so we could meet comfortably."

"Very comfortably," Rick observes.

Martha gestures at the walls. "We turned this room into a temple to the Bard. It also became a temple to a new life."

"What do you mean, new life?' Esposito questions.

"Well, you know I'm a life coach. I helped Zane to clear out the clutter of stardom so that he could focus on his craft."

"Ms. Rodgers, did he ever mention having any enemies?" Ryan inquires.

"None, but he did have some demons. Something in his past was blocking him."

"Certainly, he told his life coach what his block was," Rick assumes.

Martha sighs. "No. He was very secretive about it, frightened even. Oh, of course, I encouraged him to engage with his demons and wait a minute! The last time Zane and I spoke, he said he'd made arrangements to do just that. Oh dear God!" She covers her face with her hands."Don't tell me that I might have pushed him to something that got him killed!"

Rick wraps his arms around his mother. "No, nothing like that."

Martha glances at Ryan and Esposito.

"No, Martha," Ryan confirms.

Rick steers Martha toward the door. "Come on, let's get you home."

Esposito joins Beckett and Ryan at the murder board. "I finally heard back from the limo driver that Zane hired the morning of his murder. You'll never believe where he went – Sing-Sing penitentiary."

"Why did he go there?" Kate wonders.

"To pick up a newly released inmate – Johnny Toro, who also happens to be his estranged older stepbrother."

Kate smacks her palm against her thigh. "How did we not know Zane had a stepbrother?"

"Different dads, different names," Esposito explains. "According to Zane's publicist, Zane kept the relationship quiet. He didn't want to be associated with Toro."

"Then why did he show up at the prison?" Ryan queries.

"Damned if I know," Esposito admits. "But according to the limo driver, it was no happy reunion. He had his privacy screen up, but he could tell Toro was yelling at Zane."

Kate checks the computer on a nearby desk. "According to Toro's file, he served 12 years for B&E."

"Where he stewed on how much he hated Zane," Esposito assumes.

Kate scrolls through the text on her screen. "I'm looking at the prison psychologist's notes. He felt Toro had a lot of pent-up rage against Zane. And the report from Toro's arresting officer says he believed the B&E was a two-person job. The detectives suspected Zane but only had evidence against Toro. He took the fall alone."

Esposito grunts. "And Zane moves to Hollywood and becomes a movie star."

"Toro had more than enough motive to kill Zane. Get him in here," Kate orders.

"Did you get Martha settled?" Kate asks as Rick wanders into her office.

"Uh-huh. Alexis is with her. Any progress on Zane's real killer?"

"The boys should be bringing in a suspect now. You want to watch the interrogation? I noticed you restocked the popcorn supplies."

"Sure. Will you be joining me? It's almost dinner time. Should I consider this our date night?"

"It's probably all we're going to get tonight. Will it do until I figure out something else?"

"You know what? I think I'll take mother to dinner to make her feel better. But I'll bring you back a doggy bag for after the interview. Then maybe we can try for a real date night tomorrow."

"All right," Kate agrees. "See you later."

Toro glares at Kate and the detectives sitting across the table from him. "Is this what it's going to be like now that I'm on parole. Just can't go a day without being harassed by the cops."

"Not when you set a record for fastest recidivism," Ryan replies.

"You were out all of 10 hours before you murdered Zane," Esposito accuses.

"See!" Toro retorts. "Soon as I saw the news, I knew you'd hang this on me."

"Really?" Ryan returns. "That's your response? No boo-hoo, my stepbrother's dead?"

Toro spits on the table. "Screw you! I'm all busted up about what happened to Z."

"No," Esposito argues, "you're pissed that he let you take the rap all those years."

Kate groans inwardly as hunger pangs distract her from the verbal sparring. She hopes Rick brings back something good. It's going to be a long night.