The Death and Life of Teresa Wyler

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Do I really have to tell you I don't own Castle? Rating: K Time: Shortly after the episode Still.

The hotel manager did understand, and Kate and her team fanned out to interview everyone who'd been in the lobby at the time of the shooting. In spite of Mr. Dunn having a private chat with the customers who didn't want to be bothered, they got nothing.

"Nothing?" Gates said when the team got back to the precinct.

"That's what they all said." Kate said. "Whoever the shooter was would have blended in with the upscale crowd at the hotel. Most of them would have recognized Congresswoman Leonard if she'd been there, but she was on an afternoon talk show, live, at the time of the shooting. I'm not sure how many of the would have recognized the Graces or Ms. Wyler, all three of whom could have blended in nicely."

Castle broke in.

"Politicians do tend to attract the lunatic fringe, to some extent or another. Congresswoman Leonard is making quite an issue of the vast, insidious conspiracy against her. Someone could have decided to take Wyler out on their own."

"And we'll never find him or her." Gates said coldly.

"The Graces say they were at home. Mrs. Grace says she was upstairs taking a nap and Mr. Grace said he fell asleep watching a baseball game. They could have gone out the back way. There are no security cameras in the alley behind their house."

Kate continued.

"Ms. Wyler said she was out running in Central Park which isn't that far from the hotel. She didn't see anyone that could confirm her alibi and she was dressed like a thousand other female runners. It was a nice day out."

Ryan came in.

"We got something. Unis found a 9mm Sig Sauer P320 in a dumpster about a block from the hotel. No security cams nearby. Could be the murder weapon as Lanie said the slugs she pulled from the vic were 9mm, and the piece was drenched in bleach to destroy and physical evidence linking the gun to the shooter. Ballistics said they'll rush it since they know it's an important case."

"So we have nothing so far?" Gates grumped.

"So far, sir." Kate said. "We'll get to work."

The ballistics report was waiting for Kate and her team when they arrived the next morning. It was no help.

"The Sig we recovered is the murder weapon and there were no prints or DNA on it. The weapon itself was stolen from a Pennsylvania State Police officer's home about two years ago. The thieves got five handguns. One was found on a dead gangbanger in Philadelphia, one was used in a possible mob related murder in the Jersey Barrens, but the gun was never found. One was taken away from…"Kate stopped. "One was taken away from a twelve-year-old girl in Spanish Harlem. Twelve?"

"Afraid so, chica." Espo said. "Spanish Harlem is a bad place."

"Where did she get the gun?" Rick asked.

"She said a nice man gave her twenty dollars and told her to take it two blocks where another nice man named Chico would ask her for it and give her another twenty. She was mad she never got the other twenty."

"Could we check the known illegal gun sellers?" Rick asked.

Kate rolled her eyes.

"Not without a search warrant and about ten thousand cops to cover all the gun runners in the tri-state area."

Just before lunch they finally got a break. Detective Jimmy Mardekian, from Vice brought them a young man.

"This is Tony Scott, he sells pot to college students in need so he can pay his tuition at Columbia."

"Hey! I was arrested once for a misdemeanor charge."

"Three times." Mardekian shot back.

"Two were in New Jersey."

"Oh, New Jersey doesn't count?"

"What's this about?" Kate demanded.

"Tell her what you told me."

Scott looked around.

"I was chilling with my friend Davy…"

"His supplier." Mardekian clarified.

"And this chick comes up to us and asks if we can get her a piece. A gun. I said no way, but Davy says he knows a guy. I got up to leave, but I heard Davy say it'd cost her five hundred for the dude's name and address and another thousand for the weapon. She said no problem."

"Who was the woman?" Kate demanded.

"The chick whose dad just got out of jail for killing her mom. Melissa Wyler."

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, I'm pre-law just like she is. I've had classes with her."

"Where's Wyler now?" Kate asked.

Everyone got on their phones.

Esposito found him.

"At the courthouse. The wrongful death case."

Kate tried to call both Wyler and Dunn but got nothing.

"The cell phone reception in that old courthouse stinks. I couldn't get thorough. Call the courthouse and alert the bailiffs there and send as many unis as you can there." She turned back to Scott. "What was she wearing when you saw her?"

"Black yoga pants and a grey hoodie."

"Get a description out on her. We're out of here."

When they got to the courthouse, they found the media frenzy had not died down one bit. In fact, it was worse. People who still believed Wyler was guilty were protesting and there was a counter demonstration by people protesting against the DA's mistake.

"Do you see Wyler? Or Dunn?" Castle yelled over the noise of the crowd.

"No. He's probably still inside." Kate yelled back.

"There!" Castle screamed. Just ahead of him was a slender young woman in black yoga pants and a grey hoodie. Castle grabbed her around the waist. The woman screamed and as she struggled her hoodie came loose, showing her long blonde hair.

"Police! Police!" She screamed. She was not Melissa Wyler.

"We are the police!" Kate yelled, holding out her badge. "You should get out of here, there could be shooting."

Just then the noise level went up appreciably. Coming out of the courthouse were Wyler, Dunn and their party.

"Gun! Gun!" A uni yelled and pointed. There was Melissa Wyler, walking towards her father, her pistol held in both hands.

Ryan tackled her from behind and slammed her hands into the pavement. The gun fired twice and then Ryan slammed her hands into the sidewalk and the gun spun free.

"I'll kill him. I'll kill you all. You're all in this. I'll kill you." Melissa screamed as Ryan cuffed her.

"Anyone hurt?" Kate yelled over the noise of the crowd.

"One TV camera seems to be it." A uni said.

Much, much later...

"Oh, Darlings, you look exhausted. I called out for Chinese since you both like it so much." Martha said as Rick and Kate came into the loft. "Did you have a bad case?"

Kate shook her head.

"Just a very long, boring day that went absolutely nowhere."

"However, the last chapter of the George Wyler case is finished. Melissa Wyler was sentenced today. She'll be in her late fifties before she's eligible for parole. If she keeps saying she's the victim of a vast, government plot to keep Leonard out of the Senate, she probably won't get parole then. No legal career for her, no huge inheritance and no job on Senator Leonard's staff in DC."

"She lost the primary, didn't she, Richard?"

"That she did. No one was interested in her long speeches about the Wyler conspiracy. Congressman Hensley won the primary going away."

"And she lost her seat in the House." Kate added "She was so sure she'd get into the Senate, she didn't file to run for her own House seat. She still had time to file for the primary, but lost to an ally of Hensley."

"She can still run again, can't she?"

"She can, Martha, but having lost twice…Well, people have staged remarkable comebacks in politics."

"Mr. and Mrs. Grace lost everything." Rick said. "Once Wyler got everything back, he promptly fired both of them and kicked them out of his houses. He let them keep some of their clothes, but nothing else. He went back to being a plumber, but he'd long ago sold his truck and his tools. Plus, he hasn't been a plumber for fifteen years. He's way behind the power curve. Rumor is that a divorce is in the offing."

"Some people did all right." Kate said. "Sarah Green is now a rising star in the DA's office."

"Why?" Martha asked. "The Wyler case wasn't that difficult once Teresa Gordon showed up."

"Sarah is one of the few ADAs with no political ambitions. When most ADAs see a case, say pitting two political heavyweights against each other, they hide under their desks for fear that they'll make a political enemy. That makes Sarah very useful to the DA."

"And former Sergeant Phillips, NYPD, retired, did all right. The DA decided not to try to prosecute him, so he got off Scot free."

"He moved to Florida." Rick added. "He says the fishing is better there."

"I hear that our perjuring witnesses, Mr. Gregory and Ms. Crawford, are writing a tell all book about the trial. Black Pawn isn't publishing it, but word is that they're getting $200,000 as an advance."

"Teri Gordon and her husband seem to have done well out of the whole thing. The publicity caused a spike in the sales of their DVDs and their movies seem to be getting some kind of cult following. Cosplayers are showing up at science fiction conventions dressed as Teri in a leather bikini or dressed as the slutty teacher. Duke even sold a script to Zenith Studios and talked them into giving Teri a part. My friends at Zenith say Teri was…almost adequate."

"Last and not least is George Wyler." Kate said. "He lost fifteen years of his life, so it's not much of a win for him, but he sued the city for malicious prosecution for fifty million dollars and settled for sixteen million. He sold WyChem and all his property…"

"Including the shocking pink Aston-Martin." Rick broke in, shuddering. "I understand the new owner is repainting it in British racing green." Seeing Kate roll her eyes, he added, "Well, how would you feel if you were an Aston-Martin and found yourself painted shocking pink."

Kate shook her head.

"I have no idea how to reply to that question."

"Anyway," Rick continued, "he sold everything and bought an estate on the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. He lives there with three very attractive young ladies. The locals refer to them as Georgie's Angels. To the best of my knowledge, they do not solve crimes."

The door opened and Alexis came in.

"There's a delivery guy right behind me. Can I stay for dinner?"

"When have we ever said no, Pumpkin?"

"Anything interesting happen at work, Kate?"

"I'll let your dad tell you about that."

The End

Author's note: Next up is A Murder Below Zero, a science fiction story in which Kate is a detective, and Rick is not a writer. They meet over, what else, a cold-blooded killing.