The Other Path

Chapter 2

"Hey Beckett," Ryan calls across the bullpen, "we've got a fresh one. It's at City Hall."

Kate winces. By giving up her shot at a captaincy, politics was one thing she was trying to avoid. A murder at city hall could drop her right into the thick of it. But if she can get a preview of what she might be in for, she may be able to avoid the worst of it. Rick's longstanding friendship with former mayor Bob Weldon could help. He said he had a breakfast meeting with his editor, but they should be finished by now. She pulls out her cell. Hopefully, he can meet her at the scene.


"Lanie, what have you got?" Kate queries as the ME kneels next to a body.

"The victim is Arlie Spinrad, a staffer for Councilwoman Reese. Thirty-two-year-old female, but assigned male at birth. Her co-workers said she seemed to be choking. One of them tried a Heimlich, but it didn't work. The paramedics reported looking in her throat, but they didn't see anything blocking the airway. However, the blue lips indicate a lack of oxygen."

Rick trots into the room, breathing hard. "Sorry, a cab almost sideswiped a pedestrian right in the middle of Broadway. He got into it with the driver, and everything came to a halt until your brothers in blue broke it up. Oh, that's Arlie. What a shame! I remember her as quite the activist. She was working with Bob on transgender issues a couple of years back and pissed off a bunch of bathroom-blockers. Blue lips. Cyanide?"

"It's possible, Castle," Lanie replies. "She was having a coffee break at her desk before she died. But blue lips can happen for many natural reasons. I can't rule them out without an autopsy."

"I'll have CSU bag everything in case they need to test for poisons," Kate decides.

Ryan approaches with his ever-present notebook. "According to Marjorie Feldman, another staffer, Arlie was screening visitors for Councilwoman Reese yesterday. One of them, a woman, got nasty."

"Did Marjorie get a name?"

"She didn't hear one, but she said it would be on Arlie's log. And she saw a tote bag with WFP on it."

Esposito joins his partner. I was checking with security to see if they spotted anyone as a possible threat. They didn't notice anyone suspicious this morning, but they're pulling the video. What the hell is WFP?"

"Women for Purity," Rick explains, "an anti-transgender group. They showed up on the Columbia campus not long ago. I know because Alexis was part of a counter-demonstration and told me about it. She was pretty riled up. One of her favorite profs is trans. To a twisted killer, taking out Arlie could have felt like felling the enemy in battle. People have murdered over a lot less."

"Yes, they have," Kate agrees. "However, we still don't know if there's been a murder. But I will put extra security around the scene until Lanie and the lab figure out what happened."


"I saw your text," Kate tells Lanie as Rick hands the ME a Jumbo Jamba Juice. "So Arlie Spinrad was murdered."

"She was. You were right, Castle. It was cyanide. And I've got to give the murderer points for creativity. It was in almond macaroons, so the sugar and the almond scent would have masked the taste and smell of the poison."

"We need to find out who had access to those macaroons," Kate figures.

"That may not be easy," Lanie warns. "The lab found wrappings in Arlie's wastebasket, the kind used in fancy gift baskets. They had traces of cyanide on them."

"So someone could have sent the macaroons to Arlie already poisoned," Kate realizes.

"With all the crazies out there, our suspect pool may have morphed into a lake," Rick speculates.

Kate presses her finger against her lower lip. "Maybe. But maybe not. I had the boys check the visitor logs. The woman from WFP was named Kim Shoofly. I'll have them bring her in."


Before taking her place in the box, Kate changes her top and slacks for a dress and brushes her hair into a softer style. Interlacing her fingers on her folder and demurely crossing her ankles, she smiles at the pinched-faced suspect. Ms. Shoofly, it's nice to meet you. I'm interested in the work of your organization. We can't have just anyone strutting around claiming to be a woman."

Kim leans across the table. "Detective –"

"Beckett," Kate fills in.

"Detective Beckett. I can't tell you how good it is to meet someone who understands. Those idiots at City Hall would have us all dressing like lumberjacks and letting those people into our restrooms. I couldn't believe that abomination that works for Councilwoman Reese. How can a public official hire someone like that? It's a disgrace, a sacrilege, really. She/he/it should be fired."

"If you're referring to Arlie Spinrad, Councilwoman Reese can't fire her," Kate responds.

Shoofly shakes her head. "Some stupid woke law?"

"No. Arlie Spinrad can't be fired because she's dead. She died this morning."

Kim dramatically presses a hand to her breast. "Well, of course, I would never wish for the death of anyone, merely their atonement. But if it was God's will…."

"I doubt that God had much to do with it, Ms. Shoofly," Kate returns. "Arlie was murdered."

Kim's mouth gapes. "Surely you don't think I had anything to do with it! I keep God's laws."

"Like the one that says judge not lest ye be judged? Or are you more into stoning sinners at the gates?"

Shoofly's thin lips press into a hard line. "I was at WFP headquarters this morning. I have witnesses. I couldn't have killed anyone."

"Yeah, we'll see about that. For now, you'll be our guest."

"You don't have any of those people here, do you?" Kim demands.

"I'm not sure how far your definition of 'those people' extends," Kate replies. "But Officer Harrison will be right outside the door if you need anything. She and her wife got married last month, and she's still in a very generous mood."

Rick chortles as Kate joins him in Observation. "Wow! You socked it to her. I can just see her loading macaroons with poison, like Maleficent with Snow White's apple."

"I can see that too, except that I don't think she did it," Kate admits. "She offered me an alibi for this morning. If she'd sent the macaroons, she'd know that wouldn't cover her. She could have sent them yesterday after she left City Hall. But I'll check her out anyway. If she sent a gift basket, there will be a paper trail. And the lab is trying to trace the source of the wrappings. In the meantime, she can sweat for a while."

Rick snickers. "And if she wants water or needs to pee, it will tear at her soul to ask Officer Harrison."

Yeah," Kate giggles, "it will."


Councilman Snodgrass feeds the last of the papers from a thick file into a shredder. Damn Arlie Spinrad for dying at the office! The last thing he needs is cops all over the place. She could have at least had the decency to bite the dust at home. But there's no way the cops can connect her death with what he's been into. He's shredded any hardcopies they could use as evidence and deleted the computer records. He'll be fine. He just has to wait for things to settle down.