Flu
Chapter 43
Briefly stopped at a red light on her way out of West Hartford, Kate turns to Rick as he digs into a Styrofoam container of pumpkin blintzes. "So, how are they?"
"After all that build-up, I expected exceptional, but I think I'd peg them as OK. I'm not impressed enough to ask Mark to put them on the menu. Anyway, he texted me while you were using the ladies' room at Aruchah. He says our chef put together recipes for pumpkin pancakes and waffles. If we can serve them with something suitably high calorie and unhealthy like bacon or sausage or traditional like chicken, they should go over, even with the writing crowd. I remember going through nights of marathon writing subsisting on pancake suppers. That's how I developed my light and fluffy expertise."
"Where did the waffles come into it?"
"Someone gave Meredith and me a waffle iron as a wedding present, and she wasn't about to use it. I gave it a try a couple of times. Then a few years later, after Meredith moved in with her director, Alexis kept seeing those commercials for frozen waffles on TV and begging for them. I decided I could do better for her than toasted hockey pucks, so I polished my expertise."
Kate skillfully merges into traffic on the highway. "You built a lot of your life around Alexis, didn't you?"
"I couldn't help it. The first time I held that beautiful little bundle in my arms, she curled her tiny fist around my finger. I was hers, and she knew it. I knew I'd do anything to make her happy and keep her safe. I love Mother, but I never had that intensity of feeling again until I met you. I'd run into a tornado for you, Kate. You know that, right?"
"I know," Kate acknowledges. "And I'm pretty attached to you too, Babe." Kate purses her lips. "Attachments. You know, everyone we've talked to about Lisa Wernick is consistent. She wasn't the most lovable person. But some of her pupils seemed to like her, and her sister still wants closure after all these years. Her sudden turns against students who were close to her were like Jekyll and Hyde. Maybe she was bipolar."
"Some drugs or medications can have that effect too," Castle points out. "Strokes and other physical illnesses can also cause personality changes. I read up on it for a character I wanted to be unpredictable. Maybe the sister that Madeline remembers was a different person than the one that many of her students experienced. Lisa might have been particularly sensitive to changes like that in others."
Kate slaps her palm on her steering wheel. "Like students on steroids!"
"It would fit with what we've got so far," Rick agrees. "Maybe she figured out what was going on. She might have told the students that she would go to the administration if they didn't get clean. So one of them decided on the most surefire way of silencing her."
"That would make Sammy Levinson our most likely suspect if his alibi doesn't hold up. But if he was supplying his team, they'd probably cover for him," Kate realizes.
"Then we need someone in Lisa's class who wasn't on 'roids and might have seen Sammy on campus around the time the professor was killed. Robert Calis might fit the bill," Rick suggests. "He was a hockey player. From what I've read, there's not that much doping in hockey. The players want to be wiry, not bulked up."
Kate coaxes her unit to push the upper limit for safety on the roadway. "We'll find out soon."
Calis invites Kate and Rick to park themselves in standard office guest seating in front of his particle board desk before settling in his unremarkable chair. Sturdy low-pile carpeting that can stand up to numerous cleanings between tenants covers the floor of the room. Castle would be willing to bet that every suite in the building contains identical furnishings. "Lisa Wernick," Calis repeats. "I haven't heard that name in a long time, not since the story came out about James Pierson being sprung. That was years ago."
"It was," Kate admits, "but we never completely drop a homicide case. You were one of Professor Wernick's students, one of the many she kept from pursuing their athletic career goals."
Calis' eyebrows leap to his forehead. "So you think I killed her? Wow, are you barking up the wrong tree! Look, I never seriously believed I'd have a career in hockey. I have a cousin in Edmonton who was five times better than I was, and he never even came close to making it to the professional ice. I was a business major, and I thought Wernick's class would be easy. It wasn't. But I retook it with the professor who replaced her and got my grade point up. When I graduated, I went to work for my uncle, learning importation and running lean. After that, I went out on my own."
"This is about as lean as it gets, a one-man office," Castle notes.
"It's all I need. I get everything done offshore, cheaper than I can get it done here. If you're going to sell to Mr. Big Box, the corporation makes you utilize factories in China so it can keep prices in the cellar. I fly over every so often to do quality checks, but I also use an agency that oversees that. I do the paperwork, meet with potential customers, and go home to my wife, Celia, at night. Wernie didn't do much to me except give me practice in putting up with crazies. I have to deal with a few. Anyone in business does. So now that you see why you don't have to snap the cuffs on me, is there anything else I can do for you, Detective, Mr. Castle?"
"Were you aware of any doping, particularly steroid use going on among the athletes at Hudson?" Rick asks.
"Roids? Sure, I heard some things about the wrestling team, track and field, football, baseball. Not the hockey players. It's hard to make quick moves if you load on muscle mass. Why would that have anything to do with Professor Wernick's murder?"
"It might not," Kate jumps in. "We're just checking out possibilities. Did you know a Sammy Levinson?"
"It would have been hard to miss him. Talk about bulking up. He practically lived in the weight room. Sammy could have been on steroids," Calis considers. "He looked the part."
"Were you on campus the weekend Professor Wernick was killed?" Kate asks.
"I know I was. I remember because that's the weekend I met Celia. Our team let some of the other students have some ice time when we were just skating. She'd never skated before and couldn't get off the rail. So I gave her some pointers and took her around the rink a few times until she found her balance. We've been together ever since."
"Do you remember if you saw Sammy Levinson on campus at the time?" Kate queries.
"I don't remember seeing much of anyone but Celia, but she might remember. She notices people a lot better than I do. I can call and ask her."
"I'd appreciate it," Kate responds.
Castle can see the smile on Calis' face as Celia answers the phone. He hopes he still looks like that when he and Kate have been married that long. Calis waits for a moment while Celia thinks. "Right. Thanks, Hon."
Hanging up the phone, Calis shifts his focus back to Kate and Rick. "Celia says she didn't see Sammy there, but she recalls that someone else who was massive like Levinson was. We saw the two of them hanging around together sometimes. She remembers because she was behind him in line at the student union and had to wait while they put together a huge order for him. I don't remember his first name, but he had Gohmert on the back of his jersey. It's a funny spelling. I can write it down for you." Calis grabs a sticky note.