Poison Pen
Chapter 37
"It's the end of shift, Kate. Ready to leave?" Castle asks as detectives start filing out of the bullpen.
Kate shrugs wearily. "Might as well. I'm not accomplishing anything here."
"We could go by Remy's and pick up some burgers," Castle suggests.
Kate shakes her head. "I just want to go home."
Castle picks up her light jacket and drapes it over her shoulders. "Then let's go."
It was a hell of an 18 hrs for trauma chief, Dr. Lurleen Cantwell. She had to cope with the influx of patients from the accident, an idiot who tried to shoot his way through an N.Y.P.D. strike force and being short-staffed. As far as she heard, Nurse Geiger never did show up. There was some rumor floating through the halls about a killer trying to use Geiger's I.D., but Lurleen was much too busy to worry about it.
Putting down the duffel bag holding dirty clothes from her locker, she unlocks the trunk of her car. She's seen more than her share of dead bodies, but never one this way. Even distorted in death, his face looks familiar. It's Nurse Geiger.
With her head pillowed in Rick's lap, Kate is trying desperately to think good thoughts. She knows who killed her mother, and soon that bastard, Coonan will give up the man who paid him to do it. Were she and Castle right about Bracken? She'll know soon, but she'll also know that Coonan will be getting away with countless murders. And what about Lockwood? Evidence from one co-conspirator in a crime isn't enough, especially against someone as highly placed as they suspect the Dragon is. Will Lockwood get a sweetheart deal too? The thought of it sends chills through her body.
Feeling Kate shiver, Castle grabs an afghan draped over the top of the couch and tucks it around her. "Better?"
Kate fingers the lovingly crocheted throw. "My grandmother made this. My parents both had to be in court during a school break when I was in second grade, and Nonna was watching me. She was working on it while we watched soaps together." Kate points to a red and black granny square. "She made this one during "One Life to Live."
"The queen of daytime dramas. I used to have a thing for Dorian," Castle confesses.
"When I was a little older, I thought Joey was kind of cute," Kate confides. "But on the soaps, even the villains had some redeeming value. They loved and protected someone or something, even if they wreaked havoc doing it. Sociopaths like Coonan and Lockwood don't even act human."
"Or they act too human," Castle opines. "When was the last time you saw an animal kill for money? They have to be hungry or hurt or at least very pissed off. Someone like Coonan is like a gun or a bomb, no conscience, just deadly power."
Kate sits up, letting the colorful blanket slide down to cover just her legs. "There has to be some loophole in the D.A.'s deal, some way to get a second bite at the apple with Coonan and still go after the Dragon, whether it's Bracken or someone else." The opening notes of Londonderry Air pipe from Kate's pocket. She digs for her phone. "That's Ryan."
"Beckett, look, I hate to bother you, but I think you'll want to hear this. The nurse, Justin Geiger, whose ID Coonan was using, just turned up — dead. The body's in the staff parking lot at Bellevue."
The afghan slips to the floor as Kate springs to her feet. "On my way."
"Kate, are you sure you want to be in on this one?" Castle wonders as Kate hurriedly tugs on her boots.
"Castle, I've never been surer. The D.A. didn't know about Justin Geiger. Coonan sure as hell never mentioned killing anyone else. That poor nurse's death was never part of their agreement. If we can nail Coonan for it on top of Lockwood's attempted murder, Coonan will get life."
"Then, let's get your beautiful butt to Bellevue."
On the way to the door, Kate grabs a handful of flesh. "Yours isn't bad either, Castle."
Perlmutter is withdrawing a probe from Geiger's liver as Kate and Rick arrive at Dr. Cantwell's car. "The outdoor temperature has vacillated a lot in the past 24 hours, and being stuffed in a trunk is a confounding factor, but I'd put the time of death at very early this morning. I may be able to be more precise when I get him to the lab."
"That's fine, Perlmutter," Kate assures him. "The timeline fits with Coonan killing Geiger, stealing his I.D. and using it to get into Lockwood's room. What was the cause of death?"
"From what I can tell so far, it looks like his carotid was compressed and his trachea crushed. His demise would have been relatively swift and silent."
"Which also fits," Castle notes. "Coonan could have learned a technique like that in the military."
"Would that kind of attack transfer DNA from the killer to the victim?" Kate inquires.
"It's possible," Perlmutter considers, "and the act of stuffing the body in a trunk would have opened up more opportunities for the killer to leave shed cells, hair, or trace on Nurse Geiger. As always, I will do a complete search and examination for any possible evidence."
"Please, let me know as soon as you find any possible link to Coonan," Kate requests.
"That is my job, Detective Beckett. Unlike some people here," Perlmutter sniffs, "I'm actually qualified to pursue an investigation."
"I love you too, Perlmutter," Castle teases.
"So," Castle asks Kate, "what now?"
"I need to talk to the owner of the car, but I don't think that will take long. And I wonder if the cafeteria is open. I'm starved."
Castle grins as he trails a rapidly striding Kate to the hospital entrance. Detective Beckett is back!
The Senate offices are rarely completely quiet. Even when the senators are gone, staffers work well into the night, preparing for committee proceedings and researching constituents' concerns.
One group of staffers managed to take off at a reasonable hour when their boss suddenly decided to depart for his own state. It wasn't unusual for him to leave D.C. He's often absent pursuing both political and personal business. Usually, however, they prepare briefings for him to take with him and schedule meetings to fit his itinerary. This time, he announced he was leaving after receiving a call on his private phone from a party unknown. He projected no time of return and took no work-related materials with him. He just asked for a car to a nearby small airfield.
The senator paces the hand-scraped wooden flooring of his study. Things have turned to sh*t. Not only didn't Coonan take out Lockwood, he got himself caught. As murderers, they won't be considered the most reliable witnesses, but with enough diligent police work to back it up, their testimony could be deadly. At this point, trying to take them out would only raise more questions. It's time to pull the plug on his New York operations — fast. Many of his resources are offshore. He'll have to move whatever else he can, before making his getaway. In the meantime, the police will waste their time sniffing after Bracken. The junior senator has been the frontman for years. For years, Coonan thought Bracken was in charge. Lockwood still does. That discrepancy will give Senior Senator Elliott Springer a little breathing room. But right now, he needs some major stress relief. He and Madam Charlaine have been business associates from the beginning. She'll get him exactly what his body craves.