Poison Pen

Chapter 45

Running her fingers over the notations, Kate pages through the copies of Springer's day runner entries. "These are amazing. This stuff goes all the way back to 1987. Even then, Springer had his fingers in a lot of pies, but it doesn't look like Bracken had come on board yet. Notes about him start in 1990."

"Right," Castle agrees. "From the look of the appointments around that time, Springer helped Bracken become D.A. That's when Springer's drug business picks up. There's a note about having Bracken bring Coonan on board." Castle flips through his stack. "Lockwood joined up not long before your mother was killed. We know what happened then from the ledger Dominic found."

Kate pushes away from her desk and begins pacing the bullpen. "This stuff is pure gold, Castle. We'll not only nail Springer on charges worth sentences of about a thousand years; we can strike at the heart of about half of the crime in the city."

"That's incredible, Kate. But when we give this to the D.A., he'll have to reveal what he has to Springer's defense, won't he? And won't that allow Springer to put out a heads up to his minions?"

"He might try, Castle, but he also might not even bother. He pulled his money out of accounts in this country and was all set to leave his New York operations behind. Then he took out his longtime go-to guy and was going to leave him to rot."

"Not the actions of a man with a great deal of regard for his fellow sociopaths," Castle observes. "So what's the next step?"

"We pass all of this up the line and wait for our next case."

"That's a little anti-climactic, isn't it?" Castle wonders.

"The climax will come when we see Springer sentenced to life plus. But cheer up, Babe. There should be another body dropping any time — and we do have a wedding to plan."

Castle grins up at Kate. "Yes. Yes, we do."

Ryan looks on adoringly as Jenny takes a healthy bite of a curry fry. "I discovered these on a trip to Ireland to visit some of my relatives," she explains. "A lot of the Irish pubs in New York are more like sports bars, with wings and mozzarella sticks, but I just love the food at this one."

"And I love watching you enjoy it," Ryan shares.

"I think it's so romantic that you two are getting married," Jenny continues, gazing across the table at Rick and Kate. "I've read a lot of Rick's Storm novels, and it always seemed like Derrick was looking for someone, even when he was with Clara Strike. I guess Rick was too."

"True enough," Castle confides. "And now I've found her. Kate is my love and my inspiration.

"So when is your wedding going to be?" Jenny asks.

"We're thinking the second week of May," Kate replies, taking a sip of her beer. "We'll pin down the exact date when we find our venue. It should be warm enough by then to have the ceremony outside, but we want a place where we can move indoors if we need to."

"With the fall-off in crime since we arrested Elliott Springer, we've had time to look at a few spots," Castle adds, "but nothing hit the mark with both of us yet."

"You'll find the perfect place," Jenny declares. "I can feel it."

Rick squeezes Kate's hand. "I know we will."

Kate and Ryan's phones beep almost simultaneous alerts. Kate regards the message on her screen. "Looks like the lull is over. I apologize. We have to cut the evening short."

Ryan turns apologetically to Jenny. "I'm sorry. I need to go to the crime scene too. I'll take Jenny home and be right behind you," he informs Kate.

Castle stares down at the body in front of the door of an apartment house and notes the large mass of carved stone lying nearby. "Death by gargoyle?"

Lanie looks up from the body. "His skull was cracked by that ugly piece of rock."

"But the gargoyle had help," Esposito adds. "I checked the roof. There were pry marks where that thing was dislodged."

"So, it was a murder," Kate concludes. "Who is our victim?"

"William Medina," Esposito answers. "He had an I.D. from the museum."

Ryan rushes up the sidewalk to join them. "Sorry, I'm late. I wanted to make sure Jenny got in safely. Hey, is that Will Medina?"

"Yeah," Esposito confirms. "You know him?"

"No, but Jenny has one of those coffee table books with pictures of archaeological expeditions. He's in it."

"Indiana Jones," Castle remarks, "except that he couldn't defeat the murderous villain. I wonder if he hated snakes."

"We may find out when we interview his co-workers, but the museum would be closed now," Kate realizes. "We should check out his place, though."

"We'll have to go in through the back," Esposito. "The lock in this door is jammed. I buzzed for the super, and he couldn't open it."

"Of course, someone disabled it so that he could drop the gargoyle on Medina while he was trying to get in. Maybe the killer hoped that Will's death would be recorded as accidental," Castle concludes. "Whoever it was didn't count on Esposito's sharp eyes."

"That's good," Kate offers as Esposito preens. "If our murderer made one mistake, he or she might make another one."

Castle pulls a pair of high strappy sandals from under a queen-sized bed. "Very fetching, but unless Mr. Medina is into cross-dressing, I doubt they belonged to him."

Kate views the shoes and winks. "They'd be the wrong size anyway."

Medina definitely had female company," Esposito asserts, pulling a dogeared copy of Eat, Pray, Love from a bookcase.

"Hey, I loved that book," Ryan protests. His partner snorts in disgust.

"There are two toothbrushes in the bathroom and one of those ladies' shavers," Castle observes. "Will's company was either live-in or stay-over a lot."

"I'll post unis here in case she comes back," Kate decides. "And we may learn something about her at the museum in the morning."

Kate sinks down to sit on the foot of the bed and pulls off her shoes. "I had a good time at the pub. I like Jenny. I think she's just what Ryan needs."

Castle takes a seat next to her. "I suspect Ryan agrees. The only person I know who is more hooked on a woman is me."

Kate brushes her fingers along his thigh. "Care to demonstrate?"

Rick toys with the top button on her blouse. "I could be persuaded."

Cupping the back of his head, Kate leans in for a kiss. "Like this?"

"It's a start." Rick rapidly unfastens her top to reveal the lacy bra beneath, and opens the front clasp, exposing the creamy globes underneath.

Kate gasps, her head falling back as his mouth finds a pink bud, anxious for his attention. She reaches for the growing fullness beneath his belt buckle and cups it in her palm. "Persuaded yet?"

Castle pulls her into his lap. Heat to heat, her legs wrap around his waist. "Almost." Their lips meet, drawn by an irresistible force, desperate fingers tearing at the barriers between them. As they come together, all conscious thought retreats under the assault of urgent need. Oblivious to anything but each other, only the night bears witness to their victory.