Shared Obsession Chapter 10
"I don't really know that much," Chloe claims. "Sara said she and Brent were together for a while, I'm not sure how long. But he made her nervous sometimes."
"How?" Kate asks.
"He always wanted to know where she was and what she was doing. Her boss, Howard, Mr. Peterson, asked her to stay late sometimes, on the nights when he should have been home for Justin. Sara said she just made dinner, made sure Justin did his homework, and sometimes played video games with him. But Brent accused Sara of having an affair. He kept calling her and yelling at her until she didn't want anything else to do with him. So she broke up with him. I thought she might have been interested in someone else, but she said she wasn't. But Brent just kept calling her, leaving messages on her answering machine."
"Did he threaten her?" Kate questions.
"I don't know. But whatever he said, scared her."
"Do you know where I can find Brent Johnson?" Kate queries.
"I don't know where he lives, but he works at Electronix R Us. Sara met him when she got a new phone."
Kate offers a gentle smile. "Thank you, Chloe, you've helped a lot."
Chloe grabs Kate's hand. "Are you going to find out who killed Sara?"
"I promise you I'll do my best."
"She was jumpy," Castle notes as he and Kate return to her unit.
"Her friend was just murdered," Kate reminds him. "That can make people jumpy."
Muscles pop at the corners of Castle's jaw. "I know that, Beckett. But she was jumpy before that when she opened her apartment door."
"I get that all the time," Kate insists. "A lot of people are afraid of cops, Castle." She skewers him with a dark look. "Or immediately hostile to us."
"Touché, Detective. But I still think there was something off with Chloe."
"I'm more concerned with what's off with Brent Johnson." Kate starts the motor. "When's the last time you were at Electronix R Us?"
"Last week. I wanted to upgrade my laser tag equipment, but they didn't have the latest models in yet. I had to order them online."
"You play laser tag?"
"Since you like classic Sci-Fi movies, you should understand this. Ever since I was a kid and saw some old Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon serials, I thought it would be cool to have a ray gun. When I could finally afford a place big enough to play, laser tag was the closest thing. And it's something Alexis and I have been able to do together without the danger of concussions or knocked-out teeth. We've had an ongoing game ever since she was six and could curl her chubby little finger around the trigger."
"Castle, I've seen laser domes. They're huge. Where do you live?"
"I have a loft in SoHo. I bought it when the commercial conversions were just beginning. It used to be a factory space, so it has a fair amount of square footage."
"How much square footage?"
"About 10,000 square feet."
"Castle, last time I heard, property in SoHo goes for about $2,000 a square foot. That would make your loft worth $20 million."
"It was less than a tenth of that when I bought it."
"Hell of an investment, Castle. No wonder you knew about Tisdale's holdings."
"I got lucky, Beckett. And the conversion wasn't cheap. But Alexis and I enjoy living there, and in recent times so does my mother."
"Your mother's a pretty famous actress. I would think she'd have her own place."
"She would – if her second husband hadn't stolen almost all of her money. The NYPD never solved that one, either."
"Sorry."
"It's not all bad. Alexis enjoys having her grandmother around, even if Mother never allows the use of the word. Gram is the closest we get. And the two redheads can team up against the man of the house."
"And against them, you don't have a chance."
"You've got that right. Oh, coming up on Electronix R Us. You should pull around to the back of the building. There's actually parking there. And it's where a food truck pulls in, and the employees go to take their breaks. Brent Johnson might be out there."
"Castle, you come to this place a lot, don't you?"
"A writer's tools – and a father's – need constant upgrades. But Brent Johnson was never my sales guy. Ah, the Grub for Geeks truck. It looks like it's got an eager clientele. And, of course, they all have their smiling electron nametags. If our suspect's out here, he shouldn't be hard to spot."
With Castle close behind, Kate strides up to a man holding supersize nachos and a Mountain Dew. "Brent Johnson?"
"Yeah, but I'm on break. Someone inside should be able to help you."
Kate holds up her badge. "I'm not here for electronics. Mr. Johnson, do you know a Sara Manning?"
"Yeah, I know Sara. What's this about?"
"When's the last time you saw her?"
"About a month ago. We dated for a while, but it didn't work out. We broke up."
"It never feels good to get dumped. How did you feel about breaking up?" Castle inquires.
"She didn't dump me," Brent insists. "The break up was kind of a mutual thing. It's OK."
"If it was kind of a mutual thing, why did you keep calling her?" Kate presses.
"All right. I called her. I missed her. But she told me she hooked up with someone else. Nothing I could do about that."
Kate takes a step forward. "Are you sure there was nothing you could do about that?"
Brent crosses his hands in front of his face. "Wait a minute! Are you accusing me of doing something to Sara? I didn't touch her. I told you, I haven't seen her for a month."
Kate holds her ground. "Where were you yesterday afternoon between one and three?"
"Here, I mean at the store. You can check with my manager."
"I will," Kate assures him.
"And my employee number must be on at least a half-dozen sales from then. We were running a promotion on rehabbed computers, and I unloaded a lot of them," Brent adds.
"I'll check that too."
Kate gazes through the windshield of her unit, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. "Damn! I thought Brent Johnson looked good for Sara's murder. But he couldn't have done it."
"Brent said he thought Sara had another boyfriend. And Chloe thought so too. If not the old boyfriend, could it have been the new one?" Castle queries. "Or perhaps a jealous wife?"
Kate stares across the center console. "Castle, what are you talking about?"
"Claudia Peterson. It would fit. Chloe said Sara was staying late on the nights Peterson was supposed to be home. Maybe she was doing more than making dinner. Claudia finds out and decides to eliminate the competition. She knows Sara's schedule, when she'd be in the laundry room. So she kills her, shoves her in the dryer, then goes to take her son to the allergist. When we get around to knocking on her door, she pretends she's shocked at the news. But she isn't shocked enough to call her hubby. Why should she if she just killed his bedmate?"
"I don't know, Castle. Would Peterson have been fooling around with Sara with Justin in the apartment?"
"Probably not. Little pitchers can have big ears – and mouths. But Chloe said Justin plays with the Harrison's kid. Maybe Peterson sent his son upstairs for a playdate while he had one of his own."
Kate nods slowly. "Maybe. I'll put together a file on Peterson, and then we can see what he has to say about those nights."
Castle settles into the passenger seat. "He definitely has some explaining to do."