Slaying the Beast

Chapter 28

Castle glances around as Kate navigates a neighborhood wedged between the '90s and Harlem. "This is where Bracken grew up. It's come up in the world, but there were parts of it that were rough. That may be how he picked up his drive."

Kate's gloved fingers tighten on the wheel. "Or his ruthlessness. The place we're looking for should be in the next block."

The tailor shop seems to be out of a different era. The sewing machines are electric, but one of them was clearly originally a treadle. Fabrics are lovingly displayed and photographs of several clients: actors, and musicians, along with a very young William Bracken, are hanging on the wall. Castle surveys the blond, blue-eyed image. "The senator wasn't bad looking in his early days — kind of like an actor who was on the original Dynasty. I met him a couple of times. He's a friend of Mother's. He's doing a science fiction show now, but he looks a lot better than Bracken does. Bracken's sins are etched in his face. No portrait in the attic to take on the marks of his dirty deeds. Evil will out."

"Right now what's important is that he was straight with us about what's supposed to be here."

A man who looks like he dates back to the founding of the shop appears from a back room and appraises what's visible of Castle's shirt from under his heavy coat. "Ah, custom made. Looking for a new supplier?"

Castle eyes the perfectly crafted shirts hanging on a rack. "Possibly, you do excellent work, but we are here on another mission."

Kate steps forward. "We were told to ask for Bill's box."

"Ah, Bill. I make all of his clothes. I have since he graduated from law school. When he was growing up, his mother used to help in the shop, and he would be here playing or doing his homework. I gave him a box to keep his things in. He told me once that he put what was important in there. But if he wanted you to get into it, he should have given you the password that we agreed upon when he was a boy."

Kate nods. "Nine flies."

"That's correct," the old man concedes. "I'll fetch it. You can use my back room to go through it."

Kate lifts the well-scarred lid. "I never would have pictured Bracken having anything to do with a place like this."

"It happens, Kate. People with innocent-seeming pasts can be seduced by money and power, but in a way, you could anticipate what was coming from Bracken's password."

"I don't understand Castle. What does 'nine flies' mean?"

"It's from a fairy tale called The Brave Little Tailor. The protagonist of the story killed nine flies with one swat. And he was so proud that he stitched himself a belt saying, "Nine at One Blow." In the story, the people who saw it thought he was a mighty warrior who slew nine enemies. The character's a lot like Bracken; ever since he joined the D.A.'s office, he's made the public think that he's someone or something that he's not. In a way, he hasn't changed much at all. But to the task at hand. What's in the box?"

"It's exactly what Bracken described to us, Castle, the documentation of Susan Collinwood's trip to Maine, and copies of her receipt for sending lobster to Callie Freedwell. We'll have to dig up the original M.E.'s report and run it by Lanie and verify as many other details of Bracken's story as we can, but it looks like for once he was telling the truth." Kate checks her watch. "And the boys should be finished with their canvass and scrubbing of the theater video by now. We'll have to get back to Chelsea Meadows' murder."

"Yeah, normally, I wouldn't cheer for Harley Masterson to be guilty. Having our first suspect turn out to be the perp, can make for a downright boring story, but this time it would be nice to be able to close the case. Then we could go both go after Susan Collinwood, and give Gloria Meadows some closure."

"Harley Masterson didn't do it," Ryan announces as Kate and Castle arrive in the bullpen. "He went to the movies, just like he claimed. I have images of him arriving at the beginning of our murder window and leaving at the end of it."

Kate throws her coat on the back of her desk chair. "Damn! Espo, what did we get out of the canvass?"

"Writer-boy was right about Chelsea visiting someone in an apartment above one of the stores. There's a pad over the flower shop where the Roswells, the family that runs the place, live. They switch off shifts so they can keep the place open extra hours, and they don't lose business to the big box stores and supermarkets. Greta Roswell, the mama of the clan, was up there. She and Chelsea have been doing business for years. Greta's special ordered flowers for Chelsea and made the stuff you see at weddings, but Greta hasn't been feeling well lately, so Chelsea came to see her as a friend. Greta said that Chelsea told her that her evenings were free because she broke up with her boyfriend."

"Gloria Meadows never said anything about Chelsea having a boyfriend," Castle recalls.

"She might not have known, Castle," Kate points out. "Women don't necessarily tell their parents when they start dating someone, especially if they don't know if it's going to be serious. It can cause too many expectations. I've had several girlfriends whose mothers would start talking about how nice it would be to have grandchildren, every time they mentioned they were seeing a guy. After a while, they stopped saying anything. But I've had murders come out of splits before - especially bad breakups. "Espo, did Greta Roswell give you a name?"

"She said Chelsea talked about a 'Dick,' she didn't get the last name."

"Could have been a description," Castle points out. "That's why I've always preferred Rick. It's less ambiguous."

Kate reaches for her coat. "Maybe we can find something in Chelsea's apartment that will tell us who he is."

Castle pulls a locked volume out of Chelsea Meadows' underwear drawer. "Alexis used to have one of these before she started journaling on her laptop. Got your picks?"

It takes Kate about 30 seconds to open the leather-bound diary. "I know we have to do this Castle, but this kind of thing always seems sort of ghoulish to me."

"It is, Kate. You're digging into Chelsea's heart and soul, but that's where the secrets - and possibly the murderous ex-boyfriends lie."

Kate pages toward the end of the notations. "Here it is, Castle. From what she's written, Dick was both a name and a description. She found out he was stealing at his job. Worse than that, he works for a nonprofit that runs food pantries. He's stealing from hungry children."

"I can think of a lot of worse words for him," Castle declares. "Is his surname in there?"

Kate flips back through pages. "Not that I can see. You read faster than I do. You might have better luck. I did find the name of the charity. It's "Full Bellies means Full Hearts.'"

"A noble sentiment to be sure. I know them. Alexis and I usually drop canned goods off at their collection centers before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Alexis' school runs a food drive for them too. Good cause. Good people. No wonder Chelsea was upset. The man should be strung up by the eponymous part of his anatomy."

"She was more than upset, Castle. Her last entry says that she is going to turn him in. If he knew that…"

"That's an even better motive than a breakup," Castle finishes. "We need to get this guy."

"We will."