Disclaimer: Castle isn't mine.
Author's Note: I'm not sure whether to make the chapters longer, let me know what you think :) Anyway, have fun, read and review!
Chapter Five
No sooner had the thought occurred to him that Castle's cellphone rang. Apprehensively, for he didn't recognise the number, and it was a kind of ungodly hour to ring someone, he answered.
"Detective Castle."
"Hi, Detective. It's Kate Beckett."
Castle hadn't seen that one coming. Stumbling over his words in shock, he continued: "Oh, hi, Kate. Um, is there an issue or something?"
Quick as ever, Kate replied flirtatiously, "Is that why most women call you in the late evening, Castle?"
Fighting the blush threatening to rise to his cheeks, Castle returned the favour. "I didn't pin you down as the type to do it on the phone, Ms. Beckett."
"Pin me down? My safe-word is apples." He heard her laugh, hearty yet feminine, down the phone. "But don't get your hopes up, Castle; that's not why I called. You know how you're working the whole 'Sarah Bench might know more than she's letting on' angle?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Well, I was thinking, maybe Sarah actually doesn't know anything, maybe-"
"Maybe someone just dumped the body in her apartment-"
"Conveniently letting Sarah take the blame," Kate concluded.
"You know what, I just had the same thought," Castle grinned behind the silver bulk of his phone, and he would have sworn he could hear Kate's tranquil smile adorning her voice. "We'll check it out in the morning. Meanwhile Kate, 'night. Don't let the bed-bugs bite," he teased.
She completed the innuendo. "It's not the bugs who bite, Castle." And with that, she hung up.
Too soon, morning dawned, and the team found themselves chained to their desks again. Ryan and Esposito landed, by means of paper-scissors-rock, the menial and tiresome job of running background checks on all of the apartment's inhabitants, and other prominent people in Albicca's life. So far no-one had popped out as a potential suspect, but the days, and the significantly sized list, were still young.
Meanwhile, Castle got the fun task of interviewing Sarah Bench. His faith in Kate and him being right about Sarah only added to his annoyance at having to spend an extended period of time in a room with her, but it was procedure; and after all, he had called her in. 9:20 AM – she shouldn't be arriving for another ten minutes, and somehow Castle doubted her punctuality.
But there was another woman arriving.
Castle hadn't been convinced that she'd show, but despite his lack of sureness, he saw the tall silhouette of Kate Beckett walking towards him, armed with a handbag and portable coffee cup. He didn't blame her; the Precinct's coffee machine spawned a substance comparable to melted fossilized dinosaur urine – not meaning to be too specific. With the subtlety of a flashing red traffic light, Castle pretended to be very focused on some highly interesting detail on his computer screen as she walked over, then looked up with a smile.
"Good morning, Ms. Beckett."
She smiled in return and sipped her coffee. "'Morning, Castle. How's it going?"
"Ryan and Esposito – you meet them yesterday?" She affirmed this with a nod. "Well, they're going over the angle that the body was dumped. Meanwhile," he paused and consulted his watch, "I am about to go interview Sarah Bench."
Kate shifted uncomfortable for a moment, then asked in a quiet but firm voice, "You mind if I come with you?"
Castle smiled to himself; there was no need to let her know that he wouldn't mind her doing anything with him. "Not at all."
At precisely 9:46, Sarah Bench finally showed up in Interrogation Rom Two. With startling wit and originality, her first words were: "Am I being arrested?"
Castle had to really restrain himself from letting go the exasperated sigh building inside of him. "No, Ms. Bench. I'm Detective Richard Castle, and this is Kate Beckett, a consultant with the NYPD. I just want to ask you a few questions."
"'Kay." Sarah's eloquence was inspiring.
"Ms. Bench, what were you doing from eight am to ten am this Monday just past?"
"Are you kidding? I was asleep!"
"At your apartment?"
"Yeah."
"Is there anyone who can verify that?"
Sarah looked befuddled. "Who can what?"
For the umpteenth time while conversing with Sarah Bench, Castle fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Can anyone prove that you were home, Ms. Bench?"
"Um, yeah." Apparently, Sarah felt no need to elaborate.
"I'm going to need a name…" he trailed off.
"Oh, right. Jake Withers."
"Thank you. Now, could you tell me anything you know about Marcus Albicca?"
"Isn't that your job?" was her snarky reply.
"Did you know him?" Castle continued as if her remark fell on deaf ears.
"Kind of. He lives down the hall from me. But I never talked to him or anything – he was really, really, weird. Can I still say that now he's dead?"
Even as a cop, sometimes Castle felt that the First Amendment had its flaws. "You can say what you like, Ms. Bench, but can you tell me anything else about Mr. Albicca?"
"Not really. He stuck to himself, mostly. But, um, I think he had some sort of argument with the guy across from me not so long ago…"
That caught Castle's attention. In his experience, arguments often escalated to fights where one person came out second best, and in some cases, dead. "Which apartment was this in? And could you please tell me when you heard this argument."
Sarah deliberated, as pensively as someone dressed in neon tracksuit chewing canary yellow gum possibly could. "26. I think it was Saturday night, late."
"Thank you for your co-operation, Ms. Bench. You're free to go."
And in a flurry of blinding fluorescence, Sarah left.
Back in the bullpen, Kate spoke up for the first time in a while. "Asleep at home? Does it get more transparent than that?"
"We'll check it with the guy whose name she gave us, Jake Withers, but my gut tells me it's not her."
Kate bit her lip. "Yeah, me too. Somehow, I just can't see her murdering someone, and being so cool about it."
He nodded in agreement, and she went on. "But the mysterious guy in apartment 26?"
"Seems like he knew our victim pretty well. I'll give him a call as soon as I can track down his contact details." Castle spoke whilst rummaging through the files scattered across his desk.
"Hey, Castle?" Ryan piped up from across the bullpen. "We've got a hit. One of the apartment building tenants, Parker Lin, has a record of violent behaviour – hasn't killed anyone, but…"
"He could have it in him," Castle finished. "Which apartment does he live in?"
Ryan checked the notes clutched in his hand. "26."
