Shared Obsession Chapter 63

The fishing-themed decorations in the Foxtail Grill create a working-class friendly atmosphere. More than a few pairs of eyes sweep over Kate's trim form, something she studiedly ignores. As a man, Castle can understand the patrons' interests but is well aware that if any of the oglers tried anything but looking, they'd regret it. He follows Kate up to the clean but well-used bar and the welcoming bartender. What'll you have folks?"

"Whatever you have on tap, for me," Castle requests and…."

"A Virgin Mary and some information," Kate fills in, displaying her badge.

The bartender starts fetching the drinks. "What do you need to know?"

"Does Adam Pike work here?" Kate queries.

"Why? Is something wrong?" the bartender responds.

"Why would you ask that?" Kate probes.

"Because he never misses a shift, but he did on Tuesday. He told me he had something he had to take care of for his family."

"Something came up, but Adam is taking care of his family," Kate confirms.

The bartender puts the drinks on the bar. "Glad to hear that. Can I get you anything else?"

Castle passes him a twenty-dollar bill. "We're fine. Thanks." He leaves the change on the bar as Kate motions toward a table. He points at the red liquid in her glass. "Right now I bet you wish there was some vodka in there."

"Castle…."

"I know. You're driving and on duty, two reasons to abstain. But I'm not and right now I wish I'd ordered something stronger."

"Yeah, Castle. I get it."

"Still, Beckett, let's think about the situation for a minute. We know that the killer set up Cynthia Dern's murder in advance in that seedy hotel on Henry Street in Manhattan. Why would Adam do that when Cynthia lived a couple of miles from him in Westchester County?"

"He said he didn't know where she was."

"But we already know that he was lying, at least about being at work. He might have been lying about that too."

"Which just makes him look guiltier."

"Not if you picture the scene. There were two wine glasses, one spiked with Remian. That means that Cynthia was friendly enough with her killer to sit down and talk over wine. Could you see her trusting the son of the man whose life she ruined enough for that?"

"No," Beckett admits.

"So, whatever Adam was doing on Tuesday, the evidence doesn't fit with him being the killer."

"You may be right, Castle. But he still lied. We need to get the truth out of him."

"Yo, Beckett!" Esposito calls, as she and Castle step off the elevator at the 12th. He holds up a folder. "I've been going through the FBI files on the '89 tanker bombing."

"And?" Kate prompts.

"Three days after the explosion they captured Jared Swanstrom at the motel where he'd been hiding out. Some helpful citizen called the Feds' tip line and reported seeing him there. The Feds went in and grabbed him, easy peasy. They didn't have to fire a shot."

"A tip line's pretty standard stuff, Espo," Kate offers.

"Until you get to the part where the tipster never collected the reward," Esposito continues.

"Who was the tipster?" Kate asks.

"That's just it," Esposito announces triumphantly. "The FBI never knew who it was. She didn't leave a name."

"She?" Kate questions.

"Mmm-hmm. The records describe the voice as young and female."

"It could have been Cynthia Dern," Kate muses. "Do you think she'd give up her friend to the cops?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," Esposito responds. "It only matters what Swanstrom thought. The guy did fifteen years in prison."

"So if Swanstrom thought Cynthia tipped the FBI, he would have had reason to kill her out of revenge," Castle realizes. "And Beckett, Swanstrom would fit the wine in a seedy motel scenario a lot better than Adam Pike. He could have told his old comrade, Cynthia, that they'd meet at a place where she'd never be recognized, drugged her wine, and whammo, into the oil."

Kate steers her unit out of the crush of rush hour traffic and parks it as close as possible to the workplace on Jared Swanstrom's record. She displays her badge to a fortyish man in a maintenance uniform who's using a hose to wash off the sidewalk. "Jared Swanstrom?"

Swanstrom turns off the water. "Yeah."

"NYPD. We need to ask you some questions about Cynthia Dern."

Swanstrom shrugs. "I'm not sure what I can tell you. I haven't seen her in 20 years."

"But you knew she was writing a book, right?" Kate persists. "You spoke with Lee Wax."

"Yeah, I spoke with her. I told her to give Cynthia my regards."

Kate takes a step into Jared's space. "So you weren't bearing any old grudges?"

"Toward Cynthia? Why?"

"For turning you in. It was Cynthia who called the cops the night you were arrested."

"According to the evidence at my trial, that tip was anonymous," Jared argues. "But if that's true, she was just trying to save herself. Cynthia wanted to run, to make it to Canada. But I - uh- kind of fell apart."

"Why?" Castle asks.

"Because I'm the one who built the bomb. I'm the one who messed it up."

"Messed it up how?" Beckett queries.

"The girls were supposed to have three minutes before the bomb went off. Three minutes. But when Cynthia got back to the car that night she said something had gone wrong, that the bomb blew early. I'm the reason Susan Mailer is dead."

Castle sits in Kate's deskside chair as they lean over a copy of Lee Wax's manuscript. She taps a page. "At least Jared is willing to take responsibility for what happened that night."

"Maybe too much responsibility," Castle suggests.

"What do you mean? Don't you believe his story?"

Castle shakes his head. "That's just it. It isn't his story. It's Cynthia's story. She's the one who told Jared and Lee that the bomb went off prematurely. She's the one who said it killed Susan Mailer." He picks up the manuscript and drops it back on the desk. "All of this is based on Cynthia's word. What if she lied to Swanstrom and to Wax?"

"Lied about what?"

"She told Wax that she and Susan Mailer had an argument about whether to set off the bomb, that Susan wanted to and Cynthia wanted to back out. What if it went down the other way? Maybe Mailer wanted to abort. Maybe she saw Pike come aboard. But Cynthia insisted on setting the bomb off anyway. Susan never got to tell her side of the story."

"That's because she's dead."

"We only have Cynthia's word for that too. There was no body. All we know is that Susan Mailer disappeared. And Cynthia never told Lee that the bomb blew early – maybe because it didn't. She just laid that little gem on Jared to let him take the guilt for Pike's injuries and whatever happened to Susan. Cynthia told everyone exactly what she wanted them to hear. And according to Lee Wax's publisher, Cynthia had final approval on the book. It was her way or the highway."

"You spoke to her publisher?"

"While you were in the little girls' room. Publishing's a small world, especially in New York. We have a few mutual interests. But anyway, Wax was right about influencing a jury pool. Cynthia was setting things up so if she ever went to trial, all the sympathy would be on her side. Pretty clever – and coldblooded."

"But Castle, if Swanstrom didn't kill Cynthia, we're back to Adam Pike."

"Beckett…."

"I know you don't think he did it, Castle. But he lied about his alibi. I need to find out why. I'm having the boys bring him in."

Castle sighs. "I guess I can get more work done on Manna until he gets here."