The Haunting – Chapter 2


Fall 1890


Castle had fully settled into life at the brownstone by the time the trees outside his front windows started displaying brilliant shades of oranges, browns, reds, and yellows. He had found a routine fairly easily. He would spend his morning perusing the books in the longue, and then have a light lunch, before spending the majority of the afternoon sitting at the mahogany desk writing, or at least attempting to write.

Most of the time, he found himself pondering over what had become of the previous owners, in particular their beautiful daughter. Castle could not help himself. Every once in a while there would be some sort of odd occurrence that would unexpectedly remind him of the exquisite face of that smiling young woman.

For example, last month he had found a portrait in a small oval frame of just her. It had been hidden away in a cabinet in the parlor. The photograph was lovely, befitting of the young woman's effortless beauty. It was probably a little morbid and unhealthy behavior, but he kept the small photograph on the nightstand by his bed. Gazing at it helped him find sleep at night. It was something Castle could not explain. He was just drawn to her. He wished he had had the opportunity to know her.

XXX

Things got stranger over the last couple of months. He had begun to misplace items. His favorite fountain pen had gone missing, as well as his mother's ring, the only thing he had left of her. Martha Rodgers had been a grand old dame, a celebrated thespian. She had died some years prior of pneumonia after a performance of Shakespeare in the Park during a drizzly afternoon. He missed her terribly.

When he had told some of his neighbors about his missing items during a luncheon party a couple of weeks back, he had been told a tale of the previous owners, how a horrible tragedy had struck them and taken their energetic and beautiful nineteen year old daughter, Katherine, from them. She had been taken by a severe fever, but many believed she had been poisoned, a warning to her parents, who were well known philanthropists to the disenfranchised.

The gossip was that James Beckett, Esq. had been investigating a wrongly accused man with the aid of his wife, Johanna. Whatever they had uncovered had frightened some powerful and influential people. So rumor was the young Katherine was poisoned to warn them off. It had worked too. As soon after her death, James and Johanna had just vanished.

Castle found himself intrigued.

So over the past month, he spent some time down in the local court records office, as well as the New York Times offices, researching the case. Most of what he had been told was true. Young Katherine had died suddenly, struck down by a fever one night. But there were enough inconsistencies in the story to spark the pathways in Castle's mind. The case her parents had been working revolved around the death of an undercover Federal officer by the name of Robert Armen. An Italian gang enforcer by the name of Joseph Pulgatti had been arrested and sentenced for the crime. James and Johanna Beckett had been working at proving the man had been framed.

Castle spent many nights pouring over the records and newspaper articles. And though Pulgatti had died one year ago in a prison riot, Castle still wanted to finish James and Johanna's work, if not for justice, then to bring some peace to the soul of the beautiful Katherine Beckett.