Note: A little guide through names. Kaido – the victim's brother. Kalev – the victim. Kaarel – old consulate general. Peeter – Kaarel's worker, his lover. The rest of them you know.
When the two detectives silently step out of the observation room, they are both amused. The woman was as crazy as Kaido had told them. Esposito has a smirk on his face and he looks to his partner who matches his smile.
"Man, this is nuts," is the only thing Esposito says, shaking his head. They both head to their desks, Esposito leading the way and Ryan few steps behind him.
"I wonder how many people really wanted to kill him?" Ryan muses out loud. Esposito turns himself around a sends a confused look to his partner. He corrects himself immediately, "I mean, there are at least three people who came in claiming to be the killer, but so far, we can't pin it on any of them."
"And?" Esposito doesn't understand what he wants to say.
"If people so desperately wanted to kill the bastard, why haven't we been able to find the killer yet?" Ryan asks, more from himself than from his partner.
"Maybe the day is still young. There is plenty of time for more people to come in and confess they killed him." Esposito mocks when he turns himself around again, heading towards his desk.
"No, but seriously," Ryan tries to make his point clear, "Why do they all want him dead?"
Esposito snorts out a laugh after Ryan's question and before he can answer there is a voice coming from the opposite end of the homicide floor.
"I think I can answer that!" Castle yells as he is stepping out of the elevator.
The detectives turn their heads in unison, to watch Castle coming closer to the murder board. He has some papers in his hand and he is giddy as a kid at Christmas time. He shares a big smile for the boys.
"Hey there, Castle." Esposito calls out. "I heard you had a big night?"
Castle stops when he reaches them and looks at Ryan quizzically. He warily answers, "Yes?" which sounds more like a question than a statement.
"I briefed him about the date," Ryan throws a questioning glance to Espo and tries to salvage the situation seeing that the question made Castle somewhat uncomfortable.
"Oh, you did?" Castle's brows shot up in surprise and he looks at Ryan.
The detective looks back at him and shrugs slightly. "I had a really good night with you guys," he answers honestly to Castle. "You and Emily seemed to get along really well. And you even escorted her back to her place. An hour later. So I thought the date went really well." He mumbles out the last bit.
Castle's features relax and he smiles to Ryan. "Yeah, I really liked the date night as well. The food was marvelous and the musical Jenny chose for us was very amusing." He pauses for effect and points a finger to Ryan. "And nothing happened," he shares with Esposito. "Ryan and Jenny seemed to be in hurry to go home, I had to make sure she'd enjoy the city a bit more and to see that she made it home safely."
"Riiight," Esposito drawls out his comment and smirks.
Castle looks pointedly to Espo. "Really. Who do you think I am?"
Esposito laughs out loud. "You are Richard Castle, the playboy millionaire."
Castle barks out a humorless laugh, his features getting serious with passing seconds. "Yeah, well, actually I'm not really that guy anymore. Haven't been for a long time."
"Sure you aren't." Esposito prods again. But then his smirk slowly falls off his face when he starts thinking harder. "Wait a minute. Come to think of it, you really haven't been dating." he pauses like he is thinking some more. "And I haven't seen you on papers either. What is wrong with you, man? Are you living as a hermit now?"
That draws out laughter from Ryan. "Espo, please. Castle as a hermit? He can't survive even an hour alone."
"Hey now! I am not that bad!" Castle protests half-heartedly when he sits down in Beckett's chair. The boys take seats across from the desk. Suddenly Ryan looks somewhere behind him and smiles and looks back to Castle fast. The writer finds that odd and furrows his eyebrow, trying to think what's going on.
Before he can turn himself around and find out, he hears a woman's voice coming somewhere really close. "Of course you are."
He jerks and turns his head sharply at the sound of Beckett's voice. She is slightly bowing, her mouth at his ear level. She is too close to him and he jerks back slightly, in order to not to bump their foreheads together. She only smirks at him and straightens herself. Her eyes bore into him and he looks at her quizzically. Then he remembers - he is sitting in her chair. He bolts upright and goes straight for his chair, sitting down there with a soft thump. The commotion earns a chuckle from Esposito and Ryan.
"Thank you." Beckett says when she sits down. She makes herself comfortable in her chair and asks, "So, what were you housewives gossiping about?"
All three of them look at each other, their looks a little startled. Esposito is the one who recovers the quickest and gets back to Beckett, "We were discussing Castle's and Ryan's double date here. Before you caught us, Mary Alice."
Beckett looks at him and can't repress a bubbling laughter. Esposito realizes that he just confessed that he has watched the soap and the look of horror on his face is too funny to ignore. "Smooth, Espo," she laughs out loud, Castle and Ryan joining in. Espo just mumbles something like 'I'm just gonna shut up now...'and turns his face away from her, trying to change the subject.
She decides to ignore the topic of 'The Date'. She doesn't want to know how well it went. It will be painful for her, she decides. Instead, she tries to change the topic herself. For her sake and to avoid Esposito's further embarrassment.
"So, have you interviewed the old Consular General's lover yet?" Beckett asks the boys.
Ryan chimes in, "Nope, not yet. We were waiting for you to finish up with the crazy mom."
"So, she denied everything?" Esposito asks, curiosity getting the best of him.
Beckett nods in his direction. "Yep. She denied killing him. She said she was heading out of the town."
"That's a first," Esposito comments sarcastically, making both Ryan and Castle chuckle and Beckett throw a glare at him. "Well, it is true. She's the first one notclaiming to kill him."
She rolls her eyes at Esposito and focuses back on the case files located all over her desk. Before the boys or Castle can say anything, she sighs and thoughtfully muses, "I just hope that the search of Amanda's home will bring us some new information, otherwise we are looking at another dead end." She shakes her head, like trying to repress a bad dream. "Do you guys have anything new on the vic?"
Ryan is first one to respond, "Not much new. We went through his financials and the picture is pretty much as Stephanie said it would be - he had transferred the trust fund money to his personal account. The last three months seem to be quite uneventful in his account, if we don't count the recent addition." He collects some papers from the far end of her table and places them to her waiting hand. She starts looking the sheets full of numbers and words.
Castle, who has managed to be quiet the whole conversation, suddenly remembers the folder in his hand. He gently taps her arm. She raises her eyes from the paper to him.
"I think I found something," he tries to explain energetically, waving a file folder in his hand.
She raises an eyebrow and the boys turn their full attention to him. "Really?" she asks, smirking. She is unable stop the mocking. "When did you have the time to do research? Last I heard, you were out having fun."
He looks her with a slight smile, but his eyes serious. "I did have a good time. But when I got home, I couldn't sleep." He pauses when he sees Beckett doing her eyebrow thing again. He smirks inwardly - she can hardly contain her jealousy and keeps lashing out on him. He decides to ignore her. He can deal with this later. "Yes, I couldn't sleep, Beckett, because I was thinking about the case."
"What did you find out, bro?" Esposito asks.
"Well, I was testing my google skills by searching his name on the internet. I hoped that some English articles or information would pop up. But the only things I could find in English were the info in the UN pages and on the Estonian UN page. Those articles were about how good and hardworking a person he is and they praise him to heaven." He pauses for effect. All three detectives are watching him intently. He smiles. He knows how all three of them love when he is spinning his stories. Not any one of them would never say it out loud. But he knows.
He continues, "And then I noticed, that most of the information written about him on google was in Estonian. It makes sense too - he was an Estonian citizen. Thank god for google translate. It makes everything easier these days."
Beckett is baffled, she closes her mouth and asks, "You translated articles from Estonian to English?"
Castle nods. "With google it's very easy. Just click in the right places and voila! But I must say, that Estonian language is a very weird. I had a hard time understanding any of it. Usually Spanish or French or Italian makes a tiny bit of sense. But this was too messed up. Too many vowels for my taste. And you should have seen the length of some words. How do they even speak that language without sounding like they want to puke? And... the translator sucks when it comes to converting from Estonian to English. I could barely understand what was written i-"
"Castle!" Beckett interrupts his ranting. He snaps his head up to look her. "What did you find out?"
"Ah, yes." he nods "It turns out, he didn't have good reputation back in Estonia. As much as I gathered from few articles around, he was rumored to have problems with bribing people when he worked in the parliament there. He was basically a dirty fish in that particular pond. But the deal is, he never got caught or never was accused officially. The articles point out that as well."
"Okay, so bad history back in the homeland too?" Beckett muses, her face thoughtful, eyebrows furrowed, trying to place the details in the right order in her head.
"Apparently, he came to live in New York a year ago, together with his brother. The local papers wrote that he got along with his family well." He is silent for a moment, trying to make a theatrical pause. "But we saw that wasn't the case. His brother hates his guts, basically."
"Did you find anything else?" Beckett is restless and probes him further.
He nods again, taking out one paper from his file folder and he passes it to Beckett. She takes it tentatively and holds it in front of her. Both Ryan and Esposito crane their necks to see what it's written there. He smiles a wide smile, like a cat that has eaten the canary. "See, they write there about the old Consulate General getting sick over time and how he had to give up his place in the consulate. He is rumored to still be in New York, somewhere, getting his health back slowly."
"Okay, what's that got to do with the murder?" Ryan asks, confusion residing all over his face.
"Listen further." Castle tells him, "I noticed one more thing." He points to the paper in Beckett's hands. "See how he says that his health started to degenerate a year ago. Approximately the same time Kalev moved to the Big Apple."
Beckett, who just finished reading the article, adds, "And as soon as the old Consulate General got too ill to work, he was there to take over his work. It can't be just a coincidence," she leans forward in her chair, putting the paper down to the table, and turning to her detectives. "Ryan, Esposito, see what you can find from the boyfriend you have in holding."
Both detectives nod in unison and start heading downstairs. Beckett shifts in her chair and opens up the computer. She looks at him for a few and points to the paper he had brought to her, "This translation thing is really terrible. A very poorly translated article."
"Told you so. Never trust the google translate to do human's job." Castle agrees, shifting closer to her. "What are wegoing to do?" Castle asks, wanting to know how to pursue further with the newly found information.
"I am going to do some research in the Immigration database about Kaarel Voorman," she shares nonchalantly.
"I am supposed to just watch you working?" he teasingly says, trying to get some reaction out of her. He gets what he wants when she rolls her eyes.
"Isn't that what you do anyway?" she asks sarcastically, smirking.
"Touché, detective." he smiles and nods "Touché."
Peeter is sitting nervously in his chair, his clothes still looking quite neat, despite a night in holding. He looks up at the detectives who have taken a seat opposite of him and quickly looks down once more, wringing his hands together. Ryan and Esposito, for their part, both cross their arms and stare at Peeter, prepared to sweat him a little. It seems to work, and the detective's silence makes Peeter even more nervous and fidgety.
Finally it gets the better of him, and Peeter holds out his palms to them. "What?" he says in exasperation.
Ryan clears his throat, looks at his partner who shrugs, then back to their captive. "Anything you want to tell us, Peeter?"
Peeter pauses and lets out a deep sigh, slumping in his chair. "Not really. I can't help you."
Esposito leans forwards and looks directly into Peeter's eyes. "So, how would you describe your relationship with the former Consulate General?"
He eyes the detective suspiciously, but answering warily. "Well, he was a very close friend."
Esposito is unimpressed with his answer, and keeps silent, arms folded across his chest.
Peeter can only keep his facade for so long before he finally cracks. "Ok. Ok. You probably you know he was more than that. He was my lover. It's a free world, you know?"
Esposito smiles at Peeter with no warmth, "It's cool man. We just wanted to clarify the relationship for the sake of the case." He looks over at his partner his gives a barely perceptible head nod.
"Kaarel Voorman. Tell me about him," Ryan tells the suspect.
Peeter, for the first time in the interview, raises a small grin. "Well he was a generous and thoughtful man. Nothing was too much trouble for him. Always willing to help, no matter what time of the day, be it on a busy day, or very late at night." The pride was evident in his voice. "And he was my best friend."
"Sounds like a stand up guy, Peeter." Esposito is tapping his fingers on the table and thoughtful expression on his face. "How was his health lately?"
At this question, Peeter's eyes widen and he instantly becomes more guarded. "Why do you ask?"
"Well the consulate staff says his health hasn't been good for a while. That true?" Esposito asks more forcefully.
Peeter leans back and looks back at both detectives, alternating his focus between them both, deciding on what to tell them. Finally with a deep sigh, he seems to have made a decision. "No. His health hasn't been good for quite some time. The last year really."
Ryan, quiet up till now, urges Peeter on. "Do you know what his problem is? Is it curable?"
"He hasn't told me exactly what he has, but has promised me tell me in good time. I am patient." Peeter's answer seems genuine, and both Ryan and Esposito feel they are getting somewhere at last.
Ryan prods Peeter further, "You suspect something though, don't you Peeter."
His expression turns sullen and angry. "Kaarel was in perfect health, when he took on a new advisor, on the advice of our government. And from that point on, I could see the sickness gradually take hold of him. Coincidence? I think not!"
"The new advisor?" Espo tries to make him say out his name. Peeter swallows the bait in seconds.
"Kalev Järvesoo!" he spits out the name.
"Wait. Slow down Peeter. You saying that Kalev was the reason Kaarel is sick?"
"Yes! That is exactly what I am saying." Peeter has now lost all composure and is breathing heavily.
Ryan and Esposito keep calm and cool, experienced in interviews, and keep probing for more information. "Maybe there is a natural cause for this Peeter. He hasn't told you, to spare your feelings perhaps? What makes you so sure it was Kalev?" asks Ryan.
"You don't understand. He had no sympathy for Kaarel when he was at his worst. Oh sure, to his face he was polite, but..." he points a finger to the roof. "Every now and again when I dropped by to see Kaarel, I would see a greasy little grin on his face. It was a grin of contempt. Like he was pleased about something." Peeter spits out the last sentence in disdain.
Esposito waits a few seconds for Peeter to cool down. "So you know where we could find the former Consulate general, Kaarel? He is proving to be little difficult to track down."
"I have absolutely no idea." Peeter states rather unconvincingly.
"Oh really? You don't know where your boyfriend is currently residing at all? Peeter, you can do better than that?"
A knock on the interview room breaks the tension in the room. A uniformed officer walks in, hands a sheet to Ryan, and makes his way back out, closing the door behind him. Ryan shows the sheet to Esposito, who raises his eyebrows. They mumble quietly between each other, and a curious Peeter wonders what the note contains.
Esposito finally addresses Peeter once more. "So, are you going to tell us where Kaarel is? We know you know."
"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Kaarel is a sick man, and needs his peace." Peeter crosses his arms, and leans back in his chair, prepared to wait out the question at hand. The detectives notice his demeanor, and realize he isn't going to budge.
"So, why did you admit to the murder?" Ryan barks out.
"But I did kill him..." Peeter starts to say but Ryan stops him.
"Peeter. Stop with the absurd lie. We have a receipt here showing you buying a coffee across the other side of town at the time of the murder. We know you are covering for Kaarel. And believe me, we will find him."
"He had nothing to do with it!" his tone verges on the edge of panic.
"Well that's for us to find out Peeter." Ryan glances at his partner, who shrugs in response. "You are free to go."
Peeter looks stunned at this, and slowly gets up out of his chair, his eyes never leaving Ryan. He notices the attention as he and Esposito exit the room. "And don't leave town. We will have more questions soon enough."
A/N: So this was it, the next chapter of our story. I still hope you are with us. And still liking the story. Let us know what you think of it and what else you want to see further on?
Thanks everybody for reviewing us! It makes us feel spechul. And thanks lv2bnsb and Kimmiesjoy for betaing! Yer awesome!
R&R!